domingo, febrero 08, 2009
To Dr. Chu: Align Stimulus to Clean Energy Reform
To Dr. Chu: Align Stimulus to Clean Energy Reform
By José Antonio Vanderhorst-Silverio, Ph.D.
Systemic Consultant: Electricity
First posted in the GMH Blog, on January 26th, 2009.
Copyright © 2009 José Antonio Vanderhorst-Silverio. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, without written permission from José Antonio Vanderhorst-Silverio. This article is an unedited, an uncorrected, draft material of The EWPC Textbook. Please write to javs@ieee.org to contact the author for any kind of engagement.
The Department of Energy (DOE) will have a very large stimulus package that Dr. Steven Chu wants to distribute as soon as possible. One part of that stimulus should go to the smart grid. But the smart grid is something confusing and inefective under the status quo of the investor owned utilities (IOUs) paradigm. DOE is in the best position to pay for a well defined smart grid [1], as described in this advice.
Clean energy reform is certainly needed, as this is the right moment to start to end the vicious pervasiveness of fossil fuels with a lot of cash at hand [2, 3]. In this article Dr. Chu will find the bests clues he needs to pay for the smart grid. Now we know that IOUs know that they themselves are the enemy [4]. So what remains is convincing states governments to once and for all have their regulators let go the obsolete price control business model [5]. That can be done by using wisely the stimulus package one state government at a time.
It is well known that the IOUs paradigm has a strong inertia against energy efficiency [6]. Its strong magnetic attraction perverse incentive cannot be sufficiently mitigated with artificial decoupling of profits and sales [7]. Something else is needed to apply an urgent policy, like the 80-20 challenge that Peter Senge suggested [8]. Describing that challenge, Senge wrote “Though the details of these goals differ, their central message is the same: To stabilize CO2, in the atmosphere at levels that minimize the threat of catastrophic consequences will require a 60 to 80 percent reduction in emissions within the next two decades!”
What is needed to meet the 80-20 challenge is a paradigm shift to a new center of magnetic attraction with a very large inertia, where natural decoupling of profits and sales exists. That is the survival mechanism of competing retailers to get sales from customers that add value to them. The new paradigm replaces the magnetic attraction of the obsolete business model of having IOUs win cases to the regulator with the new source of attraction of competitive business models to be developed by Second Generation Retailers (2GRs) [9], aiming to the development of federal business model innovations.
The new paradigm is the electricity without price control (EWPC) market architecture and design, where the emergent power industry is separated into a state regulated transportation market, that takes the center stage, and the wholesale and retail open federal market, where business transactions will develop. The smart grid transportation (transmission and distribution) only utility (SGToU) [10] is the key development that interfaces with 2GRs’ Enterprise Solutions [11].
The open markets (i.e., week ahead) should regularly close during the parallel operations planning process and the firm commitments of supply and demand to produce a set of time (i.e., hourly), and space, reference spot prices schedules for a reliable electricity commodity. After the regular market closes, the SGToU takes control of the whole power system that goes beyond the power meter. During real time operation a balancing markets results for supply and demand deviations from the firm commitments. The balancing market results in the payment of economic transaction in the wholesale market for generators and 2GRs that deviate from their committed schedules to those that respond to said deviations.
If the stimulus package is to have enough effectiveness this is the time to have the states governments that want to receive funds to make commitments to shift from price control regulation to prudential regulations to open their retail markets to federal competition, by adopting the EWPC paradigm. Dr. Chu has an opportunity to use the funds through the states financial delivery mechanism with highest leverage with this advice. The electricity reform effort should be lead by a single system architech available to all state goverments.
References:
[1] Will Anyone Pay for the SmartGrid?
[2] The End of the Vicious Pervasive Fossil Fuels is Near
[3] To Cut Carbon ASAP the IOU Paradigm Must End
[4] Just as Pogo, IOUs Found the Enemy
[5] Will Dr. Chu Turn Around the Power Industry?
[6] Steven Chu: Four Years of Low Hanging Fruits
[7] Forget Decoupling Under Price Controls
[8] Peter Senge et al, The Necessary Revolution: How individuals and organizations are working together to create a sustainable world, Doubleday Press, 2008.
[9] Second Generation Retailers
[10] The Emerging SmartGrid
[11] K2007 Retailers’ Enterprise Solutions
Efectos Secundarios de las Propuestas Consensuadas en la Mesa de Energía
Consultor Sistémico
Arquitecto del Sistema EWPC
Semilla Orgánica del GMH
8 de febrero, 2009
El defecto principal del modelo de capitalización es la distribuidora, que supone un estado intermedio inestable de cosas, en vías de desaparecer en la medida en que se reducen los clientes regulados a través del tiempo, pero que en realidad no ocurre por incentivos perversos. Al igual que el modelo verticalmente integrado, el modelo de capitalización incentiva el desarrollo de los recursos de la oferta (por ejemplo, inversiones en generación) y desincentiva de forma perversa el desarrollo de los recursos del lado de la demanda (por ejemplo, inversiones en eficiencia energética que son más rentables).
El resultado de un siglo de dependencia a nivel global con modelos como esos es un elevado desarrollo en los recursos del lado de la oferta y un elevado subdesarrollo en los del lado de la demanda. Ese desequilibrio hace mucho más costoso el servicio de electricidad, si se suman el costo de abastecimiento de las facturas (lo que se pretende reducir con energía barata) y el costo de desabastecimiento en que incurren los consumidores (el efecto secundario de la energía barata que sale cara).
Se necesita un modelo equilibrado (un estado final de cosas) que incentive por igual el desarrollo de los recursos de la oferta y el desarrollo de los recursos del lado de la demanda. Debe ser evidente que por el gran subdesarrollo acumulado en el lado de la demanda, habrá mucho mayores oportunidades de negocio en el desarrollo de los recursos del lado de la demanda con vocación a un nuevo conjunto de reglas de juego valiosas en el mercado global que sirva como un proyecto desarrollista.
Cada una de las propuestas consensuadas en la Mesa sobre Energía, aparenta ser el resultado de un pensamiento mecánico con miras a obtener un efecto primario positivo, sin considerar los efectos secundarios que pueden malograr el resultado del conjunto. Así, por ejemplo, al proponer la medida de “CONVOCAR, 30 DIAS DESPUES DE CONCLUIDA LA CUMBRE, A UNA JORNADA ESPECIAL PARA REVISAR EL MODELO DE CAPITALIZACION Y LAS POSIBILIDADES DE INTEGRACION VERTICAL DE LA INDUSTRIA ELECTRICA A TRAVES DE LA CREACION DE EMPRESAS PUBLICAS (NO ESTATAL, NO PRIVADA), ABIERTAS A LA INVERSION EN GENERAL” se sigue manteniendo el desequilibrio en el modelo y con ello sus perniciosos efectos secundarios.
Es absolutamente necesario considerar también en esa Jornada Especial el cambio hacia un modelo que separe la comercialización de electricidad para incentivar el desarrollo de modelos de negocios que incentiven el desarrollo de los recursos de la demanda, facilitando la competencia con la oferta al por mayor y entre los comercializadores al detalle. De adoptarse un cambio de modelo a uno que incentive el desarrollo de los recursos de la demanda en que desaparece la distribuidora, la gran mayoría de las propuestas consensuadas necesitarían ser evaluadas de nuevo por los participantes en la Mesa de Trabajo sobre Energía.
Reconociendo que participamos de un mundo cada vez más interdependiente, es necesario también que se consideren medidas ofensivas de comercio exterior que incentiven también el desarrollo de los recursos de la demanda y desincentiven el uso de los combustibles fósiles, de forma que la industria y el comercio dominicanos sean relativamente más competitivos. La energía aparentemente barata saldrá muy cara si el protocolo post Kyoto produce los resultados esperados.
sábado, febrero 07, 2009
Un Consenso Crucial para la Cumbre: el Reto Global 80-20
Consultor Sistémico
Arquitecto del Sistema EWPC
Semilla Orgánica del GMH
7 de febrero, 2009
Los miembros de la Mesa de Trabajo sobre Energía (Electricidad, Hidrocarburos y Energía Renovable) no están trabajando juntos para colaborar en la creación de un mundo sostenible, como sugiere Peter Senge en su nuevo libro “The Necessary Revolution” (La Revolución Necesaria). Senge fue nombrado como uno de 24 personas que han “tenido la mayor influencia en estrategia de negocios en el último siglo,” por el Journal of Business Strategy.
Todo lo contrario, están atrincherado y por eso tienen una estrategia para defender el orden establecido. Están trabajando resignados como isleños, sin darse cuenta de la verdadera realidad de un orden global emergente. Según Senge, “negocios, dominados por mucho tiempo en las industrias minera y de minerales, abogan ahora por las inversiones en energías renovables, como el viento y la solar.”
