Creative Destruction and the Electric Utility of the Future

The electricity business is changing so fast and so radically that what you think you know about it is probably wrong. A deep evolution is at work, never apparent in headlines or social media unless you know how the clues fit together. The old world is quietly giving way to a new one--disrupting the traditional utility culture, creating greater choices for customers, even affecting the industry's response to global warming.

David J. Hurlbut brings nearly three decades of professional and academic experience to this work, including electricity market design and monitoring, renewable energy policy, and advice to other countries seeking to learn from U.S. experience. As he states at the end of the book, "Creative destruction is rapidly bringing the world of electricity to a critical and unavoidable juncture that requires a choice: deny the inevitable, prop up failing enterprises whose time has passed, and let future generations clean up the mess; or acknowledge and adapt to the change, and find ways now to make the transition easier for all who will be affected."

About the Author
Hurlbut, David J.: - David J. Hurlbut is a senior analyst and economist at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado. Prior to joining the lab in 2007 he was a senior economist at the Texas Public Utilities Commission, where he participated in the restructuring of the wholesale power market operated by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas and oversaw implementation of the state's successful renewable portfolio standard. He holds a doctorate and a master's degree from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin.