Senior Managing Consultant
Oluwafemi (Femi) Sawyerr

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Oluwafemi (Femi) Sawyerr

Oluwafemi (Femi) Sawyerr joined E3 in 2016 and works in E3’s Integrated System Planning practice area, where he helps utilities, state agencies, grid operators, and project developers prepare for and implement a modern electricity grid that utilizes large amounts of renewable resources. His recent work includes managing E3’s support of the California Public Utility Commission’s (CPUC) Integrated Resource Plan’s (IRP), including leading the Busbar Mapping analysis that supports the California Independent System Operator’s (CAISO) Transmission Planning Process (TPP). He also led E3’s Oregon Renewable Energy Market and Industry Assessment on behalf of the Oregon Department of Energy (ODOE); which sought to estimate the quantity and location of renewable resource development in the state of Oregon in different geographic and policy scenarios.

Originally from Nigeria, Femi has a firsthand understanding of renewable energy and sustainable manufacturing in developing countries. He is interested in how challenges at the nexus of sustainability and energy, especially electricity, have local, national, and global consequences. Understanding these impacts is increasingly important as these nations seek to improve their infrastructure in a climate-constrained world.

Femi is also a passionate dancer who travels across the country taking classes and dancing with world-renowned professionals. He has performed in salsa and bachata routines in Ann Arbor, Michigan; Cincinnati; San Francisco; and Reno, Nevada—in competitions, in performances, and just for fun.

Education: MS, natural resources and environment, University of Michigan; BS, applied physics, University of Lagos, Nigeria

Projects

Integrated Resource Plan Support | Xcel Energy Upper Midwest, 2019

As part of its 2019 Integrated Resource Plan, Xcel Energy retained E3 to conduct two independent analyses to support its IRP: (1) an economy-wide study for the state of Minnesota examining what would be needed to meet deep decarbonization goals throughout the economy (e.g. 80% reductions by 2050); and (2) a portfolio optimization and reliability analysis for Xcel’s portfolio to examine the costs of meeting the utility’s carbon reduction goals (80% reductions by 2030; 100% carbon-free by 2050).

E3’s statewide pathways study provided Xcel with a novel perspective on future electricity loads in the context of an economy-wide carbon reduction effort, showing how decarbonization measures such as building and transportation electrification could lead to significant long-term increases in load. These findings were used to inform a sensitivity analysis conducted within Xcel’s internal IRP modeling.

E3’s portfolio and reliability analyses were conducted in parallel with Xcel’s internal work to develop a forward-looking resource plan, testing the notion that an independent expert using advanced industry-standard methods would come to similar conclusions. E3 used RECAP for sophisticated loss-of-load-probability analysis and RESOLVE for optimal capacity expansion to design reliable, least-cost portfolios to meet carbon reduction goals, ultimately corroborating the findings in Xcel’s plan.

Publications

Integrated Resource Plan | California Public Utilities Commission, 2021

E3 has provided comprehensive technical and advisory support to the Energy Division of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) in its administration of the state’s IRP program, mandated by the passage of SB 350 in 2016.  E3 worked with CPUC staff to develop the structure of the IRP program including a three-year modeling cycle in which Staff prepares a system-wide plan that informs the California Independent System Operator (CAISO)’s annual Transmission Planning Process (TPP) and informs Load-Serving Entities integrated resource plans in alternate years.

E3 has helped the CPUC design an optimal “Preferred System Plan” for the combined utilities that incorporates the resource procurement plans of the LSEs and complies with the state’s clean energy policy requirements. In the 2020-2021 cycle, the policy requirements considered include a 60% RPS by 2030 and SB 100 by 2045, and a statewide greenhouse gas emissions target of 38 million metric tons (MMT) by 2030, while capturing the operational and reliability challenges encountered at high penetrations of variable renewable generation. E3 also supported the Energy Division’s development of a mid-term reliability order requiring the procurement of 11.5 GW of effective capacity by 2026. As part of this process, E3 evaluated dozens of scenarios reflecting alternative assumptions about load forecasts and electrification, resource costs, the availability of offshore wind and out-of-state wind, the ability of end-use loads to operate flexibly, and a variety of other input parameters.

Study of Policies to Decarbonize Electric Sector in the Northwest I Public Generating Pool, 2017 – present

On behalf of the Public Generating Pool (PGP), a group of hydro-owning public power entities in Washington and Oregon, E3 completed a study exploring the effectiveness of a range of policy mechanisms to decarbonize the electric sector. This study used RESOLVE, E3’s optimal capacity expansion model, to develop optimized generation portfolios for the region through 2050 that capture […]

Publications

Procurement and rate design | Lower Valley Energy, 2001–16

E3 has provided procurement and rate-making advice to Wyoming’s Lower Valley Energy (LVE) since 2001. Our long-term procurement plans have carefully addressed LVE’s need to mitigate cost increases due to changes in either market prices of energy or Bonneville Power Administration’s rates. We have also helped LVE assess the merits of different rate structures and compare the value of building generation in its own service territory with the costs of building new transmission facilities to access alternative power sources. Most recently, we provided an independent evaluation of the costs and benefits of a potential merger with a neighboring co-op utility.


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