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Incisive commentary from RAP experts
RAP experts keep their finger on the pulse of the energy sector and provide timely analysis of topics impacting stakeholders TODAY.
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March 14, 2019
Renovating Energy Policy to Encourage Beneficial Electrification
- Jessica Shipley ,
- Donna Brutkoski
RAP’s recent papers on the beneficial electrification of space heating and water heating draw a picture of great potential. Electrification of these fossil-fueled end uses could cut carbon emissions significantly while saving consumers money and providing power system operators with… View Summary +
December 11, 2018
EVs’ Rise Doesn’t Need to be Auto Dealers’ Demise
Some argue that the growth of electric vehicles will be the end of auto dealerships. Car dealers today derive significant revenues by providing parts and service for the internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles they sell. If EVs, with their… View Summary +
October 18, 2018
Smart Grid and Community Benefits—with No Rate Increase? How Burbank Made it Happen
- Jim Lazar
Burbank Water and Power (BWP) is a 50,000-customer, community-owned municipal utility in the Los Angeles area. BWP has implemented an advanced smart grid network, and did so with no rate increase to consumers. How did they do this?… View Summary +
October 8, 2018
Timing Is Everything: How Smart Rate Design Helps Make Electrification Beneficial
In talking about beneficial electrification, we have emphasized the benefits of various kinds of flexibility. For example, loads that can be scheduled at different times of day without too much inconvenience to the user can be beneficial, because they can… View Summary +
September 25, 2018
Purple Haze, or Purple Mountain Majesties? How Energy Efficiency Can Reduce Regional Haze
Tourists visit our national parks to see the majestic vistas, not haze-obscured views. The two images of the Grand Canyon below illustrate this point: In the view on the left, one can see for more than 200 miles, while on… View Summary +
August 21, 2018
We All Wish We Were More Flexible: Electrification Load as a Grid Flexibility Resource
Imagine you are preparing dinner for guests arriving at 6 p.m. when you learn that they’ve been delayed. And imagine that, instead of keeping the food hot, you had to throw all of it away and start cooking again for… View Summary +
July 12, 2018
California’s Mandatory PV Code Amendment: Is It Really Time for This?
- Jim Lazar
The press has been abuzz this summer about the California Energy Commission’s (CEC) new building code amendment that will require most single-family residential and low-rise multi-family dwellings to incorporate PV systems at construction. The amendment takes effect in 2020. Buildings… View Summary +
June 14, 2018
Brewing Up the Regulation of the Future
- Camille Kadoch ,
- David Littell ,
- Jessica Shipley
The regulatory system that governs U.S. electric utilities is 130 years old—while our power grid is rapidly modernizing. Utility regulators need a tool that can facilitate reform to keep pace with this change. One tool they are increasingly exploring: performance-based… View Summary +
June 11, 2018
Fuel-Switching: We Just Did This in 1990, So Why Are We Doing It Again?
RAP senior advisor Jim Lazar tells a story about doing a cost and environmental analysis on behalf of the Association of Northwest Gas Utilities in 1990, in which he compared space and water heating run on natural-gas-generated electricity to… View Summary +
April 6, 2018
When Utility Gas Affiliates Play by Monopoly Rules, Consumers Are Likely to Lose
- David Littell
Can monopolies with market power send business to other regulated monopolies? Can one monopoly create a “need” for which ratepayers will be charged by another related monopoly? As it stands right now, the answer to both these questions is yes. View Summary +