Designing markets to accommodate variable resources.
Michael Hogan is a senior advisor for the Regulatory Assistance Project. Bentham Paulos serves as project manager for the America’s Power Plan project. http://www.americaspowerplan.org/
Customer demand for new energy technologies is hitting a brick wall of regulatory systems designed for the last century. This is especially true in the design of power markets.
Renewables and demand-side technologies have some features that will disrupt traditional energy markets as they grow. As a package, they present a very different way of running the grid, with greater efficiency, energy security, and lower emissions. But market designs need to evolve to accommodate innovation and clean energy.
Meet The Duck
The rapid growth of solar power is causing regulators in California to plan for change.
A typical daily demand curve in California rises in the morning as people wake and go to work, it peaks in the afternoon as air conditioners kick in, and it hits a second, highest peak in the early evening, as workers come home to their dinner and TV.