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NFI Industries is a freight transit company with a special relationship to the Los Angeles area – most of their west coast activity is concentrated in the region. Like many of their peers, NFI facility locations and freight transit routes pass through impoverished and disadvantaged communities with large minority populations. As a result of these […]
Flashback three years to the most recently held in-person SEPA Utility Conference on April 8, 2019. Consider all that’s changed since that event. 81% of customers accounts in the U.S. are now served by an individual utility or utility parent company with a carbon-reduction target Passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Evolving decarbonization […]
More than 100 utilities of all types, sizes and locations participated in the first SEPA Utility Transformation Survey in 2020. The survey is a key component of the SEPA Utility Transformation Challenge, a comprehensive and objective assessment of U.S. electric utilities’ progress towards a carbon-free energy system. Based on analysis of those survey responses, SEPA […]
Hawaii doesn’t have a duck curve, says Dora Nakafuji of Hawaiian Electric Company. The state’s electric load curve is part elephant, part Loch Ness Monster — and Nakafuji has been instrumental in developing the tools, analysis and changes in utility organizational culture that are needed to integrate distributed energy resources onto the grid and make this mythical beast fly.
Leading U.S. utilities are making significant progress, but overall industry gains will be uneven as substantial challenges remain WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA) released the 2023 Utility Transformation Profile, providing unique insights and recommendations that all utilities can utilize to accelerate their transition to carbon-free energy. SEPA is a non-profit […]
Industry veteran to lead SEPA’s efforts to accelerate the transition to a carbon-free power sector WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA) today announced that it has named Sheri Givens as the organization’s next president and chief executive officer. Celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, SEPA is dedicated to helping electric power stakeholders […]
SEPA staff recently donned hard hats and harnesses and clambered up a two-story high ladder to help GRID Alternatives install solar panels on the roofs of two low-income homes in Baltimore. Along with some hands-on experience in the nuts and bolts of solar, the staffers also heard compelling stories about its power to transform lives.
SEPA’s Ann Collier, Senior Manager of Emerging Technology: “The last time I wrote a blog – in June 2023 – I remember talking with a friend about how she had started using ChatGPT for her writing. She encouraged me that it was saving her time and generating great results. It all sounded quite dazzling. I […]
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA) appointed three prominent energy leaders to its Board of Directors – Elaina Ball, Chief Strategy Officer for CPS Energy; Commissioner Andrew McAllister, Ph.D., from the California Energy Commission; and Darryl Willis, Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President of Energy and Resources Industry. “I am thrilled to have these […]
Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing nearly every industry imaginable, and the clean energy sector is no exception. With AI now top of mind for many utility leaders, there is value in learning from early adopters’ experiences with a range of technologies, use cases, and governance structures. The Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA) recognizes the need […]
The energy transition currently underway in this country and around the world involves two different, but interrelated forces — technological change and social change. Guest blogger Jennie C. Stephens, a professor at the University of Vermont, argues that more attention needs to be paid to the social side of the equation.
Contact: Jenny Senff [email protected] An under-recognized but critical barrier to distributed energy resource (DER) growth is insufficient understanding of and familiarity with DERs on the part of electric utility professionals. DER training developed with and for utilities will not only build needed skill sets for key roles within the utility workforce, but will also foster […]
The federal Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) marked the single largest financial investment toward combating climate change in U.S. history. The sweeping law’s tax credits and grants will allow private and public utilities alike to pursue clean energy innovation and deployment and to leverage market momentum for direct-to-consumer incentives. SEPA’s 2023 Utility Transformation Profile […]
Humans don’t like being told what to do; our psyches are predisposed to assert autonomy and individuality. Try to police our thoughts or actions and we’re likely to rebel. So when employees are forced to attend diversity trainings, typically aimed at avoiding lawsuits, and are told what is acceptable speech, who they should hire or […]
“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” – Mike Tyson, former heavy-weight champion “It is change, continuing change, inevitable change, that is the dominant factor in society today. No sensible decision can be made without taking into account not only the world as it is, but the world as it will […]
When SEPA communications manager K Kaufmann arrived at her first Utility Solar Conference in 2014, she recalls, some utilities saw solar as a threat. Looking at the USC agenda for 2016, she says, many now see it as an opportunity.
Editor’s note: In May of this year, California mandated that, beginning in 2020, rooftop solar would be required on all new residential construction in the state. Reactions to the news were mixed, but most agreed that making solar a standard for new housing could provide huge economies of scale and help revive the state’s flagging […]
2017 and ‘18 were the years that the role of electric utilities as first responders — keeping the lights on and restoring power in the wake of fire, floods and hurricanes — came into increasingly sharp focus. At the same time, after every extreme weather event, discussions about resilience intensified. The key question: How can […]
Walking into the combustion turbine area at the Palo Verde Nuclear Generation facility, I adjusted my goggles, pushed my earplugs in a little further, and was immediately engulfed by hot air, every bone in my body vibrating from the sheer power of this machine. Clearly, my visit to Arizona Public Service (APS) was going to […]
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