Electricity Evolution

This is a six-part collaboration between Benjamin Bovarnick (FES ’18) and Sara Harari (FES ’19, SOM ’19) closely examining the barriers facing adoption of new, advanced energy technologies that can revolutionize electric-grid operations and utility business models and spark potential solutions to elicit faster transformation in this expansive industry.

Utility circus graphic

Electricity Evolution: Meet the Ringmasters

When Tesla unveiled the utility-scale Powerpack battery in 2015, analysts and observers excitedly proclaimed the product’s low price point would revolutionize electric grid operations and business models as it set new cost benchmarks for energy storage. But despite the hype, the reception from utilities was tepid at best. This experience...
Juggler with three balls illustration

Juggling Approaches to Power Procurement

From batteries to blockchain, the energy sector is enjoying a period of rapid innovation with new technologies coming to market that carry the potential to upend traditional electric infrastructure and business models. Yet electric utilities and other electricity providers have been slow to adopt these novel technologies largely because they...

A High-Wire Act: Balancing a Modern Grid with Regulated Assets

Look at the electrical systems around you. You might not know it, but from power plants with towering smokestacks to wires across the nation, the grid is changing faster than ever before. When utilities make investments approved by state regulators, the cost of the investment plus a reasonable ROI is...
Circus admission

Regulators and Pilots: Now for Our First Act

Like a brilliant new TV show, new energy technologies must run the gauntlet of the pilot phase, soliciting interest from utilities and developers. In the electric industry, piloting new equipment can be particularly difficult because new, advanced energy-technology pilots must demonstrate that deployment won’t compromise the stability of the electric...
Grand finale with fireworks above a circus tent

The Grand Finale: Energy-Grid Barriers and Solutions

On social media and at industry conventions, it is easy to find high-profile discussions on the technological revolution of electric grids. Experts on energy storage, distributed generation, and wireless options describe how emerging technologies are poised to transform the electricity sector. The hype is real. Energy companies are developing technologies...