No Single Hero, No Lone Innovator
Lisa Wood is vice president of the Edison Foundation and executive director of the Institute for Electric Innovation, IEI. At IEI, she collaborates with a management committee of more than twenty electric company CEOs and a select group of technology companies, and provides thought leadership on current issues, trends, and innovation in the electric power industry.
Over the past decade, we've seen much change in the electric power industry. New technologies, public policies, and changing customer expectations all played, and continue to play, a role in the industry's transformation. Technologies change what we can do, how we can do it, and what it costs to do it. But, as is well known, it is technology coupled with the right policies and regulatory support that will provide the essential ingredients for continuing to move the industry's transformation forward.
We've already witnessed much innovation and change. What was wishful thinking just a few years ago is being realized today by electric companies across the country. For example:
The mix of resources used to generate electricity is far cleaner than a decade ago;
The energy grid is more digital and more interconnected, and is integrating and orchestrating a more complex mix of central and distributed energy resources;
Customers have access to a range of individualized services.
In the electric power industry, innovation is a team sport. There is no single person, company, policymaker, regulator, stakeholder, customer, or organization driving innovation and change. Yet, we can see that change is well underway, and many believe that innovation and change will continue and likely will accelerate over the next decade.