Utility Companies: Adapting to Technological Innovations and Renewable Energy Sources

Abstract

In 2012, in the Mid-Atlantic of the United States, 15% of the total available electrical generating capacity was only used 1% of the time, during peak demand periods. Maintaining this electrical capacity is expensive and challenging especially as utilities face many obstacles and uncertainty. These challenges include emerging distributed generation technologies, increased regulatory requirements concerning environmental impacts and a decreasing customer consumption growth. How utilities, customers and regulators approach these challenges will shape the grid of the future and what our utility companies look like.