Electric Utility Spiral

Elisa Graffy, Professor of Practice at CSPO and Co-Director of Energy Policy, Law and Governance for ASU LightWorks, has a new article in the Energy Law Journal, which is available by open access at the journal website. ELJ is a leading journal that spans academic and practitioner communities. The title is “Does Disruptive Competition Mean a Death Spiral for Electric Utilities?” by Elisabeth Graffy, PhD, and Steven Kihm, CFA. The article digs into controversy surrounding rooftop solar and explains the current sense of crisis among electric utilities as a reflection of critical, synergistic innovations in multiple sectors that together pose a wave of “disruptive competition.” Relying on evidence plus a combination of economic, legal, and institutional theory, the authors frankly assess the threats to utilities as well as challenges to the regulated monopoly model and compare the benefits of several strategies under adoption by utilities and by new entrepreneurs. The article speaks directly to concerns about the nature of sustainable energy transitions and characterizes the factors likely to shape the power sector and governance going forward. Steve Kihm is Director of Market Research and Policy at the Energy Center of Wisconsin and a leading energy finance analyst.