RMI Outlet
Plug Into New Ideas
California Flattens Rate Blocks, Rolls Out Default Time-of-use Pricing
California’s three largest investor-owned utilities will soon go through a major electricity rate reform, replacing the four-tier structure with a two-tier or a three-tier structure. While this would seem to discourage conservation and efficiency, new default time-of-use rates could change the entire equation.
Why Tankless Water Heaters Might Not Hold Water
For the 4.6 million American households with electricity rates that vary by time of day, a tankless electric heater could actually increase operating costs if the hot water is used during peak price times.
Hard Time Exposes the Soft Benefits of Deep Energy Retrofits
Talk of building energy-efficiency retrofits usually focuses on commercial offices. But there’s another type of building—prisons—where the non-energy benefits of those retrofits really stand out in stark relief.
Fixed Charges Don’t ‘Fix’ the Problem
Pricing structures matter—not just for the timing of cost-effective solar-plus-battery economics but also how investment in solar-plus-battery systems might evolve and what the future electricity grid could look like.
Does America’s Transportation Future Really Need More and Bigger Roads?
Finding more money for the Highway Trust Fund overlooks the more fundamental question: will we need more HTF revenue and will we need to build more road capacity in the years and decades ahead?
