Innovation and Disruption at the Grid’s Edge

Book description

Innovation and Disruption at the Grid’s Edge examines the viable developments in peer-to-peer transactions enabled by open platforms on the grid’s edge. With consumers and prosumers using more electronic platforms to trade surplus electricity from rooftop solar panels, share a storage battery, or use smart gadgets that manage load and self-generation, the grid's edge is becoming crowded.

The book examines the growing number of consumers engaging in self-generation and storage, and analyzes the underlying causes and drivers of change, as well as the implications of how the utility sector—particularly the distribution network—should/could be regulated. The book also explores how tariffs are set and revenues are collected to cover both fixed and variable costs in a sustainable way. This reference is useful for anyone interested in the areas of energy generation and regulation, especially stakeholders engaged in the generation, transmission, and distribution of power.

  • Examines the new players that will disrupt the energy grid markets
  • Offers unique coverage of an emerging and unpublished topic
  • Helps the reader understand up-to-date energy regulations and pricing innovations

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title page
  3. Table of Contents
  4. Copyright
  5. Author Biographies
  6. Foreword
  7. Preface
  8. Introduction
  9. Part I: Envisioning Alternative Futures
    1. Chapter 1: Innovation and Disruption at the Grid’s Edge
      1. Abstract
      2. 1. Introduction
      3. 2. Economics of DERs versuS traditional bundled service at regulated tariffs
      4. 3. Bifurcation of customers
      5. 4. Aggregators, integrators, and intermediaries
      6. 5. Evolving the role of regulators
      7. 6. Organization of the book
    2. Chapter 2: Innovation, Disruption, and the Survival of the Fittest
      1. Abstract
      2. 1. Introduction
      3. 2. Is delivering this transformation really that much of an issue?
      4. 3. The five key characteristics of a future energy company
      5. 4. The new energy company
      6. 5. Conclusions
    3. Chapter 3: The Great Rebalancing: Rattling the Electricity Value Chain from Behind the Meter
      1. Abstract
      2. 1. Introduction
      3. 2. Greater comfort and convenience
      4. 3. New visions of the value chain: rhetoric, reality, regulation, and the REV
      5. 4. The tariff cost stack, the mystery beyond the meter and the full electricity value chain
      6. 5. The DER dilemma for the true electricity value chain
      7. 6. Conclusions
    4. Chapter 4: Beyond Community Solar: Aggregating Local Distributed Resources for Resilience and Sustainability
      1. Abstract
      2. 1. Introduction
      3. 2. The growth of community solar
      4. 3. Community solar challenges
      5. 4. Community choice aggregation: taking steps beyond community solar
      6. 5. Case study: Marin Clean Energy
      7. 6. Case study: Lowell, Massachusetts community choice power plan
      8. 7. Case study: Westchester, New York
      9. 8. Comparison of community choice aggregation cases
      10. 9. Conclusions
    5. Chapter 5: Grid Versus Distributed Solar: What Does Australia’s Experience Say About the Competitiveness of Distributed Energy?
      1. Abstract
      2. 1. Introduction
      3. 2. Victoria’s electricity market
      4. 3. Analytical methodology
      5. 4. Results
      6. 5. Is rooftop PV a good investment in Victoria?
      7. 6. Conclusions
    6. Chapter 6: Powering the Driverless Electric Car of the Future
      1. Abstract
      2. 1. Introduction
      3. 2. Peak car and EVs
      4. 3. EV cost advantages
      5. 4. EV fueling infrastructure
      6. 5. Commercial drivers of EV uptake
      7. 6. Developments in automotive battery technology
      8. 7. EV refueling infrastructure: interface with the grid
      9. 8. The future of EV battery technology
      10. 9. Government and regulatory drives of EV uptake
      11. 10. Conclusions
    7. Chapter 7: Regulations, Barriers, and Opportunities to the Growth of DERs in the Spanish Power Sector
      1. Abstract
      2. 1. Introduction
      3. 2. Regulation/legislation on renewables in Spain
      4. 3. Spanish renewable energy plans
      5. 4. Development of renewables and costs
      6. 5. DER: household prosumers and PV utility scale
      7. 6. Electric Vehicles
      8. 7. Conclusions
    8. Chapter 8: Quintessential Innovation for Transformation of the Power Sector
      1. Abstract
      2. 1. Introduction
      3. 2. Twin challenges: nonstop, ever faster change
      4. 3. Managing the new reality of dynamic change
      5. 4. Quintessential innovation (Q2i)
      6. 5. The energy innovation market
