Advanced Energy Perspectives

Amid Snowzilla’s winter of discontent, on Monday the Supreme Court ruled on EPSA v. FERC, a case that had the power to define the future of the demand response market. In a big win for advanced energy, the court ruled that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC’s) Order 745, which gives FERC rulemaking authority over both traditional electricity generators and demand response providers in wholesale power markets, would stay in place. Call it a tale of two electricities.

As we in the mid-Atlantic hunker down for a major blizzard, nothing is stopping advanced energy from marching on. We’ll let you know next week if this major weather event causes problems for our grid (as it has in the past), or if advanced energy saves the day (again). Meanwhile, we have news from AEE member companies, and a big year ahead for New York’s Reforming the Energy Vision proceeding.

In his final State of the Union address, President Obama declared, unsurprisingly, that the state of the union is strong. We will let the other politicos and pundits debate what that means in terms of defense, education, and other national concerns, and stick to what we know: The state of advanced energy in the U.S. is strong… and growing.

It’s a new year and in the auto world, 2016 is off to an electrifying start. This week brought news that the electric vehicle market expects a big year, with automakers at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) showing where EVs are going to go, with the Detroit Auto Show just around the corner.

Advanced energy makes news, and 2015 was proof of that. From innovative financing models for energy efficiency to Fortune 500 companies choosing advanced energy, businesses big and small had impact on the way the world generates and uses energy. In fact, it’s not easy to pick the top stories of the year. Still, last week we gave you the first five of our top 10 of the year, and here are the other five. (Read Part 1 here.) Then get ready for 2016, which we are sure will be another news-filled year for advanced energy!