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Strategy & Planning

Is Nuclear Energy Still Viable?

Cheap natural gas is not just hurting coal. It’s doing the same to nuclear.

As the nation strives for cleaner air and less carbon emissions, nuclear – the most promising carbon-free power source – faces stiff competition from natural gas, which is cheap, abundant, and a lot easier to get permitted and built than a conventional reactor.
Byline: 

Ken Silverstein

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Piggybacking on the Grid

Why net energy metering is unfair and inefficient.

While customers may have reached a “net zero” threshold on energy, they are a large net negative on very expensive grid services.
Byline: 

Charles E. Bayless

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A Tale of Two Technologies

Uncle Sam didn’t frack this one up.

Technological progress can be function of productive public-private partnerships that help shoulder risks and raise capital.
Byline: 

Llewellyn King, Editor-at-Large

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Gas Pipelines for New England

A consumer model that compounds public benefits.

Natural gas used for electric generation is running headfirst into the lack of sufficient pipeline capacity. The magnitude of these changes demands a fresh look at business practices, especially in New England, which is suffering while neighboring regions benefit from the Marcellus Shale bonanza.
Byline: 

Ronald C. DeCurzio

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REV'ed and Ready

New York aims to Reform its Energy Vision. For technology companies, it’s a dream come true.

New York State is now rethinking its regulatory in the wake of Superstorm Sandy, and it expects to become an example to other states as it explores microgrids and energy storage.
Byline: 

Andrew O. Kaplan

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The Paradox of Inclining Block Rates

What goes up doesn’t always come down.

Two California-based utilities are studied to determined if inclining block rates can be used to promote energy efficiency.
Byline: 

Ahmad Faruqui, Ryan Hledik, and Wade Davis

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Securing the Smart Grid

Questions and answers on consumer privacy and threats to the grid – both physical and cyber.

The economic argument for investments in the smart grid is clear: the payback from those technologies in the U.S. is likely three to six times greater than the money invested, and grows with each sequence of grid improvement.
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Creative Disruption

Today’s technologies are causing utilities to rethink their business models.

Fifteen years into the 21st Century, the utility industry is being asked to think forward, beyond 2050. To some, that's a bit of a stretch for a mostly regulated enterprise that has been producing power and sending the electrons reliably for the last 150 years or so. To many others, though, it's past time for an evolution.
Byline: 

Ken Silverstein, Editor-in-Chief

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