Category: Uncategorized

No doubt you have been hearing that NASA has discovered what could be other “Earth-like” planets … and in astronomical terms, they are just 40 light-years away.  On a cosmic scale, that’s right next door. Of course, practically speaking, it would still take us hundreds of millions of years to get there with today’s technology – but again, it is notable in that the find speaks volumes about the potential for life-as-we-know-it beyond Earth.

Now, let’s see how many news articles point out that these planets are irrelevant to us.  They may in fact be gone, if their demise occurred any time in the last 40 years.  But, don’t get me wrong.  This is still interesting, but just not important or relevant today.

Meanwhile, here on planet earth we are trying to decide how we persist for the next forty years or more.  We have energy choices to make, lifestyle decisions about how and where we live, and of course how we use energy as a result.  We certainly have enough fossil fuel to get through this time span, but we are not making any more … so we will eventually run out.  Thinking this way means we need a long-term portfolio that will include a full range of technologies far beyond wind and solar alone.

But, a news article on this very real and relevant challenge will not get air time.  Watch how much air time the NASA discovery gets.

We all can be thrown off by our environment.  What we rehearse perfectly may not happen when we are “in the moment” or run into unexpected conditions.  And, sometimes we set ourselves up for the fall when we fail to consider the actual environmental conditions.

Take a look at this attempt to film a commercial

I remember a field audit at a fertilizer processing plant where I showed up wearing dress shoes.  Bad idea.  They were covered in muck and grime in no time … I looked pretty stupid.  But, no one laughed at me.  Nice of them.

Pitty the poor individual stuck in the costume … but you have to admire the persistence!

You all must cringe at what you hear on TV as you watch all the pharmaceutical commercials that dominate the air waves.  Side effects are enumerated and include some rather severe consequences, including death!  One could simply dismiss these warnings as a hedge against lawsuits.  Others could argue that these side effects are rare but possible consequences.

I cringe that so much money is being spent on promoting items consumers do not simply go out and buy … they are clearly there to raise the awareness of possible improvements so the viewing audience will go and ask their doctors for them.

As I remember this trend over time, I seem to conclude that fixing my bald spot dominated the news years ago.  Now, these ads seem to be focused on quality of life improvements that clearly raise the cost of medicine.  Well, wait a minute … didn’t we just go through an election where the cost of health care was a significant bi-partisan priority?

Our industry has been aware of side effects in energy policy and regulatory agendas for years.  We call it “unintended consequences” to refer to things that can go wrong with seemingly wonderful primary energy policy agendas.  Seems to me that we are embroiled in just such challenges associated with feed in tariffs and energy efficiency incentives during a time when loads and load factors are declining.

Medical discussions seem quite comfortable with warnings about side effects.  Maybe our industry should learn something from them as we continue our journey toward better energy alternatives for consumers.

 

 

I was scanning the headlines this morning and this one struck me about an iconic NASCAR driver. Read the MSN article here.

So, as I am accustomed to do, I checked out where the phrase “long in the tooth” comes from.  According to many sources it derives its veracity from the fact that horses’ teeth continue to grow unlike us and most other mammals.  So, it is simply a statement that someone is getting old.  But, as you watch how the phrase is used, you will clearly detect a tone of disdain and disrespect.  After all, how can older be better?

The phrase being used today in our industry is DOUG: Dumb Old Utility Guy.  Sorry to those of you whose name is Doug.

Really?  Many of the ideas I hear from the newbies in the industry are DAD: Dumb as Dirt.  Those of us who have lived in the industry during the past few decades of change can see things that these very bright but totally ungrounded new entrants simply don’t.

Hmmm … it seems that every culture around the world values those who have lived a long time.  I remember constantly being told to respect our elders.

Seems like very good advice.

I am sure most of you remember Star Trek and fully realized that it took on many societal questions way ahead of the mainstream media or even public concern. I still remember the warring nations they ran into between the white-black people who were in an all out to the death battle with the black-white people. It seemed that people whose left side was white, felt they were superior to those whose left side was black.

Well, more recently another Star Trek concept is about to go mainstream – the Tricorder. You remember that it would magically scan the body and tell the medical team what was wrong. Of course we now have personal wellness monitors, breathalyzers, etc. But, it appears we are about to see a new range:

Well, here we go watch this.

To me, this is nothing more than another example of how sensors and analytics are improving our lives in areas where subjective opinions dominated. Don’t get me wrong … I truly appreciate the opinion of medical professionals, but having lived through all too many errors in these opinions and spending money like water to give them a nice warm feeling they have covered their legal risks, I am ready for a better solution.

The phrase I would like you to consider here is “replace anecdotes with analytics.” Energy audits are one of our first new product areas where we are now using precision temperature analytics to tell the auditor the actual operating efficiency of the HVAC … even the gas furnace! Now, the energy auditor visits the house knowing precisely where to look for operating problems. Yep, we too now have the Tricorder … for the home and small business customer.