Evaluate this course.
Society has done little to modernize energy delivery or take advantage of proven, commonly available technology. In the past, change was driven by regulated entities with an exclusive franchise. Today, however, disruptors come from outside of the power sector—a phenomenon that is changing the grid. The grid of the future will provide an open platform, similar to a state-owned interstate that allows access to all. Generation, storage, and load elements will be self-registering building blocks, similar to the concept of all “Lego” sets being compatible. Elements will be connected by providers or even consumers, they will self-register, and interact with each other optimizing grid performance with respect to economics, efficiency, adequacy and reliability. The ubiquitous grid will encompass not only electric, gas, and water, but other services that either we’ve already come to rely upon or haven’t even considered yet. Is this farewell to the grid as we know it? The exclusive franchise model that has been around for more than a century might not be as long lived as expected. A study of Asian and European markets, as well as the disruptive technology trends occurring in North America, indicate that past business models might not accurately forecast the future.
This course examines the disruptive technology trends outside of the North American context, technologies to watch that are already penetrating energy delivery, and technology from outside the energy industry. Instructors discuss how disruption to current utility business models present tremendous opportunity to utilities that position themselves to adapt to the change.
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