When the world wide web first came onto the scene, the dominant supplier of proprietary software, Microsoft, was forced to adopt the internet to stay relevant. Could there be a lesson here for utilities grappling with the disruptive nature of distributed technologies like solar?

Much like tech companies of the 1990s, utilities face an “unavoidable shift” and don’t have any choice but to embrace distributed solar, argued executives from Clean Power Finance in a webinar recently hosted by the Solar Electric Power Association. Given that Clean Power Finance operates online exchanges for distributed solar financing, it shouldn’t be surprising that the company is bullish on the potential of utilities and distributed solar.

Still, the discussion unearthed some of the issues that have made many utility executives uneasy about the rapid rise of distributed solar. It’s a dynamic that has led to reviews of net energy metering laws in California and Arizona and much discussion over whether power providers will be marginalized as more consumers adopt distributed energy.

In an attempt to define and understand these changes, Greentech Media also released its grid edge concept this week, which categorizes the shifts in hardware, services and business models in the power sector.