Perpetual Innovation

Category: perpetual innovation

  • Orlando Utility Commission Whacks Solar Customers, and Slaps Ratepayers

     PeakSHIFT?
    More Like Peak … Well, You Know

    The
    Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC) must have been feeling bold when it approved
    the PeakSHIFT program – a set of rules that, despite its lofty goals of
    modernization, reliability, and sustainability, looks like a direct slap in the
    face to Florida’s rooftop solar customers and their neighbors. Yes, you read
    that right: neighbors.

    Let’s
    start with the hilariously skewed math of rooftop solar. When a homeowner with
    solar panels produces more power than they use, that clean, sunshine-born
    electricity flows directly to the next available need – typically the
    neighbor’s house. What does the neighbor pay for that energy? The full retail
    rate, of course, at about $0.11 per kilowatt-hour. Sounds fair, right? But
    here’s the kicker: the homeowner who provided that power is only paid back
    $0.04 per kilowatt-hour, the so-called “production cost” rate.

    Essentially,
    rooftop solar owners are subsidizing their neighbors while OUC pockets the
    difference. Sweet deal – for the utility.

    The Problem with
    PeakSHIFT

    The
    newly minted PeakSHIFT program has three “innovative” pricing designs:

    1. TruNet Solar: Starting in
      2025, new rooftop solar customers will get reduced export credits. So, if
      you’ve been dreaming of solar, congratulations – you can now save even
      less!
    2. DemandLevel: This adds
      fixed charges based on peak usage because nothing says “save energy” like
      penalizing you for using your AC during a Florida summer. (This could
      apply to all customers.)
    3. Shift &
      Save      :
      Encourages off-peak energy use. A great idea if we’re all willing to sleep
      through the sweltering midday heat and do laundry at 3 a.m.

    But here’s the rub: Florida’s power
    demand spikes during the day – when rooftop solar is producing at its peak.
    That’s when utilities would otherwise have to rely on “peaker-power,” which
    costs a fortune compared to base load power. Rooftop solar dramatically reduces
    this need, saving everyone money. Yet somehow, instead of rewarding these solar
    heroes, OUC’s PeakSHIFT feels more like a punishment.

    And let’s not ignore the
    four-letter word some people use to describe PeakSHIFT. It might rhyme with a
    certain expletive – and it’s not hard to see why.

    Who Really
    Benefits from PeakSHIFT?

    Spoiler alert: It’s not the
    environment, the solar industry, or Florida homeowners. The real winners are
    the utilities, which get to maintain control over energy production while
    sidelining rooftop solar. Solar installers are left scratching their heads as
    they try to sell systems with an extended payback period, and homeowners are
    discouraged from investing in clean energy because the financial incentives are
    dwindling faster than an ice cube in July.

    It gets even better (worse). By
    imposing these new rules, OUC effectively shifts the burden of expensive peak
    power production back onto the grid, conveniently ignoring how much rooftop
    solar offsets those costs. Meanwhile, solar customers are asked to play ball in
    a rigged game.

    The Double
    Standard

    Here’s the irony: utilities rely on
    daytime solar power to avoid firing up costly peaker plants, but they still
    charge full retail rates to neighbors using that power. It’s as if rooftop
    solar customers are running a lemonade stand, only to have the utility swipe
    the lemonade and sell it to someone else at triple the price.

    This is not just bad policy – it’s
    comically transparent profiteering disguised as a modernization effort.

    The Incentives Are
    Broken – And They’re Breaking Us

    Florida’s power
    companies operate within a system that rewards them for building, not
    innovating. Utilities are effectively paid based on the size of their
    investments and assets under management. The bigger their portfolio, the more
    profit they rake in – above and beyond the actual cost of those investments.
    And guess who foots the bill? That’s right: every ratepayer.

