Author Archives: Scott Anders
Half-Empty Planes: Utilization Rates for California’s Electric Grid Part II
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
Half-Empty Planes: Utilization Rates for California’s Electric Grid Part I
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
The Canary in the Sunshine: San Diego Continues to Reach Net Energy Metering Caps First
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
Residential Rates Revisited – Part 3: Legislative Fixes
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
Residential Rates Revisited – Part 2: Inclining Block Rates
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
Residential Electric Rates Revisited – Part 1: A Historical Perspective
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