News

66% Believe Power System Modernization is a Good Idea, with 74% in Support of Cutting Back Old Power Plants Through Greater Energy Efficiency and 58% Favoring the Use of Lower Emission Power Sources Even If It Costs More Money   

As Bloomberg reports, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce released an economic impact study showing that the Environmental Protection Agency's proposal to cut carbon dioxide emissions from power plants could result in a loss of jobs in the coal industry. The article also presents a contrasting view from AEE.

As Utility Dive reports, a few weeks the New York utilities market set in motion major structural adjustments in its recent regulation reforms. Audrey Zibelman, chair of the New York Department of Public Service (DPS), describes these changes as being born out of the needs of energy consumers. PSEG CEO Ralph Izzo, recently sat on a panel with Zibelman and expressed his concerns about the utility industry moving away from centralized grids to  customer-sited technologies. He said regulatory systems may have to rethink if they  “are violating one of the fundamental premises that electric utilities have been under for a century – universal access.”

Indianapolis has welcomed its latest car sharing service - an electric car sharing service founded by French billionaire Vincent Bolloré’s Bolloré Group. The venture will start with 500 cars and 1,000 charging stations at 200 locations. On a call with Forbes, Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard said “the program will function “kind of like a bike-share,” with a subscription service plus rental costs of about $10 an hour.” Read more here.

Since May 15, 2014, New York and Pennsylvania residents have had the option to get a 100 percent solar electricity plan through a Green Mountain Energy Company program. The program dubbed “The SolarSPARC™ 100,” will allow customers to not only meet all of their electricity needs with solar, but also support the local development of new solar and receiving credit facilities that will be funded by monthly per-customer contributions from the company. Read more here.

The U.S. Army has announced its plans to develop three 30 MW PV solar installations in collaboration with utility company Georgia Power. Dubbed “Georgia 3x30,” the initiative will build installations in Fort Stewart, Fort Gordon and Fort Benning and plans to start commercial operation before the end of 2016. The U.S. Army Energy Initiatives Task Force is also currently working on solar projects in Alabama, California, Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland and New York. Read more here.

Energy intelligence software company Energy Points has created a map that compares the efficiency of the local grid to the average efficiency of solar. According to the map, on-site solar is more efficient than the grid in the Southwest while the Northwest has incredibly efficient hydropower. Read more here.

May 13, 2014 – Washington, DC – Advanced Energy Economy (AEE) has issued the following statement on recent events that have taken place in the Senate concerning the Shaheen-Portman Energy Efficiency Bill. 

New Report Details Benefits of Advanced Energy Technologies for Buildings and Industry, Electricity Generation, Electricity Delivery and Grid Management

New York Governor Gov. Andrew Cuomo has announced $285 million in rate incentives to decrease demand by up to 125 MW in New York City and Westchester. The initiative will be done through Combined Heat and Power systems and will be run by New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and ConEd. The program also includes $219 million for large-scale commercial and industrial energy efficiency and demand reduction projects and another $66 million for CHP systems at large commercial sites. Read more here.

Exelon Corporation has announced that it will acquire Pepco Holdings in a $6.8 billion all-cash transaction to form the largest utility in America in terms of the number of customers served. Exelon owns Baltimore Gas & Electric, Commonwealth Edison and PECO, while Pepco Holdings owns Atlantic City Electric, Delmarva Power and Pepco.

The Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA) has compiled a list of the top ten solar utilities in America in 2013. The rankings are based on how many new megawatts of solar utilities were built in 2013 and how many megawatts per customer were installed. The listed utilities accounted for 82 percent of all new solar capacity in 2013 with California’s Pacific Gas and Electric Company being the top new builder. Read more here and see the full list of rankings here.

Mars Inc. the company that produces Snickers, M&Ms, Mars Bars and a host of other products has partnered with a Tokyo-based company to invest in a 200 MW Texas wind farm. The project is being jointly developed with BNB Renewable Energy and Sumitomo and will be operational in 2015. It will produce 800,000 megawatt-hours of energy - enough to make 13 billion Snickers bars.

NRG Energy and MidAmerican Solar have teamed up to build the world’s largest solar-panel power plant between Yuma and Phoenix, Arizona. The 290 MW project - Agua Caliente, was built by AEE member FirstSolar and will send electricity to  San Francisco-based Pacific Gas and Electric under a 25-year contract. FirstSolar will also operate the plant. Read more here.