Strategy & Planning

"We’ve been vocal at the federal level to develop a permanent funding mechanism for a low-income water assistance program, just like in the electric and gas industry. LIHEAP has been around forever and it’s a meaningful program. We don’t have anything similar on the water side."

PUF brings a look at a General Session that was divided into four panels, with the title, “The Tightrope: Utility CEOs’ Balancing Act.” In those four panels, utility CEOs faced Commissioners and a Consumer Advocate to discuss how they balance new resource investments and grid modernization, while ensuring reliability and reasonable rates. The CEOs grappled with tough questions, including how decisions are made concerning how and when to operationalize new initiatives, and whether communication and engagement levels are adequate.

Out of 88 nominations, 23 teams earned Fortnightly Top Innovators awards.

“AEIC’s Ops Center will provide the electric utility industry with authoritative information as a basis for decision making on local, state, and federal infrastructure investments. The Ops Center will facilitate projects that address important issues, including technology challenges, grid storage, electrification, and more. As projects are completed, the Ops Center will publish results.”

“In much of Europe, Asia, and North America, AI is seen as a tool to optimize energy systems and drive technological progress. Communities without reliable electricity are approaching the AI revolution differently.”

“All the African power pools are working on a continental master plan for interconnection of the continent under the leadership of the African Union.”

“It’s also key to braid funding from applicable federal programs, as well as state and local sources, to yield the largest, most transformative, and lasting impacts of clean energy investment on housing affordability.”

“These studies give an idea of what net zero might look like, but we need to take them with a dose of humility given how far we are from net zero today. It’s helpful to keep our minds open to new insights and disruptive innovations as we progress to net zero.”

“With the rise of VPPs, our utility clients need to engage with customers in different ways to enroll in these assets and make sure they are available to dispatch in a reliable way for full decarbonization.”

“Where we are trying to change customer sentiment and get participation in programs, we had extraordinary results. We had over a 300% increase in participation in our programs after we launched the campaign.”