Utilities and Partners Can Benefit
Dr. Woychik has worked for over 40 years with more than 40 countries on energy market formation, utilities, technology innovation, and regulatory policy. He is currently Senior Vice President at Willdan.
There are seven essential conditions under which smart grid investments are justified.
1. If Customers Engage
New growth in distributed energy resources translates to more customer options. But why will customers engage to choose this, especially where energy costs are relatively low?
Where major value is offered, customers can be induced to engage. Distributed energy resources (DER) that provide major value justify higher customer incentives and financing.
Tailored resources are justified when targeted to fit specific customer and grid needs. It remains challenging to demonstrate their full value and how value should be defined.
What's different than five years ago? We now have big data, including granular customer data, advanced software, greater computation capabilities, and advanced distributed energy resources technology.
Customer benefits are the key part of this value chain. Additional resource value can be tapped from utility distribution and the bulk grid. A portion of total benefits can also be shared with customers.
Together, by tapping multiple markets, the option value of distributed energy resources can be monetized. In short, benefit sharing based on this richer value chain can ensure more viable customer engagement.