Strategy & Planning

Energy People: Arshad Mansoor

We talked with Arshad Mansoor, Senior Vice President, Research and Development for the Electric Power Research Institute

Arshad Mansoor is responsible for EPRI's portfolio of R&D and demonstration programs. He is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and is a member of the board of The Energy Production and Infrastructure Center (EPIC) at UNC Charlotte.

Utility's Role in Electricity's Future, Part II

Utility Execs Roundtable: We continued the conversation with execs from seven utilities in the Northeast who help lead their companies on future strategies

In part II of our roundtable, we discuss how new products and services are expected to create new revenue streams for utilities, augmenting the (slowly) declining traditional revenue.

Why Innovation?

Also, What, Who, Where, When?

Why is innovation all the rage? Yes, continual improvement always makes sense. But the dramatic changes being talked about, are they that urgent? Let's recognize how much customers vary in their electricity wants and needs, within service territories, between territories, and between states.

A Faster Flight to Value

Collaborating to Get More, Sooner

Imagine five or ten utilities teamed up to advance useful applications of drones to the industry. Whether with drones or some other emerging opportunity, collaboration is a smart path to more value, faster.

Moral Economics and Power

Neo-Liberalism's Consequences

Adam Smith's first book, “The Theory of Moral Sentiments,” argued that people acted not just for money, but also out of professional pride, fairness, patriotism, altruism and other non-economic reasons. Maybe the time has come to revisit Adam Smith and his important first book.

New Year 2017: The Trump Administration

Change Will Occur, Slowly

It is not possible to know what priorities the new administration will pursue. It is possible for legislators, regulators, and utilities to make some assumptions: coal will continue to decline as a generation fuel, previous utility investment and court decisions will carry forward. Legislators will continue to promote generation fuel diversity to best ensure system reliability.

Golden Rule Applies to Public Servants

Harassment is Wrong

It is appropriate that people are passionate about sharing their views with utility regulators. But demonizing or implicitly threatening a public servant should have no place in public discourse.

Nuclear Power as A Carbon Reduction Strategy

Low Carbon, not Always Low Cost

Consider the current U.S. low power price environment as the country shifts away from coal and toward cleaner energy sources to reduce carbon emissions. What are the prospects that nuclear energy will continue to play a role in the U.S. power mix? That's the question that Michael Haggarty addressed in a recent report on global nuclear power generation.

Cybersecurity, Part 1

Opportunities and Challenges for State Utility Regulators

This article examines the evolving role of state regulators in addressing cybersecurity in the energy sector. It highlights the importance of developing state regulatory processes that promote efficiency, maintain confidentiality, consider affordability and incentivize investment, while ensuring both the cost-effectiveness and security of utility infrastructure.