La Mesa de Trabajo de Energía está concentrada en arreglos rápidos, como los que se hicieron en las sillas del Titanic que en definitiva se hundió. Al tratar los temas por partes, el gobierno, parece estar tratando de reducir la presión que enfrenta a lo amplio de la sociedad dominicana con toda una serie de arreglos rápidos, en vez de concentrar la atención en unas pocas soluciones fundamentales, como lo es la del sector eléctrico con miras participar de manera activa en el orden global emergente. Senge afirma que “si vemos cada problema – sea falta de agua, cambio climático o la pobreza – como separados, y tratamos cada uno de forma separada, las soluciones a las que llegaremos serán de corto plazo, a menudo oportunistas, “arreglos rápidos,” que no enfrentan los desbalances profundos” sociales y ambientales.
Senge introduce el caso de la urgencia del orden global emergente con el reto 80-20: reducir las emisiones de carbono en 80 por ciento en 20 años. Se trata en pocas palabras del fin de la Era Industrial, que se ha convertido en una burbuja que está al punto de explotar. Senge explica que “lograr esto requerirá un mar de cambios en la clase de energía que usamos, los carros que manejamos, los edificios en que vivimos y trabajamos, las ciudades que diseñamos, y las formas en que la gente y los bienes se mueven alrededor del mundo, así como otros cambios que nadie puede siquiera adivinar.”
Un consenso nacional para enfrentar el reto 80-20 debería ser muy fácil de lograr si estamos dispuestos a cambiar nuestra forma de pensar. La transición hacia el 80-20 debe restarle rápidamente competitividad a las exportaciones de muchos países que han venido contaminando el planeta, haciendo que negocios locales sean relativamente más competitivos. Al mismo tiempo, la reducción en la acidez de los mares hará que nuestros corales dejen de ser destruidos y la incidencia de enfermedades respiratorias deje de repercutir como lo hace en el bolsillo de los pobres.
Ayer no participé en la Mesa de Trabajo, porque regresaba de una importante reunión de consulta entre interesados sobre los servicios de energía que tuvo lugar en Trinidad, a la que me invitó la Maquinaria Regional de Negociaciones del Caribe (CNRM por sus siglas en inglés). En ella presenté la EWPC como una estrategia ofensiva de comercio exterior, que sería presentada ante la Organización Mundial del Comercio (OMC), para integrar y liberar el gran mercado de servicios energéticos del CARIFORUM. Orientada al orden emergente, la estrategia no solo se concentra en asegurar los derechos de propiedad de los inversionistas, sino también y con igual intensidad asegurar en la OMC los derechos de propiedad de los consumidores que también podrán participar como productores. A mi regreso compré el nuevo libro de Senge y lo empecé a leer.
Por todo lo anterior, el libro de Senge debería ser de estudio y aplicación obligatoria para los directivos de las Mesas de Trabajo de la Cumbre. Al respecto, para contribuir en la creación de un mundo sostenible, sugiero suspender los trabajos hasta tanto dichos directivos dominen las enseñanzas del libro.
martes, febrero 03, 2009
Hoy Digital: Abogan en Cumbre por Mejor Servicio Eléctrico
Sectores del comercio objetan apagones arbitrarios
Escrito por: MAYELIN ACOSTA GUZMÁN (m.acosta@hoy.com.do)
Instituciones que agrupan a sectores comerciales presentaron en la Cumbre por la Unidad una propuesta para lograr un servicio eléctrico sin apagones arbitrarios.
La Federación Nacional de Comerciantes y Empresarios de la República Dominicana (Fenacerd) y el Consejo Dominicano de Detallistas de Provisiones (Codepro) explicaron que la misma busca que todos los apagones sean compensados para asegurar que cada cliente pueda tener un servicio de menor costo y/o máximo valor agregado. Esta se basa en una transformación integral del sector en su conjunto, con alcance interdependiente a corto, mediano y largo plazo.
Entre las acciones a realizar a corto plazo se encuentra designar un experto y equipo de consultores para diseñar el proyecto de la electricidad sin apagones arbitrarios que resultará en la solución definitiva de la crisis del sector eléctrico.
También iniciar la compensación de los apagones, definiendo una nueva categoría de Servicio Eléctrico Con Seguro que los clientes podrán elegir libremente y publicar sus tarifas en función del circuito a que corresponda.
Noticia original
domingo, febrero 01, 2009
¿Harán Falta Líderes Visionarios?
Consultor Sistémico
Arquitecto del Sistema EWPC
Semilla Orgánica del GMH
Con la nota Agreguemos Valor a Cumbre de “Fuerzas Vivas”, traté de introducir el pensamiento sistémico a ese proceso. No obstante, el sistema diseñado e implantado en la primera reunión de la Mesa de Trabajo sobre electricidad, hidrocarburos y energía renovable, parece basarse en el pensamiento mecánico.
Dicho sistema consistió en separar el corto plazo de los mediano y largo plazos, concentrando la atención en medidas cortoplacistas para enfrentar la coyuntura de crisis y posiblemente darle ventajas al status quo al cerrarle el paso por ahora a las propuestas visionarias. Frente a otra idea de concentrarnos en el corto plazo y no pedirle demás a la cumbre, la nota Respuesta Editorial del Listín Diario: Salgamos del Subdesarrollo iba en el mismo sentido, aunque ahora parece que los otros dos plazos van después del 27 de febrero, cuando quizás sea muy tarde. Hay también otra versión mucho más preocupante y es que van a separar los corto y mediano plazos del largo plazo.
Por eso, de esa última nota resalto el párrafo que todavía aplica a separar en lo inmediato el largo plazo:
Por lo anterior, no importa si la Cumbre “fue convocada para medidas puntuales, para dar respuesta a la crisis económica mundial con acciones concretas que puedan gravitar a lo largo de este año.” Lo que importa es la necesidad de la transformación, en vez de ser simplemente “un ensayo para un ejercicio mayor y más profundo de diálogo y concertación, en el futuro.” Una vez acordado el enfoque sistémico de conocimiento profundo, resultará evidente responder la pregunta de la nota ¿Será la Reforma Constitucional Anti-sistémica? para poder aplicar el cuarto de los siete consejos.”
Dichos consejos aparecen en la nota “7 Consejos a la Cumbre de las “Fuerzas Vivas”. Es así que es fundamental adoptar la necesaria transformación visionaria hacia implantar el sistema de conocimiento profundo, que se explica en “The New Economics: For Industry, Government, Education.” El site resumido.com destaca:
En este libro, que marca el epílogo de su carrera, Deming introduce su Sistema de Conocimiento Profundo. El sistema consiste de cuatro aspectos: - Entender el sistema.- Teoría del conocimiento.- Entender las variaciones.- Psicología.Se trata de un sistema basado en la cooperación (en lugar de en la competencia), que ayuda a la gente a disfrutar del trabajo y del aprendizaje, a la vez que trae éxito a largo plazo en el mercado. .Escrito en 1993, poco antes de su fallecimiento, ofrece una perspectiva única sobre un momento crucial en la historia económica de Estados Unidos: el cambio hacia la economía basada en el conocimiento.
Asimismo, en el discurso de orden en la XLI graduación ordinaria de la Universidad APEC (Unapec) el Rector, Justo Pedro Castellanos Khouri, explicó las razones del éxito del Plan de Nación Irlandés, diciendo:
El punto de partida del denominado “milagro celta” es, sin dudas, el gran acuerdo nacional suscrito en 1987 entre el sector público, el sector privado y el liderazgo obrero, que no se limitó a enfrentar una coyuntura de crisis, como era aquella en la que se firmó, sino que con amplitud de miras y grandes dosis de responsabilidad, confianza y generosidad definió el país que querían y por el cual apostarían en los próximos decenios.
David Lovegrove, Director Divisional del International Development Ireland (IDI), aporta datos relevantes sobre la historia y las características del acuerdo. Rememora cómo, previo al acuerdo, encharcados en la crisis, “todo el mundo le echaba la culpa a todo el mundo. Los empleadores culpaban a los sindicatos, los sindicatos, al gobierno, y este, a los agricultores. Todos estaban apuntando a un culpable”; y cómo en la hondura del colapso, no otro que el Primer Ministro llamó la atención del país en torno a la gravedad de la situación, tensó las fuerzas nacionales señalando las posibilidades existentes y convocó al liderazgo irlandés y los sentó en una misma mesa a negociar. “Lo cierto es –cuenta Lovegrove- que fuimos terriblemente afortunados de tener a líderes visionarios. (…) Todos los que se sentaron a esa mesa eran gente de visión (…). Llegaron a un acuerdo sin precedentes en la historia del país, casi sin precedentes en el mundo. Todos los actores sacrificaron mucho y aceptaron muy poco a cambio (…).
De todo el esfuerzo visionario que se ha trasparentado en el EWPC Blog, en la Bitácora Digital del GMH y en los intensos intercambios que de tiempo en tiempo se han realizado desde el año 2005, es evidente que en un Acuerdo de Nación tenemos el potencial para hacer una verdadera transformación en el sector eléctrico, que le de solución definitiva a la crisis de electricidad y le genere amplias oportunidades de desarrollo a la Nación, al profundizar la reforma, enfrentar las trabas e impulsar una vigorosa inversión.
