What a review of PUC cases tells us about the future of consumer technology and grid modernization.
Cameron Brooks is founder and president of E9 Insight, a Boulder, Colorado, firm that tracks regulatory proceedings and provides customized research for U.S. electric utility industry companies, agencies, and organizations. He has served as an advisor on energy issues to organizations including U.S. Department of Energy, Lawrence Berkeley National Labs, Google, Energy Foundation, Tendril, Varentec, Navigant Research, Mission:data, Gridwise Alliance, and the Smart Grid Consumer Collaborative. Prior to founding E9 Insight he was vice president of policy at Tendril, responsible for regulatory engagement and market segmentation. He holds an M.B.A. from Cornell University with a focus on energy markets, and a B.A. from Yale University.
According to figures reported by the Energy Information Agency last month, annual electricity sales fell by over one percent in 2015. For the fifth time in the last eight years, electricity sales have declined, establishing a trend that is fueled, in addition to changes in the manufacturing sector, by consumer technologies that allow increasing energy efficiency and generation. Bloomberg recently estimated that power generators in the country may face a revenue shortfall of two billion dollars due to the fact that nearly one million homes with rooftop solar are generating substantial amounts of their own power.