Advanced Energy Perspectives

Utility Xcel Energy has submitted plans to buy solar and wind energy, not due to any mandate or even to bolster its public image, but because it costs less. Xcel Energy’s filing with the Colorado Public Utility Commission listed 170 megawatts of solar and 450 megawatts of wind as the cheapest energy sources available.

This week was full of big deals for advanced energy businesses from coast-to-coast, as well as one new state-level battle over our energy future. Here are the top five news stories of the week.

Surprise! Electric vehicle-maker Tesla is once again in the news. Earlier this month, CEO Elon Musk announced that he will take a six-day road trip from Los Angeles to New York City later this year to demonstrate the capacity of Tesla’s forthcoming cross-country charging structure. He plans to spend about an hour and a half charging the car each day.

News broke this week that venture capitalists invested more than $500 million in advanced energy technologies this summer alone. Investment powerhouses like Morgan Stanley, Kleiner Perkins, and Google Ventures joined firms like Kholsa Ventures and Energy Technology Ventures to close funding rounds at more than 30 companies. These companies represent a diversity of technologies, including solar, smart grid, electric vehicles (motorcycles!), and efficiency.

What if you could harness the power of the ocean waves to power your home? Ocean and tidal power generation has remained a largely untapped market in the United States so far, but that could be changing soon. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that the U.S. could be sitting on up to 1,400 terawatt hours of potential electricity generation per year from wave and tidal energy.