Energy Exchange

Austin Energy + Nest: Empowering Texans To Take Control Over Their Own Energy Use And Electric Bills

By Marita Mirzatuny / Published: September 4, 2013

Source: Nest

If you have been following our Texas Energy Crunch campaign over the last year, you know that demand response (DR) can play a pivotal role in meeting Texas’ energy needs without relying on dirty, inefficient fossil fuels that pollute our air and consume much-needed water. Simply put, demand response rewards those who reduce electricity use during peak (high energy demand) times, resulting in more money in peoples’ pockets, a more stable and reliable electric grid and less harmful pollution from fossil fuel-fired power plants.

That said, fully harnessing DR in Texas homes has been a bit of a challenge, despite the high electricity prices that result from the scorching summer temperatures. To understand the issue, it’s important to look at the obstacles emerging technologies often face. I highlight some of these obstacles in a recent EDF Voices blog and will be diving deeper in future posts. Namely, the infrastructure to fully enable residential DR adoption isn’t in place, yet.

A Smart Approach To Smart Meters

By John Finnigan / Published: September 4, 2013

A new documentary about smart meters opens on September 5^th called Take Back Your Power. The film suggests that smart meters cause illness. According to an August 12 USA Today story, the film’s director was inspired by a friend who became seriously ill after a smart meter was installed at his home. Naturally, this type of personal experience might shape one’s view on smart meters, but correlation is not causation.

Electric utilities have installed over 38 million smart meters across the country and there “has never been a documented injury or health problem associated with such meters.” According to the Federal Communication Commission (FCC), “no scientific evidence establishes a causal link between wireless device use and cancer or other illnesses.”

Smart meters send information to utilities by using radio frequencies (RFs) such as those currently used by televisions, radios, baby monitors, cell phones and wifi routers. RF signals have permeated our atmosphere for as long as we’ve had televisions and radios.

We use these devices every day, and many of them create much higher levels of RF exposure than smart meters. The exposure level depends on the strength of the RF signal emitted by the device, the duration of the RF signal and—importantly— the distance from the source. Cell phones emit up to several thousand times more RF signals than smart meters. Smart meters also transmit intermittently and briefly during the day, while we talk on cell phones for long periods. Finally, smart meters are located outside the home, while cell phones are often used close to one’s head.

Posted in Grid Modernization / Tagged Clean Energy, Smart Grid, Smart Meters, Utility Business Models | Read 25 Responses

Aloha for Clean Energy Finance: A Tale of Two States

By Brad Copithorne / Published: September 3, 2013

This commentary originally appeared on EDF’s California Dream 2.0 blog.

For over two years, EDF has been working to establish an On-Bill Repayment program in California that would allow property owners to finance energy efficiency or renewable generation projects and repay the obligation through their utility bill. Since utility bills tend to get paid and the obligation could ‘run with the meter’, defaults are expected to be low, which will improve the availability and reduce the cost of financing. In May 2012, the California Public Utilities Commission (“CPUC”) agreed with our position and ordered the large utilities in California to develop a program for commercial properties. EDF estimates that this program could generate $5B of investment over 12 years, which is expected to support 36,000 jobs.

Unfortunately, we are still waiting for the nonresidential OBR pilot in California to be implemented and if the utilities get their way, we may be waiting for close to another full year. The California utilities appear to be fearful of change, distributed generation, and the impact of reduced demand. They have employed aggressive tactics with teams of lawyers arguing and re-arguing every potential issue, even after the issues have presumably been settled by the CPUC.

This stands in sharp contrast to what is happening in Hawaii. On March 25, the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission (“HPUC”) ordered the primary Hawaii utility, Hawaiian Electric Company, (“HECO”) to establish an OBR program for residential and commercial customers. I just returned from 3 days in Honolulu and it appears that they are working cooperatively to get the program running in the first quarter of 2014. This timetable of 12 months from HPUC order to implementation is less than half of what we seem to need in California, despite the fact that the Hawaii program covers a much broader range of property types and relies on public as well as private sources of financing.

Posted in California, Energy Efficiency, On-bill repayment / Tagged California, Energy Efficiency, Hawaii, OBR | Read 1 Response

A Powerful Proposal To Increase Groundwater Knowledge In Wyoming

By Jon Goldstein / Published: September 3, 2013

Jon Goldstein The Latin phrase “Scientia potentia est” may not ring a bell, but its translation should: knowledge is power.

The oil and gas industry spends millions every year to expand its knowledge of underground energy reserves. That is because better geologic knowledge is powerful stuff, it can mean the difference between a very profitable well or a very expensive dry hole.

Doesn’t it make sense then for the industry to also invest in better knowledge of local water resources? Investing a small amount in understanding local groundwater quality before you drill, and following up to monitor whether that water is potentially impacted once energy production commences is also incredibly powerful for local residents, state regulators and the industry alike.

Wyoming oil and gas regulators have proposed a testing program that aims to do exactly this – establish a groundwater quality baseline in areas where oil and gas development is planned, and then follow up with two sets of tests to monitor for potential impacts from this specific activity. Read More »

Posted in Natural Gas / Tagged Wyoming | Read 3 Responses

Auto dealers vs. Tesla: Why the market will decide

By Brad Copithorne / Published: August 29, 2013

This commentary originally appeared on EDF’s Voices blog.

Source: jurvetson/Flickr

The European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia and the State of California have all set ambitious targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80% by 2050. Given that a large share of global greenhouse gas emissions comes from transportation (including 29% of U.S. emissions), it will be very tough to meet this goal without “decarbonizing” our cars and trucks.

The most obvious solution is electric vehicles (EVs) charged by clean energy sources like solar or wind. While several startup EV companies – including Fisker, Coda and Better Place – have struggled, the Tesla car company seems to be succeeding. At least that’s the current view of the markets: Tesla shares have more than tripled since March and in May the company raised almost $1 billion in new capital.

Posted in California, Electric Vehicles / Tagged EV, Tesla | Comments are closed

Rural Communities Need Extra Support In Light Of Energy And Water Constraints

By Kate Zerrenner / Published: August 29, 2013

Source: Winning Communities

Around 20% of the US population lives in an area that is classified as “rural.” The US Census Bureau defines an urban area as a territory with a population of at least 50,000, or a cluster of 2,500 to 50,000 people. Rural is then defined as anything outside of that definition. Rural areas face particular challenges when it comes to energy and water use. For example, utilities are met with higher costs and often find it harder to implement new clean technologies to modernize their energy infrastructure because of the great distances between customers and an irregular patchwork of reliable resources. Besides, many system planners and thought leaders for innovative energy technologies live in urban or suburban areas and may find it harder to relate to the specific challenges of rural settings.

It’s likely that climate change will impact rural communities in different ways than it will urban areas, due to a number of factors including the types of common occupations, poverty levels and demography. Of particular concern is the “climate gap”, which refers to the lower economic and physical adaptability of rural communities. It will vary based on region, but research indicates that rural communities in the Southeast and Southwest could face particularly dire circumstances due to changes in electricity prices and water scarcity.

Posted in Climate, Energy Efficiency, Energy-Water Nexus, Utility Business Models / Tagged climate change, Energy Efficiency, Utility Business Models | Comments are closed