Reliability

Much More Than Dams: Hydropower Gets Innovative

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Hydropower is probably the most invisible of the generation sources in the US. It does not have a smokestack, is defined by its reliability and creates none of the emissions that hamper expansions at traditional fossil-fueled generators.

And although in the American mind hydropower is defined by enormous projects like the Hoover Dam, much of the hydropower in the US is actually much smaller in scale, making debates over wild species migration and the filling of valleys applicable only to a much smaller number of projects. Keep reading →

 /  Published October 27, 2011 at 7:30 AM

Get Your Energy Plan In Order

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Does your business have a comprehensive energy plan?

Implementing a plan can save energy and drastically reduce costs and emissions, while creating a culture that fosters continuous improvement in sustainability and building performance. Keep reading →

 /  Published October 24, 2011 at 6:00 AM

Overcoming Sticker Shock To Move Ahead On Energy Efficiency

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Americans understand the advantages of, and need for, energy efficiency as much as their European counterparts, but need further education about pricing advantages before they will take action that matches European levels.

The awareness of energy efficiency and the willingness expressed by Americans in a recent study conducted by Harris Interactive of four developed, mature economies surprised Mitch Williams, Senior Vice President at Rexel Holdings USA. Rexel, a large international distributor of electrical equipment, sponsored the study, which conducted interviews of 1,000 adults in the US, Germany, the United Kingdom and France. Keep reading →

 /  Published October 14, 2011 at 10:30 AM

DOE-FERC Grid Coordination Effort ‘Positive,’ States Say

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DOE-FERC Grid Coordination Effort Positive, States Say http://bit.ly/pSLVMJ @NARUC

 /  Published October 12, 2011 at 9:45 AM

Solar Panels Don’t Work. And No One Knows.

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Solar panels do not work that well. Often far below expectations.

And few know it. Not the owners who depend on power. Not the bankers who finance it. Not the brokers who insure it. Keep reading →

 /  Published October 7, 2011 at 6:00 AM

Electric Cars Hit The East Coast Grid

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Northeast and mid-Atlantic grid operator PJM Interconnect on Monday welcomed a new project to promote technology that can use battery power from electric vehicles to smooth peaks and troughs in grid demand.

Vehicle to grid technology, or V2G, has been developed over more than a decade by University of Delaware professor Willett Kempton, and has been shown through several prototype electric cars to be an effective way of providing a significant untapped source of energy to the national grid. Keep reading →

 /  Published September 27, 2011 at 6:00 AM

AOL Energy Week In Review

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The fall season is in full swing in the energy industry with only a few mishaps to darken the mood.

To usher in a new academic year, Breaking Energy is highlighting some of the Top Fives across the industry, from law firms and regulators to unique project financing and innovative technologies.
Each day, a gallery will feature one new category. Keep reading →

 /  Published September 16, 2011 at 3:20 PM

Could A Self-Healing Smart Grid Have Prevented The SDG&E Blackout?

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What if? What if mechanical failure at a single point would automatically and instantaneously communicate to nearby nodes that a shutdown was necessary to prevent a truly widespread blackout?

If that were possible, power outages like the September 8, 15-hour blackout that affected an estimated 5 million customers, from southern California and Arizona to northern Mexico, and which may have incurred as much as $100 million in economic costs, would be completely avoidable. Keep reading →

 /  Published September 15, 2011 at 6:00 AM

We Are Not In Kansas Anymore

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We just ended a month during which our nation observed the 8th anniversary of the August 2003 Blackout (more than 50 million consumers affected and more than $6 billions in losses), the 6th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina (more than 1800 deaths and over $150 billions in economic losses), and the Aug. 1, 2007 collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis (killing 13 and disrupting traffic and the local economy for a year) – that is in addition to the hundreds of black-outs, water main breaks and daily traffic gridlocks.

These events have stimulated growing public awareness of the necessity for accelerated programs of replacement, rehabilitation and new investment in the US infrastructure. Keep reading →

 /  Published September 14, 2011 at 9:45 AM

DATC Moves Ahead With New Power Lines

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With debate on cost allocation for building new transmission lines still heated in Washington DC and FERC 1000 still pending, Duke American Transmission Company (DATC) made its own decision.

On Monday, the company–a joint venture between Duke Energy and American Transmission Company–announced it would be building $4 billion worth of new transmission lines in seven distinct projects across Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. The projects, each spanning anywhere from 65 to 696 miles, would be a combination of both 345-kilovolt lines and 500-kilovolt high-voltage direct-current lines. Keep reading →

 /  Published September 14, 2011 at 6:00 AM
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