Buildings account for 40% of our nation’s electricity use. In 2012, power plants spewed about 2 gigatons of global warming pollution into our air, which was about one-third of total U.S. emissions. That’s why EDF and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) teamed up to launch the Demand Response Partnership Program (DRPP) aimed at increasing the participation from commercial buildings… 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 →
Last year, the trade association for the utility industry, the Edison Electric Institute (EEI), published a whitepaper on the disruptive challenges facing the utility industry. In summary, EEI’s thesis was that the existing utility business model (centralized, fossil-fuel based generation) is under threat from on-site, distributed generation as more customers switch to cleaner, and often cheaper, solar power. The… Keep reading →
Because they just hit a venture capital home run with Google’s acquisition of Nest. Despite recent mainstream media reports, cleantech venture capital is alive and kicking at the start of 2014. Just ask Peter Nieh and the cleantech team at Lightspeed, KPCB’s Randy Komisar, Venrock’s David Pakman or Shasta Ventures’ Rob Coneybeer. That group, along… Keep reading →
As we begin a new year, the outlook for 2014 looks bright. But as the Polar Vortex has descended upon the U.S. over the last few days, we have been reminded of the past, specifically the winter of 2011 when Texas’ electricity grid stuttered under the extreme cold. Monday, as a record-breaking cold snap whisked… Keep reading →
Mergers and acquisitions in the North American power and utilities space is continuing to recover from a steep dropoff, with third-quarter 2013 deal activity up from second-quarter and year-ago levels. There were 12 power and utilities deals valued at more than $50 million in the third quarter, up from seven in the previous quarter and… Keep reading →
Quick Take: When it comes to the pending electricity revolution, many utilities dither or postpone or explain away (“It may have happened to every other industry. But it will NEVER happen to us. Because we’re special.”) Many environmental groups, on the other hand, are stepping up. They are not just saying that something must change.… Keep reading →
There are plenty of money-making opportunities from reducing energy use that go above and beyond implicit savings, but the market for energy reduction assets is opaque, and financing opportunities for smaller-scale projects are few and far between. Energy efficiency financing and insurance firm Joule Assets has introduced new services designed to grow that market, by… Keep reading →
Wifi-enabled thermostats can deliver substantial efficiency benefits when they’re used, but the trick is expanding deployment to as many households as possible. Broadening the range of wifi thermostats that can link up to any utility’s demand response program could help to achieve that. Home thermostat technology has made evolutionary leaps and bounds, such as the… Keep reading →
The utility business model is changing from one of large, centralized generators that own and run entire power systems – from plants, to transmission, to distribution – to one involving more distributed generation and more players offering innovative products, services, and most importantly, customer savings. But crafting the right policies and regulations will be cornerstones… Keep reading →
