Articles
February 2024
“Electricity Has to Be for Everybody”: Industry Leaders Discuss Customers, Innovation at Powering the People
Electric Perspectives
During the 2023 Powering the People, industry thought leaders discussed the latest advancements in technology and policy that are shaping a smarter energy future. Conversation centered on advancing energy affordability, demand flexibility and the role virtual power plants could play, and the potentials and perils of AI.
Download
May 2022
Providing Innovative Solutions and Options for Residential Customers
Adam Cooper, Mike Shuster, and Lisa Wood
Electric companies increasingly are offering their residential customers innovative rate, payment, and energy management solutions that are providing triple-win results: personalized value for customers, flexibility for the energy grid, and reduced emissions for the environment.
Download
November 2018
EVs are 1 Million Strong: The Road Ahead
Lisa Wood
In September, electric vehicle (EV) sales shattered records. Nearly 45,000 EVs were sold that month—a 25-percent increase from the prior month and a 100-percent increase over the same month last year. There are now 1 million EVs on U.S. roads.
Download
July 2018
Xcel Energy’s City and County Alliances Guide Energy Savings
This article by EEI's Customer Solutions team highlights Xcel Energy's Partners in Energy, which helps communities work with local residents and businesses to identify their future energy goals, develop a strategic plan, and implement strategies to achieve them.
Download
July 2018
Unlocking the Value of Data Analytics
Lisa Wood
Data analytics enable electric companies to optimize their operations, enhance customer service, and minimize customer disruptions. Electric companies are using data analytics to forecast distributed energy resources and their interactions with the energy grid.
Download
May 2018
Powering the People: Energy Solutions for All Customers
Lisa Wood
IEI's “Powering the People: Energy Solutions for All Customers” brought together more than 120 electric power industry leaders in March—including electric company and technology company executives, state regulators, federal policymakers, journalists, academics, and other stakeholders— to discuss customer energy solutions.
Download
March 2018
Reshaping Transportation Access and Mobility
Lisa Wood
Electric companies are proving to be an integral partner in expanding electric transportation by helping to provide access to electric vehicles (EVs) to more customers and across multiple transportation modes.
Download
January 2018
Customer-Sited Energy Storage: A Win- Win for Customers and the Energy Grid
Lisa Wood
Commercial, industrial, and institutional (CII) customer-sited energy storage is being used to address both customer needs and energy grid needs. Projects in California and Hawaii are demonstrating that storage is a win-win resource.
Download
November 2017
Innovations Transforming the Electric Power Sector
Lisa Wood
Electric companies are keeping pace with the future by improving resiliency, integrating renewables and distributed energy resources into the energy grid, and anticipating their customers’ needs.
Download
November 2017
Smart Meter Installations on the Rise
Lisa Wood
The grand overhaul of the electric power system is underway, and a key technology creating big changes for customers and electric companies continues to be the smart meter.
Download
September 2017
Energy Efficiency Trends
Lisa Wood
Energy efficiency (EE) programs are a cost-effective way for customers to save energy and money, and for electric companies to reduce their environmental footprint.
Download
July 2017
Leading the Charge
Lisa Wood
The electric vehicle is back!Today, technology improvements, customer interest, declining costs, and increasing fuel efficiency standards and environmental regulations are driving the electric vehicle market forward.
Download
May 2017
Powering the People: Smarter Energy, Smarter Future
Lisa Wood
During the 2017 Powering the People, industry thought leaders discussed the latest advancements in technology and policy that are shaping a smarter energy future. Key insights include the centrality of data analytics to better serve customers and enhance operations, the importance of partnerships to advance smart communities, and the influence of regulation on innovation and technology.
Download
March 2017
Regulators' Dilemma or Opportunity?
Lisa Wood
Given the rapid pace of technological change and evolving customer needs, many stakeholders agree that today's regulatory process is too slow and inflexible to respond to needed changes. Regulators have an unprecedented opportunity to define ways forward and unleash opportunities as the electric power sector builds smart energy infrastructure across the United States.
Download
January 2017
Data Analytics: From Hype to Strategic Asset
Lisa Wood
The U.S. energy grid is in the midst of a digital transformation that is unleashing a vast amount of data. Energy companies are putting data analytics to use in at least two ways- to improve customer services and to manage a more complex grid. Early gains, such as enhanced visibility into the energy grid, rapid outage restoration or avoidance, and new customer services are just the tip of the iceberg.
