RMI Outlet
Plug Into New Ideas
Electric Vehicles Are Coming. Regulators Must Respond
It’s a great time to be in the market for an electric vehicle (EV). Customers have never had as many EV options, at as many price points, with as much support infrastructure in place as they do today. During the last decade, the number of plug-in vehicle models available for sale has grown to more than 20, just as battery costs have decreased by 70 percent, and the number of EV charging stations across the U.S. has climbed to more than 16,000.
Accelerator Teams Are Defining a New Era of Utility Relationships
In April 2016, RMI hosted the third annual eLab Accelerator. (Applications are now being accepted for eLab Accelerator 2017.) Described as a boot camp for electricity innovation, the four-day intensive work session brought together 13 teams from across North America—from North Carolina to Ottawa and California to New York—working on new business models, energy innovation districts, and novel ways to value distributed energy resources.
Small Steps and a Giant Leap for DERs in Low-Income Communities
President Obama announced measures on July 19 to increase access to solar energy and energy efficiency by low- and moderate-income customers. Elements of the plan,…
Elevating the Priority of Resilience in our New Climate Reality
Many states and cities—and many utilities—are reexamining their capacity to withstand uncertainties, emergencies, and attacks of various kinds. Although governments and utilities have long developed and deployed emergency response protocols, new conditions are making new demands to increase resilience.
EVs Charge Ahead with New Technologies and Business Models
A recent report from RMI’s Electricity Innovation Lab (eLab) describes how the rise of electric vehicles (EVs) could happen much faster than most expect, driven…
