Strategy & Planning

Utilities in the present aim to be fleet of foot. For them, nimble is a common buzzword. Fail fast is another.

“Working collaboratively has broad benefits. It can help utilities genuinely understand the needs of the communities they serve, so they can make more effective investments and act as partners in building more equitable, just communities.”

Panelists discuss technologies, financing options, and regulatory mechanisms states have pursued to break down barriers to facilitate microgrid development.

“How do you create the balance between the necessary upgrades and the anticipatory upgrades you need to do? That’s on the mind of all regulators. We think about threading the needle.”

“Utilities and regulators need to address in language that’s clear to customers about who’s accessing their data, why, and how it benefits customers.”

“The need to secure social acceptance of the energy transition is pushing policymakers and energy companies to engage with previously unnoticed social aspects of energy policy. The energy transition won’t happen if energy democratization doesn’t happen.”

“Electricity is bringing people together. Electricity is part of world peace and that is something we can all embrace.”

“The EU, UK, Norway, and others surrounding Europe have to consider the whole security of supplies, also based on maybe not shutting down coal or all nuclear yet. We need to speed up power generation from new renewables.”

“Inflation, supply chains disrupted, and the Ukraine being invaded by Russia. We’re living this new normal on disruption, so much so that we have seen countries in Europe and others having underlying energy policies affected that are needed to get to net zero.”

“We’re seeing an appreciation by our customers to vary their load, from some of the largest industrial customers to mid-size businesses, cold-storage facilities, many others, where they can shift the times of use of their energy. They like the economic benefits.”