Interchange Recharged

Utility executives poured into Boston from across the country this week for the Edison Electric Institute’s annual conference. They talked about everything from crazy national politics to rate design to artificial intelligence and the future of workers. We brought our recording gear and tracked down some top names in the industry. In this episode, we hear what's on the minds of utility executives. Here are some highlights from the interviews: Tom Fanning, CEO of Southern Company, on why decarbonization will continue under Trump: "We don't chase fads. Our business approach, our strategies, our models, have a much longer life than any political party or any particular administration." Pat Vincent-Collawn, PNM Resources CEO, on automation and the future of work: "We're not thinking about that enough yet." Julia Hamm, the CEO of SEPA, on how distributed energy is wrapped up in smart cities and artificial intelligence: "Utility executives are really starting to think about how does that suite of distributed energy resources fit into an even bigger picture." David Owens, retiring VP of regulatory affairs at EEI, on the new priorities for investor-owned utilities: We've gotten very aggressive in the industry's vision. And that vision is focused around cleaner energy, a smarter energy infrastructure, and providing customized or individualized solutions so we can respond to customer needs." And here's our reading list mentioned at the top of the show: R Street Institute report on why baseload retirements don't necessarily mean unreliability: bit.ly/2sA7uAH Rocky Mountain Institute piece on outdated notions of baseload power: bit.ly/2swyRdY Researchers debunk the premise of Rick Perry's baseload report in The Conversation: http://bit.ly/2rnBH1k GTM article summarizing a report on why ARPA-E is a success so far: http://bit.ly/2sGFevU Wall Street Journal article on oil giants shifting their focus to electricity: http://on.wsj.com/2tuE2bL The Interchange is brought to you by AES Energy Storage. AES is helping utilities harness the power of battery-based energy storage to make the electric power system cleaner, more flexible, and more reliable. Find out more: http://bit.ly/2oxZ5dT Make sure to subscribe to The Interchange podcast via iTunes, SoundCloud or Stitcher, or integrate our RSS feed into the podcast app of your choice. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

There are two stories playing out in solar today. One of them is decidedly negative. The other is extraordinarily positive. And they're both unfolding at the exact same time. In this week's podcast, we detail the different stories playing out in solar. We'll weave reflective conversation together with excerpts from Shayle's keynote address at last month's Solar Summit. In part one, the brutal year for many businesses: Public solar companies are getting thrashed; module oversupply is causing severe financial pain for manufacturers; and even downstream companies who’ve benefited from cheaper equipment and growing demand have struggled. What does this tell us about the state of in the industry? In part two, the macro trends: While the industry is in upheaval, the prospects could not be better for the technology. It’s one of the strange contradictions in solar. Where do we stand on the growth trajectory today? In part three, preparing for explosive growth: How do you manage the coming wave of solar with better market design and integration techniques? The Interchange is brought to you by AES Energy Storage. AES is helping utilities harness the power of battery-based energy storage to make the electric power system cleaner, more flexible, and more reliable. Find out more: bit.ly/2oxZ5dT See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Here we go again. America's solar industry is in the midst of yet another trade dispute. In late May, the U.S. government officially accepted Suniva's request to review the impact of imported cells and modules on domestic solar manufacturers. If trade officials request tariffs and minimum prices at the levels suggested by Suniva, it could set industry equipment pricing back to 2012 levels and installed system pricing at 2015 levels. A lot of planned utility-scale solar projects would be destroyed. And a number of states would be out of reach for residential installers. If the International Trade Commission agrees with Suniva's complaint, it will send recommendations to the president. And no one knows what Trump will do. In an industry already facing a slowdown in growth, high duties on imported solar equipment could be a disaster. But is it a doomsday scenario? In this week's podcast, we look at the potential consequences for solar businesses upstream and downstream. Thanks to our launch sponsor, AES Energy Storage. AES Energy Storage is helping utilities harness the power of battery-based energy storage to make the electric power system cleaner, more flexible, and more reliable. Find out more: bit.ly/2oxZ5dT See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Sunrun