Revolution or Evolution: a History of the Integration of Distributed Generation in the Electric Power Grid

For nearly two decades, distributed generation (DG) has been touted as a disruptive technology that could revolutionize the way electricity is produced and delivered. Whether this vision will be realized depends upon how this new technology, the existing technological system, i.e., the electric power grid, and the regulatory structure governing these systems co-evolve. This book captures recent history of the interface between distributed generation and the electric power grid in California. Drawing upon published materials and interviews with members of the electric utility industry, I analyze technical, economic, and property rights conflicts between the two technological systems that together constitute what I call ‘the problem of interconnection’. It is found that the California approach toward DG-grid interconnection is only one among many possible approaches and not necessarily the most technically or economically efficient. DG is integrated such that it becomes a passive extension to the centralized, hierarchical grid. This technical approach has been standardized while excluding possibilities that had historically seemed possible.