This article is the first article of a three-part series focused on managing talent struggles. To access additional articles in the series, please see below.
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This article is the first article of a three-part series focused on managing talent struggles. To access additional articles in the series, please see below.
Some market participants are expressing concerns over “around-market” or “extra-market” energy policies, such as zero-emissions credits for nuclear generators and subsidies for renewable generators. These policies are found in energy markets, including independent system operators (ISOs) and regional transmission organizations (RTOs), which are accountable for administering their regions’ wholesale electricity markets and providing reliability planning for the regions’ bulk electricity system.
In 2016, according to a U.S. Department of Energy and Employment report, 56% of energy industry jobs involved in power creation stemmed from oil, natural gas, and coal. Solar had the most jobs in the renewables space and was second only to oil in total jobs. Future energy sector job growth will be driven primarily by renewables.
In May 2017, FERC held a technical conference on wholesale energy and capacity market design that focused on Regional Transmission Operators (RTOs) and Independent System Operators (ISOs) in the Eastern Interconnect, including ISO New England (ISO-NE), New York ISO (NYISO), and PJM Interconnection (PJM). The goal of the conference was to examine emerging issues between state policies and wholesale power markets, but little consensus emerged, as participants focused on the issues and remedies that hit closest to home.
Illinois has laid an excellent foundation that positions it well for modernization of the grid and increasing penetrations of DERs and renewables. When DERs arrive at scale, the state will be ready. Read this report for an overview of Illinois’ technology investments and policy framework, a 51st State assessment of Illinois’ grid transformation progress, and a ready-to-use framework to assess progress in other states.
You may also access the report on the Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA) website.
Additional Contributing Author: Vazken Kassakhian, SEPA
In October 2016, Volkswagen (VW) agreed to pay $14.7 billion as part of a settlement related to diesel vehicles violating Clean Air Act regulations. For electric utilities, settlement investments may improve the availability and adoption of electric transportation, which may ultimately result in electric load growth.
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) recently published “An Early Survey of Best Practices for the Use of Small Unmanned Aerial Systems by the Electric Utility Industry.” Known as sUAS, and interchangeable with the terms drones and Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS), sUAS have the potential to conduct efficient and safe electric infrastructure inspections, effectively detect problems with electric equipment, access equipment in difficult terrain, and provide direct support for electric utility vegetation management. ORNL’s survey of best practices is focused on safety and mitigating risk. It serves to inform electric utilities’ strategy and operations in the areas of mission planning and execution, contracting for sUAS services, and development of in-house capability.
PJM recently closed its 2020-2021 delivery year capacity auction. The auction was the first for grid resources under PJM’s new capacity-performance regime. Two Exelon nuclear facilities, Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania and Quad Cities in Illinois, failed to clear the auction. Exelon has cited two primary reasons for failing to clear the auction. The first being the lack of federal or Pennsylvania energy policies that value zero-emission nuclear energy, and the second being the fact that Illinois has not yet decided whether to include Quad Cities in their zero-emission credit program under the newly signed state Future Energy Jobs Act.
ScottMadden recently joined the Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA) in a fact-finding mission to discover ways Australian utilities and partners are deploying distributed energy resources (DERs) and how customers are responding to this market shift.
How has net energy metering in California evolved over the last 20 years? This report chronicles the legislative history of net metering in California from its introduction in 1996 to the landmark passing of NEM 2.0 in 2016.
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