Energy Exchange

Utility 2.0: New York State Envisions New Platform Giving Equal Priority to Clean Energy Solutions

By Elizabeth B. Stein / Published: October 15, 2014

New York’s “Reforming the Energy Vision” (REV) proceeding aims to reform the state’s long-standing electricity system to lay the groundwork for a cleaner and more efficient grid that allows for more customer choice and competition from third-party energy services companies. Forming the centerpiece of this 21^st-century vision is a platform that would smoothly integrate innovative energy services and solutions into the existing grid, allowing them to compete on equal footing with electricity from centralized power plants.

Currently, the electric industry comprises three functions: generation, transmission, and distribution. Generation refers to making electricity, traditionally from large, centralized power plants. Transmission refers to sending that electricity along high-voltage wires to substations closer to electricity customers. Distribution refers to delivering the power from the substations to homes and businesses. In its recent straw proposal, the Department of Public Service Staff (Staff) recommends splitting the distribution function into two parts, one performing the traditional delivery service and the other serving as the Distribution System Platform Provider (DSP), to grant equal priority to energy solutions that are not centralized, such as on-site, distributed generation and energy efficiency. Read More »

Posted in Clean Energy, Demand Response, Electricity Pricing, Energy Efficiency, Grid Modernization, New York, Utility Business Models / Read 2 Responses

Investors Voice Market Support for Methane Regulation

By EDF Blogs / Published: October 14, 2014

By: Tom Murray, Vice President, Corporate Partnerships Program

Last week, financial community leaders took a big step into the intersection of business and policy on the urgent need to curb methane emissions from the oil and gas sector. A group of investors managing more than $300 billion in market assets sent a letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Administration and the White House, calling for the federal government to regulate methane emissions from the oil and gas sector. The letter urged covering new and existing oil and gas sites, including upstream and midstream sources, citing that strong methane policy can reduce business risk and create long-term value for investors and the economy.

Spearheaded by Trillium Asset Management, the cosigners of the letter to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy included New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer, who oversees the $160 billion New York City Pension Funds, and a diverse set of firms and institutional investors. They spelled out in no uncertain terms that they regard methane as a serious climate and business problem – exposing the public and businesses alike to the growing costs of climate change associated with floods, storms, droughts, and other severe weather. Read More »

Posted in Colorado, Methane, Natural Gas / Read 1 Response

Investor Confidence Project Releases Software Provider Credential To Boost Energy Efficiency Market

By EDF Blogs / Published: October 9, 2014

By: Jeff Milum, ICP Director of Marketplace Development

In virtually all established markets, from car loans to timeshares, standardization and automation has helped to accelerate underwriting, reduce long-term liability, and spur investment. The potential energy efficiency market is estimated at $1 trillion, but in order to achieve a fraction of this, the energy efficiency industry will need to leverage standardization and automation in order to scale to this level.

EDF’s signature energy efficiency initiative, the Investor Confidence Project (ICP), is accelerating the development of a global energy efficiency market by standardizing how Investor Ready Energy Efficiency™ projects are developed and energy savings estimates are calculated.

As a part of this effort, ICP is pleased to announce the release of the ICP Software Provider Credential, which will standardize the process of developing and documenting energy efficiency projects. Read More »

Posted in Clean Energy, Energy Efficiency, Investor Confidence Project / Comments are closed

Red River Rivalry: What Oklahoma Gas & Electric can Teach Texas Utilities

By Marita Mirzatuny / Published: October 9, 2014

Fall is in the air, the State Fair of Texas is in full swing, and the annual meeting of the University of Texas (UT) and the University of Oklahoma (OU) will occur at Dallas’ Cotton Bowl this weekend. One of the greatest football rivalries in the Big 12, UT and OU have been battling it out since 1900. Even the governors of both states frequently place bets on the game, like the losing governor having to present a side of beef to the winning governor.

And, while Sooners and Longhorns may not easily take advice from each other, Texas utilities should take a few lessons from Oklahoma Gas & Electric (OG&E). OG&E is Oklahoma’s regulated utility serving over 800,000 customers in Oklahoma and western Arkansas.

Here in Texas, we are proud of many things from our “don’t fence me in” ethos and wide-open landscapes to our self-reliance and abundant natural resources. Not too many states have the type of pride that Texas possesses (kitschy or otherwise). That pride extends to our innovative energy utilities as well, like Green Mountain Energy, Austin Energy, and CPS Energy in San Antonio, all of which are helping lead the state into the new energy sphere. Read More »

Posted in Clean Energy, Demand Response, Renewable Energy, Texas / Read 2 Responses

The Social Cost of Stagnation: A Call for FERC Action

By EDF Blogs / Published: October 7, 2014

By: James T. B. Tripp, EDF Senior Counsel

America’s electricity industry – the single largest source of carbon pollution in the U.S. – is at the heart of some of the world’s biggest environmental challenges, especially climate change. Given this connection, you would think an agency called the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) would take into account the major environmental consequences of its policies, which fundamentally shape the U.S. power industry. Sadly, you would be wrong.

FERC is charged by law with ensuring wholesale rates and other critical aspects of the electricity industry, such as transmission practices, are “just and reasonable.” Yet FERC’s official policy is to exclude environmental considerations from its regulation of the industry. Why? FERC’s reasoning is based on a combination of questionable statutory interpretation and an approach to energy regulation that is stuck in the past. In fact, FERC’s statutory mandate over wholesale electricity sales and transmission dates back to the 1930s, long before scientists discovered climate change. Read More »

Posted in Clean Energy, Climate / Tagged FERC | Comments are closed

Why EPA’s Press Release Doesn’t Reflect the Real Methane Emissions Numbers

By Mark Brownstein / Published: October 6, 2014

Source: Dan Lurie

At first glance, the Environmental Protection Agency’s Sept. 30 press release looked like a winner: Methane emissions from the oil and gas sector dropped by 12 percent in 2013, with a whopping 73-percent decline from hydraulically fractured natural gas wells making up the largest share of reductions.

The drop in methane emissions shows how effective regulation is in reducing air pollution from oil and gas production. It was led by an early phase of EPA’s air pollution rules, enacted in October 2012, with full implementation expected by January 2015. (Although this regulation targets emissions of volatile organic compounds, it has also reduced methane as a co-benefit.)

Except, the 73- percent decline is not the whole story. It only accounts for 2.3 percent of the total methane emissions reported to EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, leaving a large amount of tons on the table addressed.

Posted in Air Quality, Climate, Methane, Natural Gas / Tagged Greenhouse gas, Methane, Natural Gas | Read 1 Response