by psvish
25. January 2011 03:50
Got back from sunny Orlando [rather reluctantly as the temperatures were in the teens back here in DC] last week after participating in the AESP annual conference and trade show. I had somewhat lowered expectations given the current condition of the economy, but was pleasantly surprised by the strength and variety of programs from utilities and products/services from vendors. From the crowd at the opening keynote, i would estimate there were about 300+ industry folks at the conference and there were about 50 companies exhibiting at the show.
In terms of the quality of attendance, there were key decision makers from utility companies - both from utilities that have been in the DSM field for several years and also, from utilities that are in the early launch period of their DSM portfolios. On a personal side, I found the show very productive as I was able to renew connections with several old friends [I do mean "old" friends - you know who you are and don't make me name names!] and make new friends as well. The AESP staff deserve kudos for doing a wonderful job of organizing the networking events to provide the attendees several opportunities to meet with vendors, utility personnel and speakers - not to mention wonderful photo-op with MMouse!
Bottom line take-aways from the show: DSM programs of all flavors - EE/conservation, DR, renewables, recycling, customer behavior engagement, in-home network based offerings - are making solid progress in the marketplace. Utilities are now open to consider creative new programs and ready to scale up programs rapidly when the market acceptance is good. Tools for evaluation, economic analysis and tracking are readily available [obviously we think our E2DR is the leader of the tracking, reporting and analytics pack - a completely objective view!]. Overall, the energy services sector is well entrenched and can be expected to grow nicely over the next several years.
Track. Report. Analyze. Manage.
