Demand Disruption Ahead
Utilities should think hard about business models.
Death spiral? Maybe not. But retail load – as served by utilities – will surely fall.
Distributed Generation & Microgrids
Integrated Energy
Distributed energy + distributed controls = distributed benefits.
Utility business models are at risk in a world of distributed energy resources and local intelligent controls, such as microgrids. But the real revolution may lie in customer expectations, where third parties threaten to take ownership.
Digest (November 2014)
Siemens will provide the grid connection for an offshore wind farm off the coast of the U.K.; ABB will supply gas-insulated switchgear for substations in New Jersey; A team from the Microgrid Institute will design, simulate, and test microgrid control systems for two Maryland suburbs; Plus solar power developments by Xcel Energy, SunEdison, ReneSola, and Duke Energy; and others…
Start the Conversation
The regulator’s role in a world divided by distributed generation.
A state utility commissioner urges her colleagues to begin planning now for distributed generation – before it’s too late.
Intelligent Protection
Local network security in the age of microgrids and distributed generation.
With the local grid infused with distributed generation, static relay settings must yield to a more dynamic approach to ensure network security.
From ISO to DSO
Imagining a new construct – an independent system operator for the distribution network.
A new utility industry construct – the Distribution System Operator (DSO) – could help maximize the benefits of distributed energy resources.
Working at the Edge of the Grid
How to find value in distributed energy resources.
Distributed resources create a new multi-directional power grid, achieving the sort of scale-driven cost levels and ease of installation that portend of future mass deployment.
The End of an Age
Survival in the new market requires embracing new technologies and practices.
New technologies are opening the utility domain to innovation and competition. Traditional utilities will shrink as outsourcing providers and competitors grow. Survival in this new market requires embracing new technologies and practices.
Community Renaissance
When one age ends, another begins.
Community microgrids raise questions about the role of the utility franchise, versus the free market.
Distributed Generation: Benefit Values In Hard Numbers
In the second of three articles, Oak Ridge National Laboratory reviews the economics and financial issues related to DG.
In the second of three articles on DER, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory examines the effect of DER and combined heat and power on a large power pool.