Category Archives: Integrating Renewables

Resource planning just got more complicated

March 25, 2020 / Jill Feblowitz / Data and Analytics, Decarbonization, Distributed Energy Resources, Integrating Renewables

Resource planning has changed a lot over the last five years, with the increase in intermittent renewables and distributed energy sources. In 2018, the piece Are DER Heavy Utilities Being Held Captive by Technology Limitations?, posited that analytical tools for used for planning are no longer adequate.  Flash forward to 2020 and there are more […]

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ARPA-E Dodges a Bullet

September 5, 2018 / Jill Feblowitz / Distributed Energy Resources, DOE Programs, Electric Vehicles, Energy Storage, Integrating Renewables, Microgrids, Virtual Power Plants

Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) was created to provide access to funding for energy industry innovation. With the signing of the U.S. spending bill, ARPA-E dodged a bullet. This is a good thing for utilities. Despite the common misconception that the agency is about only renewable companies, utilities and manufacturers also have benefited from ARPA-E. […]

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Next-Gen Flexibility is The Mantra for Grid 3.0

July 7, 2017 / Jill Feblowitz / Demand Response, Distributed Energy Resources, Distribution Markets, DOE Programs, Energy Storage, Integrating Renewables, Microgrids, New Business Models, Regulation

For most veterans of the utility industry, discussions about the next generation distribution grid hearken back to the 1990s with the introduction of deregulation and wholesale markets. Today’s “future” represents an even greater departure. What’s new is the rapidly rising penetration of distributed energy resources (DER) and the presence of variable renewable generation. Then too, there […]

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The Buzz About Micro-Synchrophasors at IEEE PES

August 29, 2016 / Jill Feblowitz / Integrating Renewables, Synchrophasors

There is no question that distributed energy resources (DER) will continue to proliferate on the grid.  However, there are questions about how best to plan for, monitor and manage the two-way flow of electricity on the distribution grid.  It is not surprising, then, that the industry is beginning to look technologies that can cost-effectively provide […]

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