William A. Von Hoene, Jr. calls for “balance” between technological
trends and need for reliable, affordable and clean energy
Company Website:
http://www.exeloncorp.com
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- (Business Wire)
As the energy industry undergoes a period of unprecedented
transformation, energy companies must maintain their focus on meeting
customers’ basic energy needs even as utilities adapt to market changes,
Exelon said Saturday.
In a keynote address at the 2015 MIT Energy Conference, Exelon Senior
Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer William A. Von
Hoene, Jr. said that as major trends – such as natural gas fracking, the
push to reduce carbon emissions and water scarcity –reshape the utility
landscape, utilities must invest and plan properly to continue to meet
their customer obligations.
“The utility of the future must embrace these technological shifts we’re
observing,” Von Hoene said. “Even as they do, customers will still need,
and want, energy that is first and foremost reliable and affordable, and
increasingly clean. These fundamental energy needs are far too important
to ignore.”
Rapid technological advancements present new and exciting opportunities
for energy companies, Von Hoene said. Citing recent Exelon investments
in innovative fuel cells, intelligent grid networks and new
combined-cycle gas turbine technology, he said utilities should embrace
technology to meet changing customer expectations and lay the groundwork
for a modern, integrated grid.
“The old way of doing business will not work in this new landscape. The
utility of the future must be forward looking, and not just reactive, to
succeed,” he said. “The energy industry of the past looked at new
technologies as ‘disruptive,’ but to create the grid of tomorrow, we
must look at these technologies as ‘enabling.’”
Von Hoene cautioned energy companies against trying to evolve too
quickly, saying that industrywide change, though far-reaching, will also
need to be gradual if the nation is to strike the right balance between
emerging technology and markets and serving basic energy needs.
“The transformation to the utility of the future will not happen with
the proverbial flip of a switch,” Von Hoene said. “It’s more like
gradually raising a dimmer switch. This evolution of the industry will
be measured in decades, not months or years.”
Among the key trends Von Hoene identified were the rapid growth of
renewable energy, especially distributed energy such as rooftop solar,
and customers’ increasing energy efficiency. He said that these shifts
have clear benefits for customers, society and the environment, but will
not replace the reliable and resilient centralized grid soon.
“As a strong advocate of competition, we support customers’ right to
choose from a variety clean energy products and services, including
distributed generation and efficiency,” Von Hoene said. “That said, we
believe the centralized grid must coexist with renewables, distributed
generation and efficiency for at least the next 10 years. Providing
efficient and reliable service to customers will require a
well-functioning distribution grid that can balance both central station
and distributed resources.”
Von Hoene’s prepared remarks are available at www.exeloncorp.com/Newsroom/speeches.
Exelon Corporation (NYSE: EXC) is the nation’s leading competitive
energy provider, with 2014 revenues of approximately $27.4 billion.
Headquartered in Chicago, Exelon does business in 48 states, the
District of Columbia and Canada. Exelon is one of the largest
competitive U.S. power generators, with approximately 32,500 megawatts
of owned capacity comprising one of the nation’s cleanest and
lowest-cost power generation fleets. The company’s Constellation
business unit provides energy products and services to more than 2.5
million residential, public sector and business customers, including
more than two-thirds of the Fortune 100. Exelon’s utilities deliver
electricity and natural gas to more than 7.8 million customers in
central Maryland (BGE), northern Illinois (ComEd) and southeastern
Pennsylvania (PECO). Follow Exelon on Twitter @Exelon.
Contacts:
Exelon Corporation
Paul Elsberg, 312-394-7417
Corporate
Communications
paul.elsberg@exeloncorp.com
Source: Exelon Corporation
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