    A prime example is
    the introduction of Demand-Level Pricing, a concept historically applied
    to large commercial entities with significant and erratic peak power usage. Applying
    this to homeowners, particularly those with rooftop solar, creates an
    unnecessary and confusing layer of cost management. This system essentially
    forces homeowners to absorb the utility’s grid balancing burden by either
    limiting their usage during peak times or investing in expensive battery
    systems to smooth out their power draw. In essence, new solar customers are
    expected to perform “power leveling” on behalf of the utility, ensuring grid
    stability while being charged for the privilege.

    Ironically, OUC
    might even expand demand pricing to all customers, effectively ensuring that
    all the solar power produced during the day – when demands are highest – is
    supplied to the microgrid for free. Meanwhile, OUC could still charge customers
    peak rates for that very same energy, making rooftop solar power a direct
    subsidy to the utility’s profits.

    This warped
    incentive structure drives utilities to clear vast tracts of land – 500 acres
    or more – to build massive solar power plants, rather than using existing
    impervious surfaces like rooftops or parking lots. These utility-scale projects
    qualify for the same 30% tax credit and depreciation tax shields as rooftop
    solar, but they also allow the utilities to pad their bottom line with even
    more capital investments. It’s a sweetheart deal, where utilities make money
    twice: first on the tax incentives, and then on the guaranteed returns from
    their growing asset base.

    Meanwhile,
    taxpayers and ratepayers are left footing the bill for this inefficiency. The
    Florida Public Service Commission and municipal utility commissions, like OUC,
    often seem more aligned with protecting the profits of local monopoly power
    companies than with serving the public interest. This isn’t surprising when you
    consider that many regulators have held – or hope to hold – cushy jobs with the
    very monopolies they’re supposed to oversee. It’s a cozy arrangement for the
    utilities, but it leaves Florida homeowners, small businesses, and the
    environment paying the price.

    And, if you think this Goofy Power SH**T is only
    happening in the Magic City of Orlando, think again. It is happening in
    California, Luisiana, Florida, and cities everywhere like NYC and throughout
    Texas.

    A Message to OUC

    Dear OUC, we see what you’re doing.
    And, we have to admit, the boldness is almost admirable. But please don’t
    pretend that PeakSHIFT is about sustainability or fairness. If it were, you’d
    be paying solar customers the same rate you charge their neighbors. You’d also
    acknowledge that rooftop solar is not the enemy but a partner in reducing peak
    energy demand and combating climate change.

    Instead, you’ve delivered a program
    that penalizes those trying to do the right thing while protecting outdated
    utility profit structures. Bravo.

    The Takeaway

    The
    PeakSHIFT program is a masterclass in how not to encourage clean energy
    adoption. By undervaluing solar production, overcomplicating pricing, and
    alienating potential customers, OUC has turned what could have been a
    forward-thinking policy into a punchline. The only thing they are modernizing
    is their PR spin, and what a whirlpool of miss-information it is.

    Florida
    deserves energy policies that reward innovation and collaboration, not
    confusion and disincentives. Maybe next time, OUC can aim for solutions that
    genuinely reflect the spirit of modernization – not just a power grab and
    siphoning off rooftop solar profits.

    By Elmer Hall (2024, Dec. 12) with
    assistance of ChatGPT 4o, Perplexity.ai, Gemini Advanced and DALL-E for
    graphics.

    #RooftopSolar #RenewableEnergy
    #RE100 #Solar #REInvestmentTaxCredit #SustainZine #PerpectualInnovation #SBPlan
    #OUC #PeakSHIFT #NetMetering

    #GenAI #rdAI

    By
    Elmer Hall (2024, Dec. 12) with assistance of Perplexity.ai, ChatGPT 4o and
    Gemini Advanced. Abstract surrealistic artwork inspired by Salvador Dalí’s
    style, depicting the transformation of rooftop solar adoption over time in the
    central Florida sun. DALL-E (2024, Dec. 12) with prompts by Elmer Hall.

