By U.S. Sen. Angus King
(I-Maine)
A lot has changed since the days of Thomas Edison, but if he were alive today, he’d likely recognize one thing: America’s electricity grid. Indeed, the grid has changed little over the past 100 years, and just as it did then, it continues to serve its purpose of moving electricity from power plants to consumers.
But today, new and exciting technologies are fundamentally changing the way that we produce electricity and transport it from place to place. More and more, people in Maine and around the country are using cutting-edge energy developments like solar power, wind power, new batteries with longer storage lives, and many others to increase their own energy independence. Those technologies, which are known as distributed energy resources (DER), are making our energy grid more secure, more resilient, and more independent in its own right. These developments have tremendous potential for America’s energy future.
Despite these positive steps forward, government policies are lagging behind and do not support the free market conditions that allow distributed energy to grow and flourish. For example, expensive grid-connection fees discourage everyday energy consumers from pursuing newer technologies, while outdated and simplistic ways of calculating the costs do not properly compensate the utilities and other grid owners. The unfortunate result is a slowing in distributed energy innovation at a time when our energy policies should be promoting options like these where consumers can create their own energy.
To that end, I have introduced legislation that would create the outlines of a free market, but allows states to set the specific rules in order to reflect each state’s unique needs. By protecting the right of consumers to connect their distributed resources for a reasonable price while also ensuring that grid owners and operators are properly compensated, the Free Market Energy Act of 2015 will help foster energy independence, commerce, and innovation while creating jobs and supporting national security.
Like the technology it seeks to promote, this bill is a pretty new idea, and I believe it could play a significant part in moving our electricity system into the future.
