We are experiencing a moment of both significant change and opportunity within the electricity sector. After over a decade of flat-to-declining load in most of the country, the current load growth projections in many markets nationwide are increasing rapidly. Much of the near-term load growth is from significant capital investment in manufacturing, data center expansion, and electrification.
Publish Date: March 30, 2022
Acceleration of the clean energy transition is dramatically shifting the types of electric generation technologies used to meet electricity demand and reliably operate the grid. Rapid cost declines in advanced energy technologies like wind, solar, and energy storage are making them increasingly competitive choices for new generation additions. While there has been considerable attention devoted to determining the reliability value of these new resource types, the methods used to evaluate the resource adequacy, or capacity value, of conventional thermal generating resources (including coal, natural gas, and oil-fired power plants) have not been formally reexamined or updated in decades.
Topics: Utility, Regulatory, Wholesale Markets
Publish Date: February 22, 2022
Information technology (IT) and data solutions are a central focus of modern enterprise in every industry. Many industries have made the transition from traditional, on-premises IT solutions to cloud computing — and those industries have subsequently benefited from the scalability, flexibility, and efficient use of capacity cloud computing offers. However, regulations that have been in place for nearly a century have delayed the ability of utilities to transition from on-premises systems to cloud computing services. This paper, from AEE and the Edison Electric Institute (EEI), examines the regulatory reforms needed to modernize the IT systems that utilities depend on to provide safe, reliable, and efficient operations.
Topics: Utility, Regulatory
Publish Date: January 29, 2018
Throughout the economy, companies are finding efficiencies and operational benefits through services provided by third parties instead of physical assets that they own and manage.
However, under prevailing cost-of-service regulation, electric utilities may be discouraged from using such services, since they do not generate profits the way that investments in capital assets do.
Topics: PUCs, Utility, Regulatory
Publish Date: July 25, 2017
Voluntary renewable energy tariffs are quickly emerging as one of the key tools to meet growing corporate renewable energy demand in vertically integrated markets.
Participation in renewable energy tariffs has grown steadily over the past five years, and improvements in program design have continued apace. A report from Advanced Energy Economy Institute and a companion policy brief from AEE provide guidance for the design of successful renewable energy programs in regulated markets.
Topics: PUCs, Utility, Regulatory
Publish Date: October 27, 2015
Comments submitted by the Advanced Energy Economy Institute on the staff white paper on Ratemaking and Utility Business Models issued by the New York Public Service Commission in its "Reforming the Energy Vision" proceeding.
Topics: State Policy, PUCs, Utility
Publish Date: October 14, 2015
Demand for electricity can spike during just a few hours a year, and typically 10 percent of our electric system capacity is built to meet demand in just 1 percent of hours during the year. This comes at a significant cost to consumers.
This report, prepared for AEE by Navigant Consulting, evaluates the benefits and costs of reducing peak demand in two states, Illinois and Massachusetts, and the feasibility of utilities to procure the resources to meet demand reduction goals over 10 years.
Topics: State Policy, Utility