Energy Dept.’s EIA shines light on accusations its numbers are anti-solar.
This storm has been brewing for awhile. The Energy Department's Energy Information Administration, EIA, is supposedly anti-solar. Indeed, it's anti-renewables.
Even though EIA is chartered to be - and has been - consistently unbiased, as the energy policy debates of the day have swirled around. Even though EIA is an agency of the Obama administration, not known to be anti-renewables.
Regulatory and environmental challenges for power plant conversions under the EPA’s Clean Power Plan.
ERCOT load growth: patterns, possibilities, and second thoughts.
Original-cost ratemaking doesn’t suit the challenges facing utilities today.
Levelized rates can serve customers’ interests, while also accelerating capital investment and providing an economic stimulus to the economy.
Delivering value in a zero-growth market.
Disruptive technologies and resource shifts are changing the utility business model. Market factors are driving companies toward four possible paths.
More planning, fewer incentives, and a black swan on the horizon.
The transmission superhighway still needs major investments. Rate incentives were working -- until FERC started backing away from them. FERC should assert its authority more aggressively to promote the vision of a robust interstate grid.
Only behavioral change will reduce energy consumption.
Standards and technology don't reduce energy consumption, despite the claims of efficiency zealots. Real energy savings only come through behavioral change.
Lessons from New England on electric-gas market coordination.
A regulatory model for resource parity between supply and demand.
Integrated resource planning must level the field for both supply- and demand-side resources. Commissions in several states are showing the way.
Five forces are putting the squeeze on electricity consumption.
It’s tempting to attribute the recent slowdown in electricity demand growth entirely to the Great Recession, but consumption growth rates have been declining for at least 50 years. The new normal rate of demand growth likely will be about half of its historic value, with demand rising by less than 1 percent per year. This market plateau calls for a new utility strategy.