ScottMadden, Inc., one of North America’s leading management consulting firms specializing in energy, recently joined the Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA) in a fact-finding mission to explore the renewable energy market and grid modernization efforts of Belgium and Netherlands as well as the greater European Union. This new report, featured in Public Utilities Fortnightly’s October edition, shares key insights gathered from the trip. Dive into the full article to explore Europe’s perspectives and approaches related to grid planning and the evolving electricity market.
Europe is often perceived as highly adept at transforming to a clean energy future because of their growing renewable capacity, declining greenhouse gas emissions, and emerging smarty city activities. A focal point of the mission was to view the progress and identify key lessons learned to take back to the utilities in the United States. We learned that, although the European power sector is leading the way toward a clean energy future, they do not have all the answers. As we share in our latest article, “We expected to find that the Europeans had figured out a pathway to a clean energy future, but to our surprise, this was not the case. Instead, we found Europeans were tackling many of the same challenges we face in the United States.”
“The issue isn’t with adoption of new technologies and business practices, but integration. Many of the utilities we talked to had been trying new technology and business models for a decade or more and still hadn’t been able to create a significant revenue stream,” explains Chris Vlahoplus, partner and clean tech & sustainability practice leader.
“Europe’s long-term vision to reduce greenhouse gases provides an opportunity for companies to align business plans and, ultimately, shift culture to align with long-term investments,” continues John Pang, partner at ScottMadden.
“Even though Europeans did not have all the answers, electric utilities in the United States should continue to persevere as they deploy distributed energy resources while monitoring the progress of Europe,” adds Tanuj Deora, chief strategy officer at SEPA.
While the European electric power sector may not be as rosy as it appears on the surface, there are clear lessons that are applicable to electric utilities in the United States related to the value of a long-term vision and integration of distributed energy resources.
If you are interested in additional insights that can be applied to planning and business decisions in the United States, please contact us.
About Smart Electric Power Alliance
The Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA) is an educational non-profit and a trusted platform for education, research and collaboration to help utilities deploy and integrate solar, storage, demand response, and other distributed energy resources. Created in 1992, we currently have over 1,000 members who represent the whole spectrum of industry stakeholders. Utilities, ISOs, large energy users, corporate and non-profits look to us to facilitate solutions for today’s challenges and to meet tomorrow’s electricity needs for the next decade and beyond. For more information, visit www.SEPApower.org | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn
About ScottMadden’s Clean Tech & Sustainability Practice
Leveraging our energy expertise, the ScottMadden Clean Tech & Sustainability practice helps our clients effectively navigate through the quickly changing energy landscape. We specialize in assisting our clients with sustainable energy strategies and making smart portfolio choices. We work with our clients to understand and effectively utilize cleaner, renewable sources of energy, such as wind, solar, bioenergy, and nuclear. Our experienced team of energy practitioners understands the roles of energy efficiency, demand response, and storage as part of an integrated strategy. We also assist clients with sustainability, bringing an understanding of energy-unique concerns.
About ScottMadden, Inc.
ScottMadden is the management consulting firm that does what it takes to get it done right. Our practice areas include Energy, Clean Tech & Sustainability, Corporate & Shared Services, Grid Transformation, and Rates, Regulation, & Planning. We deliver a broad array of consulting services ranging from strategic planning through implementation across many industries, business units, and functions. To learn more, visit www.scottmadden.com | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn
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Media contact:
Mary Tew
919-781-4191