Download
November 2016
Top 10 Things You Should Know About Grid Modernization
Lisa Wood
The electric power industry is modernizing and investing in the energy grid, the drivers making modernization essential, the amount being spent on grid modernization, and some key outcomes to date. In 2016, electric companies are expected to invest $32 billion in the distribution system to make the energy grid smarter, safer, cleaner, more dynamic, more reliable, and more secure.
Download
November 2016
Rethinking Rate Design
Berkeley Lab Discussion with Five Experts
In a changing power system, how should utilities recover their costs? The answer is not so simple when considering the evolution of the power system, driven by technological innovation, shifting loads, changing policies, and new customer expectations. Using a point-counterpoint format, a report from Lawrence Berkeley National Lab tapped five experts from utility, consumer, environmental and economic backgrounds to discuss different types of ratemaking strategies and rate designs for the future. The following highlights the perspectives of the report authors as featured in the November 2016 edition of Public Utilities Fortnightly.
Download
September 2016
The Digital and Distributed Grid
Lisa Wood
In July 2016, IEI held its first National Dialogue Series meeting, bringing together more than two dozen electric and technology company executives to discuss the challenges and opportunities of developing and operating a digital and distributed grid and how the growth of distributed energy resources is changing the role of the energy grid. In this edition of The Edge, Lisa Wood highlights 10 key takeaways from the dialogue.
Download
July 2016
The Edge: Key Trends Driving Change
Lisa Wood
In this article, Electric Perspectives magazine covers the key drivers of the changing electric power industry: the need to collaborate and innovate with customers creatively; to lead in the application of smart storage; and to look beyond traditional electricity service boundaries toward smarter cities. For a closer look, please download a copy of Thought Leaders Speak Out: Key Trends Driving Change in the Electric Power Industry Volume II.
Download
May 2016
A Bold New Energy Vision
Lisa Wood
During the 2016 Powering the People, industry thought leaders delivered talks that demonstrated the transition to the energy future that customers want - clean energy, a more connected power grid, and tailored services to meet specific customer needs. This article takes a dive into the three key trends discussed at Powering the People: the digital and distributed power grid; individualizing customer services; and smart cities.
Download
May 2016
Electricity: Relevant, Essential, and Collaborative
Bill Loveless
IEI's Powering the People, held on Thursday, March 17, 2016, brought together a group of electric utility and technology company executives, policymakers, regulators, and other thought leaders for an afternoon of dialogue and discussion on the transformation of the electric utility industry. USA Today energy columnist, Bill Loveless, recaps IEI's signature event, underscoring that the power grid will remain a critical component of our energy future and highlighting how we are heading toward a collaborative energy future.
Download
March 2016
The Edge: Striking the Right Balance
Lisa Wood
As the electric power industry changes--the generation mix is changing, the grid is becoming more digital and distributed, and customers have different expectations--over the next decade, the regulatory model also much change to provide a way for utilities to achieve policy goals and meet the changing needs of their customers. In this edition of The Edge, Lisa Wood discusses the balance that utilities are striking as they transform for the future.
Download
January 2016
The Edge: Thought Leaders Speak Out
Lisa Wood
In response to the profound transformation underway in the electric power sector, IEI has launched "Thought Leaders Speaker Out: Key Trends Driving Change in the Electric Power Industry," a new book series that brings into focus 10 trends that are shaping the future utility landscape. In this edition of The Edge, Lisa Wood highlights three trends detailed in the series' first installment: the transition to a clean energy future, the digital and distributed grid, and individualized customer services.
Download
November 2015
The Edge: Predicting the Utility of the Future
Lisa Wood
America's electric companies are at the beginning of a profound transformation driven by policies, technology, and customers. What is happening in these areas today will drive where the industry is in 2025. In this edition of The Edge, Lisa Wood describes the key trends driving change in the electric power industry.
Download
September 2015
The Edge: Meeting Customers' Evolving Needs
Lisa Wood
Increasingly, electricity customers are excited about the prospect of renewable energy--and many are looking to the expertise of their electric utility to help them meet their renewable energy goals. In this edition of The Edge, Lisa Wood reviews the benefits of new utility programs meeting customers' evolving renewable energy needs, including Tucson Electric Power's Residential Solar Program, MidAmerican Energy's agreement to power Iowa data centers with renewable power, and NV Energy's green energy tariff.
Download
July 2015
The Edge: Thought Leaders Speak Out: The Evolving Electric Power Industry
Lisa Wood
The electric grid is evolving into a distributed network with multiple sources of generation and multi-directional power and information flows. In this edition of The Edge, Lisa Wood highlights IEI's new book "Thought Leaders Speak Out: The Evolving Electric Power Industry," a collection of essays by influential stakeholdes focused on three areas driving this transition: evolving grid, evolving customer, and evolving regulation.
