NOTE: This course is not eligible for CLE credit because it is less than 60 minutes long. We offer it at no charge, as a public service to those who need the information.
R. Brent Alderfer is president and founder of Community Energy, Inc., the company that successfully led the expansion of wind generation in the Northeast ten years ago. An electrical engineer and lawyer, he practiced commercial law for fifteen years, representing development-stage companies. As Commissioner of the Colorado PUC, Mr. Alderfer chaired the Energy Resources Committee of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, where he led several initiatives on opening competitive electric markets, specifically directed to marketing clean and renewable electric supply.
In his keynote presentation from PBI's Power Law 2011 conference, Mr. Alderfer considers why power technology is hot but power law is not. He compares the trajectories of the telecommunications and electric power industries since both were deregulated in the late 1990's. Using telecom as the paradigm, Mr. Alderfer proposes solutions for the power industry, including promoting real facilities-based competition, allowing interconnection into the electric grid at any feasible point, and fostering innovation in a competitive market among the existing players.
