At Tuesday’s New York Energy Week Smart Grid Roundtable discussion, experts from various perspectives talked about how smart metering and new data sources are changing power grid operations, customer engagement and revenue structures. Price signals are key to altering customer behavior with regard to energy consumption, but a smart meter alone may not be enough… Keep reading →
The US Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) newly released analysis of the impacts of the EPA’s proposed Clean Power Plan finds a mixture of technology, market forces and policy could result in a significant carbon emissions reductions if the rule is ultimately passed. The rule is intended to reduce CO2 emissions from existing fossil fuel power generation… Keep reading →
There’s more trouble for carbon capture and more trouble for Southern Company, the big Atlanta-based utility holding company: South Mississippi Electric Power Association backed out of its plan to pump $600 million into the Kemper County Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage Project in Mississippi for a 15 percent stake. Fitch reacted quickly. Fitch will review the ratings and Outlook for… Keep reading →
A quarter of the nation’s electricity would still come from coal in 2030, so it’s hard to view the Obama administration’s proposed Clean Power Plan as the wholesale remaking of the U.S. power sector that the increasingly dire science on global warming would seemingly compel. Nevertheless, a new U.S. Energy Information Administration analysis shows the… Keep reading →
Brazil’s federal government appears to be dedicating serious effort – at long last – to developing the country’s solar industry. Although Brazil has a population of nearly 200 million, it only has 42 MW of cumulative installed capacity. For the sake of comparison, that level of capacity is roughly on par with the state of… Keep reading →
Back in March it was first reported by the major German TV network ARD (Tagesschau.de) that German utility E.ON was contemplating mothballing one of the most efficient power plants in Europe, a gas-fired high-efficiency combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power plant called ‘Irsching 4 and 5’ in the southern state of Bavaria – which only went… Keep reading →
Solar power is on the brink of becoming profitable in Japan and when it does, the technology will have achieved “commercial viability” in all of the G7 countries, Reuters is reporting. “Solar has come of age in Japan and from now on will be replacing imported uranium and fossil fuels,” said Tomas Kåberger, executive board chairman of Japan… Keep reading →
The geothermal industry’s efforts to grab a bigger slice of the growing renewable energy pie met with some success in 2014, though that wasn’t reflected in the United States, where questions remain as to when – or if – geothermal might become more than a relatively small, regional player. Previewing its latest annual report, the… Keep reading →
There’s another Gold Rush in California – only now renewable energy is the precious commodity, and big corporations are the prospectors. Last week Apple struck solar and Google mined wind. Now Kaiser Permanente has discovered both. The giant health-care company announced a threefer on Wednesday: The purchase of 43 megawatts of wind power from… Keep reading →
Opinion: Nuclear Energy Keeping the Lights on in the Cold
By Former Senator Judd GreggExtreme cold weather has had a tight grip on much of the Northern U.S. this winter. Boston recently saw its lowest temperature since 2004 and New York City had its coldest February morning in nearly three decades. As millions of Americans endure these cold temperatures, the importance of electricity for heating our homes and… Keep reading →