What Depeche Mode Can Teach Us About Energy
ScottMadden, Inc., one of North America’s leading management consulting firms specializing in energy, will soon release its fall 2019 issue of the ScottMadden Energy Industry Update. For more than a decade, the Energy Industry Update has served as a catalyst for strategic discussion, debate, and decisions. More than 10,000 executive leaders rely on it for the most important trends and thought-provoking insights.
So how does a lyric from one of Depeche Mode’s greatest hits apply to the energy industry? Both technology and the amount of new resources that are placed on the grid are changing and moving toward decarbonization. But “everything counts in large amounts” to achieve some of the ambitious clean energy and decarbonization targets being established.
Worldwide and within the United States, there is continued and accelerating interest in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction, and some utilities are setting aggressive goals. To achieve those goals, global industry leaders are increasingly taking an “everything counts” approach. Getting new consideration is carbon capture, utilization, and storage, which proponents see as an important GHG emissions reduction tool to achieve Paris Agreement targets and where we see new technologies are being tested.
In addition, “large amounts” of renewable resources are on the horizon, constituting a big part of interconnection queues across the nation. But what should the balance be between utility-scale and distributed renewables? Depending on what’s in the ground and policy incentives, focusing on utility-scale resources may make sense for many utilities.
Finally, the California ISO’s Western Energy Imbalance Market (EIM) is providing opportunities for western United States utilities to optimize their resources and mitigate effects of the ever-growing California duck curve, and another market has been proposed. These energy imbalance markets look to increase the availability of green power and provide much-needed ramping capability. Although these markets are not yet in “large amounts,” they are growing and “count” toward clean energy aspirations.
“Many voices are clamoring for renewables of all shapes and sizes; however, with the aggressive clean energy and GHG goals, ‘large amounts’ is critical to making progress,” says Cristin Lyons, partner and energy practice leader at ScottMadden.
Themed, “The Energy Industry Update: Everything Counts … In Large Amounts,” ScottMadden’s upcoming report will share the latest on how the industry is responding to:
- Shaping a path toward high-renewable penetration – a comparison of utility-scale and distributed renewables
- The growing duck curve belly
- Developments in the Western EIM
To receive your copy of this complimentary report, subscribe here, or to download the prior issue, click here. An advance copy of the Update will be available to the media prior to the release date. For more details, please contact us.
Complimentary Energy Industry Update Webcast
ScottMadden will present a complimentary webcast, “ScottMadden’s Energy Industry Update – Everything Counts … In Large Amounts,” on Friday, November 15, 2019, from 1PM–2PM EST. During this free session, our industry experts will share their views and field questions related to the potential loss of carbon-free generation and its implications, the growing duck curve belly, and opportunities for Western Energy Imbalance Markets. Join us to hear from our experts. Ms. Lyons will serve as webcast moderator. Register for this webcast here.
If you are interested in scheduling an interview with one of our thought leaders, please contact us.
About ScottMadden’s Energy Practice
We know energy from the ground up. Since 1983, we have served as energy consultants for hundreds of utilities, large and small, including all of the top 20. We focus on Transmission & Distribution, the Grid Edge, Generation, Energy Markets, Rates & Regulation, Enterprise Sustainability, and Corporate Services. Our broad, deep utility expertise is not theoretical—it is experience based. We have helped our clients develop and implement strategies, improve critical operations, reorganize departments and entire companies, and implement myriad initiatives.