The pace of change in the utility industry is accelerating. Recent digital innovations and new regulatory frameworks are laying the foundation for a future where renewable energy will be abundant and well-integrated into our grid. Last year, the New York Power Authority (NYPA), as part of Governor Cuomo’s “Reforming the Energy Vision, launched its Strategic… Keep reading →
The amount of energy we use at any given time is constantly changing. Lights are switched on and off by time of day – other appliances, such as air conditioners, might operate based on the season. In order to meet our dynamic energy demands, our system has to have the infrastructure and resources in place… Keep reading →
German solar power output of 21.7 GW dropped to a low point of 6.2 GW and then added another 15 GW over the course of the planetary event. During this week’s Energy Gang podcast, energy futurist Jigar Shah said that the March 20 solar eclipse would result in “nothing interesting” for the European electrical grid,… Keep reading →
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 →
Flow batteries for forklifts, new proton exchange membranes and sodium-ion cathode structures, and other potential breakthroughs. The Department of Energy’s ARPA-E program was created to give “blue-sky” research projects the money they need to prove whether or not they’re ready for commercialization. That includes a host of projects seeking to make batteries cheaper, smaller… Keep reading →
Crescent Dunes will be generating electricity before the end of March, and SolarReserve’s south-central Nevada solar project won’t stumble out of the gate the way power-tower forerunner Ivanpah did, CEO Kevin Smith said in an interview with Breaking Energy. It would be an understatement to say there’s a lot riding on him being right. Crescent Dunes,… Keep reading →
Empowered prosumers will increasingly do what is best for them, regardless of what utilities or regulators say For utility executives making New Year Resolutions, 2015 promises to bring in more grief in the form of lower demand growth (graph below and article on page 10), rising retail tariffs, and more competition from prosumers, who are… Keep reading →
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which manages 90 percent of Texas’ electric grid, has been busy. In the last two months of 2014, the agency released two very lengthy reports examining the future of a lower-polluting power grid in light of upcoming EPA clean air protections, in particular the Clean Power Plan. As… Keep reading →
The renewable energy sector is dynamic, with advancing technology and evolving policy. As 2015 beckons, here are some of the key questions that Portland, Oregon-based contributor Pete Danko will be asking as about U.S. renewables. 1) Is The PTC Winding Down or Dead? The wind industry won a small victory just before Congress went home,… Keep reading →
