Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by Stuart McCafferty
Clean Energy vs. Oil and Gas: A Comparison of Jobs and Tax Revenue Impact
As the global push toward sustainability accelerates, the economic influence of clean energy is growing significantly—both in terms of employment and tax revenue. While oil and gas continue to play a dominant fiscal role, clean energy has surpassed fossil fuels in direct job creation and is poised to generate increasing indirect tax revenue through employment and consumer activity.
VPP vs DERMS: What’s the Difference? (Refresh)
This article was previously published on Energy Central in January, 2022. Stu spoke with Matt Chester and Audra Drazga about refreshing the article for their Special Issue Series on DERMS. He teamed up with Siemens Smart Infrastructure CTO, Dr. Thomas Kiessling, to expand the conversation and gain some additional insights to this rapidly-growing market. The article is still relevant and there are a few thoughts to include that did not make it into the original article.
“Energy IoT Architecture: From Theory to Practice” Book Now Available at Artech House
image credit: Artech House Jan 5, 2023 8:01 pm GMT 11 views Dear Energy Central Colleagues and Friends, My book, "Energy IoT Architecture: From Theory to Practice", is now available at Artech House. The book provides an IoT reference architecture with over 100 original drawings, a simple methodology and template for solution architectures, and real-life use case examples for implementation.
6 Predictions for 2022
Well, another year has passed. 2021 is in our rearview mirrors, and for many of us, we are glad to see it go. 2022 is another opportunity for hope and, of course, some predictions for the electricity industry’s year ahead. So, here’s my shot at it. Volkswagen has committed $86B in next 5 years to fleet electrification and autonomous car technology (source: Reuters) 1. Electric Vehicles take center stage – Ok, this is a no-brainer.
VPP vs DERMS: What’s the Difference?
VPP vs DERMS: What’s the Difference? By Stuart McCafferty Virtual Power Plants (VPP) and Distributed Energy Resource Management Systems (DERMS) do pretty much the same thing: Both systems are used to manage and coordinate with DERs and integrate with grid operations and market systems to provide grid services. Both can support the coordination with individual or grouped DERs. However, there are some subtle differences worth noting. First, let’s start with a few definitions.
Public Power Decarbonization Series - Part 3: Public Power Decarbonization Requires Distributed Energy Resource (DER) Integration
Public Power Decarbonization Series By Stuart McCafferty, John Cooper, and Eamonn McCormick This article is Part 3 of a three-part series on the role of Public Power in decarbonizing and electrifying our society and economy. The first article discussed the imperative to decarbonize and what it means for Public Power. The second article reviewed the Crisis of Slow Public Power Decarbonization, and the confusing narrative and lack of leadership from various government agencies.
Public Power Decarbonization Series - The Current Crisis of Slow Utility Decarbonization
Public Power Decarbonization Series By Stuart McCafferty, John Cooper, and Eamonn McCormick This article is Part 2 of a three-part series on the role of Public Power in decarbonizing and electrifying our society and economy. In the first article we establish the clear imperative to decarbonize and what that means for Public Power. In Part 2, we review the Crisis of Slow Public Power Decarbonization.
CREATING DER INTEGRATION SOLUTION ARCHITECTURES USING IEEE 2030.5 AND THE ENERGYIOT COMMON REFERENCE MODEL
Figure 1: The EnergyIoT Common Reference Model CREATING DER INTEGRATION SOLUTION ARCHITECTURES USING IEEE 2030.5 AND THE ENERGYIOT COMMON REFERENCE MODEL By Stuart McCafferty, Eamonn McCormick, & David Forfia California has it right! In 2019, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) created the “Rule 21” mandate for integrating behind the meter Distributed Energy Resources (DER).
THE COMING TRICKY PEAK LOAD WAVE OF ELECTRIC VEHICLES - AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT
THE COMING TRICKY PEAK LOAD WAVE OF ELECTRIC VEHICLES By Eamonn McCormick, Stuart McCafferty, & Hans-Arild Bredesen NEWS FLASH! Today’s grid was not designed for today’s electrified, intermittent generation, green ecosystem – and meeting tomorrow’s electricity needs will be even more challenging! Ok, so maybe that isn’t a surprise to anyone anywhere.
