A Teachable Moment for California

The rotating power outages California customers experienced in August became a Rorschach test of preexisting biases, as various critics responded by jumping to conclusions about the cause. Dr. Carl Linvill writes that with the need for power sector transformation more urgent than ever, what we need instead is a measured, thoughtful analysis of these events that can accurately inform longer-term policy responses.

Making the Distribution System More Flexible

Distributed solar and wind, demand response and storage all have the potential to yield a more flexible and ultimately more reliable grid, but only if that potential is allowed to be realized. In the latest episode of the Grid Geeks podcast, Jessica Shipley joined a panel to talk about “yoga for the grid” and how to get the most out of distributed resources.

Why Coal Is Still on the Menu in China

Despite a severely diminished business case for coal power, new development of coal plants is still under consideration in China. In a guest post for Carbon Brief, Max Dupuy explains some of the reasons why this is still the case – including status quo approaches to regulation and planning that distort incentives, as well as the broader picture of “GDP competition” among Chinese provinces and cities.

Online Now: The Future of Vehicle-to-Grid

For a webinar discussion on August 26, David Farnsworth convened a special guest panel to talk about various aspects of vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology and how regulators can ensure that V2G can become a wider reality sooner rather than later.

FURTHER NOTES

Adaptable Models for the Power Sector

PBR as a Tool for Aligning Interests