Energy Exchange

How a Western Regional Electric Grid Can Bring us into the 21st Century

By Lauren Navarro / Published: August 18, 2016

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UPDATE: Since the July 2016 publication of this original blog post, California Gov. Jerry Brown announced that he will wait until January 2017 to introduce legislation to expand California’s Independent System Operator (CAISO), which manages the state’s electric grid, beyond its borders.

The governor’s plan is good news for California and the other western states. With only a few weeks left in California’s legislative session, stakeholders were still working out remaining questions about how a western regional grid can deliver the significant benefits to the West’s economy and the environment (as shown in the SB 350 studies).

Stakeholder groups, including Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), lawmakers, and regulators covered a lot of ground this session. Working together, we identified the important issues related to successfully implementing a western regional grid that should go into legislation.

EDF strongly thanks the governor’s office and legislative leaders for the focus and time dedicated to regionalization, and looks forward to working diligently over the next few months to help develop the benefits of a regional energy market for California and its neighbors. Read More »

Posted in Energy Innovation, Grid Modernization / Comments are closed

Equity Crowdfunding Is Good News for Cleantech

By Guest Author / Published: August 18, 2016

By Andrew Strong, VP of Strategy & Business Development at LOHAS Capital

On May 16, 2016, the final piece of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act took effect and drastically changed the investment landscape by allowing equity crowdfunding. Equity Crowdfunding is a way for a large number of individuals to invest in a startup, for as little as $100 each, in exchange for a share of the company’s value.

Four years in the making, the new rules now allow companies to raise money online by accepting investments from both accredited investors (the 2 percent of Americans worth at least $1 million, who earn more than $200,000 per year) and unaccredited investors (the 98 percent of Americans with less wealth). This new investment model could have huge implications for cleantech entrepreneurs, and everyday Americans who want to participate in the next big energy innovation.

Posted in Energy Financing / Read 1 Response

What the New NASA ‘Hot Spot’ Study Tells Us About Methane Leaks

By Ramon Alvarez, Ph.D. / Published: August 15, 2016

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Look up in New Mexico and on most days you’ll see the unmistakable blue skies that make the Southwest so unique.

But there’s also something hovering over the Four Corners that a naked eye can’t detect: A 2,500-square mile cloud of methane, the highest concentration of the heat-trapping pollution anywhere in the United States. The Delaware-sized hot-spot was first reported in a study two years ago.

At the time, researchers were confident the cloud was associated with fossil fuels, but unsure of the precise sources. Was it occurring naturally from the region’s coal beds or coming from a leaky oil and gas industry?

Posted in BLM Methane, Climate, Colorado, Methane, Natural Gas / Tagged methane studies, New Mexico, science | Comments are closed

A Simple Fix with a Big Benefit: California Lawmakers Consider Closing Loophole to Curb Gas Leaks

By Tim O'Connor / Published: August 11, 2016

Click image to play video.

After passing the State Assembly Appropriations committee on Wednesday, a little known bill – SB 1441 – is headed for the assembly floor, which is slated to deliver big benefits for consumers and the environment. Not only will the bill create a strong market driver for utilities to operate tighter infrastructure and save California consumers tens of millions of dollars per year, the simple yet innovative approach it takes can chart a course for curbing methane leaks across the industry.

But first, a little context.

As recent as a couple years ago, non-hazardous natural gas leaks and venting were a commonly accepted occurrence across gas utility infrastructure. As long as a leak or a venting wasn’t likely to ignite, utilities could let it go – with many small persistent leaks lasting for decades. And though it sounds hard to believe, gas utilities continuously collect money from consumers through their gas bills to cover the amount of gas utilities lose, even though they also collect money from those same ratepayers to upgrade pipes. This market design works only to protect utilities – giving them money to fix leaks while also covering them if they don’t. Read More »

Posted in California, General, Methane, Natural Gas / Comments are closed

How Clean Energy’s Rising Tide Can Lift All Boats

By Dick Munson / Published: August 10, 2016

The U.S. economy is wonderfully dynamic. New businesses launch daily, creating jobs and providing tax revenues for schools and police. Innovative technologies are introduced, offering customers more choice and improved services. Sometimes, of course, those new firms and devices replace existing institutions and products.

Today’s electricity industry is no exception. Technological advances are helping hundreds of new businesses deploy wind turbines and solar panels, build new natural-gas generators, and install monitors and controls that increase the efficiency of buildings and factories. At the same time, uneconomic and often dirty power plants are closing – within the past few years more than 10,000 megawatts of electric capacity in Ohio alone have closed or been announced to close.

Such closures can be good for customers, since they enjoy lower costs from the modern technologies. Closures can also be good for public health and the environment, since old units no longer spew mercury, carbon dioxide, and other harmful pollutants into the air.

Plant closures, however, also impact energy workers and their local communities. As the country’s energy system transitions from coal to cleaner ways of making electricity, companies and policymakers should support and provide resources for those most affected – so everyone may benefit from the clean energy economy.

Posted in Clean Energy / Comments are closed

2 Steps We Can Take Right Now to Modernize Pennsylvania’s Electric Grid

By John Finnigan / Published: August 8, 2016

PowerLines Each year, dozens of utilities across the U.S. embark on a complicated process called a “rate case.” Presented to a state public utility commission (PUC), a rate case is a utility’s pitch for higher electricity prices for customers. For most utilities, a rate case only happens once every several years. So, all sides argue for the rules of the road by which the utility will operate until the next rate case. A rate case is also where state and local governments, along with consumer and environmental advocacy groups, seek cleaner, cheaper, and more customer-friendly prices, products, and policies.

The Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission (PPUC) is currently hearing a rate case for Metropolitan Edison (Met-Ed), which serves 560,000 residential and commercial customers, and represents one of the Pennsylvania utility branches of Ohio-based mega company FirstEnergy. Last month, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) filed testimony in the case urging Pennsylvania to modernize its grid with both voltage optimization and customer data access. The PPUC should require Met-Ed to implement both programs so Pennsylvanians can benefit from a clean, modern electric grid.

Posted in Grid Modernization, Voltage Optimization / Comments are closed