Local Energy Flexibility Markets Part 2: Could They Help with Black Swan Weather Rolling Outage Grid Events?
Local Energy Flexibility Markets Part 2: Could They Help with Black Swan Weather Rolling Outage Grid Events? By Eamonn McCormick, Stuart McCafferty, David Forfia, & Hans-Arild Bredesen Figure 1: ISO Territories and Power Outages February 2021 (source: FERC and PowerOutage.US) Black swan weather week disrupts power delivery across the US In February 2021, 150M people were under winter advisories as 'unprecedented' snow and ice storms involving 25 states across the middle of the country.
Local Energy Flexibility Markets: The Hidden Key to Solving the Energy Transformation?
By Eamonn McCormick, Stuart McCafferty, Hans-Arild Bredesen, & David Forfia These are exciting times in the energy industry. The transition to a sustainable, clean, and distributed grid is underway worldwide. The positive drivers of the energy transition include political climate goals, enormous funding and investment opportunities, and the available technology to integrate buildings, renewables, batteries, controllable loads, and electric vehicles with the grid.
Part 2 - Biofuels: Really? Don’t Fuel Yourself
Part 2 - Biofuels: Really? Don’t Fuel Yourself By Stuart McCafferty and Eamonn McCormick This is Part 2 of a 2-part series on the oil and gas industry, their part in the current global climate crisis, and a conversation on biofuels and their efficacy within a sustainable energy economy.
Part 1 - Biofuels: Really? Don’t Fuel Yourself
Part 1 - Biofuels: Really? Don’t Fuel Yourself By Stuart McCafferty and Eamonn McCormick The major oil and gas companies are all enthusiastically jumping into the biofuel market, telling the world that it is “carbon-neutral” and that they are addressing climate change as good stewards of the environment. Really? In 2015, Inside Climate News performed eight months of investigation interviewing ExxonMobil’s former employees and reviewing internal company documents.
Digital Utility Roundup: Recent Must-Read Posts From Fellow Community Members
WARNING: SIGN-IN You need to be a member of Energy Central to access some features and content. Please sign-in or register to continue. Greetings Digital Utility Group members! In putting together these roundups, I often struggle with which posts to include. This community has so many knowledgeable professionals with fascinating information to share.
G’Day, Mate! Following Australia’s Lead (Again) with the "World First" Distributed Energy Resources Registry Master File - What it means for the US!
by Eamonn McCormick & Stuart McCafferty DER You Come from the Land Down Under? Understandably, the Australians have been the global trail blazers for Distributed Energy Resource (DER) adoption and integration into utility operations and markets. They have lots of sunshine, are believers AND doers when it comes to climate change, and they are pretty damn smart, too.
GRID ARCHITECTURE ARTICLE 6: The Grid Architecture Development Process
by Eamonn McCormick, Stuart McCafferty & David Forfia "A holistic approach that considers multiple structures simultaneously is critical to the Grid Architecture process" Dr. Jeff Taft creator of the Grid Architecture Methodology Figure 12: The Grid Architecture of tomorrow is much different than today. In this sixth and final article in the GRID ARCHITECTURE ARTICLE series, we provide you with the methodology that DOE has developed.
GRID ARCHITECTURE ARTICLE 5: How Do We Measure the "Goodness" of Complex Architectures?
by Eamonn McCormick, Stuart McCafferty & David Forfia "Determining what constitutes "Good Architecture" is a major challenge for complex architectures" Dr. Jeff Taft creator of the Grid Architecture Methodology In this fifth article we address the question every architect asks him/herself, “Is my architecture good?” What does a good architecture look like? These questions are particular difficult to answer in complex architectures where we are dealing with a very large number of variables.
GRID ARCHITECTURE ARTICLE 4: How Do We Architect a Resilient Grid?
by Eamonn McCormick, Stuart McCafferty & David Forfia "Resilience should be measured from the customer's perspective. " Jeff Taft creator of Grid Architecture Figure 7: The Climate Center initiative to build clean and smart community microgrids to build Community Energy Resilience[1] This fourth GRID ARCHITECTURE ARTICLE introduces the unique way in which resilience is measured versus every other industry.
