Production tax credits for wind are creating distortions in power markets, and after 20 years of subsidies it may be time to let the credits expire, experts told an Energy Policy Forum in Washington June 5.
“We are not anti-wind,” said Mayo Shattuck, Executive Chairman, Exelon Corp. “But there comes a time when we need free-market price signals,” so businesses can make decisions on investments for the next 20 to 60 years. Keep reading →
An ambitious plan by the UK government to replace aging power stations with low-carbon generation could be a model for other countries that are also searching for ways of hitting tough emissions targets while satisfying higher future demand for electricity.
On May 22, the government introduced its latest proposal for attracting the 110 billion pounds (roughly $171 billion) that it says is needed to build new generation including nuclear, offshore wind and carbon capture technology to take the place of the 20% of current capacity that will go off line over the next decade. Keep reading →
Essentially starting from scratch, Haiti has a unique opportunity to build the kind of sustainable power generation, transmission and distribution system that could be replicated in other developing nations.
Although deep poverty remains a challenge, the country’s leaders say they are eager to move forward into the twenty first century with governmental and economic stability supported by reliable energy infrastructure. Keep reading →
Additional wind power in the US Midwest could cut wholesale electricity prices by more than 25%, saving a typical household as much as $200 a year, proponents of new renewable energy capacity in the region said.
The analysis for the advocacy group Americans for a Clean Energy Grid found that if 20 GW was added to the existing 10 GW of wind capacity in the MISO region, consumers’ power costs would decline by $3 billion to $6.9 billion a year after the costs of new transmission is factored in. Keep reading →
As advanced information technology continues to permeate the power sector and the two-way data flow between utility and customer deepens, countless opportunities to streamline the delivery and consumption of electricity arise. Across the US, utilities are taking innovative approaches to fostering energy efficient behavior by working with customers to build sustainable practices, programs and business models.
The key is to use all available channels – including social networking – to engage customers with a simple message, you need to “keep [customers] informed and show [them] results,” Bill Andrew, President and CEO of the Delaware Electric Cooperative told audience members at last week’s DNV Kema Utility of the Future Leadership Forum in Washington DC. Keep reading →
Plans to build the first US undersea transmission system for offshore wind farms advanced on Monday when the federal government said there was no competition for the proposed project, which can now be subject to an environmental review without being delayed by an auction.
The US Department of the Interior issued a finding of no competitive interest on the plan by Atlantic Grid Holdings to build the $5 billion Atlantic Wind Connection, a 300-mile transmission line off five mid-Atlantic states to take as much as 7,000 megawatts of wind-turbine capacity from yet-to-be-built offshore wind farms. Keep reading →
France’s Socialist Party (PS) newly-elected President Francois Hollande (R) reacts on stage, flanked by (from L, 1st row) socialist Arnaud Montebourg, socialist President of the Poitou-Charentes region Segolene Royal, Hollande’s campaign political advisor Jean-Michel Baylet, Hollande’s campaign manager Pierre Moscovici, Hollande’s campaign political advisor Harlem Desir, Hollande’s campaign chief of staff Faouzi Lamdaoui, Hollande’s campaign political advisor Martine Aubry and Hollande’s companion Valerie Trierweiler, at the Place de la Bastille in Paris on May 7, 2012, after the announcement of the first official results of the French presidential second round. Hollande had won with 51.62 percent of the vote to 48.38 percent for Sarkozy on May 6, 2012, becoming France’s first Socialist president since Francois Mitterrand left office in 1995. AFP PHOTO / FRANCK FIFE
The last 48 hours shifted the political landscape across Europe, and with it, the debate over energy policy. Keep reading →
Check out the tech GE’s wind turbine engineers use to track data from thousands of turbines http://ow.ly/aHY4c GE_Reports
Allowing power from electricity storage to be counted toward meeting renewable portfolio standards would boost integration of advanced storage technologies into the electricity system, speakers told the Electricity Storage Association conference in Washington last week.
Terry Boston, CEO of PJM, the nation’s largest grid operator, said he’d like to see states let up to 25% of their RPS be met with storage when the storage systems are fed by clean sources like wind and solar. Keep reading →
