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technical experts to develop a set of protocols for determining savings from energy efficiency measures and
programs. Over the last 2 years, the Uniform Methods Project has issued more than 20 protocols for common
residential, commercial, and crosscutting energy efficiency measures. The Energy Information Administration
has also tracked energy efficiency program evaluations.
Drivers of Change for the Grid of the Future: Institutions and Utility
Business Models
A third dimension of the architecture for the grid of the future encompasses all the actors involved in
managing the grid, including in industry and regulatory bodies (at all levels of government). These businesses
and institutions shape the operation, management, and regulation of the grid. Incorporation of the new
technologies and services will require an evolution in these businesses and institutions.
States Are the Test Beds for the Evolution of the Grid of the Future
States have the primary role in regulating the retail provision of electricity (see Figure 3-5), as well as the siting
of transmission and generation. Due to this primacy, states are at the forefront of managing the transition to
the grid of the future. Historically, states have been the laboratories for developing policies that reflect their
individual and regional situations, and in the electricity sector, state policies reflect differences in resource mix,
priorities, geography, economies, and even culture.
Figure 3-5. Different State Approaches to Energy Efficiency 50
Decoupling
LRAM
Performance
Incentive
None
Thirty-six states have adopted regulatory approaches to promote utility investment in energy efficiency: decoupling, lost-revenue adjust mechanisms
(“LRAM”), or performance incentives.
QER Report: Energy Transmission, Storage, and Distribution Infrastructure | April 2015 3-19