Public utilities and regulators are implementing various forms of regulatory mechanisms that decouple revenues from commodity sales to remove a disincentive or create an incentive for utilities to invest in and encourage consumers to conserve electricity, natural gas and water. A major question is whether such regulatory mechanisms affect investor-perceived risk, the cost of common equity and the utility rates of such commodities. This is an important question as regulators
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Insights
Decoupling Impact and Public Utility Conservation Investment
Shaping a Path Toward High-Renewable Penetration: A Comparison of Utility-Scale and Distributed Renewables
Overview
Over the last decade, the proliferation of renewable generation has changed how owners and operators manage the economic and operational aspects of the grid from planning through the delivery of energy. While there are some common benefits and challenges to integrating renewables, not all renewables are created equal. Going forward, utility strategies will need to consider the important differences between utility-scale and distributed renewables and how best to integrate and effectively manage these resources to maximize benefit to customers and the grid. Should states with low-renewable penetration today try to shape their path? And if so, what tools or strategies can they use to arrive at the best outcomes?
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Materiality Assessments for Electric Utilities
With 78% of the S&P 500 now publishing sustainability reports, non-financial reporting is becoming essential for companies looking to manage risk and capture opportunities in a changing business environment.[1] The widespread adoption of reporting on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues is driven by investors aiming to predict long-term financial performance, which is increasingly influenced by ESG data and information. The reporting trend is clear, but how does
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Employee Spotlight: Jonathan Aronoff
Jonathan Aronoff
Jonathan Aronoff, a senior associate, joined ScottMadden in 2017. Since his arrival, he has worked within ScottMadden’s energy practice, an area that evoked Jonathan’s interest from day one. Jonathan is an active member of the Diversity & Inclusion Committee, connecting ScottMadden with diverse student organizations thus widening the firm’s networking and recruiting outreach. He has also been involved in the internal energy markets community of practice. Prior to joining ScottMadden, Jonathan earned a B.A. from The New School and an M.B.A. from the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School with concentrations in corporate finance, energy, and sustainability.
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Payment Options for Today’s Talent Profiles: The Workforce of the Future Is Here—Is Your Pay Model Ready?
Organizations are working on more flexible payment options, including same-day pay, as an incentive to attract and retain top talent within a tight and “gig” economy-focused labor market.
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Changing Finance Skillsets in a Digital World: How the Wave of Technology Is Changing the Skillsets Financial Employees Need
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF SUSAN
Susan, a well-respected director at a large multinational luxury retail corporation, walks in on Day 1 of the monthly close process. Susan begins to review a new set of reports that were just run prior to her arrival. The data visualization report shows the validated month-end activity sitting in the distributed ledger, as well as a forecast of the month-end revenue and expenses.
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The Race to Recruit: How Leading Healthcare Organizations Are Winning the Talent Acquisition Challenge
The workforce shortage is changing the way healthcare organizations attract, engage, and retain talent. The race to recruit is on.
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Spinning Our Wheels: How Nuclear Plant Closures Threaten to Offset Gains from Renewables
The United States has worked to combat climate change by focusing on lowering the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the electric generation sector. One key strategy has been to invest in the growth of renewables, principally solar and wind. This strategy, underpinned by tax incentives, has helped wind and solar grow from 1.3% in 2008 to 8.8% in 2018 of the electricity produced in the United States. Adding that to existing hydro and nuclear (both GHG emission free), the United States now gets 35.2% of its generation from clean sources (chart 1). That is the good news.
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The Energy Industry Update – Volume 19 – Issue 1
Themed “How Soon Is Now?,” this edition of the ScottMadden Energy Industry Update explores how the industry is answering the call for change. Clean technologies are advancing (e.g., battery storage, renewables, distributed energy resources, small modular reactors), and all may have a role to play, but how soon? In the meantime, the industry continues to focus on resiliency and what that means for the grid, pipelines, and the generation mix