DeepSummary
The podcast episode discusses the recent surge of major utility companies committing to ambitious plans for 100% zero-carbon energy by 2050. Scott Newman from Oracle Utilities highlights that two-thirds of U.S. consumers are now served by utilities with carbon reduction goals, and over 30 utilities have committed to decarbonizing by 80% or more by 2050.
Badar Khan, the president of National Grid US, explains that their new net-zero by 2050 plan focuses on decarbonizing generation, transport, and heat. He discusses the practical challenges and opportunities this transformation presents, such as managing the grid differently, promoting renewable natural gas and hydrogen, and enabling customer engagement.
Scott Newman emphasizes the crucial role of customers in achieving decarbonization goals. He outlines four key outcomes: clean supply, energy efficiency, electrification, and demand flexibility. Newman stresses the importance of fostering behavior change at a massive scale, leveraging technology, and addressing affordability and equity challenges.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- Major utilities, such as National Grid, are committing to ambitious zero-carbon energy targets, aiming for net-zero emissions by 2050.
- Achieving these goals requires a holistic approach, decarbonizing generation, transportation, and heating.
- Customer engagement and behavior change are crucial, with utilities needing to facilitate energy efficiency, electrification, and demand flexibility at a massive scale.
- Addressing equity and affordability concerns is essential to ensure a just and inclusive transition to clean energy.
- Regulatory flexibility and incentives are needed to foster innovation and guide utility investments toward decarbonization initiatives.
- Leveraging technology, such as artificial intelligence and cloud software, can enable utilities to better understand and engage with customers.
- The transition presents opportunities for utilities to expand their services and make capital investments in clean energy infrastructure.
- Collaboration among utilities, policymakers, technology providers, and customers is necessary to achieve the ambitious decarbonization goals.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “Two thirds of us consumers are now served by utilities with carbon or emissions reduction goals. And over the last year alone, I think something like 30 us utilities have committed to decarbonizing by 80% or more by 2050.“ by Scott Newman
- “We felt that if we're going to make a difference, we needed to not only reduce emissions from our own operations, but also enable the decarbonization of society more broadly. And that's what our net zero plan is.“ by Badar Khan
- “I like to think of it as an elegant solution to our carbon problem. So put simply, if we can convert our electric supply to non emitting resources, electricity becomes this obvious choice for more of the energy we need for things like transportation, heat, and even industrial processes.“ by Scott Newman
- “We need to address the challenge of equality and affordability in decarbonization. And I worry about things being out of our control if we aren't allowed to innovate and evolve our services.“ by Scott Newman
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Episode Information
The Energy Gang
Wood Mackenzie
11/10/20
This sponsored episode was produced in collaboration with GTM Creative Strategies and the Opower team at Oracle Utilities.
The last two years have brought a surge of plans for zero-carbon energy from some of the biggest power providers in the world. Dozens of U.S. utilities have committed to decarbonizing by 80% or more by 2050.
"Two thirds of U.S. consumers are now served by utilities with carbon or emissions reduction goals," says Scott Neuman, group vice president of Opower, at Oracle Utilities.
National Grid is the latest utility to up the ante. The electricity and gas supplier now wants to hit net-zero emissions by 2050.
"In terms of decarbonizing and reducing emissions across society, it can break out into three broad areas, decarbonizing generational power, decarbonizing transport and decarbonizing heat," says Badar Kahn, the presdient of National Grid US.
In this episode, we’ll hear from Badar Kahn and Scott Neuman about how zero-carbon goals may reshape utility operations -- and reshape the role of the customer.
"We're taking everything we've learned, everything we've built, and focusing our team on changing behaviors that will deliver the greatest emission reductions as quickly, affordably and accurately as possible," says Neuman.
Opower is working every single day to help your utility build a clean energy future. Utilities around the world rely on Opower to connect with their customers. Opower helps people save energy, save money, and adopt all the clean energy products & services we need right now.
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