Adoption of smart grid technologies by electrical utilities: Factors influencing organizational innovation in a regulated environment

美国和世界面临的一个关键问题是减少发电产生的温室气体和其他污染物。今天，美国的电力公司面临着一个充满挑战的未来，其特点是需要对基于过时技术的低效、不断恶化的基础设施进行现代化改造，以及公众对新发电和输电设施选址的抵制。智能电网技术有可能减少发电和配电对环境的影响，同时提高电力供应的质量、可靠性和效率。 智能电网将使公用事业公司能够更好地管理供需，同时为客户提供实时信息，并能够根据定价调整消费。一个更智能的电网也是必要的，以纳入清洁，但间歇性，能源来源，如太阳能和风能大规模。然而，这种创新对在高度监管的环境中运营的公用事业公司提出了重大的组织和技术挑战。在受管制的垄断情况下，需要对重要但可能具有破坏性的技术进行组织创新的新知识。将开发和测试组织采用创新的新模式，为组织科学，创新研究，信息系统，公共政策和管理领域做出贡献。本研究将为参与智能电网采用和实施的管理者、监管者和政策制定者提供有用的知识和见解，研究解决了以下问题：（1）哪些内部和外部因素决定了公用事业公司开发和部署智能电网创新的动机和意愿？ (2)在受监管的环境中，组织如何应对创新机遇和挑战？(3)需要进行哪些政策改革，以克服采用符合社会需要的创新的障碍？这些问题将通过定性案例研究和定量调查工作相结合的方式加以解决。 比较案例研究将进行不同的重要组织特征，并在不同的国家监管制度，以分析组织和环境因素对智能电网采用的影响公用事业。根据案例研究的结果，以及一系列与网络调查相结合的个人访谈，将对美国公用事业公司进行一次大型调查，以测试有关影响智能电网采用和实施的因素的假设。智能电网的建立有可能减少电力生产和使用对环境的影响，提高国家电力供应的可靠性和安全性，并为新业务和技术开发创造平台。这项拟议的研究将深入了解在建立更清洁、更可靠和更智能的电力基础设施之前需要发生的变化。这些见解将为公用事业公司、其供应商和客户以及政策制定者和监管机构提供指导。它们也将有助于理解在高度监管的环境中采用其他有价值的创新。

A critical issue facing the U.S. and the world is the reduction of greenhouse gases and other pollutants created by the generation of electricity. Today, electrical utilities in the U.S. face a challenging future, marked by the need to modernize an inefficient, deteriorating infrastructure based on obsolete technology, and public resistance to location of new generation and transmission facilities. Smart grid technologies have the potential to reduce the environmental impacts of electricity generation and distribution while improving the quality, reliability and efficiency of electricity supply. The smart grid would allow utilities to better manage supply and demand, while giving customers real-time information and the ability to adjust consumption in response to pricing. A smarter grid also is necessary to incorporate clean, but intermittent, energy sources such as solar and wind power on a large scale. Yet this innovation presents major organizational and technical challenges to utilities, which operate in a highly-regulated environment. New knowledge is needed on organizational innovation in response to important but potentially disruptive technologies in the context of a regulated monopoly. A new model of organizational adoption of innovation will be developed and tested, contributing to the fields of organizational science, innovation studies, information systems, public policy, and management. The research will provide useful knowledge and insights for managers, regulators and policymakers involved in smart grid adoption and implementation.The research addresses the following questions: (1) What internal and external factors determine the motivation and willingness of utility companies to develop and deploy smart grid innovations? (2) How do organizations in a regulated environment respond to innovation opportunities and challenges? (3) What policy changes would be required to overcome obstacles to the adoption of socially desirable innovations?These questions will be addressed through a combination of qualitative case study and quantitative survey work. Comparative case studies will be carried out on utilities that differ in important organizational characteristics and operate in different state regulatory regimes in order to analyze the impacts of organizational and environmental factors on smart grid adoption. Based on findings from the case studies, and on a set of individual interviews paired with web surveys, a large survey of U.S. utility companies will be developed to test hypotheses about the factors influencing smart grid adoption and implementation.The creation of a smart electricity grid has the potential to reduce the environmental impacts of electricity production and use, improve the reliability and security of the nation's electricity supply, and create a platform for new business and technology development. The proposed study will provide insights into the changes that need to occur before a cleaner, more reliable and intelligent electrical infrastructure can be put in place. These insights will provide guidance for utility companies, their suppliers and customers, and also policy makers and regulators. They also will be useful in understanding the adoption of other valuable innovations in highly regulated environments.