{"id":5124,"date":"2013-09-27T17:50:02","date_gmt":"2013-09-27T17:50:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/?p=5124"},"modified":"2013-09-27T18:18:22","modified_gmt":"2013-09-27T18:18:22","slug":"the-electric-utility-of-the-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2013\/09\/27\/the-electric-utility-of-the-future\/","title":{"rendered":"The Electric Utility Of The Future"},"content":{"rendered":"

Progressive Power Providers Show a Path Forward<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Traditionally, electric utilities have been in the business of providing reliable power to their customers.\u00a0 Prices for each class of customer are fixed by state regulators and a customer\u2019s choice is pretty much limited to whether they want to turn on the switch or not.\u00a0 Much of the EDF Smart Power<\/a> initiative is focused on helping to create new utility business models that change this paradigm by increasing customer choice, providing market feedback on these choices and incentivizing the use of cleaner sources of power.<\/p>\n

Several electric utilities<\/a> are getting ahead of the curve by embracing these changes.\u00a0 While both own large fossil fuel assets, NRG Energy<\/a> and NextEra Energy<\/a> have also been developing utility-scale and distributed renewable generation projects across the country.\u00a0 NRG Energy develops solar<\/a> and other renewable projects for government, commercial and other institutional customers, and NextEra Energy, the largest generator of wind and solar power in North America, develops and finances large commercial and small utility solar projects through its subsidiary Smart Energy Capital<\/a>. Cumulatively, they have provided more than 110 megawatts of distributed solar generation capacity to schools, government and commercial facilities, among others.<\/p>\n

Over the past week, two other energy providers, Direct Energy<\/a> and Viridian<\/a>, have announced deals with SolarCity<\/a> to offer no-upfront cost solar installations to their current and prospective customers.\u00a0 In many cases, these solar installations will provide clean energy at a lower cost than the customer currently pays for dirtier, fossil fuel power.\u00a0 Direct Energy even took it a step further by agreeing to provide part of the financing for their customers.\u00a0 Since there are few investors that currently finance solar projects<\/a>, Direct Energy can expect to earn a very attractive return on their investment.\u00a0 While solar financing has been around for several years, Direct Energy and Viridian can now offer customer solutions that bundle solar installations with other energy services.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Both Direct Energy and Viridian compete in \u201cderegulated\u201d utility markets<\/a>, where customers have the ability to choose between various suppliers of power.\u00a0 In states such as Texas and New York, customers have a single \u201cwires and poles\u201d company, but can choose between multiple energy providers.\u00a0 In these states, the energy providers are forced to compete on price, service and other related offerings. \u00a0For example, Direct Energy has long been in the business of providing their customers with energy efficient upgrades to their heating and air conditioning systems.\u00a0 Viridian offers residential customers clean power from renewable generation.<\/p>\n

Because Direct Energy and Viridian must compete for customers, there is an incentive to develop offerings that will help increase market share. \u00a0When offered at lower cost than dirtier alternatives, smart, clean power options provide advantages in a very competitive marketplace.\u00a0 Both companies have done the research and know that many of their current and potential customers are interested in renewable power options.\u00a0 They\u2019ve created an innovative strategy to provide that solution, thereby improving existing relationships and attracting new customers.<\/p>\n

Power providers have a lot to lose if they stand still and watch this wave of energy innovation pass them by.\u00a0 But they also have a tremendous amount to contribute, and leveraging their expertise and capital could accelerate the innovation cycle.\u00a0 We hope that more utilities across the country will offer their customers innovative choices to not only lower their utility bills, but also reduce their environmental impact.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Progressive Power Providers Show a Path Forward Traditionally, electric utilities have been in the business of providing reliable power to their customers.\u00a0 Prices for each class of customer are fixed by state regulators and a customer\u2019s choice is pretty much limited to whether they want to turn on the switch or not.\u00a0 Much of the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6407,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[177,27600],"tags":[84860,224],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-5124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-renewable-energy","category-utilities","tag-smart-power","tag-energy"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Electric Utility Of The Future - Energy Exchange<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2013\/09\/27\/the-electric-utility-of-the-future\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Electric Utility Of The Future - Energy Exchange\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Progressive Power Providers Show a Path Forward Traditionally, electric utilities have been in the business of providing reliable power to their customers.\u00a0 Prices for each class of customer are fixed by state regulators and a customer\u2019s choice is pretty much limited to whether they want to turn on the switch or not.\u00a0 Much of the ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2013\/09\/27\/the-electric-utility-of-the-future\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Energy Exchange\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-09-27T17:50:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-09-27T18:18:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/38\/files\/2013\/07\/Brad-Copithorne-200x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Brad Copithorne\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Brad Copithorne\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/27\\\/the-electric-utility-of-the-future\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/27\\\/the-electric-utility-of-the-future\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Brad Copithorne\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b54b55529547d9cf8664944294453b3b\"},\"headline\":\"The Electric Utility Of The Future\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-09-27T17:50:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-09-27T18:18:22+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/27\\\/the-electric-utility-of-the-future\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":568,\"commentCount\":1,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/27\\\/the-electric-utility-of-the-future\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/wp-content\\\/blogs.dir\\\/38\\\/files\\\/2013\\\/07\\\/Brad-Copithorne-200x300.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Clean Energy\",\"energy\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Renewable Energy\",\"Utility Business Models\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/27\\\/the-electric-utility-of-the-future\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/27\\\/the-electric-utility-of-the-future\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/27\\\/the-electric-utility-of-the-future\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Electric Utility Of The Future - 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