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Zero-Carbon and Low-Carbon Power Rising

Zero-carbon power increased 7.3 percent, while power with emissions decreased 7.1 percent.

Of all the nation’s electricity, 35.8 percent was generated without emitting carbon dioxide, this year through June. The remaining 64.2 percent was generated with emissions. 

57.1 percent of the zero-carbon power came from nuclear plants. 16.6 percent came from wind farms. 3.5 percent came from solar. 

Byline: 

Steve Mitnick

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Housing Market Drives Electric Market

New houses use much more electricity and drive electricity consumption growth.

Want to know why electricity consumption isn't growing that much? Look no further than the Census Department stats on new single-family houses.

In 2015, 648 thousand new single-family houses were completed nationally. That's up forty-five percent from 2011. But down sixty-one percent from 2006.

Why is the housing recovery from 2011 and lingering housing recession from 2006 so important for us in utility regulation and policy? 

Byline: 

Steve Mitnick

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Off Peak: What Ernie Knew!

A crestfallen witness, a respectful commission
Public testimony was the highlight of many public utility rate increase request hearings during my years as a commissioner on the Wisconsin Public Service Commission. Rarely was a public witness cross-examined by the utility’s attorney or by the commissioners. Here’s an example of the latter.
Byline: 
Branko Terzic
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Michael Faraday, Lewis Latimer, Pearl Street

September Birthdays
On September 22, 1791, one of the greatest scientists in history, Michael Faraday, was born in Newington Butts, England (now in London). James Clerk Maxwell extended Faraday’s work to develop our theories of electricity and magnetism.
Byline: 

Steve Mitnick

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Helter Skelter

Closure of a Perfectly Decent Nuclear Power Plant

Prematurely closing a nuclear plant because of the inflexibility of solar and wind generation is like going after a fly with a sledgehammer.
Byline: 

Steve Huntoon

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Governors' Advisors' Energy Policy Institute

June’s Meeting
Each year the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices convenes governors’ energy advisors. They share lessons learned on state policy and hear about the array of issues impacting the energy sector. In June 2016, takeaways included the need to understand more about equity issues surrounding emerging technologies for low-income populations, potential changes to utility business models, and the energy-water nexus.
Byline: 

Aliza Wasserman and Sam Cramer

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Marginal Utility

Way Forward for Electric Utilities
To address this brave new world facing the U.S.’s electric utility industry, we suggest an electric utility six-pack to facilitate the transition.
Byline: 

Leonard Hyman and William Tilles

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Legislative and Consumer Advocate Challenges

Reforming the Regulatory Advocacy Process

State legislators must be mindful that the customer base is evolving. We will need to reassess the enabling legislation that defines the consumer advocate’s roles in our various states. The consumer advocates, within the statutory authority granted, may have to choose which customers to represent before utility commissions.
Byline: 

Tom Sloan

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