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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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For MADRI, the End of an Era … and the Beginning of Another
Over the past 15 years, a group of power sector professionals have followed — and fostered — developments in an era of enormous change for the sector. In December, the group met in Washington DC for the 54th and final… View Summary +
Updating Embedded Cost of Service Studies for a New Era
In the first blog post in this series, we outlined how our new manual, Electric Cost Allocation for a New Era, looks comprehensively at the process of dividing utility costs among customer classes — and proposes several ways it… View Summary +
Cost Allocation: New Approaches for a New Era
Setting electric utility rates has traditionally been a three-step process: first, determining the revenue requirement; second, determining how to equitably divide costs among classes of ratepayers; and third, designing the rates themselves. That second step, cost allocation, is a… View Summary +
21世纪电力系统的灵活性
简介 电力系统最基本的规则是发输用电必须同时完成。多年来，电网运营商一直在确定系统的负荷，并通过增加可用的发电机来满足需求、调整供电。 然而，现在供应侧出现了快速爬坡和高度灵活的联合循环燃气轮机发电等新技术，需求侧也出现了智能热水器和储能等新技术，另外，输电能力和系统运行也得到了改善。这些新技术共同创造了巨大的机会，使电力系统比以往更加灵活。… View Summary +
A Hearty Bowl of Texas Soup: How ERCOT Keeps the Lights On
ERCOT (or the Electricity Reliability Council of Texas, the independent system operator of that state’s stand-alone wholesale market) has confounded the doomsayers once again. Despite dire predictions that ERCOT lacked sufficient generation capacity, it came through the peak summer season… View Summary +
“电力期刊”(The Electricity Journal)睿博能源智库特刊简介
美国是全世界温室气体排放第二大国，同时也是技术和经济实力的领头羊。美国有能力引领世界寻找应对气候变化紧迫挑战的解决方案，同时迅速彻底地完成自我脱碳。 为了使能源消费向更清洁、更具成本效益的方向转变，我们需要零碳发电技术，并在使用化石燃料的终端用户侧实现大规模电气化。零碳发电技术已经实现商业化普及应用，而且成本越来越低。另外，包括储能在内的技术方案，可以增加电网灵活性，也将更便宜和更具可用性。 简言之，技术不再是脱碳经济面临的挑战。… View Summary +
Value Added: Measuring the Health Benefits of the “Layer Cake”
In 2013, RAP released a pathbreaking publication, Recognizing the Full Value of Energy Efficiency. We refer to the main concept of this paper as “the layer cake,” after its centerpiece concept analogizing the multiple benefits of energy efficiency as… View Summary +
Clean, Flexible and Efficient: A Recipe for Energy Optimization
The United States is the second-highest emitter of greenhouse gases on the planet — but we are also a leader in technological and economic strength. We have the capability to lead the world in finding solutions to the urgent challenge… View Summary +
Electric Cars Are a Lot Like Water Heaters
People unfamiliar with electric cars often fear that a blossoming of EV ownership will bring chaos to the electric grid. For example, I recently spoke with the manager of a beach resort who was fearful of adding an EV charger,… View Summary +
美国电力监管点评 — 当各州监管权遇到跨区电力市场：界线在哪？
原则上，美国跨州电力批发市场由联邦能源监管委员会（FERC）监管，而电力零售市场由各州监管。各州监管权界限问题也历经漫长而动荡的过程。随着电力批发市场的演化，虽然州权力的争执对有组织的批发电力市场构不成重大影响，但州权与电力批发市场监管的界线却偶有争议。最近在美国国内，有关区域输电组织（RTO）覆盖地区的州政府权利问题上的相关讨论变得相当活跃。最近引起争议的是最高法院的一项裁决。 去年，美国一家化石燃料发电企业对纽约和伊利诺伊州州对核电进行补贴的合法性提出质疑，当地法院维持了补贴的合法性（详见文末“背景”）。企业向联邦法院申诉请求重审下级法院的裁决。2019年4月，美国联邦最高法院驳回其请求，这既是关于支持核电补贴的终裁，也维护了参与跨区批发电力市场的各州在制定发电政策时的管辖范围。… View Summary +
