Blog
Dynamic Opinions
Dive in to the topics that interest most
Quick Links for Categories
Check out our latest content
California’s Rate Design Revolution
By: Jordan FolksCalifornia is known for many things: Hollywood movie sets, delicious tacos, surf and sand, sweeping mountain ranges, and,...
E Source Acquires Opinion Dynamics
E Source Acquires Opinion Dynamics to Bolster Utility Program Evaluation and Advisory Service CapabilitiesThe acquisition strengthens E Source’s...
Managing a Motherload: The Rise of Commercial and Fleet Load Management
By: Hilary Polis and Hannah MerriamMost utility EV load management programs and technology solutions currently focus on single-family residential...
Making Room for Resilience: Reflections from the Grid Edge
By Kessie AvseikovaResilience has become an increasingly prominent theme in utility and regulatory discussions, spurred by the rising frequency and...
Demand Response Decoded: Understanding the Customer Journey
By Ellen Steiner and Kessie AvseikovaWhen we discuss the future of demand response (DR), the conversation often jumps straight to kilowatts,...
Enhancing Grid Flexibility Through Advanced EV Charging Strategies
Governor Kathy Hochul announced this week that $3 million has been awarded to three projects to advance technologies that can help integrate...
Mind the Mix: How Flexible Load Solutions Interact—and Why It Matters More Than Ever
As electrification and decarbonization efforts accelerate, utilities and policymakers are deploying an ever-growing toolkit of flexible load...
Optimizing Smart Thermostat Demand Response Load Impacts
Smart thermostat direct load control programs are popular nationwide, with program participation frequently reaching tens of thousands of...
Empowering Utility Customers: Lessons from the Flex Alert Campaign
By Danielle FulmerAs extreme weather events and widespread electrification put unprecedented pressure on our power grids, utilities are seeking...
Webinar SCE Charge Ready
Opinion Dynamics is the evaluator for Southern California Edison’s (SCE) Charge Ready Light Duty program (CRLD). This program supports California’s...
Who Makes it to the Finish Line?
Transcript Sarah Naiman, Ph. D (00:10):Hello everyone and welcome to today's installment of our Threads of Equity podcast. My name is Sarah Naiman...
Opinion Dynamics to Support Vermont in Developing a Groundbreaking Clean Heat Standard
WALTHAM, MA, April 16, 2024 – Opinion Dynamics is pleased to announce we have been selected by the Vermont Public Utility Commission to support the...
Recent Articles
Electrification & Decarbonization
Cooking: The trickiest puzzle piece for building electrification
Municipal efforts to decarbonize new construction homes and buildings have been making the news lately. Customers have largely been accepting of the switch to electrify their space and water heating, but it’s become clear there is an entrenched resistance to electrify...
GHG Legislation and Electrification Make Big Waves in California
In 2020, California stands at the precipice of major changes to program design, implementation, and evaluation. At the center of this zeitgeist are two pieces of landmark California climate legislation, SB100 and SB350, which raised the bar for the state's greenhouse...
Zero Net Energy for All
Buildings consume almost half of the energy produced in the US and produce 45% of all GHG emissions. However, energy savings and GHG reducing opportunities in commercial and residential buildings remain untapped. There is a solution, and it has gained momentum but lacks traction, and that is Zero Net Energy.
Recent Articles
Transportation Electrification
A Dynamic Look at The EV ADR Study revelations and the road ahead
A DYNAMIC LOOK AT THE EV ADR STUDY REVELATIONS AND THE ROAD AHEADThe PG&E EV ADR Study revealed several considerations and priority areas that the industry as a whole, will need to focus on for optimizing the use of EVs as a grid resource in the next five years....
A Dynamic Look at EV managed charging and grid resource potential
A Dynamic Look at EV managed charging and grid resource potentialOpinion Dynamics conducted a technology field test with two vendors that control chargers directly (ChargePoint® and Enel X®) and one vendor that leverages vehicle telematics to control EV charging...
A Dynamic Look at Customers’ Perceptions of EV Managed Charging
A DYNAMIC LOOK AT CUSTOMERS' PERCEPTIONS OF EV MANAGED CHARGINGOpinion Dynamics conducted a field test in the summer of 2021 to test EV charging controls in Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) service territory - currently the largest EV market in the US. We...
“You already have my thermostat, now you want my car too?” Preparing Californians for a New Era of Demand Flexibility
The state of California faces an ongoing risk of power outages due to extreme heatwaves and challenging grid conditions on hot summer days. Recognizing the exigent nature of this threat, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) released a landmark grid...
Driving EV Adoption: Electric Utilities are Paving the Way
According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, the US transportation sector accounts for 28% (the largest source) of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. To put it in perspective, that’s more than the commercial, residential, and agricultural sectors combined. As the...
Recent Articles
Demand Flexibility
Empowering Utility Customers: Lessons from the Flex Alert Campaign
By Danielle FulmerAs extreme weather events and widespread electrification put unprecedented pressure on our power grids, utilities are seeking support from their customers to navigate through the challenges of high demand and avoid power outages. While many utilities...
Winterizing Demand Response
By Jordan FolksMount Hood, the largest mountain in Oregon, recently had its first blizzard in over a decade. Although spared blizzard conditions, nearby Portland received its fair share of ice during the storm—resulting in significant storm-related power outages...
