Consumer, Prosumer, Prosumager - by Fereidoon Sioshansi (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Consumers, Prosumers, Prosumagers: How Service Innovations will Disrupt the Utility Business Model examines customer stratification in the electric power sector, arguing that it is poised to become one of the fundamental drivers of the 21st century power network as distributed energy generation, storage, sharing and trading options become available at scale. The book addresses the interface and the relationship between key players and their impacts on incumbent and disruptive service providers. Topics covered include innovations that lead to consumer stratification, regulatory policy, the potential of service, the speed and spread of stratification, and a review of potential business models and strategies.

The work also covers the evolution and potential end-states of electricity service provision, from its basis in current pilot programs as distributed generation scales and its potential to supplant industry norms.

Review Quotes

"Sioshansi's new book is a must-read for anyone interested in the evolution of the electricity sector. While the sector's historical roots are useful for understanding how we find ourselves with the current infrastructure and system of networks, its future will prove to be more dynamic and flexible than anyone could have thought possible. This book will show you how that will come about." --Roger Lilley, EE Publishers

"If you are curious about the future potential of distributed and digitalised clean energy, you will be fascinated by this book. If you want to believe in the continued success of today's electricity utility business model, you might find it rather uncomfortable to read. Fereidoon Sioshansi's latest edited volume explores how units as small as households can become energy owner-user-managers with their own mini-systems and business relationships. To describe the possibilities, he and his co-authors coin a new word: "prosumager. More ambitious than the now familiar solar prosumer, a prosumager considers the full range of currently available technologies and invests additionally in their own distributed storage and smart energy management systems. The heart of the book is a discussion of the implications of that choice. (...) Together they have assembled a superbly rich up-to-date compendium of examples." --Jesse Scott in Economics of Energy & Environmental Policy 8:2 (2019)