Few industries in the U.S. are as stuck in the past as our utilities are. In the face of growing challenges from climate change and the need for energy security, a system and a business model that each took more than a century to evolve must now be extensively retooled in the span of a few decades. Despite the need, many of the technologies and institutions needed are still being designed or tested. It is like rebuilding our entire airplane fleet, along with our runways and air traffic control system, while the planes are all up in the air filled with passengers. In this accessible and insightful book, Peter Fox-Penner considers how utilities interact with customers and how the Smart Grid could revolutionize their relationship. Turning to the supply side, he considers the costs of, and tradeoffs between, large-scale power sources such as coal plants and small-scale power sources close to customers. Finally, he looks at how utilities can respond to all of these challenges and remain viable, while financing hundreds of billions of dollars of investment without much of an increase in sales. Upon publication, Smart Power was praised as an instant classic on the future of energy utilities. This Anniversary Edition includes up-to-date assessments of the industry by such leading energy experts as Daniel Estes and Jim Rogers, as well as a new afterword from the author. Anyone who is interested in our energy future will appreciate the clear explanations and the in-depth analysis it offers.

What happens when electric utility monopolies pursue their acquisition interests—undisciplined by competition, and insufficiently disciplined by the regulators responsible for replicating competition? Since the mid-1980s, mergers and acquisitions of U.S. electric utilities have halved the number of local, independent utilities. Mostly debt-financed, these transactions have converted retiree-suitable investments into subsidiaries of geographically scattered conglomerates. Written by one of the U.S.’s leading regulatory thinkers, this book combines legal, accounting, economic and financial analysis of the 30-year march of U.S. electricity mergers with insights from the dynamic field of behavioral economics.

A Practical Guide to the Retail Rate Setting Process for Regulated Electric and Natural Gas Utilities. This book explains how the traditional rate-setting process is commonly done for energy utilities. This book includes a discussion of revenue requirement, rate base, cost of capital, expenses, revenues, rate-making objectives, cost of service studies, rate design, the rate case process, tariff policies, metering, service quality and other types of cases affecting rates. The book concludes with a numerical example showing the calculation steps from revenue requirement to rate design.

Modernize workflows, create actionable data, reduce costs, and prepare for new challenges. Location is at the core of many utilities' daily and long-term planning, but it's about more than making a map. It's improving the reliability of your water and energy infrastructure by reducing service interruptions. It's using data analysis to make informed operational decisions, both in the office and in the field. It's strengthening your network safety and security while increasing customer satisfaction. With advancements in smart technologies, location intelligence for utilities management is not just for GIS specialists. In Delivering Water and Power: Applying GIS for Utilities, see how public and private utilities around the world have implemented geographic information systems (GIS) to visualize and analyze data for situational awareness, operational efficiency, and asset management. In this collection of case studies and "how to" guidance, learn about how GIS was used to: * Protect customers in Denver through an innovative lead reduction program * Streamline asset inspections in the UK * Improve emergency response efforts in Puerto Rico * Increase solar energy potential and adoption in Dubai Through web apps, online maps, dashboards, and other GIS solutions, utility professionals develop a deeper understanding of network maintenance and performance within a real-world context, increasing operational flexibility, creating a safer environment for workers, and raising customer satisfaction. Discover how GIS and location intelligence modernize utility infrastructure and operations for improved service delivery and management with Delivering Water and Power: Applying GIS for Utilities.

This book describes how geospatial technology in the form of a modern enterprise geographic information system (GIS) can be applied to all aspects of the electric utility business from Smart Grid to generation to transmission to distribution to the retail supply of electricity to customers. This book appeals to readers that are interested not only in the technical details of a GIS enabled electric system, but also how such a system works in the real business world.