Como se puede comprobar, el primer sector que está preparado para aplicar el sistema de desarrollo profundo es el sector eléctrico. Apliquemos la sabiduría que Deming nos legó para amplificar el poder de nuestros cerebros de forma individual y colectiva, para ajustarnos a las nuevas circunstancias, como propuso Eamonn Kelly en su libro “Powerful Times: Rising to the Challenge of Our Uncertain World.”
Propuesta Sector Comercial en Electricidad e Hidrocarburos
A largo plazo: consolidar la transformación del sector eléctrico a uno en que, salvo contadas excepciones, todos los clientes sean clientes libres (no regulados) que puedan comprar el servicio al mejor postor con base a un amplio rango de prestaciones de calidad, seguridad, confiabilidad y disponibilidad, entre los límites del menor costo y el mayor valor agregado que le genere el máximo bienestar.
A mediano plazo: profundizar la reforma por medio de una transición para desarrollar e implantar la transformación de uno con muchos clientes regulados que están expuestos a apagones arbitrarios fruto del control de precios y pocos clientes libres (no regulados) sin apagones arbitrarios a uno en que sea cada vez más focalizado con clientes regulados sujetos a apagones arbitrarios y cada vez más clientes libres sin apagones arbitrarios.
A mediano plazo: para ofrecer un servicio sin apagones arbitrarios, separar las distribuidoras en distribución física y comercialización. Abrir comercialización a la competencia y que sean los comercializadores que asuman los riesgos de obsolescencia en la compra de los medidores.
A corto plazo: designar un experto arquitecto de sistemas, quien seleccionará un equipo de consultores, para diseñar el proyecto de la electricidad sin apagones arbitrarios que resultará en la solución definitiva de la crisis del sector eléctrico.
A corto plazo: iniciar la compensación de los apagones, definiendo una nueva categoría de Servicio Eléctrico Con Seguro que los clientes podrán elegir libremente y publicar sus tarifas en función del circuito que corresponda. A los clientes que opten por esa clase de servicio se les compensarán los apagones. La tarifa del seguro se irá reduciendo en la medida que aumenten los cobros y se reduzcan las pérdidas de los circuitos.
jueves, enero 29, 2009
Agreguemos Valor a Cumbre de “Fuerzas Vivas”
Si cada una de las siete Mesas de Trabajo, que participarán en la Cumbre por la Unidad Nacional Frente a la Crisis Económica Mundial, hace un trabajo eficaz que identifique no solo las metas, sino también los medios requeridos para un sistema funcione bien, y el Estado dominicano se compromete a cumplirlo y los sucesivos gobiernos lo cumplen, la República Dominicana habrá dado un paso gigante hacia el logro de los objetivos planteados.
Desde el punto sistémico, el logro podría ser mucho mayor si se comprende que en las interrelaciones entre las Mesas de Trabajo es donde se puede agregar el mayor valor. Todo esto se basa en la idea de que el valor que agrega un sistema por encima de la suma de los aportes de las partes, proviene de las interacciones entre las partes. Esa idea, es mucha más fácil aplicación al interior de las Mesas de Trabajo mismas. Si no se da el paso para definir los interfases entre las 7 mesas de trabajo, se perdería una magnifica oportunidad para el éxito de la Cumbre.
A nivel práctico, aconsejo que en cada una de las siete mesas se produzca dos documentos de interface. Uno sobre lo que le sugieren potenciales aportes a las demás 6 mesas y otro donde sugieren lo que necesitan de ellas. No es necesario que hayan seis interfases. En realidad se deben concentrar en aquellos que realmente tengan el potencial de agregar valor. Asimismo, antes de la plenaria, los equipos directivos de las Mesas de Trabajo, se reunirán para cosechar los resultados.
José Antonio Vanderhorst Silverio, Ph.D.
Consultor Sistémico
Semilla Orgánica del GMH
lunes, enero 26, 2009
Just as Pogo, IOUs Found the Enemy
Just as Pogo, IOUs Found the Enemy
By José Antonio Vanderhorst-Silverio, Ph.D.
Systemic Consultant: Electricity
First posted in the GMH Blog, on January 26th, 2009.
Copyright © 2009 José Antonio Vanderhorst-Silverio. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, without written permission from José Antonio Vanderhorst-Silverio. This article is an unedited, an uncorrected, draft material of The EWPC Textbook. Please write to javs@ieee.org to contact the author for any kind of engagement.
This paper is a follow up of the EWPC article Will Anyone Pay for the SmartGrid?, which “… is an invitation to readers to comment about the application of two social economists’ insights about the IOUs and EWPC paradigms.” Only two very intelligent and important persons had the courage to respond to the original invitation, and it seems, that for all practical purposes, that was enough to complement all of the others persons whose questions I have responded since the end of 2005. The lessons learned could be readily applied by Dr. Steven Chu to end the debate and get the industry stakeholders agree to open and transform the power markets.
We will also benefit from the use of the timely input of Mark Goldes’ post DOE report paints bleak picture of our electric future, which summarizes John Timmer’s article with the same name. Mr. Timmer’s starts with “There's a long tradition of using Fridays to release reports you'd rather not see attract attention, and the Department of Energy [DOE] has used the last Friday of the Bush Administration to release a big one. Its Electricity Advisory Committee [EAC], composed primarily of power industry executives, has released a series of reports on the future of the US electric grid.”
In what follows, I will be using information from the three reports: 1) “Keeping the Lights On in a New World;” 2) “Smart Grid: Enabler of the New Economy;” and 3) “Bottling Electricity: Storage as a Strategic Tool for Managing Variability and Capacity Concerns in the Modern Grid.” I will refer to them as the first, the second, and the third reports, respectively. It is easy to highlight that in the titles the pairs of words “New World,” New Economy,” and “Modern Grid” suggest an emerging transformation of the whole power industry away from “magnetic forces” of the “Old World,” the “Old Economy,” and the “Not Modern” IOUs paradigm.
The first person to correspond to the invitation was David Katz, who gave us one great input about “Bright” Green Buildings (BGB). Those BGBs are waiting for the needed transformation of the power industry. In my response, I identified a void in what I now say is the presence of an anti-system. The insight is that it is no a system, as the value destruction is rampant, as will be explained soon. In addition, I responded how to take care of the void with EWPC paradigm.
This is well in agreement with the EWPC article The Anti-System Utility, which is summarized as:
Vertically integrated utilities don't operate as a system because of a monopoly mindset of incumbents’ investor owned utilities and political interference. To operate as a system, a paradigm shift to EWPC is required to offer customers competitive services and to neutralize political interference.
The insight about the rampant value destruction is confirmed on page 7 of the first EAC report, that repeats what I quoted in the GMH post U.S Power Service is Regulated as a 3rd World Country, saying that:
According to the Galvin Electricity Initiative, ‘the U.S. electric power system is designed and operated to meet a ‘3 nines’ reliability standard. This means that electric grid power is 99.97% reliable. While this sounds good in theory, in practice it translates to interruptions in the electricity supply that cost American consumers an estimated $150 billion a year.
Missing from that quote is that the Galvin Electricity Initiative also wrote that “… In other words, for every dollar spent on electricity, consumers are spending at least 50 cents on other goods and services to cover the costs of power failures,” which confirms the anti-system conclusion or, better yet, as the late W. Edwards Deming would call it “the destruction of the system.”
The second person that responded to the invitation was Mr. James Carson. I recall that at the end of 2006, he wrote: “My intention is not to convince Professor Banks. My intention is to challenge his assertions with which I disagree. Thousands of people read these forums, and I think it is a bad idea for them to get the impression that Professor Banks reflects the prevailing consensus. Frankly, I expected a more spirited clash. He merely makes pronouncements with little support and fails to respond to my rejoinders.”
While the interchanges between us are different, my respectful intention is also not to convince IOUs or Mr. Carson, but in addition to highlight something completely different. The prevailing consensus, which is the incremental extensions of the IOUs paradigm are destructive.
Even though the above explanations of the need for transformation should be sufficient, I want say that I don’t know everything about the power industry, even as I have been involved in it for more than 40 years. Nevertheless, I like to stress that I know what I am writing about when it relates to the obsolete IOUs and the emergent EWPC paradigms.
It should not, by any means, be apparent that I am writing “out of ignorance of how the North American power markets actually operate,” as Mr. Carson wants to make readers believe. As a self appointed systemic consultant on electricity, I am going further than that. I am writing about how those markets should be structured to operate well. In that light, it is important to learn that this is not the first time that Mr. Carson tries to cast doubts in the minds of readers. Just one example should suffice.
On January 3rd, 2007, after many debate and dialogue interchanges, Mr. Carson tried to show that he knew what he was talking about the power industry, when I had proposed to show how relevant institutional memory was for PJM. That interchange took place under the article Playing with Fire - The 10 Tcf/year Supply Gap -- Part I, by Andrew Weissman, Editor-in-Chief & Publisher, EnergyBusinessWatch.com. This is part of what he wrote on that day quoting me:
[José Antonio Item #2.] PJM was involved in a large blackout, I believe in 1967. That explains why they played it safe and kept their vertical integration institutional memory quite well.
