investor-owned utilities Archives

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Better Utility Regulation: How We Can Get Out Of This Mess

August 16, 2021September 14, 2021 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments 2021 detroit floods, CFPB, challenge coastal chauvinism, climate change, CMS, coal, Consumers Energy, detroit floods, DTE, DTE Energy, EIA, energy information administration, energy waste reduction, EWR, extreme weather, investor-owned utilities, IOU, IOUs, maryland, michigan utility regulation, MPSC, municipalization, on-bill financing, PG&E, rainfall, Regulation, regulatory innovation, rulemaking process, SAIDI, SAIDI-MED, SAIFI, SNAP!, utilities

Too much regulation restricts innovation. But too little regulation does the same, and this is what we see in the crumbling infrastructure of Michigan, where regulators are asleep at the wheel in the name of a “business-friendly regulatory” environment that, as it turns out, is neither terribly regulatory nor terribly business-friendly.

Energy Efficiency Poverty Energy Utilities

Debt or Asset? How Utility Shutoffs Are About To Be A Big Problem.

March 24, 2021March 24, 2021 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments ACA subsidies, accounts receivable, chevy aveo, debt, double-entry bookkeeping, dr. tony reames, DTE Energy, energy poverty, harvard business school, investor-owned utilities, investor-owned utility, LIHEAP, mercedes g-wagon, michigan public service commission, MPSC, public service commission, public utilities, regulated corporations, regulated entities, Tony Reames, utilities, utility shutoffs, willy wonka, willy wonka rant

Springtime and mounting debt related to COVID19 means utility shutoffs are coming. At least probably. Here are some ideas for how we can fix our broken systems for utility billing– and how we subsidize utilities through programs like LIHEAP without actually moving the needle on energy poverty.

Business & Economics Mobility Energy

EV Charging Infrastructure: From Demand To Reality

February 8, 2021February 8, 2021 Luo Yang 0 Comments akio toyoda, carbuzz, DC charger, DTE, electric vehicle adoption, electric vehicles, EV charging infrastructure, ICE, infrastructure, internal combustion engine, investor-owned utilities, investor-owned utility, IOU, jay traugott, michigan public service commission, modernizing the power grid, power grid, power transmission, prius, public utility, public works, Toyota, toyota prius, undervoltage, who is responsible for building EV charging infrastructure

One of our readers asked us to write a piece about how electric vehicle chargers even get installed at scale.

Urban Planning

A Literal Train Wreck Makes A Case For Resilient Infrastructure

December 13, 2019December 13, 2019 Nat Zorach 0 Comments climate adaptation, climate change, climate resilience, infrastructure, investor-owned utilities, rail, resilience, utility infrastructure

A train derailment yesterday morning in Southwest Detroit knocked down a power line, leaving about a thousand residential and commercial

Energy Efficiency Utilities

Detroiters Grapple With Questions of Energy Future

June 21, 2019June 21, 2019 Nat Zorach 0 Comments electrical generation, electrical grids, energy efficiency, investor-owned utilities, public utilities, utilities

Yesterday evening, concerned citizens, activists, and energy professionals packed a lecture room at Wayne County Community College in downtown Detroit