As the shared services landscape becomes more competitive, back-office process owners are under increasing pressure to improve. Business leaders are faced with the challenge of cutting costs, increasing efficiency, and providing high-quality work. Traditional approaches to improvement are not always successful in the current landscape, and it is essential to pursue new options in order to remain competitive.
Cloud computing’s myriad advantages, including reduced costs, more frequent updates, and greater flexibility/mobility, are part of the reason why Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions are experiencing rapid growth in many industries. However, for most regulated utilities, the current regulatory/accounting treatment of investments in cloud-based computing solutions discourages their deployment. Unlike in-house software solutions that are typically classified as capital investments and eligible for inclusion in rate base, cloud-based computing is typically considered an operating expense. Given the disparate accounting treatment, there is an incentive for a utility to select an in-house software solution that may be more costly and less beneficial for the customer, simply because it can be included in rate base.
Energy storage is a type of technology that can store energy so that it can be used at a later time. Renewable energy solutions, such as solar or wind power, rely on the intermittency of the sun and wind to generate electricity. Energy storage provides a way to even out the peaks and valleys of electricity demand throughout the day by storing energy when demand is low and releasing it when demand is high. There are different types of energy storage, but one of the most promising is behind-the-meter storage. This type of storage is connected directly to the buildings or homes it serves and can provide energy services to customers while also providing grid services, like balancing energy supply and demand. As energy storage becomes more widespread, it has the potential to improve the power system and reshape the way we approach energy supply.
Public power plays a vital role in how our world is connected today, thanks to a sustained technological evolution. The use of complex systems to manage public power infrastructure and share tremendous amounts of data has improved operations and customer response times. At the same token, there has been a significant increase in cyberattacks that threaten infrastructures, despite the benefits of these technologies: it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep up with the real and growing danger of cyberattacks. System vulnerabilities can expose operations and customers to significant risks. Public power generation community members have a special responsibility and must implement procedures and advanced technology to secure the infrastructure to prevent cyberattacks and mitigate their impact.
The “greening of the grid” is well underway due to trends toward increased use of natural gas, more use of renewable power, and less use of coal-fired power.
Beginning on the afternoon of September 28, an extreme weather system struck the state of South Australia (SA), knocking out transmission lines interconnecting SA to neighboring Victoria and forcing a shutdown of wind generation due to sustained high winds. This loss of imported power from Victoria and the loss of significant wind capacity within SA resulted in a blackout at 4:18:16 local time that impacted the entire state of SA and its 1.7 million residents for more than 24 hours.
In November 2016, FERC issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to address barriers in wholesale markets that have thus far limited participation of energy storage and aggregated distributed energy resources.
At the 2016 Duke University Energy Conference, ScottMadden joined a panel of leading industry experts to discuss the challenges and opportunities for Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) as they pertain to the grid. This annual student-led conference focuses on bringing together thought leaders in the industry, government, and academia to fuel independent analysis on energy markets, trends, policies, and technologies.
ScottMadden partnered with the Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA) to develop a report summarizing the different approaches California and New York are taking regarding the integration of distributed energy resources (DERs) in each state. The report, “Distributed Energy Resources Integration: Policy, Technical, and Regulatory Perspectives from New York and California,” is a virtual summary to thousands of pages of regulatory filings in both states in the form of one concise synopsis.
On October 27, 2016, the New York Public Service Commission (PSC) Staff issued its Report and Recommendations in the Value of Distributed Energy Resources (DER) Proceeding. The report defines a proposed compensation methodology for DER, and it lays out how the first phase of that methodology should be applied to various categories of DER in the near term specific to each utility. The recommendations are designed to be a first step in moving beyond retail rate net energy metering (NEM) and toward an accurate valuation of all the benefits DER provides.
In November 2016, Duke Energy signed a letter of interest to buy up to 500 plug-in electric pickup trucks from the Workhorse Group by 2019. The trucks will run about 80 miles all electric and include a gasoline generator for extended range.
Since the construction of the first central power plant in the United States in the late 19th century, public power have played a crucial role in the electrification of communities and the overall growth of the electric power industry. Throughout the rapid expansion of the mid-20th century, public power remained focused on providing reliable and cost-effective service to under-served areas with a member-first mentality and the assistance of federally supported loans.
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