ARPA-e Show and the Future of Our Utilities

As I mentioned, the video-taped sessions on the main stage at the ARPA-e show are online.  I keep returning mentally to the talk on the future of the grid that featured David Crane, CEO of NRG Energy, the second-largest power producer in the U.S., and Richard Lester, professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering at MIT.   

What are the issues at stake here?  We’ll, there are several.

  First is the behavior of the consumer, which itself is multi-faceted.  Whether or not people generally will conserve energy voluntarily can be debated.  But what happens when it happens electronically, via all these smart things around us, including our thermostats and appliances?

Next, we have demand.  What are the results when power companies can’t make money by charging extra at peak hours – because there no longer are any peak hours?  What happens when, due to a combination of economic woes and increasing efficiency, we see zero/negative growth in demand?

Lastly, we have increasing levels of concern about carbon.  Might we see policy issues here, e.g., a carbon tax?  Crane says he doesn’t know anyone who thinks this has any chance of happening at this point.  He says (and I paraphrase), “Look, I’m the father of five children, and I know that climate change is the biggest single threat to humankind in the 21st Century.  Nothing would make me happier than to see policy change that would address this danger.  But it’s my job to make decisions based on possible legislation that could affect our business, and I just don’t see it.  In fact, we had carbon in our spreadsheets when Obama came to office in 2009, and we took it out in 2012 when we realized that nothing was happening here.”

Interesting stuff.  I hope you’ll enjoy.

ARPA-e Show, the future of our utilities, David Crane CEO of NRG Energy, smart thermostats and appliances, peak hours, increasing energy efficiency