March Birthdays: Kirchhoff to Kaiulani

Gustav Kirchhoff, Albert Einstein, Reddy Kilowatt, George Ohm, Robert Millikan, and the light bulb patent.

Gustav Kirchhoff, who you can blame for the miserable complexity of electrical transmission and distribution systems, was born on March 12, 1824. Albert Einstein was born on March 14, 1879. And others ...
Byline: 

Steve Mitnick

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Fate of Conservation Mandates

Many states allow private opt-outs, but Florida bucks the trend.

Should regulators allow customers opt-out, on the theory they know best? Or should all customers be made to participate?
Byline: 

Phil Cross

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The Long and Short of Grid Congestion

FTRs make hedging possible, but can PJM ensure full funding without playing favorites?

Financial traders believe PJM’s proposal discriminates since they are more likely to hold counter-flow FTRs.
Byline: 

Bruce W. Radford

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Musk and Me

I signed up for a free quote on line.

With all the talk of the “existential threat” to traditional utilities from solar and other disruptive technologies (and the blowback against net metering in various states), I thought I’d check out SolarCity first hand.
Byline: 

Steve Huntoon

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Technological Innovation and Public Policy-Making

The new grid will be driven by opportunities for electric utilities and customers to monetize their economic opportunities.

Policy-maker’s perspective: It's important to permit utilities to become more efficient and develop alternative revenue streams.
Byline: 

Tom Sloan

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Schneiderman Targets Peabody Energy

Shareholder Protection or War on Coal?

Why did Schneiderman sue Peabody? Because Peabody is America’s biggest coal company. He also likely wanted to establish a precedent before launching a Martin Act investigation of even bigger game: ExxonMobil.
Byline: 

Marlo Lewis, Jr.

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New Regulatory Paradigm Needed Now

The time is now for establishing concrete rules, roles and responsibilities for utilities and other participants.

Driven by policy directives over which utilities have little control, DERs will remain both a threat and opportunity until regulators agree on a new paradigm to support distributed energy resources.
Byline: 

Paul A. DeCotis

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Improving Performance in Publicly Owned Utilities

Consistently setting, measuring, and updating quantitative performance metrics should be a central feature of any program.

Modern performance-management practices can – and should – be applied to public and private utilities alike.
Byline: 

Sonia Aggarwal and Michael O’Boyle

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Utility Streetlighting Retrofits

Getting to “yes” with cities and neighborhoods.

Xcel Energy Colorado envisioned a straightforward plan: Street by street, city by city, in a logical progression over five years, they would replace High-Pressure Sodium streetlights with Light-Emitting Diode lamps. But that’s not what happened.
Byline: 

Adam Bickford and Suzanne Pletcher

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