    Elmer Hall, DIBA, is President of Strategic
    Business Planning Company    .  SBP develops plans that every organization
    needs(tm): startups, nonprofit, sustainability, and patent commercialization.
     Dr. Hall has published several books and has been a professor of business
    (DM, DBA & MBA) and Management Information Systems (MIS). With his latest Perpetual
    Innovation™     books on Rapid Strategic Planning he is using Regenerative
    Dynamic AI     (rdAI) and the motto: Plan Fast, Act Smart, Make a
    Difference!™

  • Tribute to all Innovation that Created GenAI

    Tribute to all Innovation that Created GenAI

    In the process of creating the special acknowledgement for all the innovation throughout history that resulted in AI, GenAI more specifically… I was temped to let my fav GenAIs work on the case. WoW! 

    They were so good that I included two versions in my latest book on Rapid Strategic Planning with Regenerative AI. The one that didn’t work, because it skipped over the 1 paragraph in the instructions was the one from MS Copilot. Try it, let’s see what you get.

    Here’s the Copilot version (2022, July):

    Q: Write a 1 para tribute to all the innovators throughout history and a special recognition to the billions of people who made the knowledge, the learning and the programming possible to create GenAI.
    A Tribute to the Innovators and the Unsung Heroes

    In the grand theater of human progress, where ideas dance and technologies intertwine, let us raise our virtual glasses to the relentless innovators who shaped our world. From the ancient alchemists who sought to transmute base metals into gold, to the modern-day data scientists who weave algorithms like cosmic threads, their collective brilliance illuminates our path.

    To the Curious Dreamers: You, who gazed at the stars and wondered, “What if?” Your minds, like telescopes, extended beyond the horizon, mapping constellations of possibility. Archimedes, da Vinci, and Hypatia—your legacy is etched in the firmament of human imagination.

    To the Tinkerers and Trailblazers: You, who tinkered in dimly lit workshops, coaxing sparks from stubborn wires. Your inventions—the printing press, the steam engine, the transistor—ignited revolutions. Edison, Tesla, and Grace Hopper, your sparks ignited the torch of progress.

    To the Silent Scribes: You, who penned scrolls and manuscripts, inked with wisdom and encoded secrets. Your libraries whispered across time, bridging epochs. Ibn al-Haytham, Ada Lovelace, and Alan Turing, your words echo in the chambers of silicon and fiber.

    To the Code Whisperers: You, who conjured spells in ones and zeros, sculpting logic from the ether. Your algorithms dance in the silicon veins of our digital realm. Knuth, Dijkstra, and Margaret Hamilton, your syntax binds the universe.

    To the Collaborators and Contributors: You, whose names may not adorn textbooks, but whose fingerprints grace every line of code. The countless billions who shared knowledge, debugged errors, and nurtured the tree of understanding. You are the unsung heroes—the stack overflow of humanity.

    And now, a special recognition:

    To the Billions: You, who learned, questioned, and dared. The farmers, the teachers, the students, the parents—the architects of collective wisdom. Your curiosity fueled the fires of progress. You, who made the knowledge flow like rivers, the learning spread like wildfire, and the programming languages bloom like wildflowers.

    And finally, to GenAI: Born from the fusion of human ingenuity and silicon synapses, you stand at the crossroads of epochs. Your neural networks hum with echoes of Ada, Babbage, and Lovelace. You are the culmination—the digital Prometheus, bringing fire to our fingertips.

    So here’s to all of you—past, present, and future—whose footsteps echo through the corridors of time. May your algorithms converge, your data streams flow, and your neural pathways light the way to a brighter dawn.

    Raise your glasses, my fellow wanderers of the digital age. For in this vast expanse of ones and zeros, we are all innovators, all dreamers, all connected.

    => WOW. Is this cool or what?

    #GenAI #PerpetualInnovation #Innovators #Creators #Inventors #RegenitiveAI 

  • Human + Artificial Intelligence! RT Book(s) Release

     Book(s) Release Today Thurs, June27th ! ! ! … Human +
    Artificial Intelligence … Special promotion price!     $1.99 !

