In The Advanced Smart Grid is Coming, author John Cooper introduces his new book, The Advanced Smart Grid, and outlines the potential and the challenges associated with a second generation smart grid designed to integrate massive amounts of distributed energy resources.

In Address Smart Grid Challenges to Build a Smart Grid Strategy, John Cooper describes five principal challenge areas that electric utilities must address before they will truly be prepared to begin a smart grid strategic planning effort.

In Smart Consumer Maturity Model, John Cooper explores the drivers leading consumers to become more engaged and aware of energy, and discusses the potential for utilities to stimulate this process to support their goals and improve trust.

In Getting Ready for Customer Use Cases, John Cooper describes two types of technology change - to the centralized utility grid and to consumers on the distributed edge - and stresses the need for utilities to get involved to understand how customers will use energy in the future, to support better customer service and to help design a smart grid that meets their needs and those of the customers as well.

In Can a Monopolist Become Market-Oriented, John Cooper asks a difficult question, pondering the seismic shift underway in the electric utility world, as smart consumers gain a voice and utilities seek to understand the nuances of marketing.

In The Value of Service-Oriented Architecture, John Cooper explores the potential of organizing a utility IT back office to enable applications to use a shared database and to improve business processes inside a utility.

In Vertical Silos in a Horizontal Smart Grid World, John Cooper describes the changes underway in utility organizational structure and business processes, as information becomes increasingly prevalent throughout the utility.

In Complexity, Uncertainty, and the Imperative of Reliability, John Cooper examines the impact that complexity and uncertainty have on utility decision making.

In Business Process Improvement and Project Management: Inside Smart Grid Success, John Cooper explains the twin pillars of smart grid success, taking the reader back to the basics of sound business management.

In Technology Challenges to Grid Power, John Cooper describes the growing area of Distributed Energy Services (DES) and its potential to challenge the business model of grid-delivered commodity kWhs.

In From Commodities to Services, John Cooper digs deeper on the service model opportunity for utiliites, offering the transition in the telecommunications industry away from dial tone only as an example/model for electric utilities to move beyond providing kWhs.

In Limited IT Budgets and Growing Demands, John Cooper explores the challenges facing utility IT departments as they transform into the foundation of the utility smart grid, with a focus on managing limited IT budgets and diverse organizational perspectives.

In Taming Big Data for Big Impact, John Cooper addresses the growing challenge of managing data flowing from multiple devices into the utility back office, showing how a mastery of data will be the key to unlocking the potential of electric utilities to transform them into smart grids.

In Utilities at the Dawn of a New Era, John Cooper reviews the past year and looks forward to three principal trends in 2012: Dual-Track Smart Grid, Distributed Energy Services and Solutions, and Data Analytics-Driven Products and Services.