is now the largest standalone solar company in the U.S. And as a public company, it faces increased scrutiny of its solar services model from investors who are skeptical about residential solar conditions. After reporting solid quarterly numbers for the end of 2016, the company is now dealing with accusations that it hid customer cancelation rates. Executives aren't commenting on an SEC investigation into canceled contracts, but analysts believe it's a distraction from the real metrics used to value Sunrun. The company also says it is a distraction, and that the allegations are false. On stage at the Solar Summit, we talked about some of the immediate challenges -- investor sentiment, customer acquisition costs, and streamlining installations -- that Sunrun is grappling with. (Squared subscribers can watch every single session.) After that session, we whisked Jurich into a back room for a podcast interview about Sunrun's long-term outlook. We asked about the role of solar as a grid resource, the company's growing storage deployments, its new partnerships with utilities, and the evolution of customer choice. It offers a glimpse into her leadership style as the CEO of one of America's top solar companies. "We often get stuck in the short term noise, we often miss this bigger, massive structural shift that's happening," she said. Thanks to our launch sponsor, AES Energy Storage. Find out more about the company's storage solutions for utilities: http://aesenergystorage.com/interchange See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Mary Powell has a simple mantra: "Culture eats strategy." Since taking over as CEO of Green Mountain Power, she's implemented a startup culture that represents a dramatic departure from a traditional utility model -- obsessing over the customer, mixing employees in order to uncover new ideas, testing out new products and re-imagining the power delivery business model itself. She used to call Green Mountain Power the "un-utility." These days, Powell doesn't even like to talk about her company as a utility at all. This week, we feature a live conversation with Mary Powell from the Clean Energy Trust Challenge in Chicago. She talked about her unconventional approach to managing a utility, and her outlook on how customer interaction with the grid will change. Above all, she explained why understanding customers matters so much to people: "One of my biggest fears is being out of touch with what people want and what really matters to people." Big thanks to our launch sponsor, AES Energy Storage: http://aesenergystorage.com/interchange See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Since the day Tesla was founded, executives saw stationary storage as a compliment to the electric car business. That was Martin Eberhard's plan when he co-founded the company and envisioned the Tesla Energy Group. Years later, after launching the Powerwall, CEO Elon Musk said the storage business could soon eclipse automobiles. Today, storage is an integral part of Tesla's package of offerings for consumers, and its development plans for utilities. In 2009, Mateo Jaramillo was hired to execute Tesla's storage strategy. Well, eventually. First, he was responsible for developing the company's powertrain. Over time, he became more heavily involved in stationary storage -- eventually building Tesla's in-house storage development arm and the team that designed the Powerwall and Powerpack. He drew on his years of experience at Gaia Power Technologies, where he worked on some of the earliest behind-the-meter battery systems in New York. Last December, Jaramillo left Tesla to focus on his next career move in storage. The LinkedIn description of his new job job reads: "The Next Thing." This week, we caught up with Jaramillo to talk about what that "next thing" might be. We talked about the history of behind-the-meter storage, the evolution of Tesla's approach to the market, and where storage business models and applications are headed. Thanks to our launch sponsor, AES Energy Storage. The grid is changing. Fast. And AES Energy Storage is helping utilities harness the power of battery-based energy storage to make the electric power system cleaner, more flexible, and more reliable. Find out more: http://aesenergystorage.com/interchange Make sure to subscribe to the Interchange: iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-interchange/id1221460035?mt=2 SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/theinterchangepodcast Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-interchange Our RSS Feed: http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:298570872/sounds.rss Bookmark our Interchange web page: https://www.greentechmedia.com/podcast/the-interchange See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In April of 2014, three of New York's most influential figures in energy -- Governor Andrew Cuomo, state "energy czar" Richard Kauffman and then-chief regulator Audrey Zibelman -- launched one of the