James: Since New York has had more problems with blackouts than PJM, why did their institutional memory fail? Also, PJM was not a unified control area in 1967. It would not become that for thirty years. PJM as an organization had no such institutional memory.
[José Antonio Item #3.] FERC tried to used them as an institutional memory bridge with SMD, but was unsuccessful.
James: And your basis for making this claim is WHAT? Why was it only PJM that retained that memory? New York, New England and Canada have never experienced blackouts? Why is PJM different?
This is what I wrote on the following day:
Responding your second and third items, the PJM Timeline shows the long institutional history of PJM, which begin in 1927 with PA and NJ, and became PJM Interconnection in 1956. The NYISO is an outgrowth of the New York Power Pool, formed by New York’s eight largest utilities following the Northeast Blackout of 1965. The Power Pool combined the power generation and technical resources of its members to create an organization committed to the reliable, safe and efficient operation of the electric system.
Did Mr. Carson know what he was talking about? Instead of admitting he was wrong, as I would do, and as I have done earlier, he just fled the generative dialogue.
Under the EWPC article about the socioeconomic insights he keeps debating, trying to prove that a transformation of the power industry has already occurred, while I insist that the incremental changes in the industry have the IOUs paradigm alive and well and that a transformation is waiting to happen towards the emergent EWPC paradigm. This is where Mr. Timmer’s conclusion “the basic take-home is that we can't afford another 30 years of talk without a coherent plan of action” Is highly valuable. As the world can not afford it either, there is a high risk of IOUs getting well behind.
The power industry reports are in fact signaling the need for a transformation. Mr. Timmer’s interpretation of the main (first) report also helps infer that transformation has not occurred as he wrote that “overall evaluation that's badly off the administration's message: the government needs to make a significant intervention in the power market, it's completely failed to do so for the past eight years (and longer), and conservation needs to be part of anything we do.” That significant intervention requires shifting from price control regulation to prudential regulation for the end-customers.
Mr. Carson wrote “The energy markets in the United States are regulated by FERC, not the Energy Department. FERC, while administratively functioning inside DOE, Chu has no power to direct FERC to do anything. Again, you really need to learn the ropes.” While his statement may be perfectly right, under some circumstances, in practice this is what is happening. Now, we can see that the letters sent by the chair of EAC, Linda Stuntz, were to DOE from the tree reports and also to Congress only in the third report. None was sent to FERC for the development of new incremental rulemaking. As a matter of fact, I will transcribe the paragraphs of the reports all of which start with “On behalf of the members of the Electricity Advisory Committee (EAC), I am pleased to provide:
1. … the U.S. Department of Energy with this report, Keeping the Lights On in a New World. This report recommends policies that the U.S. Department of Energy should consider enacting as it addresses the substantial challenge of helping to ensure reliable supplies of electricity in the future at reasonable cost and with due regard for the environment.
2. … the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) with this report, Smart Grid: Enabler of the New Energy Economy. This report recommends policies that the U.S. Department of Energy should adopt to ensure that a successful Smart Grid program is funded and implemented in the months ahead.
3. … Congress and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) with this report, Bottling Electricity: Storage as a Strategic Tool for Managing Variability and Capacity Concerns in the Modern Grid. This report recommends policies that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) should consider as it develops and implements an energy storage technologies program, as authorized by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007.
So, let’s get inside the reports. Page 35 of the second EAC report offers a key insight under the title “Size of the Demand-Side Resources Market,” it says:
Demand-side resources are typically smaller, more diverse, and geographically dispersed compared to supply-side assets. Understanding and organizing effective market-oriented approaches through these demand-side resources poses numerous challenges. A market typically favors larger, more knowledgeable participants, so the electric marketplace has been dominated by the electricity suppliers. This supplier domination leaves residential consumers, commercial businesses, and even most large energy users on the fringes of this over $300 billion market. With a very large and diverse group of constituents, demand-side resources have difficulty establishing a unifying agenda and even getting involved in the often obtuse infrastructure planning process.
The key insight is that the IOUs paradigm is unable handle retail markets as they should. This is Pogo story for IOUs: “I found the enemy and it’s us.” EWPC is the friend to actually consolidate retail markets. This is all about the second social economist’s insights: “In any resource-limited situation, the true value of a given service or product is determined by what one is willing to give up to obtain it.” That is why in the new economy customers go to the “electricity suppliers” to expend the other 50 cents of every dollar.
To establish a unifying agenda and face the challenge, the EWPC paradigm is the friend that opens up the power industry market to enable the development of the resources of the demand side to “organize an effective market-oriented approach.” While “electricity suppliers” are adding a lot of value by positioning themselves in Adrian J. Slywotzky’s (see a book with the same name) “The Profit Zone: how strategic business design will lead you to tomorrow’s profits”, the North American power industry has downgraded itself in the last 40 years to the No Profit Zone, becoming similar to any third world country.
While on page 14 of the second report, the EAC describes IOUs business model, they fail to even hint the emergent business model innovations in the making under EWPC. They ask DOE on page 2 and 17 to provide information on business models. Instead they concede “the lack of a coordinated strategy,” which the EWPC paradigm unifies.
On page 41 of the first report says that EAC:
… recommends that DOE support the following: Development of utility business models and rate-setting approaches that encourage and reward cost-effective energy efficiency and demand response / load management investments while providing a substantial majority of benefits to ratepayers…”
From such recommendation, there is no doubt that the IOUs paradigm is alive and well. That is how Pogo’s mental model needs get us to the key insight to change from Mr. Timmer’s bleak picture into great opportunities to integrate and consolidate retail markets at the federal level.
That insight also confirms Peter Senge’s quote about mental models at the beginning of the EWPC article Think Deming to Enable Much More than Just Freedom, the end of which I paraphrased here: “IOUs investors can now start to see the extraordinary opportunities for innovation that can occur when we abandon fearful, reactive mentalities. They start to realize the deep problems we face today are not a result of bad luck or a greedy few. They are the result of a way of thinking whose time has passed.”
Speaking of a new mental model, on page 39 of the first report the introduction, not the specific recommendations, is right on and says: “The United States has a long tradition of relying on the market to drive results. Often, these results are based on sound economic principles that attract market participants who endeavor to capitalize on market opportunities. It is with this mindset that the EAC provides these specific recommendations to the DOE for improving the use of demand-side resources.
Let’s now review action oriented history. As it happened with PURPA 1989, EPAct 1992 and EPAct 2005, IOUs, DOE and the Obama Administration need to consider the socioeconomic insights to ask the US Congress to invest in the electricity without price controls (EWPC) based Energy Policy Act to accomplish the needed transformation. The IOUs paradigm legislation to mandate competitive power markets that was passed in 1992 is flawed and has led to a very complex regulatory environment, that FERC has implemented with incremental trial and error mandates through a series of Orders (888, 889, 890, 2000 and the SMD White Paper). The incremental extension on “mandatory reliability standards,” enacted as part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, is not under FERC. Market evolution under EPAct 92 is at a dead-end.
Looking at his bleak picture from a different angle, Mr. Timmer writes that “Incentives for things like fossil fuel exploration and renewable power generation have come and gone from the federal budget with regularity, changing the economic equation for any long-term project on a nearly annual basis. Environmental regulations, such as a carbon tax, have had the air of inevitability for years, but the lack of an definitive structure during that time makes planning for the actual implementation impossible… The lack of a national plan also means any infrastructure work faces a patchwork of federal and local regulations.” That is another way of telling that the U.S. and the world have been changing regulations incrementally. The EWPC paradigm shift has already emerged to change that economic equation.
This means that James Carson’s comment “Over the past ten or twenty years, utilities worldwide have already undergone a massive transformation. Wholesale deregulation is now the norm everywhere in the US and much of Canada. We can now value transmission upgrades under conditions of market discipline. When the SmartGrid has proven its value, it will be built,” has not been a real transformation at all. It has kept the IOUs paradigm alive and well. As seen next, even transmission upgrades are giving a lot of headaches.
On page 50 of the first EAC report, under the heading “Lack of Clear Cost Allocation Policies,” it says:
The difficulty in determining who should pay for transmission that benefits many users across multiple jurisdictions, for a variety of purposes and over a long time, is a serious obstacle to transmission development. As Nicholas Brown, President and Chief Executive Officer of Southwest Power Pool (SPP) said, “our industry desperately needs national leadership on allocating costs for the expansion of the bulk transmission system. We have planned regionally and interregionally for over a decade, but ideas remain on paper due to lack of needed cost allocation.
Now we know that Mr. Carson didn’t know what he was talking about when he wrote:
My point, to put it bluntly, is that the US power markets are already way ahead of you. We already have robust markets. We already have devolved the vertically integrated IOU paradigm towards a competitive one.
The fact is that the power industry has gone to DOE for policy changes and have written on page 56 of the first report that a “key driver of policies in this area and others will be the development of a comprehensive national energy policy for the nation’s electricity future.” On page 67 they add “Continued uncertainty in the energy sector about expected political or regulatory actions has slowed potential new generation projects. Federal legislators have been unable to produce a comprehensive energy plan or establish long-term energy policies.”
