Arguing about Germany

Thanks to my recent experience in studying the Energiewende and visiting Germany, I've been invited to speak on a panel of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC), on November 16 in San Francisco.

The theme:  Germany's Transition to Renewables:  Gutsy or Foolhardy?

As NARUC describes it -- "Some news reports paint an optimistic picture of Germany's efforts to de-fossilize and de-nuclearize its electricity production. Yet industry reports show there are issues, both financial and electrical, to be addressed. We'll ask four experts to react to a particularly upbeat news cast regarding Germany's transition to renewables and help us understand the positive and not-so-positive aspects of that country's energy policies."

I'll be joined on the panel by three transAtlantic experts --

• Julia Hamm - Director, Solar Electric Power Assn (SEPA), who recently led a delegation of US energy industry people to Germany.

• Dr. Lola Infante - Dir.of Generation Fuels and Market Analysis, Edison Electric Institute.  EEI recently commissioned a paper on lessons learned from Germany.

• Jurgen Weiss - Principal, The Brattle Group, who recently wrote a paper for the US Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) also on lessons learned.

After a roundtable discussion, we each get to present a lesson.  Mine will be on the concept of "net demand" and the need to plan for flexibility in a future power system with much more wind and solar power.

I'll post it here afterwards, so come back again.