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Market forces are precipitously changing the role of utilities. Private companies are offering customers more choices and control over their electricity through energy efficient products and services, demand management, self-generation like rooftop solar, smart electric vehicle chargers, and on-site storage. At the same time, the role of utility-scale wind and solar is growing, as costs have plummeted since 2010.
Many policymakers understand the importance of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but they face a bewildering variety of policy options that may—or may not—help achieve this goal. There has never been an objective way to assess the impacts of energy policy and how numerous policies can work together. On October 20, Energy Innovation launched Energy Policy Solutions, a tool that does just this.
One year ago, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals decided to vacate FERC Order 745, holding that demand response could not be traded in wholesale energy markets. Now that the Supreme Court has held oral arguments in the appeal of the case and a final resolution is imminent, we contemplate how DR will fare and how the market might evolve.
If Charles Dickens were an energy analyst, he’d probably say the past ten years have been the best of times and the worst of times for wind power in America. Yet comparing the two regions with similar total installed wind capacity adds another twist to the story: the importance of good transmission planning.
A new report from America’s Power Plan investigates the question, “who should own and operate distributed energy resources?” It turns out there there are many options for who can own and operate DERs—and any of them can work, as long as the revenue streams are designed or adjusted appropriately.
Energy Innovation’s latest report, Moving California Forward, co-authored with Calthorpe Analytics, assesses the impact of smart growth on meeting California’s climate goals. The study finds that smart land use policy, combined with advances in energy technologies, can help California meet its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 40% below 1990 levels by 2030.
Oftentimes, more can be learned about utilities’ top priorities by listening to shareholder earnings calls than regulatory proceedings. As with any investor-owned company, managers of investor-owned utilities are obligated to maximize shareholder value. So it pays when regulators can find ways to align shareholder value creation with the public interest. Enter performance-based regulation.
Renewable integration in the West has forced reconsideration of system operations, planning, and markets. In order to develop a bulk electric grid that will be resilient in a dynamic future, the manner in which the system is planned and operated and the means by which entities are compensated for the energy, power, ancillary services, and emissions reductions they provide will need to evolve.
A new report from the Global Commission on the Economy and the Climate makes 10 recommendations that could result in up to 96% of the emissions mitigation needed to limit global warming to 2°C. “A goal we once thought of as distant is within our reach,” said former Mexican President Felipe Calderón, chair of the commission.
Like other distributed energy resources (DERs), customer-owned distributed storage puts competitive pressure on utilities by reducing customers’ reliance on the grid. As costs of DERs come down, customers can afford to rely less and less on the grid for electricity service.
