Frontlines & Op-Ed

Wind Power Subsidies

Today, tomorrow, forever?

NREL contradicts AWEA, finds wind power not competitive, and favors extending the production tax credit (PTC), but that won’t aid economic growth.

Reliability vs. Resiliency

Prevent problems, or wait and respond when something happens?

FERC holds conference on electric reliability, asks about standards for resiliency – not just to prevent problems, but how to respond once they occur.

Negawhat?

EPSA v. FERC: How the court went wrong on demand response.

The court’s ruling in EPSA v. FERC assigns a retail/wholesale dichotomy to demand response, but is that distinction even meaningful?

Performance is What Counts

ISO New England’s capacity market proposal will bring reliability benefits to the region.

ISO New England CEO Gordon van Welie rebuts implications in a Fortnightly column about the ISO’s “Pay for Performance” capacity market proposal.

Unwinding the Death Spiral

Rooftop solar, net metering, and the perils of utilityspeak.

The Sierra Club accuses utilities of trying to snuff out rooftop solar. Attorney Donald Sipe recommends RTO/ISO markets for natural gas.

Community Renaissance

When one age ends, another begins.

Community microgrids raise questions about the role of the utility franchise, versus the free market.

Don't Get Netflixed

The tide is turning. Are we planning for it – or hoping to stop it?

The central station system is the most cost-effective way to provide utility service, but that's beside the point. Customers don't care about 'utility service.'

Catching Fire

Climate policy heats up after the Great Recession.

GHG rules are coming soon. What happens next will depend on how states react.

Beyond the Meter

Protecting your base – while keeping options open.

The coming years will bring policy wrangling over distributed resources – what’s economic and what’s not.

Energy Efficiency Unknowns

Making efficiency programs work requires understanding real-world behavior.

Efficiency programs often fall short because they don’t account for human behavior. Systematic studies with randomized trials can bring better results.