1/ It's time for another quarterly briefing from the #GridEdge team @WM_PowerRenew! We cover tech, business models, and policy/regulation in the grid edge space, at both customer and distribution levels. Some key observations about Q3 2019:
2/ Q3 2019 saw a huge bump in disclosed investment in the grid edge space. The majority (>$1b) is capital from Volkswagen, Goldman Sachs and BMW for Northvolt's battery gigafactory, connecting 2 hot markets: storage & EVs. 
3/ A notable M&A transaction also focuses on EV: @EDF_Renewables NA acquired PowerFlex Systems, a smart charging platform, echoing other energy players’ interest in EVs. (Note that you can download more Q3 figures here: bit.ly/2BtDlFk)
4/ Another key M&A event is the merger of Tendril and Simple Energy to form @Uplight, consolidating 6 vendors in grid edge customer analytics. Meanwhile, @OracleUtilities announced new partnerships to extend capabilities from customer analytics to flexibility dispatch.
5/ When discussing flexibility, it's worth noting under current program designs, there is little growth in capacity potential from regulated utility demand response programs. Almost 70% of potential falls under 4 parent utilities: @DukeEnergy @NextEraEnergy @Exelon & @XcelEnergy.
6/ However, 2 policy changes in Q3 can significantly impact flexibility&decentralization. First, discussion on DER locational value on the rise for FERC, starting with location/resource type data gathering. Could be particularly relevant to states w/ plans to scale EV charging.
7/ Second, FERC indefinitely postponed PJM's 2022/2023 base residual auction. The final decision on price formation will set a precedent for how state regulation and subsidies impact pricing for ISO/RTO markets with a capacity market.
8/ Grid modernization-wise, our global forecast for advanced metering infrastructure was updated in July, covering 80 countries across 6 continents – as you can see in this screencap from our Grid Edge Data Hub tool.
9/ A key part of grid mod is resiliency. Microgrid capacity installed since 2012 is driven mostly by ongoing outages, pure economics & sustainability. In light of PG&E's #PSPS, microgrids could become a more viable option to ensure reliability and resiliency.
10/ That's a wrap for Q3 highlights from the team:
@BenKellison
@EltaKo7
@_fei_wang
@FraMenonna
@Imaze13
@kelly___renee.
You can download more sample figures from this report here: bit.ly/2BtDlFk.
Stay tuned for our next briefing, as we close out the year/decade!
@BenKellison
@EltaKo7
@_fei_wang
@FraMenonna
@Imaze13
@kelly___renee.
You can download more sample figures from this report here: bit.ly/2BtDlFk.
Stay tuned for our next briefing, as we close out the year/decade!
@DukeEnergy @nexteraenergy @Exelon @xcelenergy *70% of potential from 16 largest US regulated utility programs with verifiable data.
