How Edison, Tesla, and other visionaries invented the modern grid (Part 1 of 3)
Take a moment to imagine a world without electricity. You will quickly realize how dependent our 21st-century lives are on this invisible and silent form of energy. The modern electric grid was built from the late 1800s through the mid-1900s during one of greatest waves of invention in human history. The century-old power industry is […]
Using new business models to unleash competition and innovation in the power industry
Competition is all about price, features, and customer experience. Right? That’s what business schools have been teaching for decades and it’s largely true. But, if you really want to change an industry, you need to change the rules. You need to create new business models. The untold story behind some of the most disruptive companies […]
Three ways to reduce the risks of cyberattacks on the electric grid
As the cyberattack on the Ukraine grid showed the world, electric utilities are the new target for cyber terrorism. A survey conducted by the website Utility Drive reflects the industry’s rapidly growing concern. In 2015 and 2016, utilities ranked threats from physical and cyberattacks as their sixth largest challenge. In 2017, these threats jumped to number one. […]
Russia has infiltrated the US electric grid – is this our doomsday nightmare?
“There is no backup system to the grid.” – Gretchen Bakke from her book, The Grid: The Fraying Wires Between Americans and Our Energy Future On March 15, 2018, the US government made a chilling announcement. Russian hackers have been successfully infiltrating the US electric grid over the last year, maybe longer. While rumors have been […]
Montgomery County Maryland didn’t have the budget for their microgrid so they invented a new business model
It was the summer of 2012 and the Mid-Atlantic was being pummeled by one of the worst storms in years. This was the second summer of heavy thunderstorms and squalls to come through Montgomery County, Maryland, in as many years. The county leaders were scrambling to dispatch police and emergency workers. But with so many […]
The most important question each of us needs to ask about energy
The dirty secret of power plants Every time we turn on a light, crank up the air conditioning or wash our clothes, we are using electricity from the grid. But few of us ever stop and ponder the origins of our electricity. Do you know anyone that has actually been to a coal, natural gas, […]
Myth busting the crazy politics of clean energy – Is Solyndra proof that the US shouldn’t fund clean energy?
OK, so you’re at a party and looking for something to talk about. Nothing is more entertaining than wading neck deep into politics. And few topics are more politically exciting than energy and climate change. So here are some talking points to really spice up those cocktail conversations (and maybe get you kicked out of […]
Africa is democratizing energy – a TED talk by Amar Inamdar shares lessons that can impact energy everywhere
Local energy is the fastest path to cleaner, cheaper, more reliable power. Nowhere is this truer than Africa. And, few people express the amazing future of local energy in Africa better than Amar Inamdar. His recent talk from TEDGlobal 2017 was featured on the home page of TED.com and has been spectacularly well received. If […]
How did CEO Chandu Visweswariah take Utopus Insights from clean energy startup to $100M acquisition in 12 months?
On February 2, 2018, US$12 billion wind turbine giant, Vestas, acquired New York startup, Utopus Insights, for $100M in cash. Utopus provides several products including predictive analytic software tools that help utilities manage intermittent energy sources like wind. This is a behind the scenes story of the Utopus CEO… Chandu Visweswariah is one of the […]
If we used this much fossil fuel in Edison’s time, we’d have already run out
We WILL run out of fossil fuels. In fact, we will run out of natural gas, coal, and even uranium much sooner than most people realize. It may not be during many of our lifetimes, but it will most certainly be during our children’s.
The market has spoken – clean energy just became the cheapest source of electricity
Spreadsheets, analysis, and predictions are all great. But nothing compares to the free market if you want to really understand the trajectory of clean energy pricing. A recent bidding process for utility giant, Xcel Energy, just rocked the industry. Bids for clean energy projects including solar, wind, and batteries, came in lower than anything ever […]
Highlights from Drawdown, the most comprehensive plan for reversing climate change
If you want to understand the causes of global climate change and what can be done to reverse it, you should start by reading Drawdown – The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming. This book is part of a broader project led by famed environmentalist, speaker, entrepreneur, and activist, Paul Hawken. He […]
An interview with Georgia Power’s CEO Paul Bowers on renewables and the future of utilities
Utilities are an essential part of our clean energy future. Whether the future grid sees a rise in interconnected microgrids or centralized solar/wind/battery farms or a combination of both, the utilities’ wires and infrastructure are foundations upon which much of it will be built. Navigating the fastest path to clean energy requires the active, engaged […]
Clean energy seems obvious so why haven’t utilities embraced it more quickly?
Have you ever wondered why utilities don’t embrace clean energy more aggressively? While it’s true that some of them are resistant to change, there’s a bigger and more practical reason: energy from the sun and wind make managing the grid a whole lot harder. Let me use a little metaphor to help explain the why […]
The Trump administration slaps a 30% tariff on all imported solar
After months of paralyzing uncertainty, President Trump’s staff announced their decision on solar tariffs today. Here is a high-level overview: Quick Facts Imported solar is subject to a 30% tariff The tariff amount will reduce 5% per year over 4 years to 15% The first 2.5 GW of solar cells imported each year will not […]
Local Energy can be expensive and hard today but so were websites in 1998
(Reading time: 4 minutes) Ask most experts and they’ll tell you that local energy systems like microgrids and community solar can be expensive and tough to build. If this is true, can local energy really be a faster path to cleaner energy? As with most things, the real answer is never simple. Local energy champions, like […]
Clean Energy Tech Conferences for 2018
The clean energy industry has A LOT of conferences. A LinkedIn post from my friend Georges prompted me to merge my list with his (and other sources) and post for others. Please leave a comment below (or email me) if you see anything needing corrections, updates, etc. [gdoc datatables_paging=”false” datatables_searching=”false” datatables_buttons=”%5B%5B %5D%5D” datatables_page_length=”20″ datatables_info=”false” datatables_usecache=”no” […]
How New York is once again leading the local energy revolution
After years of relentless toil in his New Jersey laboratory, Thomas Edison created one of the most celebrated inventions in history: the first commercially practical light bulb. But it was just across the Hudson River, in Manhattan, that another Edison invention made his iconic light bulb available to the masses. See, in the late 1800’s, […]
Three steps that will help Puerto Rico’s grid survive the next hurricane
On September 6, 2017, Hurricane Irma hit Puerto Rico and left a million people without power. Two weeks later, on September 20, Hurricane Maria finished off the job and destroyed nearly 100% of the island’s grid. In early October, the governor, Ricardo Rosselló, optimistically predicted that 95% of the power would be restored by mid-December. But, […]
Bloomberg New Energy Finance Founder and Chairman Michael Liebreich shares his views on nuclear, solar, and the politics of energy
Michael Liebreich is a really smart guy. He grew up in London and attended Cambridge University to specialize in thermodynamics and nuclear engineering. After graduating in 1984, he became a member of the British Ski team and went on to compete in the world cups and the 1992 Olympics. Along the way, he got an […]