A New Paradigm for Energy Efficiency

<p>What is energy efficiency? That sounds like a pretty simple question. But it’s not.</p><p>Defining efficiency used to be pretty straightforward: weatherize, upgrade equipment and lighting, use a bit of social science to cut consumption. But now efficiency is becoming just as much about shaping demand in real-time to support distributed energy. And that’s shaping how it gets defined, implemented and tracked.</p><p>A confluence of factors — the rise of new consumer tech in the home, bundled distributed energy offerings, a shifting demand curve due to PV, improvements to data collection, and the “electrify everything movement — are changing efficiency's role on the grid. We'll discuss this changing paradigm in our first segment.</p><p>Then, we'll move to electrification. Why are heat pumps suddenly getting so much attention? And how can they help meet efficiency and decarbonization goals?</p><p>Finally, we'll end with an update on how global power brokers are thinking about energy at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Katherine comes to us from the event.</p><p>Don't forget to rate and review us on&nbsp;<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-energy-gang/id663379413?mt=2" target="_blank">Apple podcasts</a>. We're giving away a free subscription to GTM Squared to the person who writes the most interesting review before the end of January.</p><p>Read along with us:</p><ul><li><a href="https://twitter.com/Stphn_Lacey/status/1087383882822021121" target="_blank">Twitter thread</a>&nbsp;of efficiency resources suggested by listeners</li><li><a href="https://aceee.org/topic-brief/pims-121118" target="_blank">ACEEE</a>:&nbsp;Snapshot of Energy Efficiency Performance Incentives for Electric Utilities</li><li><a href="https://www.nexant.com/resources/need-holistic-electrification-strategy" target="_blank">Nexant</a>:&nbsp;The Need for a Holistic Electrification Strategy</li><li><a href="https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/electric-heating-deep-decarbonization-cost#gs.6J1gwlQj" target