Energy Exchange

Illinois Shows Clean Energy Leadership by Fast-Tracking the Smart Grid

By Dick Munson / Published: March 13, 2014

SmartMeterIn a victory for Illinois residents and the environment, Commonwealth Edison Company (ComEd) today formally proposed to the Illinois Commerce Commission an accelerated timetable for completing its deployment of four million smart meters. ComEd began installing smart meters last fall as part of the Energy Infrastructure and Modernization Act of 2011. With this proposal, the Illinois utility will complete its meter installation almost five years earlier than planned.

Modern, smart electricity meters are a key component of the smart grid. These devices help eliminate huge waste in the energy system, reduce overall and peak energy demand, and spur the adoption of clean, low-carbon energy resources, including wind and solar power. By enabling two-way, real-time communication, smart meters give every day energy users, small businesses, manufacturers, and farmers (and the electricity providers that serve them) the information they need to control their own energy use and reduce their electricity costs. Read More »

Also posted in Clean Energy, Energy Efficiency, Grid Modernization, Illinois, Renewable Energy, Utility Business Models / Tagged , | Comments are closed

Changing Times for Electric Utilities

By John Finnigan / Published: March 6, 2014
Source: Edison International

Source: Edison International

Two seemingly unrelated announcements drew much attention in the electric utility industry recently. First, the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) (the trade group for the U.S. electric utility industry) and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) jointly recommended changing how utilities should be regulated. Second, Duke Energy announced it will sell 13 Midwest merchant power plants. These announcements are actually related because they both result from the same dramatic changes affecting the electric utility industry. As Bob Dylan aptly noted, “the times they are a-changin’.” Regulators and other stakeholders must be prepared to address these changes.

Under the traditional business model, electricity usage grew steadily. Utilities built ever-larger plants to serve this growing load. The bigger plants were more efficient than existing plants, so the unit cost for electricity steadily declined. Utilities benefited by steadily increasing their revenues. Customers benefited from declining unit costs. For utility customers, it was like paying a lower price per gallon of gasoline every time you filled your tank.

But this traditional model is crumbling, due to several factors: Read More »

Also posted in Clean Energy, Demand Response, Grid Modernization, Renewable Energy, Utility Business Models / Tagged , | Comments are closed

Final Order from NYPSC on Con Edison Rate Case Reveals Especially Encouraging Language on Climate Change Directives

By EDF Blogs / Published: February 27, 2014

By: Elizabeth B. Stein, Attorney and Adam Peltz, Attorney

Source: Iwan Baan

Source: Iwan Baan

In Tuesday’s blog post, we discussed the recently concluded Con Edison rate case, its context, and its significance in advancing clean energy and grid resilience in New York. Today, we take a closer look at the final Order posted last Friday by the New York State Public Service Commission (the Commission) to uncover some of the more encouraging outcomes buried in this 300+ page document:

  • Con Edison agreed to various measures that allow for more distributed generation, i.e. on-site power generation, such as combined heat and power, rather than relying solely on power generation and distribution from the traditional, centralized grid. For example, Con Edison agreed to pay for some fault current mitigation, which enables distributed generation to be connected to portions of Con Edison’s grid where it would otherwise be prohibited, and agreed to develop an implementation plan for a microgrid pilot. Additionally, Con Edison agreed to treat customer-sited projects, including distributed generation, as integral parts of its system by considering them in its 24-month planning horizon. Because some distributed generation can operate in an ‘islanded’ mode, or separate from the main grid, and can thus continue operating in a power outage, distributed generation can play a critical role in improving resilience. Read More »
Also posted in Air Quality, Clean Energy, Electric Vehicles, Grid Modernization, Methane, Natural Gas, New York, Renewable Energy, Utility Business Models / Comments are closed

New York’s Con Edison to Take New Measures Protecting Against the Effects of Climate Change

By EDF Blogs / Published: February 25, 2014

By: Elizabeth B. Stein, Attorney and Adam Peltz, Attorney

Source: Iwan Baan

Source: Iwan Baan

The New York State Public Service Commission (Commission) took a historic step late last week, unanimously approving an Order that requires Con Edison to implement state-of-the-art measures to plan for and protect its electric, gas, and steam systems from the effects of climate change. This announcement regarding the future of New York State’s largest utility comes as a welcome coda to local storm recovery and resiliency efforts that have been in the works for some time now.

On October 29, 2012, Superstorm Sandy clobbered the coastline of New York City. Homes were swept away or badly damaged as corrosive salt water flooded basements, while millions lost power. In one of the enduring images of the storm, an exploding transformer at East 14th Street caused the “city that never sleeps” to go dark below 40th Street and stay that way for the better part of a week. Read More »

Also posted in Clean Energy, Climate, Demand Response, Energy Efficiency, Energy Financing, Grid Modernization, New York, Utility Business Models / Read 1 Response

California on Course to Give Power to the People

By Jamie Fine / Published: January 9, 2014

Transformer over orange skyIn a report issued by the Energy Division at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), experts demonstrated their commitment to the transition toward greener electricity rates in the Golden State. This is good news for two reasons: It will give customers more control of their utility bills and it keeps the state on course to cut pollution.

Today, most Californians are frozen by energy bills that are hard to understand and even more difficult to keep under control.  Fortunately, recommendations from the CPUC released Monday will put the power in the hands of customers by transitioning to rates that vary with the time of energy use.

These “time-variant rates” (TVR) can cut pollution by giving customers tools to directly influence how much money is spent on the least-efficient, most-expensive, and most-polluting power plants.   Critically, it’s also a way to avoid ever-growing, system-wide peak demand that leads to the building of additional power plants, known as “peaker plants” as they are specifically designed to serve customers at times of peak demand. Read More »

Also posted in California, Clean Energy, State / Comments are closed