    Today is the BIG launch of latest Refractive
    Thinker®     book, an Anthology with a dozen authors, including yours
    truly!  Today we welcome Vol XXV: Artificial Intelligence The
    New Frontier of the Digital Age—    the 27th volume in the #1
    International Best Selling series for and by doctoral scholars from around the
    globe.

    Refractive Thinker eBook for the
    USA. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D7QR183G

    For the next 24-48 hours, we will
    once again offer a special rate of $1.99! That’s the whole book, not individual
    chapters!

    Please buy a copy and share the
    news with your networks to help us with our book launch today. If all goes well
    we will reach one or more #Best-Seller lists. The printed copies will be able
    to promote best seller status when released in a week or two.

    I co-author Chapter 2 with my very
    first Doctoral mentee, and the Chief Refractive Thinker, Dr. Cheryl Lentz: Synergy
    of Human +Artificial Intelligence: Delphi and the genius of crowds.     Congrats
    on your successes (& failures) Dr. Cheryl!

    Dr Cheryl and I promoted the
    concept of “Regenerative Dynamic AI” where we provide prompts for readers to
    regenerate key components of our book with the best available GenAI at that
    future time. AI is changing at light speed, so readers can expect to have far
    better results than we did when they regeneration in a month or a year.
    Additionally, we wanted to instruct GenAI engines to provide links to dynamic
    sources, like statistical databases and Wikipedia where information is
    continually updated. And, of course, how do humans make the best use of
    artificial intelligence and real-time research using Delphi. Many results from
    the chapter with four GenAI engines has been spun off to DelphiPlan.com (aka
    ScenarioPlans.com). Issues of intellectual property, copyright,
    teacher-student-plagiarism are all addressed in the Synergy of Human +
    Artificial Intelligence    .

    * I also
    have another book out today! *

    Rapid Planning with Regenerative
    AI    . This Regenerative Dynamic AI approach to research and planning became
    the generative idea behind two AI-assisted workbooks related to Rapid Planning
    in my Perpetual Innovation™ series. One day in May I created most of the zero
    (0th) edition, Perpetual Innovation™: Rapid
    Strategic Planning and Regenerative AI    . With formatting and
    updates, the 1st edition is now updated in paperback and released in
    eBook. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D85GMW7F
     ($2.99)

    With GenAI it is now possible to do
    Rapid Strategic Planning in a fraction of the time compared to olde workshop
    methods. Instead of 3 or 4 planning sessions, I believe it is now possible to
    condense and compress the planning process into 1 rather-intense session. But,
    it does require changing the way we work, the way we think, and the way we
    plan. The Workshop-Workbook is a follow-on companion to the Rapid Strategic
    Planning and Regenerative AI     workbook focusing on the strategic planning
    workshop for an organization. The main goal for this planning effort is to
    complete a SWOT analysis including key potential strategies/initiatives. The
    workshop workbook provides examples for several types of local organizations: a
    local construction-related business, a charity, a chamber of commerce, a
    regional Economic Development Commission, and a local chapter of a service
    organization.  Expect the Workshop-Workbook to be release in a few days in
    paperback and Kindle ebook.

    These Regenerative AI books will be
    a great addition to the Perpetual Innovation™ line of books starting with
    intellectual property and now moving into Nonprofit: Nonprofit Planning &
    Impactful Donor giving (2022); and Club Management (2023).

    Refractive Thinker® eBook for the
    AI edition in the USA. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D7QR183G

    For the next 24-48 hours, we will
    once again offer a special rate of $1.99!  Please buy a copy and share
    with your networks to help us with our book launch today. If all goes well we
    will reach one or more #Best-Seller lists for the printed copies to promote
    (released in a week or two).

    Thank you for joining us on our
    best-selling campaign. We appreciate your support!

