Net Energy Metering, Zero Net Energy, and the Distributed Energy Resource Future

On behalf of PG&E, Rocky Mountain Institute organized and facilitated a roundtable of experts to evaluate the potential implications for the utility and its customers of a future business environment characterized by high levels of customer energy efficiency, growing numbers of Zero Net Energy buildings, and increased adoption of distributed generation (largely solar PV) by utility customers. The group worked to build a shared understanding of the problems and challenges facing stakeholders in the electric system and to identify the essential characteristics of workable long-term solutions.

 

Turbocharging Efficiency Programs: Going for Broader and Deeper Savings

In Turbocharging Energy Efficiency Programs, we analyze the challenges that utilities themselves face for going broader and deeper, and then offer recommendations to increase the effectiveness of programs. These recommendations include: making marketing work, improving sales execution, driving down transaction costs, and embracing collaboration. In order to illustrate how these recommendations look in practice, we also highlight six efficiency programs run by utilities and third-party administrators.

 

Reinventing Fire Electricity Sector Methodology

This document provides RMI's methodology for the analysis of the electricity sector in Reinventing Fire.

 

Valuation of Renewable and Distributed Resources: Implications for the Integrated Resource Planning Process

This report documents the details of the workshops run by EPRI and presented to the Hawaii Electric Company utilities with input from RMI. EPRI conducted these workshops in 2006 and provided the utilities with information on RMI's methodologies to integrate risk/benefit analysis of energy resources into the integrated resource planning process.

 

Energy Resource Investment Strategy for the City of San Francisco

This report describes RMI's work with the City of San Francisco's energy resource investment strategy. The report provides options for use of alternative electric resources by the city.

 

If Customers Save Electricity, Must Rates Rise?

In this paper from 1988, Amory Lovins uses examples to show that if utility customers take measures to save electricity, utilities can still make profits without raising electricity rates.