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utility 2.0

Non-Wire Alternatives

I Disrupt this Blog with Non-Wire Alternatives

By Energy Rant No Comments
As I read in The Wall Street Journal last week, I would like to disrupt the use of the overused buzzword disruption and the use of buzzwords in general, but I gotta do what I gotta do – talk about Utility 2.0 again. Come to think of it, the utility industry, and those that supported it, must have been asleep at the wheel in the 1990s. That was Utility 2.0 – deregulation, which didn’t work out so well with widespread bankruptcies, some of which exist to this day. Utility 2.0 gave rise to hucksters like Jeffrey Skilling and Ken Lay…
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State of the Electric Utility; Get Engaged

By Energy Efficiency, Energy Rant, Utility Stuff No Comments
Recently, Utility Dive released its report, 2015 State of the Electric Utility – a compendium of utility company prognosticative surveys.  Findings include: Utilities will move away from vertical integration – see last week’s Utility 2.0. The biggest opportunities are distributed generation, transmission, and customer relationships. The biggest challenges include old infrastructure, old employees, and primitive regulatory models. The biggest concern is flat to declining sales. There will be more use of natural gas, wind, solar, and distributed generation. As my personal finance instructor used to say, the most likely price (trend) tomorrow is the price. First, I wanted to see…
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Utility 2.0; Decoupled and Disaggregated

By Energy Efficiency, Energy Rant, Utility Stuff 2 Comments
A lot of people have subscribed to the Energy Rant in recent weeks, so I think a little re-introduction is in order.  Last week, the post was entitled Gamification; from a Non-Gamer.  That was unusually peaceful and friendly because I really have no beef with that since, well, innocent until found guilty (of problems).  This week, discussing Utility 2.0, I get back in the spirit of the true meaning of the Energy Rant.  What dozens of readers have expressed is the Rant goes outside the comfort zone to discuss things no one else will say – like the emperor has…
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