The evolving long tail at the edge of the grid: Benefits and concerns

Market liberalization and affordable distributed technologies leads to energy systems with “long-tail” characteristics. The emerging system is fragmented and dynamic, composed of numerous assets and multiple players with different motivations and capabilities. The long tail offers benefits for the environment, energy security, and consumers, while also introducing new regulatory challenges and safety concerns. This perspective describes the characteristics of the evolving long-tail system and highlights potential positive and negative impacts on the environment, society, and energy security, considering regulatory and governance gaps.