Joel Gilbert co-founded PLMA in 1999 because he foresaw the industry needed innovative thinking and a collaborative working group to solve the peak load management challenges of the day. As PLMA looks to celebrate its 20th anniversary in St., Petersburg this November, Joel believes the industry needs a bit of a “reset button” to move it past the “evolutionary incrementalism” and refinements of buggy whips it currently is considering.
In this dialogue with Rich Philip from Duke Energy, Joel will outline the current impediments he sees to a survivable IDSM strategy and how PLMA members can work together to address those, just like we did back when PLMA first started. If these impediments are not addressed, he feels the assumption that technology and the IOT will not yield success. Joel’s concern is that we are just not facing the realities today in the current electricity pricing models both in wholesale and retail markets. He is also concerned that any technologies we might consider helpful are going to face the harsh reality of shrinking internal resources (especially within IT departments) and rising fears over data security and privacy risks, while senior leadership asks for clear monetized benefits and business cases that are still elusive or unprovable.
The recent PLMA-AESP joint webinar on IDSM (recording link here) provided a great summary of what we all know the promised land is, but the roadmap is far from clear and the path far from paved. Joel has been studying this issue for the past two decades and wrote three books for EPRI about 15 years ago that point to the answers. Join these thought leaders for a candid dialogue on what we can do together to once again guide the industry’s thought leadership.