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Growth in renewables can be attributed to 5 key market trends:

• Unprecedented growth and cost improvements in renewable energy sources
• Improvements in new technologies and energy efficiency
• Growing instability in fossil-fuel supply and prices
• Growing support from governments and investors
• Electricity generation by new and different entities

These trends are creating uncertainty in the electricity sector and new challenges forcing decision makers to think about how best to respond to them. Regulators, grid operators, planners, and utilities must now contend with technology changes evolving on a sub-annual basis, while also balancing conventional, pre-existing pressures to increase electricity access, increase the amount and reliability of the electricity provided, and improve the quality of services rendered. Generally, the report finds that there are 3 key challenges that need to be responded to by decision makers in order to build a future grid that delivers clean, reliable and affordable energy:

• Technology and Infrastructure: There are increased complexities and physical constraints to the grid due to the adoption of new, intermittent technologies and distributed generation. The traditional electricity grid is evolving into a more complex network that is becoming more challenging to design, operate, and manage.
   
• Institutional Arrangements: The conventional, central utility model is being challenged by quickening trends toward distributed, on-site, and self-generation. The centralized, top-down approach to operating the grid is being tested and the role of the conventional utility is being brought into question.
   
• Electricity Pricing And Equity: Electricity pricing and equity concerns are arising, as the scale-up of new generation and grid technologies, and shifts toward new generation models, are raising questions about proper and equitable tariffs, cross-subsidization, and cost burdens.