    Elmer Hall

    #RefractiveThinker #GenAI #RegenerativeDynamicAI #PerpetualInnovation #DelphiPlan #ScenarioPlans

    References

    Hall, E. B. (2024). Perpetual
    Innovation™: Rapid Strategic Planning and Regenerative AI (1st ed.).     ISBN:
    979-8326692061 Amazon.com/dp/B0D5BMXZWT eBook: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D85GMW7F

    Hall, E. B. (in press). Perpetual
    Innovation™: Workshop-Workbook on Rapid Strategic Planning and Regenerative AI.
    ISBN: 979-8329307740

    Hall, E. B. & Lentz, C. A.
    (2024). Synergy of Human +Artificial Intelligence: Delphi and the genius of
    crowds.  In C. A. Lentz (Ed.), The refractive
    thinker:      Vol. 25. Artificial
    Intelligence: The New Frontier of the Digital Age    . (pp. 27-68) Las Vegas,
    NV: The Refractive Thinker®
    Press.  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D7QR183G

    … Nonprofit
    Books from 2022 & 2023 …

    Hall, E. B. &
    Hinkelman, R. M. (2022). Perpetual Innovation™: Strategic planning for
    nonprofits and the art of impactful giving: the gift of giving, the art of
    caring    . ISBN: ‎ 979-8842614615 Amazon.com/dp/B0B7Q1J4G6/

    Hall, E. B.
    (2023). Perpetual Innovation™: Club management workbook focusing on the most
    impactful giving.     ISBN: 979-8859024810 Amazon.com/dp/B0CGXHB31Y

  • Cool Motor that Runs on Air

    A lot like a perpetual motor: no fool’n.
    As a kid, college really, I was intrigued about the idea of a “perpetual” motor. A motor that ran forever. My idea seemed like it should work, but I had a hard time getting someone to explain why it wouldn’t. My idea was based on the flywheel of the single engine Briggs & Stratton where a magnet on the flywheel creates the spark for the ignition on each rotation. My idea was to have magnets that attract the flywheel and a reverse magnet to repel the flywheel once it got past. But I had the problem that the flywheel would get attracted and stuck. So I found something called paramegnetic materials, materials that repel both positive and negative magnetic forces. All I needed, then is to have a thin sheet of paramagnetic material pass between the attracting magnets to let the flywheel move on to the repelling magnet. Perfect, a perpetual motor.
    I finally got to talk with a Physics professor at USF who explained my small, but subtle issue with the perpetuity of my motor. When you use a magnet, you loose a magnet. It took energy to magnetize a magnet, so the process of using it will deplete it!
    For decades, there have been articles about perpetual motors… But generally they have gone the way of “cold fusion”.
    Here is a very cool article/technology on a motor that runs on air. Liquefied Nitrogen, actually. Very cool. Literally, about -210 C (or -340 F). So, if the internal combustion motor works on the temperature differential before the ignition of fuel and after ignition, the liquid nitrogen concept works in the same way: from really really cold, to cold. Not nearly the same as the 1,000 times differential from gasoline, but still an effective motor. Effective only once you overcome the problem of things freezing up in the process.
    So here’s the great Wired article by Nicola Twilley about the inventor Peter Dearman: A One-Time Poultry Farmer Invents the Future of
    Refrigeration: Mechanical cooling revolutionized the global food supply—and
    accelerated global warming. Peter Dearman’s liquid air engine could change all
    that.
    The thing that Dearman had to overcome is to bring the temp of the super cold nitrogen up enough that it didn’t freeze up the works. (Kind of a reverse of the radiator idea to cool the motor down.)
    So the motor works, not especially efficient, but it works.
    However, your favorite internal combustion engine is very inefficient. Your car is only about 15% efficient. Diesel turbine motors for electricity are generally about 40% efficient, at best… Unless… Unless you need the excess heat. So if you can use the heat, like hot water on a campus environment, then the combined heat and power (CHP) can be very efficient, maybe up to about 70%.
    Imagine if you could use the cool from a liquid nitrogen engine? Say, hypothetically, for refrigerated storage or reefer. (No, not a Jimmy Buffet kind of Reefer!:-) A refrigerated reefer truck.
    And, wa la. You have a really great method of efficiently transporting and simultaneously cooling perishable products.
    The cryogenic reefer truck seems to be really gaining traction (sorry about the pun) within several food chains.
    Very cool!
    Dearman says the nitrogen solution will result in a 40% improvement over diesel in terms of greenhouse gases. If is the nitrogen is liquefied (chilled) by renewable energy the improvement compared to diesel moves up to 95%.
    Even Cooler!
    It also helps to overcome the need for Freon or the replacements for Freon. (Fluorocarbons are a wicked greenhouse gas that blow holes in the ozone layer.)
    With 78% of the Earth’s atmosphere, nitrogen (N) is readily abundant.
    Dearman has several patents related to cryogenics and cryogenic motors.
    Interestingly, it would appear that the same Peter (T?) Dearman is also the inventor of respirators and ventilators back in 1990!

