Energy CIO Insights Weekly Brief
Be first to read the latest tech news, Industry Leader's Insights, and CIO interviews of medium and large enterprises exclusively from Energy CIO Insights
The energy industry has seen disruptions over the years and in the coming years renewable energy will keep disrupting the industry.
Fremont, CA: The power generators witnessed many changes in the year 2019, such as coal-fired and nuclear plants being retired, the proliferation of combined cycle gas turbine facilities, nuclear energy getting older, and the rise of wind and solar power. Further, distributed energy is proving to be a turning point in the economics of the grid. The disruption of the energy industry is multifaceted, with a series of competing interests and narratives working to guide the transition. A lot of companies in the power sector have struggled. Giants such as GE and Siemens have already decided to part their ways with the turbine sector as it is getting more competitive.
The majority of the states are pushing renewable energy policies, and a few of them are investigating the adoption of their utility grids and business models for emerging resources. In 2018, almost every state took some regulatory or legislative action for grid modernization or utility business model reform. According to the North Carolina Clean Energy Technology Center, 42 states are advancing towards advanced metering infrastructure, data access and revenue reforms, and storage deployment. With states taking a more comprehensive look at integrating new performance-based metrics into utility revenues such as sustainability, standards of energy efficiency, or sustainability, the expansion of grid modernization will continue to expand.
In the U.S. power sector, natural gas is the new dominant fuel, and it has surpassed coal for the energy generated in 2016. The deployment of natural gas was brought on due to the low prices, advances in hydraulic fracturing, and horizontal drilling. According to the Energy Information Administration, gas provided 38 percent of power generation while coal provided less than 27 percent. In 2019, the trend is expected to continue as natural gas prices will stay near or below their current levels. Recent market reports suggest that even if the process increase beyond that level, utilities will not go back to burning coal. EIA expects due to low fuel prices with lower fixed costs against coal and nuclear plants; the U.S. grids will add more than 28 GW of gas-fired generation between 2018 and 2022. The utilities will replace their more expensive coal generator with renewable energy as their prices continue to decline and provide a clean environment in the coming years.
Check This Out: Top Energy Tech Solution Companies
Read Also
