“I would prefer that people see the move toward clean energy as an evolution. That it’s not necessarily a top-down transition in any way. Those tend to crash and burn ultimately. It’s better if you find support, it creates its own momentum, and moves along.”

“I stepped into the middle of the debate on whether we mandate a clean energy transition in Arizona. After four years of debate, we did not mandate it, but have supported the utilities’ commitments. They’re all 100% carbon-free by 2050.”

In discussions with ten Commissioners from every end of the country, PUF’s Paul Kjellander asked what’s driving the energy transition in their states, their state’s policies, barriers for the transition to overcome, and risks, also the role of consumer-owned energy. Sponsored by Itron.

Exelon subsidiary ComEd began its Community of the Future program in 2016 with the Bronzeville Community Microgrid in Chicago. PUF journeyed there to see firsthand how ComEd is taking Chicago into the future with the first utility operated microgrid cluster.

The PUF team honors 17 individual innovators or teams of innovators, in categories such as reliability, transmission tech, and grid ops.