More collaboration, innovation seen keys to moving energy industry forward
SAN DIEGO – Leaders from the gas and electric, solar, nuclear and water sectors called for increased collaboration between utilities, private companies and regulators as well as enhanced customer engagement and innovative new business models at this week’s National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) conference.
“So, it’s really about figuring out how to make it all work together,” Geisha Williams, president and CEO of PG&E Corp., said in a panel discussion. “It’s about bringing the various stakeholders and coming together to think about what the best solutions are. We’re at the forefront, we’re really excited about the future, and I think innovation is going to play a significant role.”
In the solar industry, Sunrun CEO and Co-founder Lynn Jurich explained, being able to work more closely with utilities would make solar provided by private companies more efficient. The company’s solar and storage solutions store energy for home use but exporting it to the grid presents challenges.
“What if we could actually connect with the utilities and dispatch that power when and where we needed it,” Jurich said. “Consumers are paying for the technology. We have it. We just need to work together.”
Maria Korsnick, president and CEO at the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), suggested that nuclear facilities could partner with other industries to provide benefits such as process heat for the chemical industry.
Korsnick also called on policymakers to help facilitate changes by supporting investments in new tech, reducing regulatory burdens and moving from a renewable energy standard to a clean energy standard that values nuclear’s carbon-free attributes.
“This is the path that will retain the U.S. leadership in nuclear energy and provide the groundwork for the reliable, resilient, clean grid of the future,” Korsnick said.
American Water President and CEO Susan Story called for federal assistance for low-income families, while Williams urged permit reform and Jurich asked policymakers to let the market solve problems saying, “what drives innovation is competition and innovation.”
The energy industry representatives also urged utilities and other energy companies to improve their engagement with customers and provide them with more choice related to their energy use. The business model of the future, Wiliams said, is not likely one-size-fits-all.
If utilities don’t do this, Jurich suggested, they risk losing customers entirely.
“The more we make it hard for consumers to get what they want, which is their own generation and clean energy on their roof, the more we do that, the more we’re going to encourage them to fully defect off the grid,” she said.
