UTILTIES, NEW ENERGY, AND THE GRID

As Customers Disconnect From Grid, Wind And Solar Energy Are Threatened

Ken Silverstein, February 9, 2015 (Forbes)

“…[If utility customers become less reliant on the grid, the potential economic impact is] between $18 billion and $48 billion in lost revenues by 2025…[C]onsumers who disconnect from the grid are challenging utilities to rethink their businesses… [But even rooftop solar customers] who ‘detach’ must still use the utility-provided power to buy electricity when the weather is not agreeable...Utilities, meantime, are trying to modernize and expand their infrastructures to conform to a 21st Century economy. They…collectively spend $25 billion a year maintaining their networks and they say that its upkeep is everyone’s responsibility — similar to how public education is financed…At issue is whether utilities will get overrun by the technological changes hitting the market place or whether they will help shape the eventual outcome…PJM Interconnection, which orders up power sources and schedules their delivery in a 13-state region in the eastern United States, says wind and solar energy can play a larger and more constructive role in its territory. To do so, though, investments in the electrical grid must be made: At a 20 percent penetration rate, 820 miles of wire would have to be installed for around $3.8 billion…Utilities are now in huddle formation figuring out the next play…” click here for more

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