Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers doesn’t mince words.
At last week’s Smart Grid Roadshow in Cincinnati, Rogers gave the opening keynote, “Smart Grid: The Catalyst to Transform the Energy Sector” and followed up with a sit-down chat with a half-dozen of us about his vision for the utility industry. One of his key messages: keep educating the customer, and pay attention to the customer’s wants and needs.
“As we design products for customers, it’s important to listen to what the customer wants,” Rogers said. “But it’s also important to notice that the customer doesn’t necessarily know what they want yet.”
It’s important to listen, he reiterated, but it’s also important to see the future and to see the technology, and then to create the products and services that customers will want and need.
“In a sense, we stand in a place today where we have the opportunity to totally reconfigure our business,” Rogers said.
To give his listeners a better vision of where the industry is going, Rogers spoke about its past. A few salient points: the price of electricity for the past 50 years in real time has been flat, and is going to rise in the future; and the only transforming technology we adopted in the 20th century was nuclear technology.
And while the current state may feel like “death by pilot”, the challenge for our industry, he said, is to do more pilots to test the technology we’re adopting. Along the way, we will be building the demand to move the pilots to deployment and bring the costs down.
“To me, adaptation of technology is really critical. Our role is to be a distributor of those technologies, but we also play the role of integrating the technology into our system,” Rogers said.
Interoperability and open architecture are both important keys to thinking about technology going forward, and cybersecurity is also critical.
“As we deploy this technology, we’ve got to continuously make the business case. We have to continually educate our customers about the benefits of the technology,” he noted.
It is this idea of continuous education of customers that has become a stumbling block for some utilities as they implement and deploy new technology. “Smart meter pushback” has become a front-of-mind term following deployments in California and Texas, despite the minute numbers of malfunctioning meters.
The way Rogers sees it, “Before you can move to the technology solution, you have to make customers understand their usage. Electricity is so back-of-mind for people. Turning on a switch is a pretty mindless experience.”
Duke Energy’s goal, and Rogers’, is to make energy efficiency just as mindless as turning on a switch. Rogers is no stranger to energy efficiency: he walks the talk in an extremely visible fashion. He is the current chairman of the Institute for Electric Efficiency, past chairman and ex officio member of the Executive Committee of the Edison Electric Institute, chairman of the Edison Foundation, and co-chair of the National Action Plan for Energy Efficiency and the Alliance to Save Energy, and he was inducted into the inaugural Energy Efficiency Forum Hall of Fame by the U.S. Energy Association and Johnson Controls Inc. Last year, Newsweek magazine named him one of “the 50 most powerful people in the world.”
“I believe there will come a day when the boundaries of our business will be redefined,” Rogers said. “Right now, it goes from generation to meter.” There will come a day, he said, when the boundaries of the electric utility business will go beyond the meter to the end use. “I believe we will understand the algorithms in the end home and end business,” he predicted.
Again, though, that will take customer awareness. “We have to make sure we’re not operating in a Mother-Knows-Best situation. We have to give them both the plusses and minuses of the system,” Rogers said.
Demonstrating to customers the key value of rolling out technology innovations is key to the success of the project. Comparatively, he said, every dollar Duke Energy invested in rooftop solar in its McAlpine Smart Energy Pilot project in North Carolina is the same as a dollar invested in transmission. “Having that same investment thesis in investing beyond the meter will incentivize us,” he added.
“What we will enable with a smart grid and applications that are extended to homes and businesses…we cannot even envision what we will enable. That’s one of the reasons I’m still hanging around,” Rogers said. “The next five years will be far more interesting, far more transforming, than the past 20 years. I’m really confident that we’re in a period of great transformation.”
And energy efficiency is a bottom line here, if we are to take Rogers’ exhortations to heart. While some may describe him as somewhat evangelical, I think it’s long past time for a bit more evangelism in our industry. And with that, I’d like to share two final quotes from Jim Rogers.
“My belief,” he said, “is that we have a better chance of increasing the standard of living for future generations if we are energy efficient.”
