Monthly Archives: July 2018

A regionalized energy grid creates a home for California’s wasted renewables

By EDF Blogs / Published: July 11, 2018

These days, California’s renewable energy records are regularly broken.

During the summer solstice on June 21, California utility scale solar power set a generation record with solar producing equivalent to about 16 percent of all electricity consumed during the day.

And earlier this year, on April 27, California set two renewable energy records for both instantaneous solar generation: about 10.5 gigawatts), and instantaneous renewable generation: 73 percent of the state’s total electricity demand came from renewable energy.

With renewables deployment poised for more growth, it’s likely even these new records will be surpassed sometime soon. However, to ensure the state’s investment in clean energy is put to use, and not wasted, California has some work to do. Read More »

Posted in California, Clean Energy, Regional Grid, Solar Energy, Wind Energy / Comments are closed

New utility settlement highlights how Ohio utilities are leaving FirstEnergy behind on clean energy

By Dick Munson / Published: July 9, 2018

BLOG UPDATE – September 26, 2018

The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio today approved DP&L’s rate case, described below.

A new utility settlement in Ohio is loaded with promising clean-energy components. Meanwhile, Ohio-based utility giant FirstEnergy continues to cling to the energy sources of the past.

Encouraging settlement

Along with FirstEnergy, Duke, and AEP, Dayton Power & Light (DP&L) is one of Ohio’s four investor-owned utilities that deliver electricity to people’s homes and businesses.

In DP&L’s recent rate case (a process that sets customers’ electricity delivery rates), the utility and environmental groups, including Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), have reached a settlement that includes the following: Read More »

Posted in Clean Energy, Ohio / Read 2 Responses

How the conversation changed at this year’s World Gas Conference

By Ben Ratner / Published: July 5, 2018

For years, conversations at major oil and gas industry conferences focused on one thing: the shale revolution. Excitement about the surge in economical new supply of unconventionally produced oil and gas was palpable, as panelists spoke of the potential for shale to transform everything from the geopolitics of American energy supply to the price of hydrocarbons. With such an unexpected and seismic change, a supply side story carried the day, with a focus on “below ground” drivers of energy abundance.

But today, the shale revolution is simply the new normal and the conversation has changed. “Above ground” factors like increasing competition from renewables, greenhouse gas emissions, and social license to operate will affect demand for natural gas for years. How industry confronts such challenges – both in the United States and internationally – will have a lot to do with industry’s longevity in putting resources to productive use in a changing world demanding cleaner energy.

At last week’s World Gas Conference in Washington, DC, difficult questions swirled about whether industry has done enough to earn society’s trust and prove natural gas has a constructive role to play in the transition to a low carbon economy. The biggest buzz of all surrounded one key issue: methane emissions, a core strategic challenge for the oil and gas industry.

Posted in Methane, Natural Gas / Comments are closed

New science and technology uncover opportunities to speed up environmental progress

By Steven Hamburg / Published: July 2, 2018

This piece originally appeared on our EDF Voices blog.

Both science and environmentalism are changing – driven more and more by more collaboration and rapidly improving technology.

These developments offer tremendous opportunities, as they can reveal urgent threats much more clearly – as well as the paths to address them.

Posted in Energy Innovation, Methane, Natural Gas / Comments are closed