Future of Utilities - Utilities of the Future: How technological innovations in distributed generation will reshape the electric power sector relates the latest information on the electric power sector its rapid transformation, particularly on the distribution network and customer side. Trends like the rapid rise of self-generation and distributed generation, microgrids, demand response, the dissemination of electric vehicles and zero-net energy buildings that promise to turn many consumers into prosumers are discussed. The book brings together authors from industry and academic backgrounds to present their original, cutting-edge and thought-provoking ideas on the challenges currently faced by electric utilities around the globe, the opportunities they present, and what the future might hold for both traditional players and new entrants to the sector. The book's first part lays out the present scenario, with concepts such as an integrated grid, microgrids, self-generation, customer-centric service, and pricing, while the second part focuses on how innovation, policy, regulation, and pricing models may come together to form a new electrical sector, exploring the reconfiguring of the current institutions, new rates design in light of changes to retail electricity markets and energy efficiency, and the cost and benefits of integration of distributed or intermittent generation, including coupling local renewable energy generation with electric vehicle fleets. The final section projects the future function and role of existing electrical utilities and newcomers to this sector, looking at new pathways for business and pricing models, consumer relations, technology, and innovation. - Contains discussions that help readers understand the underlying causes and drivers of change in the electrical sector, and what these changes mean in financial, operational, and regulatory terms - Provides thought-provoking ideas on the challenges currently faced by electric utilities around the globe, the opportunities they present, and what the future might hold for both traditional players and new entrants to the sector - Helps readers anticipate what developments are likely to define the function and role of the utility of the future

Electric Utility Resource Planning: Past, Present and Future covers the balance of renewable costs, energy storage, and flexible backstop mechanisms needed in electric utility resource planning. In addition, it covers the optimization of planning methodologies and market design. The book argues that net load, ramping and volatility concerns associated with renewables call into question the validity of almost a century of planning approaches. Finally, it suggests that accounting for flexibility helps optimize the efficiency of the entire fleet of assets, minimizing costs and CO2 generation simultaneously, concluding that a flexible, independent backstop mechanism is needed, regardless of renewables or storage. Case studies provide a mix of hypothetical "what if" scenarios and analyses of real-life utility portfolios drawn from international examples.

The economics of electric utilities -- Early commercialization -- The first electric utilities -- The adoption of state commission rate regulation -- Growth and growing pains -- Public utility holding companies: opportunity and crisis -- Public utility holding companies: indictment and "death sentence"--Hydroelectricity and the federal government -- Rural electrification -- Conclusion and a look forward from 1940

Most people—including many legislators, regulators, and other decision makers in the electric utility industry—have misconceptions about how electric utilities really "work" and plan for the future. This lack of understanding can lead to poorly informed decisions and policies that directly affect the choices utilities must make. Using easy-to-understand text and examples, Electric Utility Resource Planning: Economics, Reliability, and Decision-Making clarifies how utilities operate their systems and prepare for the future. This explanation will show readers that both expected and counterintuitive results can occur (i.e., conservation might result in higher air emissions, or lowering costs could lead to higher electric rates). Taking readers step by step through this process, the book (in the following order): "Creates" a hypothetical utility Explains how and why a utility operates its system of generating units Discusses the planning methods that a utility would (or should) use Guides readers through each stage of a planning analysis for the hypothetical utility, examining various resource options (conservation, new power plants, and solar) In addition, the author introduces four Fundamental Principles of Resource Planning that should guide utilities. He also offers opinions on how certain trends in utility regulation and legislation can hinder utility planners’ efforts to identify and select the best resources for the utility’s customers. With this book, author Dr. Steven Sim applies his experience and insights from more than two decades of resource planning for Florida Power and Light (FPL). As one of the largest utilities in the United States, FPL has faced a multitude of resource planning challenges, and Dr. Sim has performed and supervised thousands of analyses designed to meet these obstacles. He has also served as an FPL witness in regulatory hearings on a wide variety of topics, ranging from the economic implications of nuclear, conservation, coal, gas, and other resource options, to the non-economic impacts (air emissions, fuel usage, system reliability, etc.) they present.