US solar giant SolarCity today announced the launch of a microgrid product with built in energy storage capability. SolarCity is going after the commercial market, targeting municipalities, which is a segment the company views as underserved. Extreme weather events have been increasingly disruptive for municipalities in recent years. See Hurricane Sandy as an example.… Keep reading →
Electric utility company business model which took off in 1880s with the first power station in lower Manhattan providing electricity to 59 customers has not much changed since. This is indeed unique as very few other businesses have shown strong resistance to change. Over the last few years though, the electric industry is witnessing certain… Keep reading →
Pushing forward on what some are calling “Utility 2.0,” New York on Thursday adopted a regulatory reform framework aimed in large part at paving the way for more cleaner, distributed energy on the grid. A whole host of factors is driving the state here: A post-Sandy desire to address climate-change risks, increasingly cheaper renewables, smart… Keep reading →
Former FERC Chairman, Jon Wellinghoff spoke in an interview about the need to harden the electric grid from security threats by expanding the use of microgrids and distributed generation. “People are beginning to understand that they need their own onsite capabilities to island themselves from the grid. That’s because the grid’s external vulnerabilities will continue… Keep reading →
Who would have thought even just a few years ago that one could use a smart phone to check the ‘status’ of electricity availability in the area in real-time. No worries, I am not talking about the US or Germany. Though it’s possible those countries could face power supply issues in certain regions if decommissioning… Keep reading →
As society becomes more and more dependent on technology and Mother Nature continues to deliver dramatic weather events across all parts of the globe, utilities must develop and deploy newer and more advanced grid technologies that can proactively respond to potential impacts and recover quickly from outages. But, is grid modernization only about the technologies… Keep reading →
In its assessment of EPA’s proposed Clean Power Plan released this week, the North American Electric Reliability Association (NERC) says it will take more analysis to determine if the targets can be achieved in EPA’s time frame without affecting the reliability of the bulk power system. The NERC assessment, Potential Reliability Impacts of EPA’s Proposed Clean Power… Keep reading →
The New York Power Authority recently launched the state’s first energy management network operations center – the New York Energy Manager (NYEM). Housed in Albany in partnership with the Colleges of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, NYEM, is a comprehensive network and decision tool that utilizes Big Data analytics to monitor and troubleshoot buildings to reduce… Keep reading →
If vandals can do so much harm, what can determined terrorists accomplish Ever since The Wall Street Journal published an article on the threat that a few vandals with assault rifles inflicted on a critical substation, there has been heightened concern about grid security. The 18 Feb 2014 article titled Assault on California power station… 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 →