"The Economics of Grid Defection" (What is a 'utility in a box'? - k)

[kristopher]

3. Two articles that have a bearing

Making it cost more for grid tied renewables:

ALEC Coordinates New Attacks on Renewables Mandates and Net Metering

Most of ALEC’s 2013 efforts were defeated through lobbying and grassroots initiatives undertaken by renewables advocates and climate change activists like Greenpeace and the Natural Resources Defense Council.

In 2013, ALEC's legislation targets sought to:
- Roll back renewables mandates
- Undo greenhouse gas emissions regulations
- Cut funding for emissions standards enforcement
- Ease regulatory controls on hydraulic fracturing (fracking)


ALEC’s 2014 efforts, according to Elsner and leaders of other activist groups, would:
- Weaken or eliminate state Renewable Portfolio Standards
- Weaken solar net metering policies
- Open loopholes in disclosure requirements for fracking chemicals
- Turn back federal EPA efforts to regulate GHGs and other power plant pollutants


Three ALEC-linked efforts are designed to limit solar growth, Elsner said. "Duke is working in North Carolina to weaken net metering. Washington state utilities are pushing a 'protectionist' policy to block private solar leasing companies from working there. And legislation to gut solar net metering in Kansas, backed by Kansas utilities, was taken up in an ALEC-chaired committee with five other...ALEC members."

In response to letters from Greenpeace to nine major utilities questioning their support of ALEC, a representative of MidAmerican Energy Holdings and its subsidiaries NV Energy and PacifiCorp said they do not and will not support ALEC efforts, Greenpeace researcher Connor Gibson reported. But Alliant Energy, Ameren, APS, Dominion Resources, NiSource, and PG&E have not responded.

http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/ALEC-Coordinates-New-Attacks-on-Renewables-Mandates?utm_source=Daily&utm_medium=Headline&utm_campaign=GTMDaily


And making it less expensive and easier to go off grid. This article is, in effect, describing the evolution of micro grids.

Can Distributed Storage Help Expand the Midwest Solar Market?
Forget about California. Intelligent Generation sees a future for solar and storage in the heartland.
Katherine Tweed
February 24, 2014

... northern Illinois, which is the westernmost part of PJM territory, is exactly where Intelligent Generation is looking to make inroads with its behind-the-meter energy storage and software-as-a-service package.

“We are all about monetizing storage when it’s combined with solar,” said Jay Marhoefer, founder and CEO of Intelligent Generation. IG integrates client-owned storage assets with the grid to cut demand charges, as well as to provide frequency regulation or other services based on the owner’s needs.

If a grocery store in Ohio is talking to a solar developer, the store owner may find that the payback is simply too long, explained Marhoefer. A solar developer partner will then call IG, which will run analytics to size a solar system integrated with storage to serve the load so that it has a more attractive payback.

IG’s system uses data such as day-ahead pricing, demand charges, solar system data, weather forecast and a battery system’s capability to find the optimal way for the system to interface with the grid. IG takes the signal from PJM, runs its analytics to come up with the best solution, and then tells the battery what to do. IG monitors clients' solar systems, but does not control them...

http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/intelligent-generations-software-makes-solar-and-storage-more-attractive?utm_source=Daily&utm_medium=Headline&utm_campaign=GTMDaily