Anatomy of a Brazen Scam

Anatomy of a Brazen Scam

Some readers may recall headlines last fall stating that the PJM Interconnection would stop accepting energy efficiency resources for its forward capacity auctions. Capacity auctions work in the following simplified process: Local distribution companies, aka...
Rumblings of Utility Reregulation

Rumblings of Utility Reregulation

Eight and a half years ago in Betting with Deregulation – A Risky Proposition, I wrote the following in this blog, “Companies who want deregulation of anything must be prepared for eventual pain – just ask the major airlines and a bunch of telecom companies, many of...
Twelve Pack Lookback

Twelve Pack Lookback

This post features my predictions from a year ago and what has happened since. Forecast #1: “The Ukraine war will not end peacefully with a desirable outcome as long as the bipartisan U.S. Congress keeps laundering money through the military-industrial complex (and...
Decarbonize and Reduce Costs with Dynamic Pricing

Decarbonize and Reduce Costs with Dynamic Pricing

Market Prices Continuing from last week, how do we cost-effectively decarbonize the grid at a continental scale? Start with baseload nuclear power and, from there, load management. To achieve optimal load management to keep electricity costs low for customers,...
Electric Ratemaking Basics and Load Flex

Electric Ratemaking Basics and Load Flex

In the last two Rant posts, we explored dated benefit-cost tests for energy efficiency and demand response programs and introduced flaws with dated ratemaking schemes. Both constructs are based on a century-old “cost of service” business model for monopolistic...