A Wide-Area Perspective on the August 21, 2017 Total Solar Eclipse US

This Wide-Area Perspective on the August 21, 2017 Total Solar Eclipse document was created in order to evaluate potential reliability consequences of the total solar eclipse on the BPS. This assessment focuses specifically on impacts of system loading and potential reliability implications when an area experiences a large reduction of distributed energy resource (DER) capacity due to a total solar eclipse. Ramping is a specific concern for areas with large amounts of variable generation in their resource mix. The areas that have ramping issues will need further evaluation by the Regions and include areas that are not in the direct path of the eclipse. An example of such an area is California, where the transmission (utility) installed nameplate capacity for solar generation is 11,444 MW. Some areas in Northern California are projected to experience up to 95 percent of the obscuration of the Sun from the August 21, 2017 eclipse.