And finally, in answer to a question posed after the keynote, in our small group interview, Rogers explored his “no regrets” approach to piloting new technology, and moving forward in advance guard: “In terms of ‘no regrets,’ you have to think that way. You have to push the edge of current innovation. But you also have to be mindful that you are.
“There is a great West Texas expression: the pioneers get the arrows, the settlers get the land. I don’t mind being a pioneer in regulation…but I think we need more people in our industry, regulators and industry leaders, who are willing to pioneer new ideas.”
Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative is recognized by the SOLAR ELECTRIC POWER ASSOCIATION, as the #1 Ranked utility for Solar Watts-per-customer for 2009
Out of ALL of the utilities in the United State this small electric utility is #1, with 56 watts per customer. Maui Electric Co. (Hawaii) was #2 lagging behind with only 33 watts per customer.
Even though SSVEC has received this award, they remain very quiet about it, no press releases or postings on their website. One must wonder why this utility would not brag about this achievement.
If you look at the company a little closer you will see they are fighting a battle to install a 69kV Powerline to a small community that would like to "go solar". Is this why they remain silent?
The Sonoita, Elgin, Pagatonia area "The Mountain Empire" is fighting to stop a proposed $14 million powerline that will tie them to coal fired energy, which will come with a high cost to the ratepayers and the environment.
If we don't start thinking of new ways to power our future now - when will we change? $14 million for a New Power Line or $14 million for Solar Rebates on homes and businesses in this area? Fund a grant writer to get funding for each business and ranch in the area to install Solar. Write matching grants to stretch that $14 million toward clean energy, conservation, and lowering energy usage.
There is a hearing with the Arizona Corporation Commission slated to happen on 29th of June. Members of the Community have presented alternatives to the Commission which cost less and integrate locally distributed renewable energy.
Some things to think about?
1) A small community that would like to be "Green" ?
2) A utility that wants to continue to control the people and tie them to coal fired energy?
3) A utility that wants to continue to raise rates for profitability?
4) Can the customers afford a $30 per month increase in their bills?
5) Is "Going Solar" in the Sunbelt of Southern Arizona a crazy idea?
6) A study was conducted that said this area only need 2,000 kilowatts by 2029
7) 2,000 kilowatts by 2029? Easily accomplished with renewable energy!
8) Avean Engineering has proposed a 1 megawatt Solar facility with 1megawatt storage to take care of this problem this year for $6.5 million and an addition 1 megawatt natural gas generator for Patagonia for $1 million.
9) 3,000 kilowatts for $7.5 million - with no charge for the Solar Energy or damage to the environment.
10) Is the proposed Hardshell Mine in Patagonia the "Real Reason" for this Line?
11) $14 million for a New Power Line or $12 million for Solar Rebates on homes and businesses in this area?
12) Fund a grant writer to get funding for each business and ranch in the area to install Solar.
14) Write matching grants to stretch that $14 million toward clean energy, conservation, and lowering energy usage.
This is our future, why not our decision?
We as a health conscious community would like to move in the direction of clean renewable energy. If we do not do it now, at this important junction of time - before an unnecessary Power Line is installed...... When will it happen.
Now is the time to take the opportunity, as President Obama said in his most recent speech, "Now is the time for this generation to embark on a national mission and seize control of our own Destiny. The time to embrace a clean energy future is now!"
We want a clean energy future in our small area of Arizona, to set an example for other communities to do the same.
We are hopeful that SSVEC will move forward, at some point, from a position of Adversity to OPPORTUNITY !!
Continually fighting with the people with our cooperator dollars is more than unfair.
Israel - now has a solar panel that can produce 1500 watts for a 1foot square panel.
We don't need 75 Foot poles on the horizon, we need small solar panels.
This isn't just a power line - this is the FONT LINES of the RENEWABLE ENERGY MOVEMENT - if we can replace this line with Solar - we can do it all over the S.W.
If we can do it here - it can BE DONE ANYWHERE ! ! ! !
They want to move fast with this - because tomorrow is our answer (actually we have answers today, but they just get better) - and they don't want to wait.