most ambitious reform efforts in the history of electricity. It was called Reforming the Energy Vision. It was simple, but extraordinarily bold. Here's how Zibelman explained it: “By fundamentally restructuring the way utilities and energy companies sell electricity, New York can maximize the utilization of resources, and reduce the need for new infrastructure through expanded demand management, energy efficiency, renewable energy, distributed generation, and energy storage programs.” We’re a few years on since that vision was first articulated. And so it’s a good time to ask: what has REV accomplished so far? Is the state any closer to redesigning the electricity market than it was three years ago? This week, we're talking to Lisa Frantzis, a senior vice president at Advanced Energy Economy, who’s been knee-deep in the acronyms, buzzwords and orders. And she’s going to guide us through REV. Thanks to our launch sponsor, AES Energy Storage. The grid is changing. Fast. And AES Energy Storage is helping utilities harness the power of battery-based energy storage to make the electric power system cleaner, more flexible, and more reliable. Find out more: http://aesenergystorage.com/interchange See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

How wealthy are the households that install rooftop solar? This question has surfaced repeatedly, most often when policymakers or regulators are considering solar incentives and/or changes to electricity rates. This week, GTM Research and PowerScout released a report that offers -- for the first time -- household-level data on the relationship between residential solar and household income. In this episode, we dig in. Access the free report here: https://www.greentechmedia.com/research/report/how-wealthy-are-residential-solar-customers Big thanks to our launch sponsor, AES Energy Storage. Learn more about AES' industry-leading storage solutions for the grid: http://aesenergystorage.com/interchange See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What will it take to slash carbon emissions in the electric sector by 100 percent? We're already making immense progress in the electric grid. And we could use wind, solar and storage to cost-effectively cut grid emissions in half. But to go from 50 percent reductions to 100 percent -- that will take a much more diverse range of technologies. That is the conclusion of a new literature review of 30 studies, written by Jesse Jenkins and Samuel Thernstrom. Jesse Jenkins joins us on the podcast. He’s an energy thinker, writer and a PhD candidate at MIT with an expertise in electric power system engineering. In this week's episode of The Interchange, we define "deep decarbonization," discuss the limitations of our current pathway, and talk about the intense tribalism that feeds the debate over how to transition to a zero-carbon system. We're re-launching the show this week publicly. Make sure to subscribe to us on SoundCloud, iTunes, Stitcher Radio or simply copy and paste our RSS feed into the podcast app of your choice. Big thanks to our launch sponsor, AES Energy Storage: Make sure to subscribe to the show! Links below: http://aesenergystorage.com/interchange iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-interchange/id1221460035?mt=2 SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/theinterchangepodcast Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-interchange Our RSS Feed: http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:298570872/sounds.rss Bookmark our Interchange web page: https://www.greentechmedia.com/podcast/the-interchange And other links from the show are below. What we're reading: https://foresightdk.com/in-search-of-a-cure-for-cannibalisation/ Jesse Jenkins' paper on deep decarbonization: http://bit.ly/2oeRvBb See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It’s been 15 years since Cape Wind -- the project meant to be America’s first offshore wind farm -- was first proposed. For years, the 130-turbine, 450-megawatt project was held up as the start of an entirely new industry in the U.S. But fierce legal opposition and project financing problems eventually brought the project down. The offshore wind industry is now virtually all in Europe. In 2001, Europe had a few hundred megawatts of offshore wind projects. Today, it has nearly 13,000 megawatts of capacity -- and developers are on track to make offshore wind the cheapest form of new electricity. In fact, new projects are now beating 2020 price estimates. When will America finally capture a piece of this budding industry? This week's guest is well equipped to answer that question. Alicia Barton is the former director of the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, the former Chief of Operations at SunEdison’s global utility group, and is now the co-chair of the cleantech practice at the global law firm Foley Hoag. She joins us to talk about the regulatory and business activity underway on America's East Coast. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.