grid

A Formula for Grid Modernization?

How is it going?

Ann McCabe is a commissioner at the Illinois Commerce Commission. The views expressed in this article are her own.

Five years have passed since Commonwealth Edison and Ameren Illinois elected to participate in the Energy Infrastructure Modernization Act, which authorized $3.2 billion in grid hardening and smart meter investments. As a commissioner at the Illinois Commerce Commission, I am often asked: How is it going?

Response to Brown Re: Net Metering

A response to the letter to the editor by Ashley Brown in our February 2016 issue.

Is rooftop solar more like an independent power producer, subject to societal regulation and policy, such as wholesale-level regulation or retail-level resource planning? Or is the electricity that is produced a private consumer good, immune from regulation, policy, and planning?

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.

Postcards from Hawaii: Lessons on Grid Transformation

Hawaiian utility experts describe the islands’ fast-growing solar market as a postcard from the future

The group spent four days immersed in Hawaii’s dynamic solar market, listening and learning from the experiences of utility executives, policy makers, solar and clean tech players.

Got Green? Then Get Smart.

Why it’s the growth of renewable resources that makes the most compelling case for a smarter grid.

To manage the new instability, inherent in many renewable resources, it becomes necessary to introduce more intelligence and automation. That’s what makes the smart grid so compelling.

Solar Battle Lines

The fight over customer rooftops, grid funding, and net metering.

Renewable customer generation is growing and regulators should let incumbent regulated monopoly businesses and interests ahead of society and competition.

Before the Death Spiral, a Black Hole

How rooftop solar picks off the utility’s largest and most lucrative customers.

Let's make it clear also that affixing solar panels to your roof won't take you off-grid. Indeed it takes you to even greater dependence.

Distribution Optimization: Ready for Takeoff

Part 2: Key choices on the way forward.

Integrated Distribution Planning (IDP) – much like its bulk power system cousin, Integrated Resource Planning (IRP) – provides a useful starting point for regulators and utilities to begin thinking about how to optimize the distribution system.