A smart grid is a transactive grid.
- Lynne Kiesling
Archive for September, 2014

The Essential Next Step For Distributed Energy: A Transparent Market That Includes End Users

Via Smart Grid News, a call for a transparent market that includes end users: Distributed Energy Resources, or DER, is a trend to watch. DER adoption across the country, and in hot spots like California and the North East in particular, is growing. Declining costs and improved performance for several technologies — solar photovoltaic and […]

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Solar And The New (Democratic) Energy Economy

Via the Institute for Local Self Reliance, a commentary on what they call democratic energy: I spent three days this week with some of the biggest minds behind the “new economy” movement because their core theme – economic democracy – fits like a glove over ILSR’s work on democratic energy. The big takeaway? Solar power […]

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OPower To iPod: What Behavioral Energy Efficiency And The iPod Have In Common

Via Smart Grid News, an interesting commentary on the future of behavioral energy efficiency (BEE) initiatives.  As oft mused here, we think there is limited longevity to BEE gains which is why we’ve advocated development of smart markets: As I’m sure you are aware (how could you have missed the fanfare?) Apple gave us “just […]

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Utility 2.0: New York Electricity Market Should Allow Third Parties To Compete

Via EDF, a look at New York state’s energy reform: The New York Public Service Commission (Commission) has embarked on the landmark Reforming Energy Vision (REV) proceeding to design a new business model for electric utilities. Today’s business model allows utilities to earn revenues based on how much money they spend to supply and deliver […]

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An Airbnb Or Uber For The Electricity Grid?

Courtesy of the Rocky Mountain Institute, commentary on a smart market variant that considers how distributed energy resources could help prepare to the power sector to evolve in a sharing economy platform: As Thomas Friedman reported in the New York Times, the shared economy is booming, with companies like Uber and Airbnb continuing to disrupt […]

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About This Blog And Its Authors
Grid Unlocked is powered by two eco-preneurs who analyze and reference articles, reports, and interviews that can help unlock the nascent, complex and expanding linkages between smart meters, smart grids, and above all: smart markets.

Based on decades of experience and interest in conservation, Monty Simus and Jamie Workman believe that a truly “smart” grid must be a “transactive” grid, unshackled from its current status as a so-called “natural monopoly.”

In short, an unlocked grid must adopt and harness the power of markets to incentivize individual users, linked to each other on a large scale, who change consumptive behavior in creative ways that drive efficiency and bring equity to use of the planet's finite and increasingly scarce resources.