Summary ø The Business Solutions Working Group consists of members dedicated to promoting collaborative GridWise business opportunities by fostering unique, high-value business partnerships and exploring new business models for engaging utilities, vendors, and third party investments in deploying GridWise solutions. This includes alternative approaches for public support of innovation such as market transformation initiatives. They will also identify regulatory issues and barriers, develop potential solutions, and actively engage a broad range of stakeholders and decision makers to implement them.

Charter ø Develop and Communicate Regulatory Options

ø Develop New Business Models for Deploying Advanced Solutions

ø Foster Unique, High-Value Business Partnerships

Develop New Business Models for Deploying Advanced Solutions

• Catalyze utility and non-utility investments to deploy advanced technology by fostering new business alternatives for traditional grid infrastructure.
  
  
• Explore alternative approaches for public support of innovation such as market transformation initiatives.
  
  
• Accelerate market changes by characterizing and addressing market barriers to successful projects and businesses.
  
  
• Enhance the growth and vitality of industry by communicating successes broadly.

Foster Unique, High-Value Business Partnerships

• Promote collaborative business opportunities by providing ample forums to explore them.
  
  
• Demonstrate unique, innovative, and complete solutions by fostering partnerships that span the energy industry value chain from end-use to bulk power markets.
  
  
• Acknowledge and celebrate business innovations by establishing national, highly visible recognition strategies.
  
  
• Demonstrate the benefits of open, interoperable systems by creating successful partnerships that exhibit these characteristics.

Develop and Communicate Regulatory Options

• Identify regulatory issues and barriers through open forums.
  
  
• Point to potential solutions by developing a range of regulatory options and comprehensive supporting analysis.
  
  
• Become a repository of knowledge by creating a library of information for workable solutions and regulatory options.
  
  
• Communicate options by actively engaging a broad range of stakeholders and decision makers.

Activities ø The Business Solutions Working Group will:

• Identify regulatory barriers and propose alternative regulatory and business frameworks.
  
  
• Participate in and co-sponsor forums to identify regulatory barriers and potential solutions.
  
  
• Work with the Outreach Working Group to disseminate information on regulatory strategies and options to members and stakeholders.
  
  
• Explore and develop new business models.
  
  
• Propose alternative means for publicly-funded activities to support innovation, such as market transformation and other publicly-funded Òmarket-pullÓ approaches.
  
  
• Identify market barriers and means of addressing them.
  
  
• Work with the Outreach Working Group to publicize advantages of new business models.
  
  
• Create forums to explore collaborative business opportunities.
  
  
• Create successful partnerships that span the energy industry value chain.
  
  
• Co-sponsor and participate in GridWise nomination and award committees.
  
  
• Work with the Outreach Working Group to disseminate information about new partnerships that demonstrate the benefits of open, interoperable systems.
  
  
• Work with the Technology Working Group to develop forums encouraging members to develop team proposals responding to technology RFPs from DOE and others.

In collaboration with the Business Solutions Working Group , Alliance members will :

• Use ad hoc contacts with stakeholders to raise awareness and promote solutions for regulatory issues.
  
  
• Unilaterally demonstrate and adopt new business models as appropriate.

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