Changes in electric power regulation can unleash billion-dollar markets overnight. Or stall progress for years. Explore this section for links to guidelines, resources and case studies.
Results: 351 results found. You are on page 1 of 15 pages.
The California Public Utilities Commission today gave a unanimous thumbs up to a Pacific Gas & Electric Company proposal to allow customers to opt out of its smart meter program - if they're willing to pay a fee for that choice. But after a noisy and emotional meeting it was clear that this story is far from over: smart meter opponents are dead set against paying the fees.
Security veteran Ernie Hayden can tell some scary stories about lax security practices he's been eyewitness to during utility site visits. He worries there's too much emphasis on security compliance rather than true protection on both the physical and cyber fronts. The fix? Click for five steps he believes every utility should take now to 'bake in' security organization-wide.
Brian Warshay of Lux Research outlines the highlights of a California Public Utilities Commission proposal for an energy storage policy that lays out the barriers to storage adoption – and a roadmap to deal with them. Get the lowdown on why stakeholders should be keeping an eye on this one.
Efforts to build new transmission and expand natural gas production in the U.S. have been a qualified success because of "studious" efforts to craft the right price signals and break down traditional monopolies on power generation and sales, former FERC Commissioner Marc Spitzer tells AOL Energy. Click for more of their wide-ranging interview.
You may have been thinking it, but Eran Ofir comes right out and says it: The single greatest roadblock to smart grid in the U.S. is regulation.The Convergys GM calls it a classic case of market need and technology outpacing the 'historic residue' of existing regulatory policy. Click to read what he says utilities should do right now to fix things.
A report from the U.S. Commerce Department says there is a pressing need to upgrade the U.S. infrastructure, and points to the smart grid as a critical example. SGN Chief Analyst Jesse Berst asks if this warning and others that preceded it could lead to a national energy policy.
One of the industry's leading thinkers has stopped by to suggest that we still have work to do before the smart grid can pass the tipping point. But Bridge Energy Group's David O'Brien isn't worried about technology. He thinks the sticking points are delivering operating performance and reforming regulations. He even thinks (gasp!) that utilities should step up to the plate and design the future they want for themselves.
We told you recently about smart grid resistance in Florida, Connecticut and Illinois, adding to the list of states experiencing consumer pushback. Click for an update on the situation in Illinois, where anti-smart grid activists in Naperville just lost a round.
A German utility CEO said the country's abrupt move away from nuclear power to wind and solar not only costs far too much, but also is causing grid-related problems for its neighbors. SGN Chief Analyst Jesse Berst provides perspective on the story.
The Michigan Public Service Commission plans to investigate state utilities that are installing smart meters in response to concerns expressed by customers and some communities about safety and privacy issues. Get the details inside on this latest installment in Michigan's ongoing smart meter backlash story.
While some utilities around the country are agreeing to let customers opt out of smart meter installations for a price, in Michigan DTE Energy says it has no plans for an opt out - even after a city declared a moratorium on smart meter installations until the utility makes an opt-out plan available.
Materials vital for EV motors and high-efficiency wind turbines and compact fluorescent lights are in short supply, leading to concerns that those shortages could delay adoption of clean energy technologies or make them more costly. Margaret Ryan explains what the DOE hopes to do to attack the problem.
Some utilities want to insist that every customer get a smart meter. Others are willing (if not happy) to let those who object use an old-style meter instead - provided they pay for it. But how much should they pay? Should they be charged for the installation? For the full cost of sending out a manual meter reader? Click for a quick review of what several pioneers are proposing and to trade comments at our discussion forum.
Utility executives' preoccupation with the generation side of the business has slowed smart grid growth, suggests SGN Analyst Jesse Berst. Now a court decision delaying new EPA pollution rules adds even more uncertainty. Click to find out why.
A bill has been introduced in the House that would require the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to evaluate cybersecurity risks to critical infrastructure (including the power grid) and then to determine ways to lessen that risk. Meanwhile, a second bill would give the federal government the authority to share classified information about cyber-threats with American companies.
New research says the world's cities are failing their citizens by failing to capture the full value of infrastructure and data. Although the report's lessons apply to any kind of smart technology, they are directly relevant to the challenges faced by many of today's smart grid efforts – a valuable heads-up for utilities on the new demands and new pressures coming their way. Click inside for details and to download the report.
Cities are already making investments in low carbon ‘smart’ services from cycle hire schemes to real time transportation apps, and are increasingly the site for smart grid and distributed electricity generation pilot projects. But the explosion in access to data – 400% growth since 2005 – means that more low carbon services could be developed today. To make this opportunity real, cities can set ambitious visions, measure track and manage their progress to sustainability goals enabled by the digital infrastructure, and test new business models to scale up solutions.
Even as it revs up in the U.S., the wind power industry is bracing for the potential of an equally abrupt slowdown at the end of 2012 when the Production Tax Credit is set to expire. Learn more about the outlook for wind energy in this report from AOL Energy.
With the announcement of the extensive steps it plans to take to meet the requirements of the state's smart grid bill, ComEd says it is the first U.S. utility to have its profits dependent on performance. SGN's Jesse Berst has the story.
If the smart grid gets stalled in North America, it may be partly because utility executives are simply too busy with other issues. One of the biggest distractions: new federal regulations on coal-fired power plants. Click to read what's on the mind of industry leaders as they look forward to 2012 and beyond.
A new report out from MIT says the grid is threatened and there are too many cybersecurity groups with too little enforcement power to keep it safe. Do we, as MIT researchers suggest, need a single agency? And, if so, where should it live - FERC? NERC? A brand new agency? That's this week's Tuesday topic in our discussion forum.
You'd expect the big brains at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to come up with big, brilliant ideas as part of their lengthy new report on the future of the electric grid. But frankly, we were underwhelmed by their call for utilities to share project findings. And by what they didn't say about dynamic pricing.
The intent of this MIT report is to provide a comprehensive, objective portrait of the U.S. electric grid and the challenges and opportunities it is likely to face over the next two decades. It also highlights a number of areas in which policy changes, focused research and demonstration, and the collection and sharing of important data can facilitate meeting the challenges and seizing the opportunities that the grid will face.
The Maryland Public Service Commission is considering new regulations that would mandate a 24% improvement in the frequency of outages by 2015. We've already got Renewable Portfolio Standards for utilities. Is it time for reliability standards too? That's our Tuesday Topic this week; click inside to learn how you can join the discussion.
If Congress approves the STORAGE Act introduced earlier this month, Lux Research analyst Brian Warshay says it would not only encourage more large-scale grid storage projects, but do wonders to promote grid storage initiatives paired with intermittent renewable energy generation systems. But will lawmakers go for the investment tax credits the legislation allows?
Natural gas is getting so cheap that it may become cheaper and faster to slap up a gas-fired peaking plant than to implement a complicated demand response or renewable project - two of the biggest drivers of a smart grid. Yikes! Will natural gas alternatives make the smart grid too expensive by comparison? That's this week's Tuesday Topic in our discussion forum. Please join in.
Twitter
Facebook
Linkedin
RSS