As Warren Causey said, on a different context, US Congress and FERC have been “rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic,” when what’s needed is a high system leverage transformation. Rephrasing the late W. Edward Deming, “the transformation of the power industry, the aim of EWPC is not a job of reconstruction, nor is it revision. It requires a whole new structure, from foundation upward.” EWPC is not about rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic. That is the true meaning of the EWPC market architecture and paradigm shift transformation, whose foundation is laid in more than 130 articles on the EWPC Blog.
sábado, enero 24, 2009
Respuesta Editorial del Listín Diario: Salgamos del Subdesarrollo
Contrario al planteamiento de “una asamblea de exposiciones interminables,” los que se propone en la nota “7 Consejos a la Cumbre de las “Fuerzas Vivas” es primero acordar un gran propósito “para llegar a esbozar un plan de nación de” muy largo plazo, que proponemos sacar al país del subdesarrollo. En el segundo de esos consejos se plantea que “Los delegados tienen que aceptar con humildad que la cumbre, como toda solución rápida, no es una forma de adquirir conocimiento profundo. Ante todo, cada uno de ellos necesita entender el sistema de conocimiento profundo para transformarse. Necesitamos el liderazgo auténtico que permita desarrollar a largo plazo una cultura que valore el aprendizaje y el progreso.”
Por lo anterior, no importa si la Cumbre “fue convocada para medidas puntuales, para dar respuesta a la crisis económica mundial con acciones concretas que puedan gravitar a lo largo de este año.” Lo que importa es la necesidad de la transformación, en vez de ser simplemente “un ensayo para un ejercicio mayor y más profundo de diálogo y concertación, en el futuro.” Una vez acordado el enfoque sistémico de conocimiento profundo, resultará evidente responder la pregunta de la nota ¿Será la Reforma Constitucional Anti-sistémica? para poder aplicar el cuarto de los siete consejos.
Con este enfoque, no “[n]os expondríamos a la frustración,” ya que no “debe salir de esta cumbre sea un programa de gobierno de cuatro años o más.” Estamos de acuerdo en que “[e]so es imposible y no es aconsejable jugar con las expectativas.”
A nadie le queda ninguna duda que “[l]a nación está obligada a realizar ajustes en su marcha y lo que se pretende es que esos ajustes cuenten, de antemano, con la aprobación de todos aquellos sectores que inciden en la economía y que están llamados a unirse para encarar la crisis.” De acuerdo a Peter Senge, quien en la segunda edición de su libro “La Quinta Disciplina,” interpretó a Deming diciendo “… The real work, which he simply called “the transformation of the prevailing system of management,” lay beyond the aims of managers seeking only short term performance improvements. This transformation, he believed, required “profound knowledge” largely untapped in contemporary institutions…”
Tampoco debe quedar duda, que hecho de esta forma “Si este ejercicio es fructífero, entonces allí mismo quedarían sentadas las bases para una concertación de mayor alcance y perdurabilidad.” Igualmente concordamos con que “No le pidamos a la cumbre más de lo que ella, pragmáticamente hablando, puede darnos.” No obstante, con la transformación al sistema de conocimiento profundo ha quedado claro que ‘la razón fundamental’ no es solamente la emergencia de la crisis” por lo que puede y debe “irse más lejos” sin necesidad de “entrar en una órbita estéril de discusiones y propuestas que no conducirían a nada.”
Ed- Listín: No le Pidamos de Más a la Cumbre
No, como muchos plantean, una asamblea de exposiciones interminables para llegar a esbozar un plan de nación de diez o veinte años.
Hasta donde suponemos fue convocada para medidas puntuales, para dar respuesta a la crisis económica mundial con acciones concretas que puedan gravitar a lo largo de este año.
Podría ser este un ensayo para un ejercicio mayor y más profundo de diálogo y concertación, en el futuro.
Nos expondríamos a la frustración si se pretendiera que lo que debe salir de esta cumbre sea un programa de gobierno de cuatro años o más. Eso es imposible y no es aconsejable jugar con las expectativas.
Editorial del Listín Diario del 24 de enero, 2009.
La nación está obligada a realizar ajustes en su marcha y lo que se pretende es que esos ajustes cuenten, de antemano, con la aprobación de todos aquellos sectores que inciden en la economía y que están llamados a unirse para encarar la crisis.
Si este ejercicio es fructífero, entonces allí mismo quedarían sentadas las bases para una concertación de mayor alcance y perdurabilidad.
No le pidamos a la cumbre más de lo que ella, pragmáticamente hablando, puede darnos si se desconcentra de la razón fundamental que es la emergencia de la crisis para irse más lejos y entrar en una órbita esteril de discusiones y propuestas que no conducirían a nada.
Original Listín
miércoles, enero 21, 2009
¿Será la Reforma Constitucional Anti-sistémica?
Llegó el momento de desarrollar e implantar reformas constitucionales sistémicas. https://t.co/e1Re7HqGG8 #EuropeIN pic.twitter.com/WiiIoM5xfg— Jose A Vanderhorst S (@gmh_upsa) June 5, 2016
@gmh_upsa @EdJorgePrats @rafael_ciprian @fdespinal @cristobalrodg 100% de acuerdo. Constitucion donde reinen los ciudadanos, no lo politicos
— Dagoberto J. Torres (@DJavierTH) June 5, 2016
@gmh_upsa pic.twitter.com/4gktAmLTTV
— Dagoberto J. Torres (@DJavierTH) June 5, 2016
Bueno p/ transformación @DJavierTH Imagen: extracto entrevista Hans-Adam II de Liechtenstein https://t.co/UtvjgKgYN5 pic.twitter.com/LKRrgrbVlU
— Jose A Vanderhorst S (@gmh_upsa) June 5, 2016
La reforma constitucional de la República Dominicana, por ejemplo, parece haber dado como resultado el dominio del poder ejecutivo sobre los poderes dependientes legislativo y judicial. Esto es peor que las relaciones negativas entre dichos poderes. Sería un ejemplo de lo más anti-sistémico posible [2] que ha dado como resultado lo que ha sido calificado como el Tollo Eléctoral, que crea una crisis poselectoral como la del 1994 que propició varias reformas a la Constitución dominicana, una de las cuales fue la separación de las elecciones legislativas y municipales de las presidenciales, convirtiéndolas así en verdaderas elecciones de medio término, lo que desapareció en la elección de 2016.
Entendemos que el Tollo Electoral es un síntoma de un problema mayor: los Estados hipertrofiados a nivel global [Cuarta actualización de 3]. La causa fundamental de estos Estados hipertrofiados es el vacío de liderazgo global [4] que ha impuesto el capitalismo de amiguetes con mercados regulados mediocres. En respuesta, hemos expresado que [Cuarta actualización de 3]:
Hasta prueba en contrario, el único sector en que está disponible el pensamiento estratégico global para empezar a reequilibrar la relación Estado-mercado es el sector eléctrico con una Ley Sistémica de Electricidad que servirá para transformar el sector eléctrico como marco de referencia global de la democracia directa de los mercado sistémicos (#DD_SM). Esta realidad permite superar los daños que ha provocado la confianza ciega en las élites de la democracia representativa con sus teorías de los negocios obsoletas.
Excelente 'antecedente' @EdJorgePrats @LANACION a la transformación constitucional de los países interdedependientes pic.twitter.com/DqjAfuE1S2— Jose A Vanderhorst S (@gmh_upsa) June 4, 2016
'Antecedente' via @EdJorgePrats para transformar constitución @DJavierTH @rafael_ciprian @fdespinal @cristobalrodg https://t.co/BmWbeazDv5— Jose A Vanderhorst S (@gmh_upsa) June 4, 2016
Hipertrofia estatal en 'democracias en crisis' https://t.co/3Z9x78cHHE @robertoacyr @FridaRomayHgo @flaviafrei @EduardoRomayO @prodriguezp— Jose A Vanderhorst S (@gmh_upsa) June 4, 2016
Eventos políticos como los ocurridos en Brasil, recientemente, con el proceso de impeachment presidencial sólo confirman una realidad conocida: el modelo constitucional-democrático se encuentra muy degradado (no sólo en América latina) y expresa hoy una ruptura manifiesta entre las pretensiones deliberadas de la ciudadanía y las acciones de sus representantes. Los cuerpos representativos aparecen definidos por voces que cuentan con escaso peso en la sociedad y definidos también por la presencia de intereses que reflejan la voluntad de la élite dirigente, más que la voluntad colectiva de la comunidad. Con lo dicho no se pretende sugerir, por ejemplo, que el proceso de impeachment en Brasil fuera inconstitucional ni sugerir una crítica particular a tal o cual gobierno, pasado o presente. El punto es más general y tiene que ver con la historia de una larga crisis del sistema representativo que en países como los nuestros se muestra particularmente aguda.
