Author Archives: Scott Anders

About Scott Anders

Mr. Anders is the Director of the Energy Policy Initiatives Center (EPIC), an academic and research center of the University of San Diego School of Law. He joined EPIC in October 2005 as its inaugural director and developed both its academic and research programs. Mr. Anders has 15 years of experience working on energy issues in California. His current work focuses on regulatory and policy issues relating to the electricity and natural gas industries and greenhouse gases. He has authored or co-authored numerous reports and papers on topics including energy efficiency, distributed generation, mitigating greenhouse gases, and smart grid strategies.

Half-Empty Planes: Utilization Rates for California’s Electric Grid Part II

Posted on July 14, 2015 by Scott Anders

In Part I of this post, we discussed the concept of asset utilization — or load factor — and looked at recent trends for California’s investor-owned utilities (IOU). The trend over the past two decades for IOU load factors has been … Continue reading →

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Half-Empty Planes: Utilization Rates for California’s Electric Grid Part I

Posted on June 30, 2015 by Scott Anders

The electric grid is designed to handle the highest demand expected in a given period, commonly referred to as peak demand. Depending on many factors, the time needed for peak demand and period of high demand approaching peak can be … Continue reading →

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The Canary in the Sunshine: San Diego Continues to Reach Net Energy Metering Caps First

Posted on June 15, 2015 by Scott Anders

San Diego has a history of being a leader in rooftop solar. In a March 2015 report by Environment California, San Diego ranked 2nd in total capacity installed and 4th in capacity per person. Previous versions of this same report … Continue reading →

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Residential Rates Revisited – Part 3: Legislative Fixes

Posted on June 26, 2013 by Scott Anders

In Part 1 of this series was a brief retrospective of some of the antecedents of today’s discussion of residential rates in California.  In Part 2, we discussed in more detail the concept of inclining block rates, the policy rationale … Continue reading →

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Residential Rates Revisited – Part 2: Inclining Block Rates

Posted on June 19, 2013 by Scott Anders

Part 1 of this series provided a brief retrospective of some of the antecedents of today’s discussion of residential rates in California. We discussed AB 1x and its role in capping rates for consumption below 130% of baseline, we defined … Continue reading →

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Residential Electric Rates Revisited – Part 1: A Historical Perspective

Posted on June 5, 2013 by Scott Anders

Residential rates always seem to be in the news for one reason or another.  These days, residential rates are the subject of pending legislation (AB 327) and an ongoing rulemaking at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) (R.12-06-013). To help … Continue reading →

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