First principles are important. Rooting New York Energy Week in the priorities established by a community of volunteers, participants, sponsors and advisors paid off in the second iteration of the event series last month, with panels of exceptional insight, unusually impactful networking and deserved attention for an industry that too often flies under the radar in… Keep reading →
Last week, the 2nd New York Energy Week (NYEW) concluded. At its closing ceremony, the esteemed Richard Kauffman, Chairman of Energy and Finance for New York State, Office of the Governor of New York, offered his thinking on a new energy system. There is no better person to explain the thinking behind the policy than… Keep reading →
Ranking the challenges of a distributed energy future at Grid Edge Live 2014. The grid edge is a complex realm, combining traditional utility operations with the emerging world of distributed energy generation and control. Greentech Media’s inaugural Grid Edge Live conference, taking place this week in San Diego, is dedicated to finding solutions to these complex,… Keep reading →
This year’s closing ceremony of the innovative event series New York Energy Week ended on a high note. It featured a familiar topic in energy circles: Utilities’ shifting role in the power generation market. Peter Molengraaf, CEO of Alliander – a Dutch distribution grid operator – wasted no time and cut right to the point with… Keep reading →
We could all learn to get along without cell phones. And many of us are already learning to get along without cable TV. But civilization as we know it could not get along without electricity, which makes the electric industry – the generation, transmission and delivery of power – one of our most vital,… Keep reading →
Last week Barclays downgraded the high-grade bond market for the entire electric utility sector because “we believe that a confluence of declining cost trends in distributed solar photovoltaic (PV) power generation and residential-scale power storage is likely to disrupt the status quo.” While this is not the first statement about vulnerability of electric utilities to competition from new technology… Keep reading →
Many in developed economies often think and speak about Africa in a one size fits all context, and of course nothing could be further from the truth. The vast continent is a diverse tapestry of sovereign nations with varied geography, demographics, religions and energy-related challenges. One challenge many countries share with regard to energy, however,… Keep reading →
The Netherlands is a world leader with regard to engineering water-management solutions on an industrial scale. The country was created in the delta of three large rivers that flow into the North Sea and roughly two thirds of the nation’s GDP are earned below sea level. One of the world’s largest airports – Amsterdam Airport… Keep reading →
That may be an understatement There has been a flurry of reports coming from all directions leading to similar conclusions, namely the demise of the traditional utility business model. The latest is a March 2014 report from an unlikely source, Morgan Stanley, concluding that “improvements in batteries and distributed generation could partly or completely eliminate… Keep reading →
The days of merely managing wires and selling a commodity are winding down for utilities. These companies must now compete with or embrace technology and services that give customers greater control over the systems that power their homes, making it easier to reduce energy consumption, increase efficiency and ultimately save money. Google’s acquisition of smart… Keep reading →
