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Law & Lawyers

The New Energy Math

NY Operations Center Saves Millions

New York’s Energy Manager Network Operations Center is an example of how the development and robust use of smart electric technology is moving the industry in a new, unprecedented and necessary direction.
Byline: 

Gil Quiniones

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Energy Highways

Politics and Infrastructure Development

Technology adoption is an incomplete strategy. What is needed is a more comprehensive and long-term approach to infrastructure development.
Byline: 

Tom Sloan

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The Sun Shines for All

Solar Options Abound

As utilities get better at distribution planning, it is likely they will incentivize putting solar in older neighborhoods where the grid needs to be strengthened. A portfolio of rooftop solar, community solar and utility-scale solar is the only way to make solar accessible to all.
Byline: 

Ed Smeloff

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Seven Conditions Justify Smart Grid Investments

Utilities and Partners Can Benefit

Seven essential conditions justify smart grid investment: If customers engage, if DER defers capital assets, if DER is grid integrated, if DER lowers overall costs, if desired reliability is assured, if greater innovation results, and if greater utility profits result.
Byline: 

Eric Woychik

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Imagine Better Things

Leveraging Technology to Create Value

Technology enables. Examples from others abound. The real drivers of transformational change are these entrepreneurial thinkers and doers who strike a chord with consumers. It's up to you to imagine better things.
Byline: 

Roger Woodworth

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The IoT and EE

What Does It Spell?

As the Internet of Things enters our homes, utilities have an opportunity to aggregate the devices into a system that consumers can easily manage. Consumers will find they are becoming more energy efficient, even if that was not the initial motivation.
Byline: 

John Hargrove and Eric Stern

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In Only the Second Period of Low Real Rates and Bills

How Should We Manage and Regulate Now?

Electric bills this March were just a tick off the pace of the all-time low. In this unique period, how should we regulate utilities? Should we correct course? Should we allow greater growth of non-fuel costs to – let’s say – buy some more reliability?
Byline: 

Steve Mitnick

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New Jersey Eyes Microgrids to Augment Reliability

Excerpt from the December 9, 2016 issue of PUR's Utility Regulatory News

The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities determined that microgrids, whether based on CHP, fuel cell, solar, or some other technology, offer the promise of increased system resiliency. Especially with CHP-based microgrids, energy efficiency is advanced as well.
Byline: 

Phillip Cross and Diane Boiler, Public Utilities Reports, Inc.

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Energy People: Ben Fowke

We talked with Ben Fowke, who leads Xcel Energy

Ben Fowke and Steve Mitnick discuss Xcel’s rapidly growing wind resources. They made up 17 percent of the energy provided to Xcel’s customers in 2015, generating more power than nuclear and nearly as much as natural gas. By 2020, Xcel projects that 24 percent of its energy will come from wind.
Byline: 

Ben Fowke, with Steve Mitnick

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