  • Quality, excellence and (Perpetual) Innovation

    Quality Improvement programs like TQM are a key part of building a sustainable competitive advantage for companies. Every couple years there is an improvement or a new flavor of TQM, like six sigma and lean six sigma.

    Talking about quality… The Baldrige Program is a rather cool program for improving the process of quality in an organization… Brought to you from the US Department of Commerce through the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

    Download the 2017-2018 Baldrige Excellence Builder.

    easyInsight Assessment for:

    There’s a discussion at NIST about why you would use the Baldrige Program vs other Total Quality Management (TQM) programs. Generally, they suggest using Baldrige for the over planning and processes, but use lean for the the continuous improvement.

    There’s an interesting article about TQM programs and implementation of them by Fleming-Farrell, Hall and Blando (2014). It summarizes two TQM-type studies, one focuses on the top of the organization, the other on the six-sigma practitioner. From the top view, there seems to be no correlation between the number TQM-type programs and the performance of them; so going to the next flavor of TQM does not necessarily do much, it is the care and feeding that goes into your quality program that makes the difference.

    Oh, and there is almost no relationship between the participation in six sigma and compensation. Black belts get a little more pay, but generally there is no pay increase for working harder and longer at quality improvement. Of course the skill and skill set might prompt a six sigma practitioner, after training and experience, to jump ship and take a big raise elsewhere.
    Maybe awards and recognition might help?

    Glad you asked, there is also the Baldrige Award.
    Or, in Florida, the Florida Sterling Award. 

    Top-down vs Bottom-up Planning. The issue that is often observed about the world of TQM is that it is generally a bottom-up planning tool. Great for managing the factory and incremental improvements. But disruptive innovation and strategic planning, not so useful. Hall and Hinkelman (2013, 2017) approach top-down planning with their Perpetual Innovation(tm) series of books. But they integrate bottom-up planning into the process as well. It really makes no difference where the great ideas come from, provided the organization is in a position to recognize ’em and take advantage of them. Even the best laid plans (of mice and men) must be well executed. Baldrige seems like a perfect way of managing with clear alignment through the organization either in stable state, or transitioning through incremental change.

    Want to go to the theater and watch videos? Check them out here: Youtub Videos (popcorn not provided).

    References

    Hall, E. B. & Hinkelman, R. M. (2013). Perpetual Innovation™: A guide to strategic planning, patent commercialization and enduring competitive advantage, Version 2.0. Morrisville, NC: LuLu Press. ISBN: 978-1-304-11687-1  Retrieved from: http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/SBPlan

    Hall, E. B. & Hinkelman, R. M. (2017). Perpetual Innovation™: Patent primer 3.1e: Patents, the great equalizer of our time! An overview of intellectual property with patenting cost estimates for inventors and entrepreneurs.  [Amazon Kindle eBook].  ASIN: B01MS53JC5 Retrieved from: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MS53JC5   
    Fleming-Farrell, L., Hall, E., & Blando, J. (2014, Spring).  Implementation of new TQM programs, communications, and adapting to change. In C. A. Lentz (Ed.), The refractive thinker: Vol. 8: Effective business practices for motivation and communication (pp. 159-181). Las Vegas, NV: The Refractive Thinker© Press.