Ed ison predicts critical changes
Ventura County Star (CA) - Wednesday, September 10, 2014
Author: Rachel McGrath Special to The Star
The chairman and CEO of Edison International, Ted Craver, says the electricity industry is set to undergo major changes in the next decade as utilities seek to increase efficiency, environmental friendliness and reliability.
“It’s going to change more in the next 10 years than it has in the last 100 years,” Craver told a packed breakfast event Tuesday at the Ronald W. Reagan Presidential Library & Museum in Simi Valley.
“The ability to develop innovative approaches will be one of the characteristics of successful companies,” he said.
Craver was the first speaker in the 2014-15 Corporate Leaders Breakfast Series hosted by California Lutheran University, with business and community leaders from across Ventura County gathering Tuesday to hear his speech, “Our Energy Future.”
Edison International, based in Rosemead, is the parent company of Southern California Edison.
“Electricity is a commodity that cannot be stored, and that’s fundamental,” Craver told the audience.
“Every time a light switch goes on, the supply of electricity has to instantaneously arrive for that switch to turn on that light, so instantaneously we have to balance the amount of electricity that is demanded with the amount of electricity supplied, and that’s challenging.”
The biggest task facing Southern California Edison is the pressure to act in a more environmentally responsible way
See Leaders, 11A
while maintaining a safe, reliable and cost-effective electricity supply.
“Politics of today have, I think, dramatized the choice around affordability and environmental responsibility. This is a difficult area, and it’s going to continue to be hotly debated,” Craver said.
“Environmental activists, at least the ones on the extreme, want to characterize the choices as: We must use half as much electricity as we used to use, otherwise we will destroy the planet. On the other side of the equation, the pro-growth activists view it as: If we do these things that are environmentally responsible, we are going to double the cost of electricity in the United States.”
Craver said he thinks both sides are basically engaged in fear mongering.
He said companies like Southern California Edison must figure out how to provide electricity responsibly without choking off growth and job creation.
“Electricity is the foundation of all economic growth, so we need to be able to provide it affordably, and that is the fundamental thing that we at Southern California Edison and the other utilities across the country are involved in,” he said.
He described four key focus areas for his utility:
Improving efficiency.
Increasing the use of renewable energy sources.
Improving the emissions profile of its plants.
Bringing the generation of electricity closer to those who use it.
These goals will be achieved by digital technology and innovation, he said, and create a “plug and play” network that connects homes and businesses with a two-way flow of electricity, sharing electricity back and forth in a dynamic dispatch grid.
“What we believe is that the state of California has put reducing carbon and environmental responsibility at the top. They want an electric system that is modern and one that will be environmentally responsible and allow California to stand at the front in terms of carbon reduction and greenhouse gas reduction,” Craver said.
“So our role is to help our customers and policymakers understand the trade-offs that are involved, and once they understand those trade-offs, our job is to go out and build the system that will meet those objectives. That’s really our mission today.”
Leaders from 10A
“It’s going to change more in the next 10 years than it has in the last 100 years,” Craver told a packed breakfast event Tuesday at the Ronald W. Reagan Presidential Library & Museum in Simi Valley.
“The ability to develop innovative approaches will be one of the characteristics of successful companies,” he said.
Craver was the first speaker in the 2014-15 Corporate Leaders Breakfast Series hosted by California Lutheran University, with business and community leaders from across Ventura County gathering Tuesday to hear his speech, “Our Energy Future.”
Edison International, based in Rosemead, is the parent company of Southern California Edison.
“Electricity is a commodity that cannot be stored, and that’s fundamental,” Craver told the audience.
“Every time a light switch goes on, the supply of electricity has to instantaneously arrive for that switch to turn on that light, so instantaneously we have to balance the amount of electricity that is demanded with the amount of electricity supplied, and that’s challenging.”
The biggest task facing Southern California Edison is the pressure to act in a more environmentally responsible way
See Leaders, 11A
while maintaining a safe, reliable and cost-effective electricity supply.
“Politics of today have, I think, dramatized the choice around affordability and environmental responsibility. This is a difficult area, and it’s going to continue to be hotly debated,” Craver said.
“Environmental activists, at least the ones on the extreme, want to characterize the choices as: We must use half as much electricity as we used to use, otherwise we will destroy the planet. On the other side of the equation, the pro-growth activists view it as: If we do these things that are environmentally responsible, we are going to double the cost of electricity in the United States.”
Craver said he thinks both sides are basically engaged in fear mongering.
He said companies like Southern California Edison must figure out how to provide electricity responsibly without choking off growth and job creation.
“Electricity is the foundation of all economic growth, so we need to be able to provide it affordably, and that is the fundamental thing that we at Southern California Edison and the other utilities across the country are involved in,” he said.
He described four key focus areas for his utility:
Improving efficiency.
Increasing the use of renewable energy sources.
Improving the emissions profile of its plants.
Bringing the generation of electricity closer to those who use it.
These goals will be achieved by digital technology and innovation, he said, and create a “plug and play” network that connects homes and businesses with a two-way flow of electricity, sharing electricity back and forth in a dynamic dispatch grid.
“What we believe is that the state of California has put reducing carbon and environmental responsibility at the top. They want an electric system that is modern and one that will be environmentally responsible and allow California to stand at the front in terms of carbon reduction and greenhouse gas reduction,” Craver said.
“So our role is to help our customers and policymakers understand the trade-offs that are involved, and once they understand those trade-offs, our job is to go out and build the system that will meet those objectives. That’s really our mission today.”
Leaders from 10A
Caption: DAVID YAMAMOTO/SPECIAL TO THE STAR Ted Craver, chairman and CEO of Edison International, describes the balancing act between mitigating environmental impacts and creating efficient and cost-effective energy during Tuesday’s launch of the 2014-15 California Lutheran University Corporate Leaders Breakfast Series. DAVID YAMAMOTO/SPECIAL TO THE STAR Edison International chief Ted Craver meets with Dennis Washburn (right), president of the Santa Monica Mountains Fund, next to Rudy Gonzales from Southern California Edison at Tuesday’s breakfast. DAVID YAMAMOTO/SPECIAL TO THE STAR Edison International chief Ted Craver describes the balancing act between mitigating environmental impact and creating efficient and cost-effective energy during Tuesday’s launch of this year’s Corporate Leaders Breakfast Series. DAVID YAMAMOTO/SPECIAL TO THE STAR Jerry Beckerman from Segue Career Mentors asks Edison International chief Ted Craver Jr. about the possibility of Edison researching energy technology using such natural resources as the tidal power of the oceans.
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