GRID ARCHITECTURE ARTICLE 3: Laminar Coordination An Important Concept For The Energy Industry
by Eamonn McCormick, Stuart McCafferty & David Forfia "Laminar Coordination is a very important concept we can apply in Grid Architecture " Jeff Taft creator of Grid Architecture In this third GRID ARCHITECTURE ARTICLE series, we introduce the idea of “layering” architectural structures and components. The DOE calls this “laminar decomposition” and it is fundamental in how to manage distributed hierarchical control.
GRID ARCHITECTURE ARTICLE 2: Control & Market Structures in Grid Architecture
by Eamonn McCormick, Stuart McCafferty & David Forfia "Control structures are an often overlooked vital aspect of Grid Architecture " Jeff Taft creator of Grid Architecture In this second article we introduce the concept of structures and, in particular, how structures such as control and markets need to operate in tandem.
GRID ARCHITECTURE ARTICLE 1: Energy Platforms Are Key To The Future of The Energy Grid
"A platform is a stable collection of components that provide fundamental or commonly-needed capabilities and services to a variable set of uses or applications through well-defined interoperable interfaces. . .
The Next Evolution for the Power...
By Stuart McCafferty, Managing Director, Black & Veatch Stuart McCafferty, Managing Director, Black & Veatch The energy industry is experiencing a transformation unlike any in history. Similar to the telecommunication industry’s wireless transformation, the adoption of renewables, batteries, and electric vehicles is changing the electric power grid from a one-way, centralized, analog system, to a two-way, distributed, digital platform.
DECARBONIZATION: The Pattern that has Emerged
WARNING: SIGN-IN You need to be a member of Energy Central to access some features and content. Please sign-in or register to continue. By Stuart McCafferty, Eamonn McCormick, and David Forfia Utility and transportation decarbonization is rapidly gaining traction as the economic advantages of renewable energy, technology acceleration, and a social mandate for clean energy propel us into a much different world than we have experienced over the previous century.
Distribution System Operator (DSO) Models for Utility Stakeholders - Organizational Models for a Digital, Distributed Modern Grid V2
WARNING: SIGN-IN You need to be a member of Energy Central to access some features and content. Please sign-in or register to continue. Black & Veatch Management Consulting The WhitePaper for DSO Models for Utility Stakeholders published in 2018 has been updated.
Moonshots, NASA, and Climate Change
Disclaimer: The viewpoints in this article are the personal views of the author and in no way are meant to imply or represent those of the company he works for. “We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.” President John Kennedy, 1962 I grew up in a time where I was truly proud to be an American. I felt blessed that I was lucky enough to be born here and be part of the greatest society in history.
The Next Evolution for the Power...
By Stuart McCafferty, Managing Director, Black & Veatch Stuart McCafferty, Managing Director, Black & Veatch The energy industry is experiencing a transformation unlike any in history. Similar to the telecommunication industry’s wireless transformation, the adoption of renewables, batteries, and electric vehicles is changing the electric power grid from a one-way, centralized, analog system, to a two-way, distributed, digital platform.
Why utilities need to digitize their collections notices
While paperless initiatives top the list of digital transformation goals for most utilities, many have yet to adopt this philosophy for collection notices. Utilities are still sending out the same paper-based collection notices they have for decades, missing out on a simple change that could save costs, get payments faster and reduce the debtors' book.
Analyzing Utilities Sector Cybersecurity Performance
Energy Central contributors share their experience and insights for the benefit of other Members (like you). Please show them your appreciation by leaving a comment, 'liking' this post, or following this Member. See what BitSight’s data science team learned when they analyzed the security performance of organizations in the utilities sector.
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission expands cybersecurity incident reporting requirements
Energy Central contributors share their experience and insights for the benefit of other Members (like you). Please show them your appreciation by leaving a comment, 'liking' this post, or following this Member. Any efforts that FERC and other regulatory agencies can initiate that will tighten up the cybersecurity of the grid, the better.
