Energy Exchange

With this new roadmap, Ohio can lay the groundwork for billions of investment dollars and thousands of new jobs

By Dick Munson / Published: November 13, 2018

Earlier this year, I wrote about a report that shows Ohio could net more than 20,000 jobs and $25 billion in investment dollars through energy innovation.

And now we have the roadmap – with nine common-sense, concrete action steps – to get Ohio from here to there.

Building on a vision

The new roadmap report, Powering Ohio: A Path Forward for Energy and Transportation Transformation, is the second in a series by Synapse Energy Economics. Both rely on the insights and guidance of a diverse group of advisors from across the state’s business, regulatory, academic, labor and manufacturing sectors.

Posted in Electric Vehicles, Energy Innovation, Ohio / Comments are closed

Ohio continues move to smarter power system with multimillion-dollar clean-energy agreement

By John Finnigan / Published: November 9, 2018

Over the past few years, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) has actively opposed FirstEnergy in several cases where it sought bailouts for its uneconomic coal plants. We will continue to do so.

But if the utility giant wants to build a cleaner, more modern grid, we are eager to work together. Case in point: We are pleased to report that we reached an agreement on FirstEnergy’s plan to spend $516 million on grid modernization, bringing about lower bills, greater customer choice and less pollution.

Following AEP and Dayton Power & Light’s related agreements – both approved earlier this year – and in the midst of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio’s (PUCO) innovative PowerForward initiative, it’s clear Ohio is on a path to a smarter, more sophisticated power system. Read More »

Posted in FirstEnergy, Grid Modernization, Ohio, Voltage Optimization / Comments are closed

What if gadgets talked to the grid to cut carbon? With this new technology, they can.

By Andy Bilich / Published: November 8, 2018

Having breakfast at a local restaurant last weekend, I was sitting next to parents who were desperately trying to get their toddler to eat the pancakes he had ordered a few minutes earlier. Watching the high-stakes drama, it occurred to me that toddlers are a bit like our electric grid: They can change drastically at a moment’s notice.

The better we are at reacting to the sudden outburst of “I hate pancakes” – or in the case of the grid, rapid changes in demand, price and emissions – the better off we’ll be.

For emissions at least, we can. Automated Emissions Reductions, or AER, is a new technology helping us to more precisely measure and proactively reduce the carbon emissions impact from our electricity use, in real time. A growing number of grid operators, businesses and energy managers nationwide are lining up to invest in this technology as an efficient way to cut their carbon footprint.

Posted in Electricity Pricing, Energy Innovation, Fourth Wave / Comments are closed

These red and blue states are tackling climate change since Trump won’t

By EDF Blogs / Published: November 2, 2018

By Keith Zukowski, Communications Project Manager

If you’ve been focused on recent reports of climate disaster, or on the Trump administration’s relentless attacks against environmental safeguards and climate science, you’re probably worrying we’re not making progress – at all.

But look a little closer, right here in the United States, and you’ll see that people aren’t waiting around. Instead of giving in to a warmer, more chaotic world, states across the country have stepped up, and into, the vacuum left by the federal government.

They’re implementing creative, innovative solutions that tackle climate change while prioritizing people, our economy and the environment. While federal policies will ultimately be necessary to fully take on climate change, these states are proving that action is both doable and good for the economy.

Posted in California, Clean Energy, Climate, Colorado, New Jersey, North Carolina, Renewable Energy, Wyoming / Comments are closed

Fayetteville Shale methane emissions dominated by manual unloadings; National methane emissions are still too high, and avoidable

By David Lyon / Published: November 1, 2018

A new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) offers new granularity and insight into a study appearing earlier this year in Science, which found that higher-than-reported methane emissions across the U.S. oil and gas industry methane emissions are largely the result of abnormal operating conditions at a variety of oil and gas facilities across the supply chain.

The new paper, led by researchers from Colorado State University, Colorado School of Mines, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and others, zeros in on the phenomenon of super emitters, with a specific focus on Arkansas’ Fayetteville Shale.

Posted in Methane, Natural Gas / Comments are closed

A little flexibility can go a long way to maximize renewables

By Jamie Fine / Published: October 30, 2018

Greentech Media’s Power & Renewables Summit takes place November 13-14, 2018 in Austin, Texas. The conference will gather industry views on how renewable integration, decarbonization and sector electrification are impacting electricity systems.

In the last month, a new report from the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change heightened the urgency of climate threats and the need for decisive actions to avoid them. The report “describes a world of worsening food shortages and wildfires and a mass die-off of coral reefs as soon as 2040.”

As I and other renewable energy insiders plan our talking points for Greentech Media’s “Power & Renewables Summit” in Austin next month, this report should serve as inspiration. The need for a clean, resilient energy economy just got a lot more salient. Read More »

Posted in California, Renewable Energy, Texas / Comments are closed