The number of policy actions addressing grid modernization in the United States rose 75% from the first quarter of 2017 to the first quarter of 2018, according to a May report by a department of the University of North Carolina, the North Carolina Clean Energy Technology Center (NCCETC). Online news service Utility Dive calls the count “a sure measure of how much and how fast the U.S. power system is changing,” and quotes NCCETC Policy Research Manager Autumn Proudlove as saying the growth in such developments is, among other things, “... an indication of the growing need for policies that address the rising penetrations of distributed energy resources (DER) on many states' grids.”
The UNC report uses the term ‘grid modernization’ to include ‘legislative and regulatory actions’ addressing:
(1) smart grid and advanced metering infrastructure,
(2) utility business model reform,
(3) regulatory reform,
(4) utility rate reform,
(5) energy storage,
(6) microgrids, and
(7) demand response.
In the first quarter of 2018, the report found, 37 states plus DC took a total of 259 policy and deployment actions related to grid modernization. Under the term ‘actions,’ the report lists the following: policies (the most numerous at 28% of the total), studies and investigations, deployment, planning and market access, business model and rate reform, and financial incentives.
Of particular interest, among the 37 states taking grid modernization actions during Q1 2018, the report says, 32 states took actions related to energy storage, which also accounted for the majority of grid modernization legislation considered in that quarter.
NCCETC produces a number of “50 States” reports every year, the others covering solar and electric vehicles. For more, visit https://nccleantech.ncsu.edu/the-50-states-reports/.