      7. 6. Conclusions
  10. Part II: Enabling Future Innovations
    1. Chapter 9: Bringing DER Into the Mainstream: Regulations, Innovation, and Disruption on the Grid’s Edge
      1. Abstract
      2. 1. Introduction
      3. 2. Challenges and opportunities of high levels of DER
      4. 3. California and New York—a tale of two regulatory approaches
      5. 4. Getting the most out of DER
      6. 5. Aligning utility financial motives with DER policy goals
      7. 6. Conclusions
    2. Chapter 10: Public Policy Issues Associated With Feed-In Tariffs and Net Metering: An Australian Perspective
      1. Abstract
      2. 1. Introduction
      3. 2. Efficient tariffs for generation and load in theory
      4. 3. Retail tariffs for generation and load in practice, and their implications
      5. 4. Current problems and possible future directions
      6. 5. Conclusions
      7. Acknowledgments
    3. Chapter 11: We Don’t Need a New Business Model: “It Ain’t Broke and It Don’t Need Fixin”
      1. Abstract
      2. 1. Introduction
      3. 2. A reprise: what has prompted the discussions about new business models?
      4. 3. Will there be more changes?
      5. 4. What should the new regulatory focus be?
      6. 5. Rate of return regulation
      7. 6. Why we do not need to reinvent the wheel?
      8. 7. How can we move forward?
      9. 8. Is transactive energy the new model?
      10. 9. Conclusions
    4. Chapter 12: Toward Dynamic Network Tariffs: A Proposal for Spain
      1. Abstract
      2. 1. Introduction
      3. 2. How much and what for residential consumers pay?
      4. 3. Hourly payments: the fall-back tariff (PVPC)
      5. 4. Toward an efficient access tariff
      6. 5. A Spanish case study
      7. 6. Is it worth? Network tariffs and decarbonization
      8. 7. Conclusions
    5. Chapter 13: Internet of Things and the Economics of Microgrids
      1. Abstract
      2. 1. Introduction
      3. 2. ICT innovations and standards as drivers for microgrids
      4. 3. Microgrids and their relation to Next Generation Networks
      5. 4. Conclusions
      6. Acknowledgments
  11. Part III: Alternative Business Models
    1. Chapter 14: Access Rights and Consumer Protections in a Distributed Energy System
      1. Abstract
      2. 1. Introduction
      3. 2. Consumer market developments in the NEM
      4. 3. Outlook for distributed technologies in the NEM
      5. 4. Growing customer heterogeneity: impacts of technology adoption on household demand
      6. 5. Evolution of consumer rights and protections
      7. 6. Conclusions
    2. Chapter 15: The Transformation of the German Electricity Sector and the Emergence of New Business Models in Distributed Energy Systems
      1. Abstract
      2. 1. Introduction
      3. 2. The German energy market in transition
      4. 3. The B2C market: potentials and major game changers
      5. 4. Emerging business models for distributed energy systems
      6. 5. The transformation process
      7. 6. Conclusions
    3. Chapter 16: Peer-to-Peer Energy Matching: Transparency, Choice, and Locational Grid Pricing
      1. Abstract
      2. 1. Introduction
      3. 2. Transparency and choice
      4. 3. Locational grid pricing
      5. 4. Conclusions
      6. Acknowledgments
    4. Chapter 17: Virtual Power Plants: Bringing the Flexibility of Decentralized Loads and Generation to Power Markets
      1. Abstract
      2. 1. Introduction
      3. 2. Flexibility in the context of variable renewable generation
      4. 3. VPPs and the role of aggregators
      5. 4. What future for variable demand?
      6. 5. Conclusions
      7. Acknowledgment
    5. Chapter 18: Integrated Community-Based Energy Systems: Aligning Technology, Incentives, and Regulations
      1. Abstract
      2. 1. Introduction
      3. 2. Rethinking local energy systems
      4. 3. Institutional precursors for ICESs
      5. 4. Institutional design of ICES through technoeconomic perspective
      6. 5. Conclusions
    6. Chapter 19: Solar Grid Parity and its Impact on the Grid
      1. Abstract
      2. 1. Introduction
      3. 2. The solar energy cost watershed
      4. 3. The rise of distributed commercial/solar
      5. 4. The shaping of PPAs by PV uptake
      6. 5. Commercial solar uptake: Australia
      7. 6. Commercial PV uptake: California
      8. 7. Financing and management of large-scale corporate uptake of PV solar
      9. 8. The future of a PV/wind-dominated power supply
      10. 9. Community-based microgrids
      11. 10. Conclusions
  12. Epilogue
  13. Index

Product information

  • Title: Innovation and Disruption at the Grid’s Edge
  • Author(s): Fereidoon Sioshansi
  • Release date: May 2017
  • Publisher(s): Academic Press
  • ISBN: 9780128117637