The GRID Act, introduced in the House and Senate, would authorize FERC to effectively address electricity grid security issues. On March 26, 2014, Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-CA) introduced the Grid Reliability and Infrastructure Defense (GRID) Act (H.R. 4298) aimed to amend the Federal Power Act to protect the bulk-power system and defense-critical electric infrastructure… Keep reading →
Energy storage devices that collect electricity at times of abundance and deliver when demand is greatest are essential to upgrading our outdated power grid to a smarter, more flexible electricity system. New Jersey took a positive step toward implementing more energy storage earlier this year when its Office of Clean Energy released a proposal to… Keep reading →
The electric power industry stands on the brink of transformational, perhaps revolutionary, change. For much of its history, the industry has been based on a fundamental operating model: electricity, produced at large central power plants, is carried by long-distance transmission lines and local distribution lines to customers. Thanks to advances in technology and cost reductions… Keep reading →
Last month, I had the pleasure of moderating a panel called “Utilities 2.0: The Role of Distributed Generation and Demand Response in Evolving Utility Business Models.” The topic may sound esoteric, but to the more than sixty people in attendance, and at least fifty more watching online, the event, which was sponsored by clean energy… Keep reading →
The New York State Public Service Commission (Commission) took a historic step late last week, unanimously approving an Order that requires Con Edison to implement state-of-the-art measures to plan for and protect its electric, gas, and steam systems from the effects of climate change. This announcement regarding the future of New York State’s largest utility comes… Keep reading →
Quick Take: Berg Insight is out with its latest “Smart Metering in Europe” research report. I’ve listed 12 highlights below. I found item #12 the most intriguing. Until recently, Europe has been a wireless holdout. But once its system is fully deployed, the UK will become the world’s largest wireless smart meter deployment to date.… Keep reading →
Big data isn’t much use if you don’t know what to do with it. Utilities are collecting unprecedented amounts of information from millions of smart meters installed in recent years, but the capacity to collect data seems largely to have overwhelmed companies and regulators. Processes designed for a world run on paper billing and planned… Keep reading →
San Antonio’s Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) brings Texas the latest example of an intelligent, demand-side resource that can play an active role in the power grid and offset the use of fossil-fuel power plants. Late last month, SwRI announced that its innovative vehicle-to-grid system got the green light from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the grid operator,… Keep reading →
Energy consumers live in a time of rapid technology change, but if Digital Lumens has its way lighting consumers at least may rarely notice the adjustments except where they benefit. It would have been hard until recently to come up with a sector of industry less exciting for its world-changing possibilities than lighting. Major manufacturers… Keep reading →
Editor’s Note: Below is an edited version of a Q&A with ARPA-E’s Dr. Timothy Heidel, who focuses on developing next-generation power conversion devices that could dramatically transform how power is controlled and converted throughout the grid. For more on Dr. Heidel’s thoughts on how ARPA-E is working to make the U.S. electric grid more reliable… Keep reading →
