Michael Milligan, Ph.D.

Dr. Michael Milligan is an independent power system consultant and Principal at Milligan Grid Solutions, Inc. With more than 40 years' experience in electric power systems — and more than three decades of research and publication — he has authored or co-authored more than 220 technical articles, book chapters, and reports.

For many years, Michael was a significant contributor to the International Energy Agency Task 25 Research Group: Large-scale Integration of Wind Energy. His work also played an important role in the development of the Western Energy Imbalance Market (WEIM), which has saved consumers more than $8 billion to date. The WEIM has now helped participants avoid emissions of more than 1.18 million metric tons of CO₂ since its launch, roughly equal to emissions from 236,276 passenger cars driven for a year. His work also contributed to the Greening the Grid project in India, in collaboration with USAID and the India Ministry of Power (similar to the U.S. DOE), and the Pilot Project on 5-Minute Scheduling in India, which laid the groundwork for the Indian power grid to move to 5-minute scheduling, making renewable integration more efficient.

Methods that Michael developed or adapted for power system analysis have formed the basis of resource adequacy and probabilistic methods in power system analysis, influencing the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC, the organization that sets reliability rules in North America), regional transmission operators that span most of the U.S., and state public utility proceedings. His work laid much of the necessary groundwork for NREL's first large-scale wind integration projects — the Western Wind and Solar Integration Study and the Eastern Wind Integration and Transmission Study. Michael's research is renowned around the world as a pioneer in wind integration (and later, solar integration) grid modeling and analysis.

Michael's consulting work has included participation in resource adequacy forums and advising RTOs, ISOs, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. He has consulted for environmental groups such as the Sierra Club and Earthjustice, the Electric Power Research Institute, NERC, and the International Renewable Energy Agency, and has testified in numerous state regulatory proceedings, with most commission rulings supporting his testimony and advice.