Download
May 2015
Providing an Essential Service: The Road Ahead
Robert Marritz and Lisa Wood
In this article, Electric Perspectives magazine recaps IEI's Powering the People: Connected Conversations event and the major takeaways of the day's 25 exciting TED-like talks.
Download
March 2015
The Edge: Connected Conversations
Lisa Wood
In this edition of The Edge, Lisa Wood previews IEI's Powering the People: Connected Conversations event. There is no doubt that this in an unprecedented time of change in the electric power sector. Powering the People pushed the dialogue beyond the next rate case or quarterly earnings call, to focus on the technologies, policies, and partnerships needed to best serve electric customers.
Download
Articles Archive
November 2014
The Edge: The Benefits of Utility-Provided Distributed Energy Resources
Lisa Wood
September 2014
The Edge: Getting Solar Pricing Right
Lisa Wood
July 2014
The Edge: The Power Grid: An Evolving Platform
Lisa Wood
May 2014
The Edge: The Next Generation Electric Grid
Lisa Wood
March 2014
The Edge: Harnessing and Using Big Data
Lisa Wood
January 2014
The Edge: Collaboration Wins
Lisa Wood
December 2013
EE at Work: The Next Big Things in Energy Efficiency
Lisa Wood
October 2013
EE at Work: Quarterbacking the Grid
Lisa Wood
July 2013
EE at Work: Innovations Across the Grid
Lisa Wood
January 2015
The Edge: Plug-and-Play Power Grid
Lisa Wood
June 2013
Partnerships Light the Path Forward
Lisa Wood
January 2013
EE at Work: Innovate at the Speed of Value
Lisa Wood
January 2015
Plugging Innovation: A Bright Future for Tucson Community Solar Program
January 2015
Partnerships Transforming the Power Sector
November 2012
EE at Work: The New IEE
Lisa Wood
October 2012
EE at Work: An Educated Customer
Lisa Wood
August 2012
Smart Rates March On
Lisa Wood
July 2012
Powering the People 2.0: A Look Back at the Event
June 2012
EE at Work: Engaging the New Energy Consumer
Lisa Wood
April 2012
Energy Efficiency Savings, Budgets, and Spending
Lisa Wood
April 2012
EE at Work: The Details Matter
Lisa Wood
February 2012
EE at Work: Programs, Not Projects
Lisa Wood
December 2011
EE at Work: Wire Intelligence
Lisa Wood
November 2011
Weighing the Costs and Benefits of Smart Meters
Lisa Wood
October 2011
Everybody Wins
Lisa Wood
October 2011
EE at Work: Energy Management at the Outlet
Lisa Wood
August 2011
EE at Work: The Benefits of Residential Smart Meters
Lisa Wood
July 2011
Electric Vehicles and the Tipping Point: Battery Technology, Gas Prices, and Infrastructure
Robert Marritz
June 2011
EE at Work: Meeting Efficiency Goals Through Codes and Standards
Lisa Wood
June 2011
Smart Homes, Smart Customers: A Solid Case Study and Further Thoughts
Robert Marritz
April 2011
EE at Work: A Continuum of Energy Education
Lisa Wood
December 2010
EE at Work: The Power of Public/Private Partnership
Lisa Wood
November 2010
Power Measurements: Dynamic Pricing and Low-Income Customers
Lisa Wood and Ahmad Faruqui
September 2010
EE at Work: Smart Appliances and Ubiquitous DR
Lisa Wood
July 2010
EE at Work: Smart Meter Customer Communication
Lisa Wood
May 2010
EE at Work: Creating Value Through Partnerships
Lisa Wood
April 2010
EE at Work: The Innovation is in the Outreach
Lisa Wood
February 2010
EE at Work: Incentives and Investments
Lisa Wood
November 2009
The Right Price
Lisa Wood
October 2009
EE at Work: Accepting Codes and Standards
Lisa Wood
August 2009
EE at Work: Real-Time Building Tune-Ups
Lisa Wood
May 2009
EE at Work: Selling Energy Efficiency as a Resource
Lisa Wood
March 2009
EE at Work: A Good Framework is the First Step
Lisa Wood
January 2009
EE at Work: Consumer Electronics in California
Lisa Wood
November 2008
EE at Work: KCPL and the Sierra Club
Lisa Wood
October 2008
EE at Work: BGE Beats the Heat
Lisa Wood
September 2008
Time to Save: Business Models for Efficiency
Lisa Wood
|
|
|
|