Dicha crisis, que golpea al sistema constitucional en su centro -quitándole legitimidad, respetabilidad, autoridad- puede explicarse de modos diversos. Una de esas explicaciones posibles sería la siguiente: nuestra organización política encuentra sus fundamentos en un modo más bien elitista de pensar la vida pública, propia de un tiempo pasado -finales del siglo XVIII, comienzos del XIX- en directa tensión con las aspiraciones y exigencias democráticas que son propias de nuestro tiempo. Podría decirse que el "traje" constitucional que fue diseñado para sociedades de hace más de dos siglos (sociedades desiguales, excluyentes, jerárquicas) quedó demasiado "estrecho" para nuestro tiempo, caracterizado por sociedades multiculturales, activas y demandantes. De allí que nuestras instituciones resulten habitualmente desbordadas por reclamos que terminan expresándose, comúnmente, por medios extrainstitucionales o aun extralegales.
El Senado de la República acaba de aprobar en segunda lectura el proyecto de ley que declara la necesidad de convocar a una reforma de la Constitución. El proyecto pasa ahora a la Cámara de Diputados que lo conocerá mañana en su sesión ordinaria.
La opinión pública, de la que ustedes amigos lectores forman una importante parte, necesita asegurar que haya la debida secuencia con los resultados de la Cumbre de las “Fuerzas Vivas,” como sugerimos en el mensaje “¿Debería Plan de Nación Impulsar Revolución?” A continuación damos otros argumentos que respaldan la imperante necesidad de que una masa crítica de los participantes a dicha cumbre acuerde posponer ese proceso.
Debe llamarnos la atención las quejas del Poder Legislativo, tengan o no razón. Cuando el río suena, es porque agua trae. Esas quejas sobre la Reforma Constitucional dan que pensar desde el punto de vista de los sistemas. De acuerdo a W. Edwards Deming, un sistema es una red de componentes interdependientes que trabajan juntos para lograr el propósito del sistema.
Si nos restringimos a los poderes ejecutivo, legislativo y judicial, como los componentes del sistema, ninguno de ellos en forma individual es capaz de lograr el propósito del sistema, que es superior a la suma de los propósitos individuales de los componentes. La diferencia está en los aportes entre las partes y por eso la preocupación de la relación negativa entre los poderes ejecutivo y judicial, puede destruir el sistema (Estado fallido). Para lograr un elevado desempeño de la administración pública es absolutamente necesaria una relación de cooperación, basada en el conocimiento profundo, en vez de una de competencia entre los poderes públicos, como la que promueve el defectuoso sistema prevaleciente de gestión.
Para promover esas relaciones de cooperación aconsejamos considerar el libro “Poweful Times: Rising to the Challenge of our Uncertain World,” de Eamonn Kelly. El Sr. Kelly nos comenta que los últimos cinco siglos de historia se están deshaciendo y que los próximos 10 años se iniciará una gran transformación del mundo, en la que podemos y debemos ser partícipes en la creación de nuestro futuro dentro del ámbito global. Una constitución basada en los conocimientos y experiencia del pasado simplemente no nos conviene. Necesitamos una constitución afín con el orden emergente.Agrega Kelly que hace cinco siglos que se le pidió a Niccolo Machiavelli que investigara porqué Pandolfo Petrucci era tan inconstante en su comportamiento. Machiavelli quedó profundamente impresionado por la explicación de Petrucci: “Deseando cometer la menor cantidad de errores, conduzco mi gobierno día a día y arreglo mis asuntos hora por hora porque los tiempos son más poderosos que nuestros cerebros.”
Luego de dar argumentos sólidos, Kelly discrepa de Petrucci (500 años después) y responde, "Estoy convencido que no debemos. Las apuestas son muy elevadas; nuestra era es demasiado compleja; y su velocidad es demasiado rápida para simplemente reaccionar. En vez de eso, debemos amplificar el poder de nuestros cerebros, individual y colectivamente, para ajustarnos a nuestras circunstancias."
Trabajando incansablemente para el proyecto de la electricidad sin control de precios (EWPC), he descubierto lo siguiente: la gran transformación del mundo para ajustarnos a las nuevas circunstancias, puede y debe hacerse adoptando el Sistema de Conocimiento Profundo que W. Edwards Deming legó a la humanidad. Al respecto, he sugerido que consideren la nota 7 Consejos a la Cumbre de las “Fuerzas Vivas”.
Adicionalmente, creo que la formación de una masa crítica de los participantes a la cumbre, sugerida anteriormente, sería posible si contáramos con líderes que sean verdaderamente libres. Tal como apareció en la portada del folleto del Libro de los Valores, publicado por Diario Libre, bajo el auspicios de varias empresas del sector privado, el filosofo Montaigne define “La verdadera libertad consiste en el dominio absoluto de sí mismo.”
Una forma simple de aspirar a ser parte de la masa crítica de líderes verdaderamente libres es asegurar, como dice en otra página dicho folleto, que los líderes no están limitados por los tres “obstáculos para la libertad:”
El miedo, especialmente al Poder Ejecutivo, que puede impedir una reforma constitucional sistémica;
La ignorancia, que impide organizarnos en todos los niveles con el Sistema de Conocimiento Profundo; y
El conformismo, que impide definir e implantar el Plan de Nación que necesitamos para salir del subdesarrollo.
Sería bueno saber ¿quiénes de los participantes a la Cumbre de las “Fuerzas Vivas,” desean ser parte de esa masa crítica? Igualmente, si usted es un líder que no está limitado por esos obstáculos, pero no ha sido invitado, ¿desearía ser parte de ella? En ambos casos, unámonos para comunicar a la opinión pública la necesidad de una reforma constitucional sistémica, basada en el conocimiento profundo y que propicie un Plan de Nación de un Estado exitoso que nos ayude a salir del subdesarrollo.
Es decir, evitemos por todos los medios seguir con el ineficaz sistema prevaleciente de gestión. De seguir con ese sistema ineficaz lo que resultará es una reforma constitucional anti-sistémica que no llevará hacia un Estado fallido.¿Es eso lo que queremos?
José Antonio Vanderhorst Silverio, Ph.D.
Consultor Sistémico
Semilla Orgánica del GMH
Día de la Altagracia, 21 de enero, 2009.
domingo, enero 18, 2009
Think Deming to Enable Much More than Just Freedom
Think Deming to Enable Much More than Just Freedom
By José Antonio Vanderhorst-Silverio, Ph.D.
Systemic Consultant: Electricity
First posted in the GMH Blog, on January 18th, 2009.
Copyright © 2009 José Antonio Vanderhorst-Silverio. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, without written permission from José Antonio Vanderhorst-Silverio. This article is an unedited, an uncorrected, draft material of The EWPC Textbook. Please write to javs@ieee.org to contact the author for any kind of engagement.
Upper classes are a nation’s past. The middle class is its future.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxAyn Rand
Fortunately, more and more people are beginning to sense that the mounting sustainability crises are interconnected–symptoms of a larger global system that is out of balance. As soon as people understand this, their view of the problems shifts. They start to see the extraordinary opportunities for innovation that can occur when we abandon fearful, reactive mentalities. They start to realize the deep problems we face today are not a result of bad luck or a greedy few. They are the result of a way of thinking whose time has passed.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx- Peter Senge
Since it is quite possible that we may not be writing on the same terms; with history, writer, analyst and politics on the side of Mr. Causey; and electricity and systemic thinking and a bit of leadership aim on mine, it is very rich indeed to mix our points of view. One potential end result might be to influence energy policy of the Obama administration.
Many years ago, Ayn Rand seems to have told us: those IOUs upper classes are the nation’s past; the middle class customer is its future. Peter Senge might be telling us in his recent Business Week interview that a discussion on whether IOUs management needs complete freedom from government or not could be a distraction. As we will see below, he seems to imply that the real issue is with their obsolete mental models, one of the four key elements that Deming selected for the transformation of the style of American management.
In the EWPC article “Forget Keynes, Think Deming,” it is very important to reflect on the article conclusion about the insight that emerged through me:
The insight is that Out of the Crisis is not the new labor theory of value (by the way the labor theory of value was replaced from economics), but the management theory of value or the transformation of the style of American management, that says that Deming is right in response to Mr. Causey’s article We'll see who was right, Keynes or Adam Smith & Milton Friedman. The transformation of the style of American (and global) management will enable new innovations to get capitalism out of the present depression. This is all about systemic thinking.”
Note the last sentence “This is all about systemic thinking,” as it is further explained why “Think Deming” can enable more than the freedom that my e-mail friend and vice president of the Energy Central Network, Mr. Warren Causey, asked in his interesting rebuttal attempt Forget Keynes, Deming, Marks, all of them: Think Freedom! With respect to that either/or thinking, I will develop a both/and thinking with Deming and Freedom.
President Obama, and all other presidents and prime ministers of the world, need to lead the transformation of the prevailing system of management to get the world to begin “pulling the whole group of core economies onto that higher productivity plateau,” as Carlota Pérez, describes in her book “Technological Revolutions and Financial Capital.” That is the way to get capitalism back to its roots, as the American forefathers wished.
The introduction to the revised edition of Peter Senge’s The Fifth Discipline (T5D) is entitled “The Prevailing System of Management.” In that introduction, Dr. Senge explains whom he selected “to write a comment for the [T5D] book jacket”:
As first time author… I realized that there was no one I would rather have write something than Dr. W. Edwards Deming… I knew of no one who had had a greater impact on management practice.
