Analysis Of Beyond Utility 2.0 To Energy Democracy

In recent years, the US has come to realize the weaknesses in the US power supply. The power infrastructure in the country is very old; and because of the increase in power usage within the US, the power grid is becoming weaker and more prone to security issues. Because of the uncertainty in the power system, some major US companies have moved their data systems to other countries in order to better protect themselves by using forms of renewable energy (Rhodes 2013). The US

In 2007, Canada’s industries saved 2.1 billion U.S. dollars of energy costs (2007). All these numbers show Canada’s efforts in general public utilities.

With renewable sources and energy conservation becoming more prominent, there is a lower electricity usage. Many energy utilities are starting to take a hit because most of their income comes from customer charges. Companies have started to phase out charging customers based on electric usage and have switched to a fixed monthly fees that are at least $25 more per month. It is believed that companies should increase their fees by 1% every year to maintain the grid but since profit is decreasing, they are looking into a much higher fee. Vice President of the Edison Foundation, Lisa Wood, told the Wall Street Journal that there needs to be more money put into the electricity grid because of how complex it has

In addition, due to rising environmental issues and concerns, Duke Energy must continue to transform, and therefore, the company is presently pursuing new methods of sustaining energy efficiency and is investing in smart grid technologies and new methods of utilizing renewable energy resources such as wind and solar power

Microeconomic theory holds that for a market to be perfectly competitive, it needs to have the following three properties: 1) product sold must be uniform across all sellers, i.e. there’s no differentiation between producers; 2) there must be many buyers and sellers, such that no one seller or buyer can affect the market price; 3) all agents participating in the market have perfect information. As opposed to commodities that might be well suited for this perfect competition framework, electricity has unique features that make the framework less applicable. The chief differentiating characteristic of electricity is that it cannot be stored. Although some amounts could be stored in batteries, that is not enough to power a country. Electricity must be generated and transmitted as it is consumed (Perez Arriaga 2013). The implication for market mechanism is that supply and demand at a particular time period would balance not based on extra storage but on additional generation capacity available. Second, electricity is not a homogenous commodity. There’s a distinction between generators that supply power on a continual basis (e.g. electricity derived from coal, hydropower, nuclear power) and generators that are on only during peak hours (e.g. natural gas and oil-fired generators). Thus, generation sources are not perfect substitutes of one another. Third, the end-user of electricity is

Energy market of UK was a monopoly market, then it turned into a competitive market. Doing business in a competitive market is not as easier as we think. Here, this change lead huge changes

According to the case study written by Jurek, Bras, Guldberg, D’Arcy, Oh, and Biller, energy costs were steadily rising and were predicted to continue this trend going into the future. At the same time, utility companies were beginning to implement Smart Grid technologies to increase the efficiency of energy distribution. One resulting program to emerge from

The State of Tasmania is currently facing an Energy Crisis that threatens the energy security (Matthew Groom, 2016). In normal energy supply the state obtains 66% from Hydro dams, 14% from The Basslink, 11% Thermal energy, and 9% from Renewable Wind Energy (Tasmanian Economic, January 2016).

Nonrenewable energy is a problem in the United States. Wars have been fought for the use of oil and other nonrenewable resources. One article even suggests that, “The energy crisis of the 1970’s drove up gasoline prices, sent the economy into a tailspin and prompted lawmakers and government agencies to develop new energy polices.” (“Are renewable energy sources viable alternatives to fossil fuels”). For many years the question on people’s minds has been, when are we going

Based on existing research, some contend the application the applications of a Hegelian and Kantian philosophical policy paradigm illuminates the course of change in the Colorado renewable energy standards. Prior to 2004, Colorado electricity was supplied by 60 utilities that generated using primarily coal and natural gas, along with some hydroelectric power. Colorado utilities were not required to use renewable energy sources, but approximately two percent of electricity generated came from the renewable energy sources. Only sixteen states have adopted renewable energy requirements,

This memo provides details on behind-the-meter generation (BTMG), and demand response program for Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), and Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). Demand response is the change in electric usage by the end user from their normal consumption patterns in response to changes in the price of electricity over time, or to incentive payments designed to induce lower electricity use at times of high wholesale market prices or when system reliability is at risk . Demand response can be provided by either by continuously controllable loads or with BTMG. A market participant is compensated by Independent System Operator’s (ISO’s) for providing demand response. The following information gives details on the demand response program categories and behind-the-meter (BTM) generators participating in these programs.

During the time of the project, Energy costs are steadily rising and were predicted to continue this trend going into the future. At the same time, utility companies were beginning to implement Smart Grid technologies to increase the efficiency of energy distribution. One resulting program to emerge from these new technologies was Demand and Response contracting. (Emblemsvåg and Bras, 2000). This program allowed customers to obtain a discount on their utility costs in return for reducing their energy usage during specified times. If a company is able to understand their processes well enough to change and meet the energy levels

The first two targets respectively are to ensure universal access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy services by 2030 (target 7.1) and to significantly increase the amount of renewable energy services in use by that time (7.2) (U.N., 2015). These targets aim to measure the amount of the population who has access to energy and to ensure that the methods of energy are sustainable, renewable, and cost effective. As stated by U.N. in the SDGs “it is estimated that in 2015 still about 2.8 billion people have no access to modern energy services and over 1.1 billion do not have electricity.” (U.N., 2015). Clearly the target of universal accessibility to energy is already being measured on a global scale and is seen as an important issue. Several studies have been done on the state of energy services in specific countries as well. Shami and colleagues looked into the feasibility of wind farms in Pakistan to diversify its energy services and correct the issue of frequent blackouts that’s been affecting the region (Shami, 2016). Another study, done by Sanusi Ohiare, looks at the costs associated with expanding electricity service to all of Nigeria to comply with the 2030 target set out by the U.N. (Ohiare, 2015). These studies address all the requirements of the two targets. While more developed countries are fortunate enough to ensure access to energy

This week’s reading list revolved around the topic of regulatory function of. Each reading discussed different regulations in the electricity sector, exploring how regulation/deregulation has affected the market in the jurisdiction discussed. These readings provide background about policies that have been established, problems encountered when developing policies, how to approach these problems, and possible solutions that might be used in the future. These topics were examined in the political and economic sense, and again provide background that can be used to explain the past, present, and future state of the electricity market, and help to make predictions and suggest policies for the future.

Readings included: “Making Choices: Reviewing Ontario’s Long-term Energy Plan”, “The Development of Renewable Electricity Policy in the Province of Ontario: The Influence of Ideas and Timing”, “The Politics of Renewable Energy Policies: The Case of Feed-in Tariffs in Ontario, Canada”, “Energy, Economic and environmental discourses and their policy impact: The case of Ontario’s Green Energy and Green Economy Act”.