I am certainly glad I am not a taxicab company right now. The whole idea of Uber cutting me out of the transportation business would make me a bit crazy. And, even if I chose to copy them, the disruption to my business would be devastating … too much change and way too quickly.
Why do conventional players in the power industry not think this is going to happen to them? Why don’t I hear people wondering how to tap into this newfound source of low cost and flexible time and talent? I guess, when you are the incumbent, it is pretty easy to rely on denial as your first line of defense.
I love the quip: “Denial is not a river in Egypt.” It is also attributed to Mark Twain. It has an allure for sure, but what I notice is that it promotes intellectual laziness and that can never be a good thing for our long-term wellbeing.
Yes, I agree with the phrase “don’t sweat the small stuff,” but I fear the Uber business model is not small stuff.
What if there was a secondary market of people willing to do seemingly draconian things in their own life who could then sell their demand response to others who otherwise were under contractual requirements to respond to DR signals? Might this deepen the resource? Might this lower the overall costs for all market participants?
Oh, that’s right; I forgot … not everyone wants lower prices for DR in the markets. Traditional taxicab companies tried to sue to stop Uber around the world and here at home. Seems like that almost always backfires. Embracing changes like Uber are very scary and highly disruptive.
You be the judge. Doing nothing can be a very bad decision. It is taking a position … right in the middle of the road of change. You are almost sure to get run over by someone going in either direction.