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.

Offer end uses as the product, and not therms or watts. The utility becomes a true energy service company.

In the U.S., electric utilities are the major supporter of MRPs. In other countries, the government has been a major proponent. Countries such as Australia, Canada and Great Britain have relied heavily on MRPs, often citing the deficiencies of traditional rate-of-return ratemaking.

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.

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.

Fairness has conflicting meanings for customers, utilities, power generators, DER providers, and others. Regulators and policymakers must understand their goal should not be the perfect rate design; it doesn't exist.

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.

With the mass rollout of smart meters, the idea of default TOU rates is gaining traction. This article presents the load shifting and conservation impacts of TOU rates on residential electricity use in Ontario from their inception in 2009 through to the end of 2014.

No part of the grid seems to be more obscure or misunderstood than reactive power. "It's like the head on a glass of beer," is one of the amusing descriptions of VARs. But to understand the operation, limitations and problems facing our transmission system as we transition to the greater use of renewables, an understanding of VARs is critical.

The typical solar customer in Southern California could recover their investment in seven years. After which, the facility would provide essentially free electricity for at least 18 more years. If this sounds too good to be true, it is. Those generous returns are paid for by federal taxpayers and California residential customers that lack rooftop solar.