A smart grid is a transactive grid.
- Lynne Kiesling
Archive for August, 2013

Preventing Smart Markets: How Big Power Companies Are Trying To Quash The Disownership Economy

Via Fast Company, an interesting commentary from the cofounder of SunRun on how entrenched utilities are trying to slow the rise of the sharing economy and smart markets: Entrenched industries are working tirelessly to save you from the new products and services you want. As established companies stifle innovation in industries as diverse as energy, […]

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Want Solar On My Roof? Go Ahead And Pay Me For It.

Via the Rocky Mountain Institute, an interesting article on how third-party solar financing models are not enough and how more of a smart market approach would foster increased solar power deployments among residential homeowners: In recent years, companies have made great strides in offering third-party financing to bring solar and energy efficiency to residential consumers […]

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Utilities: Worried About Distributed Solar? What About Distributed Wind Or Water?

Via Smart Grid News, a look at distributed wind.  Could distributed water also become an input to smart markets in years ahead – we believe so. The Energy Department released two new reports showcasing record growth across the U.S. wind market – increasing America’s share of clean, renewable energy and supporting tens of thousands of […]

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What Does It Mean For Energy Efficiency To Be A Resource In Texas?

Via EDF’s Energy Exchange blog, a somewhat theoretical  look at markets and the idea of calibrating/trading energy efficiency like a resource.  Perhaps this is one application of how smart markets may evolve: We’ve discussed the potentially grave impacts of the Texas Energy Crunch in a number of our previous blog posts. Time and time again, […]

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About This Blog And Its Authors
Grid Unlocked is powered by two eco-preneurs who analyze and reference articles, reports, and interviews that can help unlock the nascent, complex and expanding linkages between smart meters, smart grids, and above all: smart markets.

Based on decades of experience and interest in conservation, Monty Simus believes that a truly “smart” grid must be a “transactive” grid, unshackled from its current status as a so-called “natural monopoly.”

In short, an unlocked grid must adopt and harness the power of markets to incentivize individual users, linked to each other on a large scale, who change consumptive behavior in creative ways that drive efficiency and bring equity to use of the planet's finite and increasingly scarce resources.