When Senge received a letter from Dr. Deming he had a great surprise that he tells in said introduction:
Reading the first sentence, I stopped to catch my breath. Somehow he had said in a sentence what I had struggled to put into four hundred pages. It is amazing, I though, how clear and direct you can be when you reach the end of your years (Deming was then almost 90). As I took in the totality of what he had written, I slowly started to realize he had unveiled a deeper layer of connections, and a bigger task, that I had previously understood.”
Our prevailing system of management has destroyed our people. People are born with intrinsic motivation, self-respect, dignity, curiosity to learn, joy in learning. The forces of destruction begin with toddlers – a prize for the best Halloween costume, grades in school, gold stars – and on up through the university. On the job, people, teams, and divisions are ranked, reward for the top, punishment for the bottom. Management by Objectives, quotas, incentive pay, business plans, put together separately, division by division, cause further loss, unknown and unknowable.
… The real work, which he simply called “the transformation of the prevailing system of management,” lay beyond the aims of managers seeking only short term performance improvements. This transformation, he believed, required “profound knowledge” largely untapped in contemporary institutions. Only one element of this profound knowledge, “theory of variations” (statistical theory and methods), was associated with the common understanding of TQM [total quality management]. The other three elements, to my amazement, mapped almost directly onto the five disciplines: “understanding a system” [Understanding complexity: 1) System thinking], “the theory of knowledge” [Reflective conversation: 2) Mental models and 3) Dialogue] (the importance of mental models), and “psychology” [Aspiration: 4) Personal mastery and 5) Shared vision] especially “intrinsic motivation” (the importance of personal vision and genuine aspiration).
If economists understood the theory of a system, and the role of cooperation in optimization, they would no longer teach and preach salvation through adversarial competition. They would, instead, lead us into the best plan for a system, in which everybody would come out ahead.” However, Deming explains that “[C]ompetition should be directed towards expansion of the market and to meet needs not yet served.
In the GMH post U.S Power Service is Regulated as a 3rd World Country, it becomes clear that “for every dollar spent on electricity, consumers are spending at least 50 cents on other goods and services to cover the costs of power failures.” It is that large market expansion to serve needs that the IOUs paradigm is no longer able to serve.
The EWPC paradigm has the right monopoly of physical transportation, while customers can select a service that fits their needs for quality, availability, security and reliability at the open market. The EWPC article Power Customers Begging Superior Solution Path helps envision the emerging whole market:
The vision to get third world societies out of unreliable service is now simple in the Digital Era after a lot of sweat: reduce complexity by dividing the complex power industry in two cohesive less complex systems that are loosely coupled among themselves. The separation between the regulated system and the open market system is made possible by the ultraquality imperative (i.e. high system reliability).
Expand the regulated transportation system at least costs to enable such maximum social welfare in the open market under the value chain generation, retail, pro-sumer.
Under such a system, the spot price of reliable electricity will be the result of true supply and demand. Such spot price will be the reference for all types of economic transactions. Every customer then can purchase the power they need and can afford without communist like perverse incentives of the regulated price control system that results in today's third world service.
This is what the technology neutral EWPC market architecture and design paradigm will bring: competition, just like in the electronic industry, among Retailers’ Enterprise Solutions enabling the needed business model innovations to supersede the obsolete monopoly price control business models.
7 Consejos a la Cumbre de las “Fuerzas Vivas”
1) Seguir los conceptos de W. Edwards Deming en su libro “The New Economy: for industry, goverment, education” (La Nueva Economía: para la industria, el gobierno, la educación.” Lo que sigue es un intento por reflejar de manera sintética una parte clave de la gran sabiduría que Deming nos legó para elevar la productividad y la generación de riqueza, para que salgamos del subdesarrollo. Concentraré la atención en el país, pero la sabiduría aplica a cualquiera de esos tres tipos de organización de producción de bienes y/o servicios.
2) Es necesaria una transformación para salir de la trampa de un sistema tiránico prevaleciente de gestión, que es el mayor generador de inmensas pérdidas en magnitudes que no pueden ser evaluadas ni medidas, al sistema de conocimiento profundo que nos llevará a la prosperidad. Falla en enfrentar esas pérdidas nos llevarán, valga la redundancia, a un Estado fallido. Los delegados tienen que aceptar con humildad que la cumbre, como toda solución rápida, no es una forma de adquirir conocimiento profundo. Ante todo, cada uno de ellos necesita entender el sistema de conocimiento profundo para transformarse. Necesitamos el liderazgo auténtico que permita desarrollar a largo plazo una cultura que valore el aprendizaje y el progreso.
3) Considerar la República Dominicana que queremos como un sistema en que trabajemos juntos con el propósito que todos ganemos. De esa idea se desprende que ese sistema está destruido; no tenemos sistema. Hay que crearlo para poder administrarlo como un solo sistema y para eso hay que hacer muchos cambios. Lo que es mejor para todo el país es idéntico a lo que a largo plazo es mejor para todos.
4) La nueva constitución debe conformar un sistema que tenga futuro y un propósito. Es necesario eliminar el sistema jerárquico de mérito, porqué hace que queramos agradar a los jefes, especialmente al Presidente. Ninguna cantidad de cuidado o habilidad por parte de los funcionarios pueden sobreponer fallas fundamentales en la constitución (del sistema.)
5) Concentren la atención sobre el propósito del país. Eviten entrar en las partes del sistema, cuyo secreto es cooperar para lograr dicho propósito, hasta que el mismo no esté consensuado. Si las “fuerzas vivas” logran hacer el consenso del propósito habrán dado en el clavo. Si se concentran en el corto plazo tratando de suplir conocimiento profundo habrán perdido su tiempo, porque contrario a las soluciones fundamentales, las soluciones sintomáticas, en que el equipo ejecutivo abdica su responsabilidad por todo el sistema (que incluye el futuro), generan en poco tiempo otros males peores. Deming afirmó que la mayoría de los problemas y de las oportunidades para solucionarlos recaen en el sistema, cuya responsabilidad es de la administración, que debe reconocer y administrar la interdependencia entre las partes del sistema, solucionando los conflictos y removiendo las barreras a la cooperación.
6) El próximo paso es hacer que la educación, la industria y el gobierno interactúen como un sistema, con cooperación: ganar, ganar.
7) Con base a lo anterior, hay que trabajar entonces, por ejemplo, para reformular el presupuesto de la nación desde el punto de vista sistémico. La primera tarea podría ser calcular las pérdidas que ocasiona la interdependencia de cada renglón del presupuesto de cada departamento a cada uno de los demás. Solo aquellas iniciativas que resultan con beneficio neto para el país se ejecutan, pasando el resto a inversiones a largo plazo como sugirió economista Carlos Asilis en el 160 aniversario de la Cámara de Comercio y Producción de Santo Domingo.
José Antonio Vanderhorst Silverio, Ph.D.
Consultor Sistémico
Semilla Orgánica del GMH
18 de enero, 2009.
jueves, enero 15, 2009
Forget Keynes, Think Deming
Forget Keynes, Think Deming
By José Antonio Vanderhorst-Silverio, Ph.D.
Systemic Consultant: Electricity
First posted in the GMH Blog, on January 15th, 2009.
Copyright © 2009 José Antonio Vanderhorst-Silverio. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, without written permission from José Antonio Vanderhorst-Silverio. This article is an unedited, an uncorrected, draft material of The EWPC Textbook. Please write to javs@ieee.org to contact the author for any kind of engagement.
This article is a follow up of the EWPC article IOUs Perverse Communism and a response to the excellent article written by my e-mail friend Mr. Warren Causey Don't look now, but Atlas is shrugging. I respect his position on the industry.
Even though I know that it was Edison's secretary, Sam Insull, that extended the wires 'natural monopoly' (the only monopoly kept by EWPC) to the whole utility at state governments, I can respect others' ideas that the perverse communism is solely the government’s fault and that powerful lobbies do nothing (it takes two to tango). In fact, if IOUs are not communist like, the solution to the crisis is a lot easier. President Obama should in fact follow that advice.
However, I respectfully disagree in that EWPC is not about rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. Related to the disagreement, I found this on the Internet: “Idiom Definitions for 'Rearrange the deckchairs on the Titanic:’ If people are rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic, they are making small changes that will have no effect as the project, company, etc, is in very serious trouble.”
In fact, the government has only been rearranging deckchairs so far with the incremental extensions of the IOUs paradigm, like PURPA, Open Transmission Access, EPAct 92, capacity markets, NERC mandatory standards, which have resulted in simple and stupid behavior. That conclusion is based on Dee Hock, CEO Emeritus VISA International, which gave us the insight:
Simple, clear purpose and principles give rise to complex and intelligent behavior. Complex rules and regulations give rise to simple and stupid behavior.
In the EWPC article Can the Power Industry Eliminate its Price Controls to the End Customer?, I suggested that:
The dead-end of regulator's capacity for price controls shows up once again, while modeling the Smart Grid business case. Under today's EPAct, price controls are for simple problems, when we are facing a very tough systemic crisis. A systemic solution requires a EWPC re-regulation EPAct that deregulates wholesale and retail commercial energy transactions, while keeping regulated the Smart Grid reliable transport.
