FERC Chairman: distributed generation means consumer empowerment

It's all about consumer empowerment

 

FERC Chairman Jon Wellinghoff in a recent GreenTech Media Energy Team podcast on distributed generation pointed out that that the solar PV industry is consumer driven.  Wellinghoff said that

 

"solar is going to dominate. The Moore's Law cost curve and the entrepreneurial spirit are going to overtake what is a monopolistic, very conservative, very non-innovative structure that can't resist the consumer demand. I was at the Solar Power International Conference in Chicago. There were 600 exhibitors and 12 000 people at that conference. Advances in technology and the desire we are seeing at the consumer level to have control and the ability to know that they can ensure the reliability of their system within their home, business, microgrid or their community. People are going to continue to drive towards having these kinds of technologies available to them. And once that happens through the technologies and the entrepreneurial spirit we are seeing with these companies coming in, I just don't see how we can continue with the same model we have had for the last 100 or 150 years."

 

When asked what he thought was the most exiciting thing going on in the power industry, Wellinghoff responded

 

"I think the most exciting thing I see in the solar industry is the enthusiasm of consumers. Consumers really wanting to embrace this technology and how that is driving growth in the industry. That is the most exciting thing I have seen over the last couple of years and I think it is going to accelerate in the future."

 

"Baseload" is an anachronism

 

In response to a question about whether we need more coal plants Wellinghoff said

 

"We don't necessarily need any more baseload plants. I think baseload is an anachronism because what we need is the cheapest source of energy services that will provide the level of reliability we desire and if you do that, you don't need a baseload coal plant. You need whatever you do need - it may be a wind system provding power remotely, it may be a battery system for storage, it may be a local generation system, solar PV or natural gas, or a combined heat and power system.  But whatever it is, it is what the consumer needs at the cost level that is appropriate and the reliability level they think is appropriate based upon their choices."