IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - May/June 2016 - 101

in my view (continued from p. 104)
The perception is that many states
are going with grid neutrality, especially DR and DG inclusion as demonstrated in many states such as Texas,
New York, and California. It was noted
that the European market is expanding
as Germany plans to sell excess DG to
the market.
The financial sector expects regulatory reform due to new markets. Thus,
a higher risk is perceived when one is
waiting, and a significant risk of overbuilding is present. Stranded costs
may not be recovered as utilities are
moving slowly and not responding to
the customer (voter).
They expect penalties
in the future as lagging companies, none
seen as proactive, are
compared to proactive
ones that are making
progress, even when
the economy is down.
The focus is on commodity prices as investors will not tolerate
that risk not for much longer.
The financial sector notices that
participants (customers) are forcing
regulators to change and that there is
the need for a reliability foundation,
the ability to support business risk
analysis in the markets. The global
economy demands a low energy price
for the United States to be competitive.

tional path that would be more economically efficient? I also would offer that
the implementation would take a very
long time as many states do not wish to
reregulate. Many have not done so, and
there is no mandate that they must do so.
The expansion of the California
Independent System Operator Energy
Imbalance Market to include Oregon
and Washington is another market for
TE participation. Will TE include EIM?
The other major hurdle is the building
code that allows almost all cities to condemn and seize homes that are "off the
grid." Homes from which the power meter has been disconnected within the last four
years have been seized.
The loss of city tax revenue is large when
meter readings decline.
The building codes are
standardized across the
United States. Many
public-service utility
commissions are raising rates for homes with
solar cells, especially the roll back in Nevada that has caused a political backlash.
Not only are customers picketing, but
solar companies are shutting down. The
governor now has to justify that Nevada
is "business friendly" and the need for
jobs. This is turning out to be a city-bycity legal battle. Will these be extended to
net meters registering zero consumption?
Implementing these systems may
well increase stranded costs for distribution capacity. How is this to be paid?
The last buyout was and is a major
contention. The present political drive,
to not follow establishment rules, has
shown momentum not expected nor
monitored. Such issues have spread to
the utility industry.

The financial
sector expects
regulatory
reform due to
new markets.

Key Questions
Are distribution system operators
(DSOs) to be a new corporate entity
with all of the same services as an independent system operators (ISOs)?
Why duplicate central services? Should
DSOs be an extension of an ISO? Are
the markets separate from the wholesale markets? It seems that TE can
simply be the second side of the double-sided wholesale market.
We should estimate the cost of this
transition and the time to savings to society for these expenditures. Is the cost for
the prototype as stated? Is there a transimay/june 2016

Previous Questions
Remain Relevant
I include paraphrased excerpts and
ideas from some of my earlier magazine columns to give examples of the
subjects in focus. These show the span

of disconnection. These particularly address demand side management (DSM),
DR, and customer representation.

"Disputing Deregulation:
Is Industrial
Disorganization on
the Rise"
(January/February 2006,
pp. 16-22)
Deregulation was renamed as restructuring. Restructuring is still obviously incomplete. FERC and state
public utility commissions (SPUCs)
have struggled to redefine horizontal
industrial reorganization. Basic questions were posed at each level: customer, distribution, transmission, and generation. Many have not been finalized.
Who does this? Who does that? Who
pays? Who is paid? Who monitors?
Who verifies? Who levies fines? Who
collects fines? Who arbitrates between
companies? And that's only the "who"
questions! Similar "what," "where,"
"when," and "how" questions are not
answered. There are prohibitive price
tags for each potential answer. Transparency is now the key to regulations."
I still opine that all of the various
markets used from the stock and bond
markets through the labor and operating expenses markets must be factored
into the price.

"Forward to the Past:
Envisioning the Future
Energy Industry"
(July/August 2009, pp. 16-25)
The implementation of thermal districts
for heating and cooling was extensive
during the early utility stages, such as
in New York City. The use of steam
systems for neighborhood heating was a
common practice before the plants were
sited remotely. Will TE include such
combined heat and power projects?
Fred Schweppe patented and analyzed a DSM device to provide blackout avoidance. Schweppe's "frequency
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