Energy Exchange

What this summer’s heat waves tell us about America’s electric grid

By Tim O'Connor / Published: July 26, 2018

With another triple-digit heat wave scorching the Southwest this week, fears of widespread outages are back.

California’s grid operator has urged homes and businesses to crank up thermostats and avoid running power-hungry appliances during evening peak hours – all in an effort to avoid disruptions like the ones we saw earlier this month.

The dangerous and expensive outages that left 80,000 Los Angeles residents in the dark then may have been limited to Southern California, but they should sound alarms nationwide. The world is changing, affecting how our grid works.

Utilities are taking steps to adapt and expand their power systems to maintain reliability and accommodate the growth of renewables, but they need to pick up the pace – and fast. Read More »

Also posted in California / Comments are closed

As L.A. temperatures rise, so does interest in cleaner air and cleaner energy

By Irene Burga / Published: July 19, 2018

This blog was co-authored by Annie Cory, Princeton Environmental Institute (PEI) Intern for EDF’s Oil & Gas Program

Just like many cities that have experienced record high temperatures in 2018, Los Angeles was hit with a heat wave of record proportions in early July, with temperatures topping 113 degrees in several parts of the county. As air conditioners across the region struggled to keep up, the heat pushed our energy grid over the brink, with blackouts leaving at least 80,000 Angelinos sweltering without electricity.

Such elevated temperatures are not typical for Los Angeles. Yet weather events like these are becoming both more frequent, and more intense. Burning more fossil fuels, of course, only compounds the warming problem.

To put a dent in the causes and impacts of man-made climate change, cities, states and nations will need to implement a portfolio of solutions aimed at cutting carbon across the board and boosting the resiliency of our energy grid. By increasing the share of renewable energy used to power our homes and businesses, and incentivizing technology like battery storage while expanding focus on energy conservation, the threat of blackouts can be greatly diminished during hot summer days.

Read More »

Also posted in Air Quality, California, Climate, Energy Equity, Methane, Natural Gas, Renewable Energy, Solar Energy / Tagged , | Comments are closed

Report: More renewables could mean 5,000 new jobs and $8B in investment for Ohio

By Dick Munson / Published: July 19, 2018

Last year, I highlighted how voters in Ohio overwhelmingly support developing more clean energy like solar and wind over more traditional resources like coal.

Ohio has a remarkable opportunity to capture the benefits of a growing renewable energy market. A new report shows the state could boost supply chains and create local jobs by developing more wind and solar, potentially creating more than 5,500 jobs and bringing in nearly $8 billion in investment.

Multibillion-dollar opportunity

Ohio is part of PJM, the regional grid operator for all or part of 13 states. Eleven of these (including Ohio) have state requirements for a minimum amount of renewable energy and, under the current laws, these requirements will be 67 percent higher across PJM in 2025 than today. Read More »

Also posted in Ohio / Comments are closed

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

By EDF Blogs / Published: July 11, 2018

By Andy Bilich, Lauren Navarro

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 »

Also posted in California, 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 »

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100% by 2045: California evaluates one of the nation’s biggest clean energy goals

By Lauren Navarro / Published: June 27, 2018

It’s summertime in California, and one thing that means is lots of sunshine. Lucky for us, the Golden State is a national leader in turning that sunshine, and other renewable resources, into electricity to power homes and business across the state.

Currently, the state is working to produce 50 percent of its electricity from clean energy resources like solar and wind and is closing in on that goal. Next month, lawmakers will get the chance to advance that goal even further – to 100 percent by 2045.

SB 100, authored by Sen. Kevin de León, is the bill that, if passed, could solidify the new, bigger, bolder target. California would be the second state in the nation to pass this high of a target – only behind Hawaii. A handful of other states are considering aiming at 100 percent clean energy, including Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Washington, and Pennsylvania.

California’s leadership could help tip the scale. California has the opportunity to show the rest of these states and countries across the world that 100 percent clean energy is possible. With climate change already affecting us, we don’t have much more time to waste.  Read More »

Also posted in California, Electric Vehicles, Electricity Pricing, Energy Efficiency, Solar Energy, Time of Use / Tagged | Read 1 Response