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Rebecca O'Neil

Rebecca O'Neil

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Portland Office
620 SW FIFTH AVE, SUITE #810
Portland, OR 97204
(971) 940-7098

Biography

Ms. Rebecca O’Neil is an advisor for Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. In her career at the Laboratory, she has served as the lab relationship manager for the US DOE EERE Renewable Energy portfolio, served a rotation into the U.S. Department of Energy's Water Power Technologies Office to develop a hydropower-grid research program, and led the regulatory area for energy storage. Her research interests relate to energy justice, energy storage, community-scale innovation, sustainable hydropower and marine energy development. She joined PNNL in 2015 from the Oregon Department of Energy, where she represented the agency on water power development, oversaw the state renewable portfolio standard, and ran a multi-million-dollar portfolio of federal grants ranging from renewable energy feasibility studies, agricultural efficiency measures, energy assurance, and woodstove replacement programs. Before her state service, she managed the multifamily energy efficiency program for the Energy Trust of Oregon, administering incentives to drive upgrades in multifamily dwellings. For years, Rebecca represented a coalition of river conservation and recreation organizations in federal hydropower dam licensing, becoming a recognized and published expert in the regulatory process and the relationship between hydropower operations and environmental effects. She serves on multiple organizational boards and advisory groups related to renewable energy. Unrelated to energy, Rebecca has served as an AmeriCorps-VISTA teaching childhood literacy in rural Kentucky. As a Wagoner Scholar, she conducted Honors work in Cape Town, South Africa, producing a thesis on the role of literacy in manumission. She is a civilian advisory graduate of the National Security Seminar at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. She earned a B.A. from Rice University in Houston.

PNNL Publications

2022

  • Freeman M.C., R.S. O'Neil, L. Garavelli, D. Hellin, and J. Klure. 2022. "Case Study on the Novel Permitting and Authorization of PacWave South, a US Grid-Connected Wave Energy Test Facility: Development, Challenges, and Insights." Energy Policy 168. PNNL-SA-175192. doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2022.113141
  • Newman S.F., D. Bhatnagar, R.S. O'Neil, A.P. Reiman, D.C. Preziuso, and B. Robertson. 2022. "Evaluating the resilience benefits of marine energy in microgrids." International Journal of Marine Energy 5, no. 2:143-150. PNNL-SA-169469. doi:10.36688/imej.5.143-150
  • Nguyen Q.H., A. Singhal, R.S. O'Neil, J.D. Taft, J.B. Twitchell, and A. Somani. 2022. "Analysis of Distributed Energy Storage as a Core Grid Infrastructure via Production Cost Modeling." In IEEE Power & Energy Society General Meeting (PESGM 2022), July 17-21, 2022, Denver, CO, 1-5. Piscataway, New Jersey:IEEE. PNNL-SA-168724. doi:10.1109/PESGM48719.2022.9917218
  • O'Neil R.S., D.C. Preziuso, K.K. Arkema, Y. Ko, N. Pevzner, K. Diamond, and S. Gore, et al. 2022. Renewable Energy Landscapes: Designing Place-Based Infrastructure for Scale. PNNL-32680. Richland, WA: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Renewable Energy Landscapes: Designing Place-Based Infrastructure for Scale
  • Tarekegne B.W., D.W. Powell, K. Oikonomou, E.C. Jacroux, and R.S. O'Neil. 2022. "Analysis of Energy Justice and Equity Impacts from Replacing Peaker Plants with Energy Storage." In IEEE Electrical Energy Storage Applications and Technologies Conference (EESAT 2022), November 8-9, 2022, Austin, TX, 1-5. Piscataway, New Jersey:IEEE. PNNL-SA-175289. doi:10.1109/EESAT55007.2022.9998034

