Microgrids and Battery Storage
In search of enlightened policy to build a solid business case.
A smart grid expert searches for a solid business case – and tells how to create enlightened policy to make it happen.
Law & Lawyers
Four Utilities, Four Strategies
Installing utility-scale, grid-connected battery storage.
Stories on installing grid-connected battery storage from AEP, Green Mountain Power, Imperial Irrigation District, and Kauai Island (Hawaii) Utility Co-op.
New Technologies Require Regulatory Vigilance and Balance
Regulators should presume all advocates of a technology desire to gain unfair advantage over competitors.
Regulators are especially vulnerable to rent-seeking efforts by advocates to achieve self-serving outcomes, at the expense of the general public.
Community Storage: Coming to a Home Near You
A readily available option for storage may be coordinating existing devices that have untapped storage capacity
Despite battery technology’s ability to grab clean tech media headlines, industry still lacks a clear, practical, cost-effective path.
Postcards from Hawaii: Lessons on Grid Transformation
Hawaiian utility experts describe the islands’ fast-growing solar market as a postcard from the future
The group spent four days immersed in Hawaii’s dynamic solar market, listening and learning from the experiences of utility executives, policy makers, solar and clean tech players.
Activating the Human Grid
Involvement of the crew and utility customer is a powerful untapped source of telemetry, control and general network information
The purpose fulfilling the other half of the human grid is to leverage the consumer to provide outage and restoration telemetry, and in some cases, a degree of load control, since the consumer ultimately controls the load.
Technology on the Move
Military and telecom expertise create high-tech utility solution
Imagine trying to hold a 120-foot antenna in 90 mile-per-hour winds…an antenna that if moved more than an inch, would lose its signal. That was just one of the challenges facing Xcel Energy as it strategized creating a temporary microwave connection to secure vital communications for a new substation in New Mexico in order to meet contractual requirements.
New Grid Security Measures for 2016
Two new laws that may have escaped attention by the industry have the potential to dramatically change the grid security landscape
It is unclear whether and to what extent CISA 2015 will displace or incorporate existing electric industry programs
Do Bigger Investments Yield Greater Returns on Cybersecurity?
Directors increasingly view cybersecurity as an enterprise-wide risk issue.
Taking a “compliance approach” to security (doing the minimum to comply with NERC CIP) may not be the most effective use of resources given potential operational and reputational risks.
Solar Consumer Education and Protection
Consumers should embrace clean energy alternatives only after educating themselves on the technologies and necessary commitments
Consumer Counts: It is critical that stakeholders in the energy space maintain an open dialogue with consumers and create and uphold good, consistent standards, education and protections.