This is a little personal history. My service activities, on what emerged as EWPC on the Energy Central Network, started in 1996 with a request to offer a solution to the electricity crisis of the Dominican Republic, using funds of the American taxpayer through the U.S. AID. I had a Ph.D. on Information Theory, since 1972, deep knowledge of the power industry, since 1996, and a heavy reader of management literature to be applied in a design course that I taught at Santo Domingo Technological Institute, since 1985.
To get our industry out a brutal electricity crisis (that has gotten worse, just as in the US), I proposed a real transformation of the Dominican power industry, as can be seen in the Spanish white paper - Necesidad de una Politica Integral de Electricidad para la República Dominicana (the need for an integral policy of electricity for the Dominican Republic). The transformation was towards a clear long run vision of the future power industry. At some point I understood that this was a global crisis.
In the preface of his book “Out of the Crisis,” the late W. Edward Deming wrote:
The aim of this book is transformation of the style of American management. Transformation of American style of management is not a job of reconstruction, nor is it revision. It requires a whole new structure, from foundation upward.What Dr. Deming proposed was not about rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic. So is the job of the transformation of the power industry that requires a whole new structure, and I submit that that structure is the EWPC market architecture and design paradigm.
Dr. Deming adds what President Obama and all global presidents and prime ministers needs to grasp:
Transformation must take place with directed effort. Need for transformation of governmental relations with industry is also necessary, as will be obvious... [After several paragraphs]… Only transformation of the American style of management, and of government relations with industry, can halt the decline and give American industry a chance to lead the world again... [after more paragraphs]…for this the reader will sense the fact that not only is the style of American management unfitted for this economic age, but that many government regulations and the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division are out step, propelling American industry along the path of decline, contrary to the well-being of the American people. For example, unfriendly takeover and leveraged buyouts are a cancer in the American system. Fear of takeover, along with emphasis on the quarterly dividend, defeat constancy of purpose.
After writing the above, an insight that has wanted to emerge through me can now be articulated. The insight started to emerge when I read the following in the article “Smith, Marx, Kondratieff and Keynes,” which said:
This paper attempts to show a convergence of these seemingly oppositional approaches through the common denominator of the labor theory of value. Thus Smith created the labor theory of value to describe how a small village economy worked, but Marx later showed the consequences of how the labor theory would function within a larger capitalist system, leading to excess production and a serious economic downturn, followed by a political collapse. Kondratieff believed that periodic downturns were resolvable within capitalism. Other long wave writers suggested that new labor-based innovations brought capitalism out of the serious depressions, in effect reestablishing the labor theory for another period, of perhaps twenty years.
The insight is that Out of the Crisis is the not the new labor theory of value (by the way the labor theory of value was replaced from economics), but the management theory of value or the transformation of the style of American management, that says that Deming is right in response to Mr. Causey’s article We'll see who was right, Keynes or Adam Smith & Milton Friedman. The transformation of the style of American (and global) management will enable new innovations to get capitalism out of the present depression. This is all about systemic thinking.
José Antonio Vanderhorst-Silverio, Ph.D.
Systemic Consultant: Electricity
miércoles, enero 14, 2009
IOUs Perverse Communism
IOUs Perverse Communism
By José Antonio Vanderhorst-Silverio, Ph.D.
Systemic Consultant: Electricity
First posted in the GMH Blog, on January 14th, 2009.
Copyright © 2009 José Antonio Vanderhorst-Silverio. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, without written permission from José Antonio Vanderhorst-Silverio. This article is an unedited, an uncorrected, draft material of The EWPC Textbook. Please write to javs@ieee.org to contact the author for any kind of engagement.
In the EWPC article Dr. Chu backed away slightly, I quote Dr. Chu saying "The answer is efficiency, using less so that even if the price rises, the bill does not.” I conclude that "To be succesful, the administration needs to actually break open the electricity markets, leaving physical distribution under state regulation."
Taking a stand to keep parts of the electricity markets closed, in the article Chu trying to appear less ‘scary’, Warren Causey wrote that “Right now, facing perhaps the most serious series of crises in the republic’s existence, and for our industry, we don’t need far-left ideologues in power.” The assumption of what seems as a far-left ideologue needs to be questioned in light of the perverse communism that has now become a divine dispensation for the investor owned utilities (IOUs) regulated price control business model.
The power industry needs to replace that obsolete model, with free society business model innovations, to get out of “perhaps the most serious series of crises in the republic’s existence.” I will show that what is needed is the creative destruction of the IOUs paradigm by the technology neutral electricity without price controls (EWPC) market architecture and design. To confirm the EWPC is neutral, see the article EWPC Can’t Be a Market Winner, whose summary says:
2GRs [Second Generation Retailers] want to compete to develop market business model innovations for global retail market segments. On a given market segment, the market winner of the market vs. market competition can only be enabled after the EWPC EPAct [Energy Policy Act] is enacted. The EWPC EPAct should forbid state regulators from letting utilities win rate cases that involve Intelligent Utility Enterprise and Smart Grid investments, because of the high risks of failure involved.”
Instead of far-left radical ideas, in the EWPC article Divine Dispensation of Electric Markets is Gone, I quoted Megatrends explaining the way capitalism works in the “Law of the Situation: the railroads did not understand,” (see my post of 9.11.07 above – the reference comes from the EnergyPulse article An Analysis of the Carbon Emissions Impact of the Senate Energy Bill, by Chris Neil, Energy Economist) that applies to IOUs, from which I extract,
Some people [IOUs for example] still believe there’s a divine dispensation that their markets are theirs - and no one else’s - now and forevermore. It is an old dream that dies hard, yet no businessman in a free society can control a market when the customers decide to go somewhere else [under EWPC for example]. All the king’s horses and all the king’s man are helpless in the face of a better product. Our commercial history is filled with examples of companies that failed to change in a changing world, and became tombstones in the corporate graveyard.”
Making transparent his beliefs, Warren Causey had also written just before the interesting article, We'll see who was right, Keynes or Adam Smith & Milton Friedman, which questions the Keynesian economics “counter-cyclical” debt spending being followed by the US government and concludes: “
Imagine what's going to happen when the bourgeois realizes that the proletariat-controlled elite (Washington) not only is soaking them for everything, but also driving the whole kit 'n kaboodle over a cliff. From a historic perspective what you usually get out of that kind of mess is a revolution and a nasty dictatorship. The old saw that “you can’t spend your way out of debt” never seemed more true.
As a historian, the beliefs behind Mr. Causey’s conclusion are obviously similar to those of Karl Marx as we will see using the reference “Smith, Marx, Kondratieff and Keynes,” that I found on the Internet, a key to the understanding of what is really happening. Using an arbitrary “sequence”, the story could start like this: “
Keynes knew that capitalism could build more capacity than it could absorb. However he believed that these imbalances could be resolved through 'counter-cyclical' deficit speeding by the federal government. For Keynes, the weak point of capitalism lay within investment, and serious depressions made further private investment difficult, opening the door to direct federal intervention through the 'counter-cyclical' deficit spending. This type of intervention has become known as fiscal and monetary policy.
The reference goes on to show that the US has kept using Keynesian economics "successfully" in two other downturns. I am in agreement with Mr. Causey in that this time around will be an excessive gamble. Then “sequence” actually follows Smith as:
Marx later showed the consequences of how the labor theory would function within a larger capitalist system, leading to excess production and a serious economic downturn, followed by a political collapse.
That seems to be the end of the story in accordance to Mr. Causey’s understanding which wants to avoid communism, by keeping capitalism. But the story does not end there as “
Kondratieff felt that there was an internal restabilizing factor within capitalism, which reasserted itself during serious depressions, with each major down turn holding within itself the seeds for the next upturn.
That restabilizing factor has to do with the new Law of the Situation: the IOUs did not understand. The story continuous with creative destruction, like this:
Later during the 1930s, Joseph A. Schumpeter revised Kondratieff's theory and claimed that the capitalist entrepreneur was responsible for particular labor-based innovations, which then precipitated the long waves. The version of long wave theory presented here is a conflation of Kondratieff and Schumpeter. This version suggests that periodic severe depressions in capitalism have been relieved by new labor-based innovations, less than through the wringing out of bad debt through debt-deflation as claimed by conventional economics. 6 The long wave collapses have occurred in the way that Marx described. However, so long as new labor-based innovations have developed, capitalism has rebuilt itself each time from each collapse.
IOUs managed to stop progress back in the 1990s, as I explain in the EWPC article Slicing the Last of the Regulated Monopolies, which is summarized as:
The sense of urgency has arrived to introduce competition in the power industry, with a paradigm shift to EWPC. The shift will sliced the last of the regulated monopolies. Enough insights are now available to introduce EWPC and to understand the BIG California LIE, which for more than a decade has led to large worldwide scams.
The incredible value destruction of this erroneous path might make Karl Marx right, unless radical action is taken to return to the philosophy of the free society that the forefathers told. As Warren said “Interesting times we live in, especially for a historian.”