The Arms Race of Utility Energy Data
Inspired by a recent post on Energy Central about a large-scale effort to add 1.2 million smart meters to homes across Taiwan, and specifically a comment by the contributor Thorsten Heller about a client who is thinking about “streaming” utility data in real-time down to one minute or even one second intervals, I wanted to dive into what the latest and greatest in advancing utility data sets seems to be.
Norwegian Software Company helps to power Taiwan
Energy Central contributors share their experience and insights for the benefit of other Members (like you). Please show them your appreciation by leaving a comment, 'liking' this post, or following this Member. Norwegian software company, Greenbird Integration Technology, is taking part in a large-scale project that will implement and integrate smart metering IT infrastructure to support the roll-out of Smart Meters to initially 1.2 million homes across Taiwan.
Clearway Energy to Test Using Blockchain for Trading Renewable Energy Credits
Clearway Energy Group, one of the U.S.’s largest clean power developers, is launching a pilot electronic marketplace for renewable energy credits as more states push for solar and wind projects. The company has partnered with Power Ledger, which develops blockchain-enabled energy trading software, to build a system to both track and trade so-called RECs, according to an emailed statement.
What is the most common method of factoring downstream risks/costs, into a cost of ownership analysis when considering catastrophic event? Example = PG&E Fire | Energy Central
For example: Do utilities use percentage breakdowns or bench-marking of how other utilities execute and make decisions? Do they examining catastrophic events, backward looking approach should not be the recommended norm? Tap Into The Experience of the Network One of the great things about our industry is our willingness to share knowledge and experience. The Energy Central Q&A platform allows you to easily tap into the experience of thousands of your colleagues in utilities.
"Making a Move - Engie ..." commercially deploying #blockchain ...
"Making a Move ... " What ENGIE have been up to with #blockchain... I had a chat with Etienne Gehain, Digital Innovation Officer at #Engie following EventHorizon for episode 8 of the Energy Singularity podcast, so check your feed today ... 2> How Engie approached developing an #ecosystem with investments, #startups, partnerships etc ... 4> The types of use cases where using blockchain makes sense ... and much much more ...
Defining the Important Digital Utility Topics of Today, According to the Energy Central Community
There’s little doubt that the idea of a digital utility and the increasing digitalization of power companies is a hot topic in today’s rapidly evolving landscape. It’s the reason this very community exists, of course. But the concept can be a bit nebulous when you actually try to pin it down—what is the ‘digital utility’ and why does it matter so much?
What is a more typical organization structure in utilities? A separate asset management organization or integrated within engineering?
Tap Into The Experience of the Network One of the great things about our industry is our willingness to share knowledge and experience. The Energy Central Q&A platform allows you to easily tap into the experience of thousands of your colleagues in utilities. When you need advice, have a tough problem or just need other viewpoints, post a question. Your question will go out to our network of industry professionals and experts. If it is sensitive, you can post anonymously. Ask a question now »
What data challenges are you facing across your Digital Utility value chain ?
Bain's research shows that digital transformations are significantly harder than conventional change management programs and found that only 5% of companies involved in digital transformations say they have achieved or exceeded their expectations. A full 75% settled for dilution of value and mediocre performance. Hence we are on a journey to understand how much of a challenge is tackling data a key contributor to that statistic.
Do organizations see Asset Management as a cost centre or a source of value?
Tap Into The Experience of the Network One of the great things about our industry is our willingness to share knowledge and experience. The Energy Central Q&A platform allows you to easily tap into the experience of thousands of your colleagues in utilities. When you need advice, have a tough problem or just need other viewpoints, post a question. Your question will go out to our network of industry professionals and experts. If it is sensitive, you can post anonymously. Ask a question now »
Do you see a link between Asset Management (C55) and Project Portfolio Management?
Tap Into The Experience of the Network One of the great things about our industry is our willingness to share knowledge and experience. The Energy Central Q&A platform allows you to easily tap into the experience of thousands of your colleagues in utilities. When you need advice, have a tough problem or just need other viewpoints, post a question. Your question will go out to our network of industry professionals and experts. If it is sensitive, you can post anonymously. Ask a question now »
The problem of connecting to Smart Meters was solved 30 years ago! Powered by scalable technology.
