The utility infrastructure we rely upon to access electricity is under substantial stress and is already putting people and businesses at risk. Further, we are witnessing a meteoric adoption of new technologies, such as electric vehicles (“EVs”) and distributed energy resources (“DERs”), which are pushing the grid to its capacity and limit. The increasing frequency of severe weather events leads to extreme pressure on existing infrastructure that leads to extended power outages. It is a plain fact that the distribution grids utilities rely on today were never designed to handle the strains and pressures of 21 st century life. Policy addressing political processes and ownership scale may be needed to accelerate more sustainable and just energy transitions.By P eter Londa, CEO, Tantalus Systems (TSX: GRID) These differences suggest that local technology ownership may not be sufficient to motivate change in some contexts. We identify how four divergent strategies shape distinct technology configurations with differences in physical scale, concentration of political authority, and distribution of economic benefits. Choices about when and how to integrate DERs are shaped by new interpretations of long-standing principles, existing institutional relationships, and a utility’s political power. We explore this question using literature on sustainability transitions and strategic action fields. Yet, there has been little systematic investigation into why integration of distributed energy resources (DERs) varies across these utilities. Within this movement, consumer-owned electric utilities are often seen as central actors. Renewable energy and social justice advocates are organizing around the potential for community-based democratic organizations to promote more decentralized, sustainable, and just societies.
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January 2023
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