Eight Areas of Electricity Innovation to Watch in 2017

eLab 2017 Priorities spotlight electricity system transformation, uniting utilities, regulators, DER providers, and consumers on valuation and rate design, EVs as grid assets, distribution markets, utility business models, and LMI energy access.

For the past five years, Rocky Mountain Institute has been convening and supporting the Electricity Innovation Lab (eLab), a unique network of leaders and change agents from across the electricity industry representing a cross-section of the key stakeholders who are shaping the transformation of our electricity system today.

With utilities, regulators, distributed energy resource companies, energy consumers, advocates, and academic experts collaborating together, eLab really is a laboratory: a place to test new ideas and to explore new solutions, such as grid coordination for EV flexibility across the grid.

They surveyed those eLab members about their most exciting opportunities—and their critical challenges—in 2017, including how EV-driven demand growth could shape planning nationwide. Eight key issues emerged.

1. Distributed Energy Resource (DER) Valuation and Rate Design
2. Electric Vehicles as a Grid Asset
3. Alternative Capital Planning
4. Utility Business Models in Vertically Integrated States, as EV adoption impacts utilities in new ways
5. Distribution System Operations and Markets increasingly rely on energy storage to enhance flexibility
6. DER Control Schemes: Coordination or Chaos?
7. Customer Engagement
8. DERs for Low- and Moderate-Income Customers

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