The remote communities of Atlantic Canada continue have limited access to clean energy sources and issues over energy security. Major electric utilities in Atlantic Canada have proposed a variety of programs to address the energy security problem in the rural and remote communities of Canada. It’s important to examine the effect of these programs on the sustainability and energy security concerns of the rural and remote communities of Atlantic Canada. So, the project aims to (1) To understand the role of electric utilities in facilitating sustainable energy security in the rural and remote communities of Atlantic Canada through collaborations with locally owned renewable energy small-scale projects. (2) To understand the dependencies between major electric utility enterprises and Locally Owned Renewable Energy Small-Scale (LORESS) projects in Atlantic Canada. (3) To explore the long-term sustainability effects of the collaborations between major electric utilities and LORESS projects. (4) To understand the challenges in generating, distributing, and transmitting renewable energy through the collaborations between major electric utilities and LORESS projects in Atlantic Canada.

People

Project director: Dhirendra Shukla
Juhi Raghuvanshi

Project Contact:
Dhirendra Shukla
dshukla@unb.ca

Energy Utilities are now envisioning a future where their role could change from that of energy producers and distributers to that of a comprehensive security and control system that enables the free and fair exchange of energy. The innovative new products and services are spurring changes in customer behaviors and societal mores. For example, most customers today are aware of the need to switch to a more energy efficient means of transportation as the Electric Vehicle. Similarly, societies are increasingly concerned about the environmental impacts of new energy products. Therefore, tomorrow’s energy Utilities will have to develop systems that consistently factor a variety of stakeholder opinions. So, the project aims to develop a framework to value and measure the societal acceptances and rejections associated with technological transformations in the energy Utility sector. Specifically, we aim to understand the societal responses associated with technological changes in Energy Utilities and develop frameworks to measure and value each of the identified societal responses.

People:
Project director: Dhirendra Shukla
Sushil Chaurasia

Project Contact:
Dhirendra Shukla
dshukla@unb.ca

Publications

1. Venugopal, A., & Shukla, D. (2019). Between hesitation and decisiveness—Understanding consumers' ego, altruism, and eagerness to pay for renewable energy. Sustainable Development, 27(5), 932-944. doi:10.1002/sd.1955
2. Venugopal, A., & Shukla, D. (2019). Identifying consumers' engagement with renewable energy. Business Strategy and the Environment, 28(1), 53-63. doi:10.1002/bse.2185
3. Yevdokimov, Y., Getalo, V., Shukla, D., & Sahin, T. (2019). Measuring willingness to pay for electricity: The case of new brunswick in atlantic canada. Energy and Environment, 30(2), 292-303. doi:10.1177/0958305X18790954

Conference Proceedings
1. Aparna Venugopal and Dhirendra Shukla, 2018: The role of consumers' altruistic and egoistic values in determining renewable energy adoption. Proceedings, 2018, https://doi.org/10.5465/AMBPP.2018.14770abstract
2. Aparna Venugopal and Dhirendra Shukla, 2018: Moral disengagement of energy consumers in their willingness to pay for renewable energy. Proceedings, 2018, https://doi.org/10.5465/AMBPP.2018.14703abstract
3. Sushil S. Chaurasia, Dhirendra Shukla, Manoj Motiani, and Kapil Khandeparkar, 2021: Intimate Co-creation of Value for Sustainability: The Nature, Measurement and Nomological Network. Proceedings, 2021, https://doi.org/10.5465/AMBPP.2021.12042abstract

The power balance between centralized utilities and energy end users is shifting due to the introduction of ICTs (Information and Communication Technologies) and the ICT’s integration in the grid operation. Specifically, the blockchain is identified as an emerging technology and a promising solution to enable the decentralized energy market and peer-focused business models. Moreover, the purchasing behavior of the different energy consumer segments are governed by a variety of different consumer values. So, it’s important to understand how blockchain can drive the energy revolution for the development of new digital business models for electric utility sector and contribute to the transformation of the energy system. The research explores the transition in power utilities with disruptive technologies and how it can be better managed with innovations in their business models. The project aims to understand the technological disruptions (specifically blockchain) in power utilities and suggest ways in which electric utility firms can innovate their business models to better satisfy the different energy consumer segments.

Visit our Blockchain Research page.

People:
Project director: Dhirendra Shukla
Sushil Chaurasia
Gray Wolf Analytics

Project Contact:
Dhirendra Shukla
dshukla@unb.ca