Advanced Energy Perspectives

This is a guest post from AEE member company Simple Energy

The landscape of demand-side management programs is rapidly shifting because of unparalleled changes in the way products are used and sold. Customers demand convenience and the ability to purchase or enroll in a matter of seconds and in the channel they prefer. Utility legacy practices are often disconnected from these new consumer needs. Modern customers want instant gratification, not a mail-in rebate form and a weeks-long wait to receive a response. When online portals bounce them to third-party websites to complete a purchase, they often give up altogether. How can utilities give customers the money-saving offers they want, when they want them, and in the channel they prefer?

This is a guest post from AEE’s state partner, the Michigan Energy Innovation Business Council. To learn more about Michigan EIBC, click here. To learn more about AEE’s nationwide coalition of state and regional partners, click here. 

With the pace of technological innovation accelerating, mobility is changing rapidly. Transportation is becoming more connected, more autonomous, and more shared, particularly in urban environments. Electrification is the enabler of this transformation, facilitating this combination of automation, advanced computing, and sharing in the way we get around. That makes electric vehicles (EVs) more than an alternative to gasoline-propelled cars. It makes them the platform for the next phase of human mobility.

Solar worker at Renewable Energy Jobs Tour event in Bedford, Va.  

This is a guest post by Dan Shugar, CEO of NEXTracker, and an AEE board member

Most folks working in the U.S. wind and solar industries already know that both are creating jobs all across the country. These industries now employ over 360,000 workers, and have the two fastest growing job categories in the nation: solar photovoltaic installers and wind turbine technicians, according to a US Department of Labor report released earlier this year. Over the next 10 years, the demand for the two positions is set to essentially double. But data points alone are not always enough to convince the public and policymakers about the tremendous job creation of these sectors. That’s why, earlier this fall, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), the Wind Energy Foundation (WEF), and NEXTracker, Inc. launched the Renewable Energy Jobs Tour.

This is a guest post from Navigant, an AEE Gold Affiliate Member

For decades, utilities have had success reaching large commercial and industrial (C&I) customers as well as residential with demand-side management (DSM) programs like energy efficiency and demand response (DR). Large C&I customers typically have utility account managers catering to their service needs, while mass marketing techniques like bill stuffers, direct mail, door-to-door canvassing, advertising, social media, and retail channel partnerships effectively reach residential consumers. However, the small to midsized business (SMB) customer segment is harder to reach, and these customers are typically underrepresented when it comes to DSM program participation. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

This is a guest post from AEE’s state partner, Michigan Energy Innovation Business Council. To learn more about MiEIBC, click here. To learn more about AEE’s nationwide coalition of state and regional partners, click here. 

What industry hires veterans at a rate 50% higher than the national average, boasts the fastest growing job category in the nation, and is expanding in Michigan? If you guessed wind energy, you’re right. Like everywhere else, Michigan’s energy mix is changing due to improvements in technology, evolving market conditions, and energy policies that lead the way forward, taking advantage of opportunities. The modern electric grid has served us well, but like other infrastructure in the country, it can be improved with new technologies – advanced energy technologies. Last year, Michigan was considering giving up on advanced energy, but instead doubled down, increasing its renewable portfolio standard from 10% to 15% and extending its energy efficiency standard through 2021. Now, fair winds are blowing – and Michigan is reaping the benefits.