Clean Tech
asked people I know in the energy industry the same question and the answer varies widely. Some put their hands up and say ‘yeah you are right but that’s the industry structure and what are you gonna do?’ Others take the A Few Good Men approach of “I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom” and that they have neither the time nor the inclination to explain themselves to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very energy they provide.
So are their legitimate risks and technical limitations or a legacy industry who take like the easy way out? The price of electricity is one of the really important micro factors like timely VAT returns or healthcare costs that entrepreneurs like to raise when they talk to politicians. In my experience, a discussion of day to day issues rather bores politicians, they would much rather talk to you about strategic industrial policy, the so called macro factors. Despite
an sensitivity, occasional bringing and
electoral holding
As the tale of Cable and Wireless tells us, even if you accept the need to change you can make the wrong decisions for right reasons
the price of electricity down is not really a vote winner. It is however something that makes a difference to both the survival rate and also the growth rate of new business. Not only that, but there is also a whole pile
of interesting ideas for new
companies that could be formed across the energy space. For this to happen, there would have to be major changes in regulation, most of which would not be favourable to the incumbents.
Smart Grid
My starting point in this discussion is always the Smart Grid. Today´s alternating current power grids are still largely based on the design of Nikola Tesla in the 1880s. Very often the supplier has very little accurate information on where the problem
A Smart Grid would be one way to do this. The analogy is often used of how Telcos have moved from the analogue to the digital world. In doing so the more progressive ones are saving themselves from becoming “dumb pipes”. Energy companies feel less threatened but advances in digital technology also means they are facing the same challenges. The only issue is whether they will embrace and transform or whether they have to be dragged kicking and screaming to a customer facing age. Surprisinging enough, the odds are actually against them. As the tale of Cable and Wireless tells us, even
25 entrepreneurcountry
has occurred and has to use very old fashioned methods to restore supply. Then there is the whole “estimated bill” nonsense. Surely in 2012, we can find a way to accurately measure what a customer is drawing.
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