KEMA White Paper Confirms Competitive Electricity Markets Spur Innovation

Competitive electricity markets around the United States promote and accelerate innovation and will continue to foster future innovation, according to a white paper released today by KEMA, a leading global energy consulting, testing and certification firm. The paper was commissioned by COMPETE. The white paper, along with the economic and environmental benefits of competitive markets, were topics of discussion at an event held this afternoon on Capitol Hill.
 
Following keynote remarks by The Honorable Patricia Hoffman, Department of Energy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, panelists Allen Freifeld, Senior Vice President of External Affairs Allen for Viridity; Gene Hunt, Beacon Power Corporation Director of Corporate Communications; Rick Fioravanti, KEMA Director of Storage Applications and Support; and William Massey, former FERC Commissioner and COMPETE Coalition counsel (moderator) discussed how competition drives innovation:

• “These findings confirm that competitive markets encourage innovation along with significant economic and environmental benefits – new entry by innovative resources, energy efficiency and conservation including demand resources, competitive prices and clean energy development,” said William Massey of COMPETE. “Competitive markets provide a level playing field and fair rules that welcome innovation.  And what we are seeing is only the beginning of the innovative resources that competitive markets will deliver into the future.”
• Speaking on behalf of Viridity, President and CEO Audrey Zibelman added, “Competitive markets have paved the way for Viridity’s work with the nation’s sixth-largest rail system, SEPTA, in Philadelphia. We are installing an advanced battery storage system to recapture and deploy power from trains’ regenerative braking. We are excited to support the creation of a scalable model for energy savings and power optimization that may be deployed nationally.”
• "Last month, Beacon began commercial operation of the first flywheel energy storage facility to provide frequency regulation service on the U.S. electricity grid. It’s no coincidence that our facility is located in New York, a competitive market. By providing clear market tariffs for different technology solutions, competitive electricity markets level the playing field and drive innovation,” said Gene Hunt, Director of Corporate Communications for Beacon Power.
• Ralph Masiello of KEMA stated, “Through our research, we found that the competitive electricity markets at wholesale and retail levels have witnessed innovation in a number of ways. Two case studies demonstrated that the wholesale markets have influenced demand response applications and energy storage technologies and the third case study showed that the transition to a fully competitive market in Texas has resulted in a proliferation of innovative electricity offerings.”

KEMA’s white paper draws on three in-depth case studies in the North American wholesale and retail electricity markets over the last decade, and concludes that competition in electricity markets is actively creating and accelerating innovative electricity service offerings and practices. The white paper provides further evidence that competitive markets are driving innovation by rewarding new ways of delivering power and encouraging participants to develop services that quickly adapt to meet customer needs.
 
View the full white paper here.
 

Joel Malina | February 24, 2011