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May 23, 2013
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Martin Rosenberg
There was smart grid. Then there was information analytics. Next up, some very smart energy researchers and thinkers believe, is transactive energy. Former utility exec, Roland J. Risser, now director of the Department of Energy's Building Technology Office, put it this way: "We need a whole new business model for utilities going forward." He made that comment today at "1st International...
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May 15, 2013
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Martin Rosenberg
The Italian utility executive smiled thinly a few years back. He was explaining why his company’s investments in solar power were planted largely in the north of his country – when the sun beamed down much more intensely in the south.
Similarly, the Oregon utility executive was a bit sheepish when I asked him why Oregon has been so bullish on solar when gray rainclouds blanket the...
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May 07, 2013
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Martin Rosenberg
For those tracking the dimensions of the solar stake in power – interesting stats came in the morning Wall Street Journal.
SolarCity, the solar installer, is going to court, alleging the government did not provide promised levels of grant support, the Journal said.
The federal government handed out more than $4 billion in federal grants for solar projects in the past four...
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Apr 18, 2013
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Martin Rosenberg
Not very long ago, I asked a utility CEO in America who could give me a full explanation of how carbon trading would work. That exec connected me to Tony White in London, who helped steer a firm called Climate Change Capital. He had advised the European Union on its policies.
Shortly afterwards, I remember taking an early morning train to White’s offices in the heart of London’s...
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Apr 08, 2013
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Martin Rosenberg
You saw it – didn’t you? George Shultz opines in today’s Wall Street Journal that we need to bring on the carbon tax – and make sure to keep it revenue neutral.
The carbon tax should support “reasonable and sustained support for research and development in the energy area,” writes the former secretary of state and Treasury secretary.
It is an...
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Mar 06, 2013
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Martin Rosenberg
GM expects to have 500,000 electric vehicles on the road by 2017. So predicts Daniel F. Ackerman, General Motors chairman and chief executive.
Ackerman told attendees at the annual IHS CERAWeek gathering in Houston that EVs in many forms - including all-electric powered and hybrid vehicles - will revolutionize transportation in America. The electrics produced by GM will save 12 billion...
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Feb 25, 2013
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Martin Rosenberg
Utilities execs were nervous for a time about the competitive threats that may be coming from the likes of Google or Microsoft.
Those threats have receded for a number of reasons.
But barreling down the freeway – Honda.
The Japanese automaker announced last week it would be teaming up with SolarCity to offer sweet deals for home solar for Honda customers.
I spent Monday morning on...
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Jan 23, 2013
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Martin Rosenberg
Utilities have been installing smart grid technology for years now. Many have justified the investment to their state regulators by saying that the operational gains more than justify the spending. Many have had a healthy assist in making that investment from federal stimulus funds a few years back.
Utility chief executive officers tell us that now is the time to step up efforts to extract...
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Dec 18, 2012
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Martin Rosenberg
It was quite amazing, sitting in the audience at ARPA-E’s event in Washington early this spring while the likes of Fred Smith, CEO of FedEx, talked about the importance of government research to put muscle behind efforts to develop disruptive energy technologies in America.
Bill Gates was there to, trying to get everyone to look past the sorry Solyndra tale of miscued federal...
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Dec 06, 2012
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Martin Rosenberg
The fiscal cliff is getting a lot of attention lately.
Fewer are paying attention to the gas cliff.
Simply put, we are becoming increasingly reliant on natural gas to generate power in this country. That is a good thing, the result of ample shale resources that are now being exploited. It is moderating consumer electricity bills and home heating bills. It is also shrinking our nation’...
Martin Rosenberg is Editor-in-Chief
of EnergyBiz Magazine. EnergyBiz is a bimonthly business magazine for leaders in the new power industry. EnergyBiz
is a controlled circulation publication that reaches more than 20,000 of the most influential managers, executives,
legislators, regulators, lawyers and consultants who play critical roles in utilities, government, advisory firms,
and supplier companies.
