What can US utility regulators learn from Australia’s distribution market?

Nearly two years ago, GridLab, Advanced Energy United, and RMI launched the CHARGED Initiative, a collaborative effort designed to help prepare the distribution system for electrification so that customers benefit from low costs and high reliability. The CHARGED team marked this anniversary of the growing program by leading a delegation of US state utility commissioners “down under” to learn from their experience integrating and deploying distributed energy resources. The fact that these commissioners were willing to make time for this fact finding tour signals the commitment to getting electrification right in their states. Luckily, the Aussies had a lot to teach us about approaches and tools for supporting a better distribution system back home.