Article Archive

Microgrids Encircle Utilities

Through disruptive technologies, utilities will transform themselves, and the world in which they operate.

The Marine Corps Air Station near San Diego could be a microcosm of not just how the U.S. military does business but also how corporate America will transact commerce. It is using a microgrid that was developed in part with Raytheon technology, in conjunction with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Here, solar panels are creating the electricity that is then harnessed by a battery storage system built by Primus Power.

The Mean Power Plan

States like Georgia are well on their way to meeting the Obama administration's carbon goals without the Clean Power Plan's decree.

Taylor Swift's song "Mean" begins with these words:

You, with your words like knives,
And swords and weapons that you use against me,
You have knocked me off my feet again


As a regulator in a state that has made enormous energy progress in the last 10 years, I'm feeling her pain as the EPA rule becomes final. Let me explain.

Georgia, a red-state, with all Republican constitutional officers, and all Republican utility commissioners, is leading the nation in many ways.

The States' Modest Request of the EPA

Sixteen states, a full third of the 48 states effected, have asked the EPA to voluntarily stay implementation of the final Clean Power Plan regulations until the constitutional litigation over the rule is resolved.

While the final Clean Power Plan was meant to clarify the new regulations of the electrical grid, it has several things that can be quibbled with besides the 1,500-plus pages. Ultimately, the thorniest issue is the question of the constitutional right of the EPA, or for that matter any federal agency, to impose federal mandates on the electrical grid where none existed before.

Jobs, Jobs and Energy Jobs

With some 2 million jobs, and with their well-above-average compensation, benefits and job quality, electricity employment is an important slice of the nation’s workforce.

Job creation is paramount. Job creation in the energy sector is even more instrumental, for those who ply their trade there as we do. How often have we heard, for instance, that the solar industry - its residential rooftop segment especially - is creating jobs at remarkable rates of year-over-year growth? Much was made recently that solar has left the coal industry in the dust (pun intended) in terms of employment.