2021

  • Bellgraph B.J., T.C. Douville, A. Somani, K.R. DeSomber, R.S. O'Neil, R.A. Harnish, and J.D. Lessick, et al. 2021. Deployment of Energy Storage to Improve Environmental Outcomes of Hydropower. PNNL-SA-157672. Richland, WA: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Deployment of Energy Storage to Improve Environmental Outcomes of Hydropower
  • Bhatnagar D., S. Bhattacharya, D.C. Preziuso, S. Hanif, R.S. O'Neil, M.E. Alam, and V.H. Chalishazar, et al. 2021. Grid Value Proposition of Marine Energy. PNNL-31123. Richland, WA: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Grid Value Proposition of Marine Energy
  • Bhattacharya S., S. Pennock, B. Robertson, S. Hanif, M.E. Alam, D. Bhatnagar, and D.C. Preziuso, et al. 2021. "Timing Value of Marine Renewable Energy Resources for Potential Grid Applications." Applied Energy 299. PNNL-SA-156569. doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.117281
  • Chalishazar V.H., S. Bhattacharya, S. Hanif, D. Bhatnagar, M.E. Alam, B. Robertson, and D.C. Preziuso, et al. 2021. "Data-Driven Reliability Assessment for Marine Renewable Energy Enabled Island Power Systems." In IEEE Power & Energy Society General Meeting (PESGM 2021), July 26-29, 2021, Washington DC, 1-5. Piscataway, New Jersey:IEEE. PNNL-SA-157769. doi:10.1109/PESGM46819.2021.9637995
  • Hanif S., S. Bhattacharya, V.H. Chalishazar, D. Bhatnagar, M.E. Alam, B. Robertson, and D.C. Preziuso, et al. 2021. "Storage Requirements for Grid Integration of Marine Renewable Energy - a Parametric Study." In IEEE Power & Energy Society Innovative Smart Grid Technologies Conference (ISGT 2021), February 16-18, 2021, Washington DC, 01-05. Piscataway, New Jersey:IEEE. PNNL-SA-155924. doi:10.1109/ISGT49243.2021.9372165
  • Lessick J.D., B.W. Tarekegne, and R.S. O'Neil. 2021. Business Models for Coal Plant Decommissioning. PNNL-31348. Richland, WA: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Business Models for Coal Plant Decommissioning
  • Newman S.F., D. Bhatnagar, R.S. O'Neil, A.P. Reiman, D.C. Preziuso, and B. Robertson. 2021. "Evaluating the resilience benefits of marine energy in microgrids." In Proceedings of the 14th European Wave and Tidal Energy Conference (EWTEC 2021), September 5-9, 2021, Virtual, Online, 1892-1 - 1892-9. Southampton:European Wave and Tidal Energy Conference Series. PNNL-SA-160842.
  • O'Neil R.S., J.B. Twitchell, and D.C. Preziuso. 2021. Energy Equity and Environmental Justice Workshop Report. PNNL-30949. Richland, WA: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Energy Equity and Environmental Justice Workshop Report
  • Tarekegne B.W., B. Pennell, D.C. Preziuso, and R.S. O'Neil. 2021. Review of Energy Equity Metrics. PNNL-32179. Richland, WA: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Review of Energy Equity Metrics
  • Tarekegne B.W., K. Kazimierczuk, and R.S. O'Neil. 2021. Coal-dependent Communities in Transition: Identifying Best Practices to Ensure Equitable Outcomes. PNNL-31909. Richland, WA: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Coal-dependent Communities in Transition: Identifying Best Practices to Ensure Equitable Outcomes
  • Tarekegne B.W., R.S. O'Neil, and J.B. Twitchell. 2021. "Energy Storage as an Equity Asset." Current Sustainable/Renewable Energy Reports 8, no. 3:149-155. PNNL-SA-162218. doi:10.1007/s40518-021-00184-6
  • Tarekegne B.W., R.S. O'Neil, and S.R. Michener. 2021. Energy Storage and Power Plant Decommissioning. PNNL-32214. Richland, WA: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Energy Storage and Power Plant Decommissioning
  • Twitchell J.B., J.D. Taft, R.S. O'Neil, and A.S. Becker-Dippmann. 2021. Regulatory Implications of Embedded Grid Energy Storage. PNNL-30172. Richland, WA: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Regulatory Implications of Embedded Grid Energy Storage

2020

2019

  • Bhattacharya S., D. Bhatnagar, D.C. Preziuso, M.E. Alam, and R.S. O'Neil. 2019. "Grid Value Propositions for Tidal Generation Resources - a Temporal Analysis." In OCEANS 2019 MTS/IEEE, October 27-31, 2019, Seattle, WA. Piscataway, New Jersey:IEEE. PNNL-SA-147233. doi:10.23919/OCEANS40490.2019.8962857
  • Cooke A.L., J.B. Twitchell, and R.S. O'Neil. 2019. Energy Storage in Integrated Resource Plans. PNNL-28627. Richland, WA: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Energy Storage in Integrated Resource Plans
  • O'Neil R.S., A.S. Becker-Dippmann, and J.D. Taft. 2019. The Use of Embedded Electric Grid Storage for Resilience, Operational Flexibility, and Cyber-Security. PNNL-29414. Richland, WA: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The Use of Embedded Electric Grid Storage for Resilience, Operational Flexibility, and Cyber-Security
  • O'Neil R.S., G.J. Staines, and M.C. Freeman. 2019. Marine Hydrokinetics Regulatory Processes Literature Review. PNNL-28608. Richland, WA: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Marine Hydrokinetics Regulatory Processes Literature Review
  • Preziuso D.C., G. Garcia Medina, R.S. O'Neil, and Z. Yang. 2019. "Evaluating the tidal energy resource for smooth power output and grid integration in the United States." In OCEANS 2019 MTS/IEEE, October 27-31, 2019, Seattle, WA. Piscataway, New Jersey:IEEE. PNNL-SA-147231. doi:10.23919/OCEANS40490.2019.8962815
  • Preziuso D.C., R.S. O'Neil, M.E. Alam, D. Bhatnagar, S. Bhattacharya, S. Ganguli, and Y. Yu, et al. 2019. Understanding the Grid Value Proposition of Marine Energy: A Literature Review. PNNL-28839. Richland, WA: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Understanding the Grid Value Proposition of Marine Energy: A Literature Review

2018

  • Schultz A., and R.S. O'Neil. 2018. "Coastal Resilience for the Electric Power System: A National Overview and the Oregon Example." Sea Grant Law and Policy Journal 9, no. 1:3-24. PNNL-SA-126909.

Energy and Environment

Core Research Areas

Contacts