How to manage the green revolution.
Gordon van Welie is president and CEO of ISO New England Inc.
The introduction of competitive markets a decade ago triggered remarkable changes in an electric industry that had been conducting business in essentially the same manner for more than 70 years. These markets have fostered tens of billions of dollars of investment in generation and transmission, and have inspired entrepreneurs to develop novel technologies to modernize the system and make it more efficient.
In the decades ahead, more dramatic changes can be expected. They likely will be sparked by a surge of renewable energy development and the transmission needed to deliver its power to customers, the rapid expansion of demand-side resources and conservation, and the emergence of smart technologies that promise greater efficiency, reliability, and controllability—for operators and customers alike.
Realizing the potential environmental and economic benefits of these impending changes will depend, however, on successfully integrating these resources into the power system reliably and in a cost-effective manner.