Bridging the Gap: Clean Energy Solutions from the Department of Energy

2022-12-10

Becca Jones-Albertus is set to address a key issue in the clean energy industry as part of her keynote speech at the GridTECH Connect Forum in San Diego: bridging relations between electric utilities and developers. At the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), she is familiar with the struggles resulting from lack of cooperation, but remains hopeful that creative solutions can be found when these stakeholders engage with each other productively.
The conference will bring together California's utilities, developers, and regulators to discuss improving distributed energy resource interconnection - a crucial step towards achieving President Biden and Vice President Harris' goal of decarbonization by 2035. Topics such as fleet electrification, vehicle-to-grid integration, and demand response will be discussed in further detail.
Jones-Albertus believes that progress is possible as long as all involved parties keep an open mind: "We're not in this situation because any one party is trying to be challenging or difficult. We really do think we can get to a goal of faster, simpler, fairer processes, but only by bringing these different stakeholder groups with their diverse and different goals together."

The DOE's Interconnection Innovation e-Xchange (i2X) initiative will also be at the Forum, hosting a panel session on DER hosting capacity and impact analysis as well as a technical interconnection boot camp. Both GridTECH Connect Forum and DISTRIBUTECH International registrants are eligible to attend the complimentary boot camp, which aims to demonstrate the value of data, analysis and automation in distributed energy resource studies.


With the GridTECH Connect Forum taking place in just a few weeks, time is running short for attendees to secure their spots - so be sure to register soon! Together with i2X's collaborative efforts, Jones-Albertus and her peers have high hopes that this event will pave the way towards a better electricity system for everyone.
Hope remains high that Becca Jones-Albertus' keynote at the upcoming GridTECH Connect Forum in San Diego will bring about promising solutions for bridging relations between electric utilities and developers. With President Biden and Vice President Harris hoping for a fully decarbonized grid by 2035, the DOE's Interconnection Innovation e-Xchange (i2X) initiative will be present at the Forum to discuss and demonstrate distributed energy resource hosting capacity and impact analysis. These sessions, as well as a technical interconnection boot camp, are open to both GridTECH Connect Forum and DISTRIBUTECH International registrants.
The stakes are high for electric utilities, developers and regulators alike - time is short but hope remains that this collaboration will lead towards a greener future of electricity with faster, simpler and fairer processes in place. Be sure to register soon if you're interested in attending!