Infrastructure

Microgrids: Friend or Foe for Utilities?

For many, it’s the next logical step for smart grid technology.

A small, but growing, number of utilities are embracing these technologies. Microgrids offer a networking platform that the utility can both aggregate and optimize.

Gas to the Rescue

Shale revolution catches fire, surpassing coal – in America, and soon around the world.

The shale revolution now fueling the American economy appears poised for expansion overseas.

Integrated Energy

Distributed energy + distributed controls = distributed benefits.

Utility business models are at risk in a world of distributed energy resources and local intelligent controls, such as microgrids. But the real revolution may lie in customer expectations, where third parties threaten to take ownership.

Managing Assets is Not Asset Management

The real thing demands a culture shift toward long-range thinking.

Rather, it involves a culture shift: towards a broader view to encompass such business processes as life-cycle planning, performance analysis, and the entire value chain.

2014 Utility Regulators' Forum

Diversifying Utility Regulation: State regulators voice opinions as mixed as the nation’s geography.

Interviews with public utility commissioners from key states – New York, California, Maryland, and Georgia – on coal carbon, climate, and the revolution in retail. What they’re thinking. What they’re planning.

Risk Holds Sway

Interest rates not always controlling for return on equity. 

(November 2014) Our annual survey of rates of return on common equity authorized by state public utility commissions in recent rate cases for electric and gas retail distribution utilities.

ABB Wins Power Products Order worth Over $30 Million from PSE&G

ABB won an order worth over $30 million from Public Service Electric & Gas (PSE&G) to supply gas-insulated switchgear (GIS) for substations to boost the reliability of transmission infrastructure in New Jersey. ABB’s order includes design, supply and commissioning of ABB’s 550 kV GIS type ELK-3, a compact and modular solution. PSE&G is spending $4 billion between 2014 and 2016 to upgrade its electricity infrastructure to meet demand for electricity.

Threat Level Red

Integrating weather and GIS data for more accurate threat assessments.

Weather and GIS are being combined in new ways to provide better storm threat assessments - helping utilities create increasingly effective battle plans to defend against approaching storms.

Utility System Hardening

Taking Resiliency One Step Further

An independent system operator for the distribution network could allow utilities to invest in rooftop solar behind the meter and within territory.

Curing the Death Spiral

Seeking a rate design that recovers costs fairly from customers with rooftop solar.

Load research data shows how utilities can levy a demand charge to recover costs fairly from residential customers with rooftop solar.