The Paradox of Inclining Block Rates
What goes up doesn’t always come down.
Two California-based utilities are studied to determined if inclining block rates can be used to promote energy efficiency.
Strategy & Planning
Securing the Smart Grid
Questions and answers on consumer privacy and threats to the grid – both physical and cyber.
The economic argument for investments in the smart grid is clear: the payback from those technologies in the U.S. is likely three to six times greater than the money invested, and grows with each sequence of grid improvement.
Creative Disruption
Today’s technologies are causing utilities to rethink their business models.
Fifteen years into the 21st Century, the utility industry is being asked to think forward, beyond 2050. To some, that's a bit of a stretch for a mostly regulated enterprise that has been producing power and sending the electrons reliably for the last 150 years or so. To many others, though, it's past time for an evolution.
Reaching for the Cloud
Utilities house pools of data in the Internet ecosystem, striving for efficiencies.
Business decisions may be easier to come by at utilities now that new technologies are capturing their data from a multitude of sources and storing it in the “cloud” where it can be accessed by analysts and authorized personnel.
Rethinking Regulation
Not so Fast: Why the Electric Industry May be Heading in the Wrong Direction
Utility regulation will often display the power of special interests, which may only appeal to a narrow set of interests. Public officials need to step and serve the broader public.
Early Clean Power Planning
A hedging strategy for sec. 111(d).
While the public comment period on EPA’s Clean Power Plan proposed rule has closed, there are still opportunities to engage in the federal policymaking process before the summer 2015 release of the final rule.
Microgrids: Friend or Foe for Utilities?
For many, it’s the next logical step for smart grid technology.
A small, but growing, number of utilities are embracing these technologies. Microgrids offer a networking platform that the utility can both aggregate and optimize.
Demand Disruption Ahead
Utilities should think hard about business models.
Death spiral? Maybe not. But retail load – as served by utilities – will surely fall.
Finding Common Ground on Energy Efficiency
Policy recommendations for utilities and regulators.
It’s the downright cheapest way of mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. Yet it’s mired from state to state in battles over definitions, principles, and parameters. Herein a collection of recommended policy positions to break the impasse over energy efficiency.
The Death of the Grid?
As Mark Twain would say, the reports are exaggerated.
Contrary to rumor, the grid won’t die, but in fact must grow exponentially, in function, complexity, and usefulness.