Examining reliability impact of renewables
As directed by the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) must conduct periodic assessments of the reliability and adequacy of the bulk power system (BPS). To that end, NERC…
How New York is reinventing the electric utility
State PSC: ‘Distributed System Platform Providers’ are the future Since the 1920s, utility regulation has helped provide the U.S. with “universal access” to electricity, Jim Rogers, former CEO of Duke Energy, recently noted. Utilities were…
Utilities investing unprecedented amounts in transmission infrastructure
Investor-owned electric utility companies are continuing to make significant investments to build needed transmission infrastructure, updating the nation’s transmission network to meet 21st Century needs and demands, according to the Edison Electric Institute (EEI). In…
The Utility Customer 2020: Digital, connected, social
Change is happening all around us. Technology continues to impact our lives at exponential rates. Social media networks and mobile devices, in particular, are constantly evolving the way we interact with the world. We previously…
Utility X.0
Although tomorrow’s Utility X.0 will still depend heavily on central generation plants, it will also include more renewable generation, storage, distributed generation and electric vehicles. Utility X.0 will need to manage such widely distributed systems,…
Distribution Utilities at a Crossroad
Globally, distribution utilities are rapidly incorporating standards-based smart grid protection and control technologies into their asset base. But they and their regulators still face challenges in terms of marketing products and seeing them accepted by…
Utility industry trends to watch in 2014
The co-founders of Opower tell us about the top 5 trends they’re watching when it comes to utilities. Last year brought about a number of interesting developments in the energy industry. Based on what we…
10 predictions for the electric sector in 2014
The U.S. electric sector faces radical change in 2014. From the rise of disruptive technologies to paradigm shifts in policy and regulation, every industry player today is confronting a wholly uncertain future. With that in mind,…