Designing Equitable Rate Structures
By: Jordan Folks An equitable rate structure is one that does not require any customer segment to carry a disproportionate portion of the cost to serve while ensuring the service provider is able to meet grid demand and recoup the cost of energy procurement and...
Electric Demand Response-ability in California
The official start of Fall this past week, marked by the Fall Equinox, seems to have crept up out of nowhere when we reflect on the record-shattering last few weeks of summer. Over 1,000 heat records in the American West were broken during the first week of September...
Moving Beyond “One Rate to Rule Them All” -The Equity Case for TOU Rates
As energy providers harness the power of their AMI upgrades and transition from volumetric to time-of-use (TOU) rate structures, there is concern that TOU rates could cause adverse financial impacts for low income and disadvantaged communities. However, there is a...
Recent Uploads
Podcasts
Threads of Equity Series – Podcast – Equity and Decarbonization
In our latest podcast, Hannah Merriam and Jen Loomis discuss the hot topic of decarbonization. In the first of a series of decarb-focused podcasts, they consider different building types, how clean the grid is, the role of equity, renters versus owners, and what consumers can do to support building electrification
Podcast – Equity and demand response
The first in our newest series of podcasts: Join Aaiysha and Kessie as they discuss how equity plays a role in our evaluation and research within demand response programs.
Podcast- EV Managed Charging
Hey everyone, this is Jordan Folks with Hillary Polis; we’re going to talk about a topic that’s really hitting the industry right now – managed charging of electric vehicles.
Podcast- Demand Rates – a Primer
Contact Information: Jordan Folks: jfolks@opiniondynamics.com | Alan Elliott: aelliott@opiniondynamics.comTranscript Alan Elliott: Hey everybody, this is Alan Elliot. I'm a director with opinion dynamics. I'm excited to be here today for a discussion about...
Recent Articles
News & PR
Opinion Dynamics Welcomes Jessica Raker, Director of Engineering
Opinion Dynamics Welcomes Jessica Raker, Director of EngineeringWALTHAM, MA., August 15, 2022 – Opinion Dynamics is pleased to welcome Jessica Raker as the new Director of Engineering. Jessica brings over 20 years of diverse engineering and industry experience with a...
Opinion Dynamics to Evaluate the Largest Single-Utility EV Charging Program in the US
News from Opinion Dynamics WALTHAM, Mass, July 27, 2022 – Opinion Dynamics is pleased to announce we have contracted with Southern California Edison (SCE) to evaluate its Charge Ready EV charging program for light-duty vehicles. The largest single-utility electric...
CPUC Issues Research Study on Heat Pump Market
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PRESS RELEASE Media Contact: Terrie Prosper, 415.703.1366, news@cpuc.ca.gov SAN FRANCISCO, June 13, 2022 - The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has released a study of the State’s heat pump market to track the progress of programs...
Hannah Howard Named Senior Vice President
Hannah Howard Named Senior Vice PresidentWALTHAM, MA., May 18, 2022 – Opinion Dynamics is pleased to announce the promotion of Hannah Howard to Senior Vice President. Specializing in developing tailored market research strategies for clients with varying goals and...
Opinion Dynamics Welcomes Lenore Zeuthen, Associate Director
Opinion Dynamics Welcomes Lenore Zeuthen, Associate DirectorWALTHAM, MA., May 10, 2022 – Opinion Dynamics is pleased to welcome Lenore Zeuthen as an Associate Director. Lenore brings substantial expertise in demand response programs and customer experience research...
Recent Articles
Opinion
When Messaging Matters Most – Best Practices for Utility Communications During a Crisis
In these unprecedented times of fear and uncertainty related to COVID-19, the last thing people want to be worrying about is energy. Utilities provide critical infrastructure and services to our society; they are experts at keeping the lights on. When issues arise,...
Energy Efficiency is a Part of the Solution – Let’s Make Sure We Use it
In our current COVID-19 world, energy efficiency and demand management efforts can be a part of the solution. The focus should shift to not only prioritizing low income customers as we have done traditionally, but also broadening the tent to help newly-displaced...
Discrete Choice Modeling: Choices Speak Louder Than Words
An important yet difficult challenge for any energy-efficiency program is the ability to quantify savings directly attributable to program offerings. To do so, one needs to understand the degree to which customers would have taken comparable energy-saving measures in...
Let’s Get the ‘Auto’ in Auto M&V Pointed Down the Right Road
When it comes to the advancement and integration of distributed energy resources (DERs) in a growing number of utility jurisdictions, things are moving at a fast and furious pace. The traditional ‘pipes and wires’ model of utilities generation and distribution of...
Great Influencers in Energy: Nikola Tesla: Master of Energy
We chose Nikola Tesla as one of our Great Influencers in Energy for not only his incredible intellect and acumen with developing the alternating current, but also for his way-before-his-time advancement of conservation initiatives. Nikola Tesla was born amid a Summer...
Be in the know first!
Get in-depth insights delivered right to your inbox! We understand your inbox and time are valuable, and we only want to provide content that speaks to you on the topics you’re most interested in. We’ve got some incredible projects in the works; join our mailing lists to be in the know first about our findings!