Electricity Utilities around the globe are starting to undergo a radical transformation to address a range of economic, environmental and technical challenges. Global drivers for change are rising emissions, domestic energy resource constraints, growing demand for electricity, financing constraints for new generation assets development, cost of electricity, and ageing infrastructure.
Energy Web Foundation Launches World’s First Public, Open-source, Enterprise-grade Blockchain Tailored to the Energy Sector - Energy Web
More than 10 EWF affiliates are hosting what are known as validator nodes for the blockchain energy network, dubbed the Energy Web Chain, according to an Energy Web Foundation blog post. The group includes utilities, grid operators and blockchain developers. Seventeen decentralized applications (dApps) that are expected to make the transition to the live network in coming weeks are running on Energy Web test neworks.
Blockchain Gains Traction in Transactive Energy Market
Energy Central contributors share their experience and insights for the benefit of other Members (like you). Please show them your appreciation by leaving a comment, 'liking' this post, or following this Member. Transactive energy platforms, which enable participants to trade power and services, is slowly taking shape, and becoming a market where blockchain interest is high, according to Navigant Research. About 40% of energy blockchain vendors are developing transactive energy solutions.
DER Integration Could Benefit from Solar Simulation Software
Software developed by a group of national energy laboratories runs a detailed, second-by-second simulation that shows how rooftop solar panels at a specific house or business would interact with a local electrical grid throughout the year. Utility companies need that analysis to understand how large amounts of solar generation in one section of a grid may lead to voltage fluctuations that affect electric reliability.
How can artificial intelligence help mitigate climate change
A group of researchers, policy analysts, and entrepreneurs have come together to list the ways in which artificial intelligence can help mitigate climate change. There are some obvious candidates here - predicting supply and demand of electricity, using smart meters, and accelerating electric vehicle adoption. Others are not so obvious.
What Utilities Can Glean from Classic Comics to Pen a Better Future
Wonder Woman saved Steve Trevor (and at least one war). The Avengers saved New York—at least the parts they didn’t flatten. (Last year, they tried to save the world, but we won’t talk about that sad story today; we'll let you catch Endgame for that tale.) Green Lantern saved the universe once before he became Deadpool, and Dr. Strange tried to save multiple timeline versions of the universe to the point of exhaustion both during and after his stint as Sherlock.
Meanwhile in the real world Part III - Electron
Kevin O'Donovan / Event Horizon In the past two episodes, we have heard from Maria McKavanagh at Verv and Dave Marion from Power on what they see out there today as they build their businesses in the energy industry and how they see blockchain as an enabling technology for their solutions. And we wanted to hear from such visionaries as, given the dose of realism we’ve been dishing out so far, some people might be starting to wonder if there was any future for blockchain in the energy industry.
U.S. Escalates Online Attacks on Russiaâs Power Grid
Published over the weekend in NYT, this article paints an unsettling picture of the future. US authorities are stepping up attacks on the Russian electric grid in response to incursions from the country. A professor quoted in the article calls it the modern-day equivalent of gunboat diplomacy. General Nakasone, head of General Command and the N.S.A, is responsible for the Russia Small Group.
Can predictive analytics predict the degree of fossil plant future cycling?
Anonymous June 19 2019 It’s a complex challenge but I can say yes, predictive analytics can predict the degree of fossil plant future cycling. However there would have to be much live and historical data available to analyze. I did such a study for a rather large utility with multiple OEM Generating Assets in the Northeast region with good success. I was considering marketing a similar package to other power generators.
Meanwhile in the real world Part I - Verv
In the series so far, we looked at the overall state of blockchain in the Energy Industry, the technology, the impact of Energy Policy & Regulation and many of the elephants in the room got called out. Now given the dose of realism we’ve been dishing out so far, you might be starting to wonder if there is any future for blockchain in the energy industry. There is.
Orchestration Becoming Key to the Smart Home.
Energy Central contributors share their experience and insights for the benefit of other Members (like you). Please show them your appreciation by leaving a comment, 'liking' this post, or following this Member. A new report from Navigant Research explores how smart home developments can demonstrate the potential for innovation in the built environment.
Show More
loading
Actions
Is this you?
As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.Get in touch with Stuart
Contact Stuart, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack