It's a Five-Minute World
New rule would align price settlements with real-time dispatch.
A misalignment of scheduling and price settlement opens the door to mischief.
Brattle Group
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.
Is Nuclear Energy Still Viable?
Cheap natural gas is not just hurting coal. It’s doing the same to nuclear.
As the nation strives for cleaner air and less carbon emissions, nuclear – the most promising carbon-free power source – faces stiff competition from natural gas, which is cheap, abundant, and a lot easier to get permitted and built than a conventional reactor.
Enron's Lessons
Are regulators managing market manipulation?
Some will stray from ethical behavior. But markets must be regulated to maintain confidence.
The Paradox of Inclining Block Rates
What goes up doesn’t always come down.
Two California-based utilities are studied to determined if inclining block rates can be used to promote energy efficiency.
Smart by Default
Time-varying rates from the get-go – not just by opt-in.
Default enrollment for time-varying rates, with an opt-out, will reduce peak demand and far more than a default flat rate with a TVR opt-in.
Scare Tactics
New England’s proposed capacity market reform would force generators to ‘Be There or Else.’
Facing worries about resource adequacy, ISO New England proposes changes that would penalize generators that fail to perform when needed -- for any reason. Market players say it can only work if the system operator allows for reasonable exceptions.
Low Tech Resilience
Portable small-scale generators could keep vital services on line during a major power outage.
High-voltage generation reserves cost more than would portable, small-scale units to keep critical services on line during a major power outage.
Reducing Rate Shocks
Original-cost ratemaking doesn’t suit the challenges facing utilities today.
Levelized rates can serve customers’ interests, while also accelerating capital investment and providing an economic stimulus to the economy.
Charting the DSM Sales Slump
Submitted by mburr on Wed, 2013-05-01 11:36Demand side management has a growing effect on energy sales. Utilities are applying five methods to account for DSM in sales forecasts. A Brattle Group survey reveals those methods and their characteristics.
Demand side management has a growing effect on energy sales. Utilities are applying five methods to account for DSM in sales forecasts. A Brattle Group survey reveals those methods and their characteristics.