| This week's sponsor is Kony. | 
| Webinar: Capitalizing on the digital transformation: Providing mobile value for customers and utilities
Thursday, July 17, 2 pm ET/ 11 am PT
This Kony webinar will address how utilities can provide mobile value to their customers while increasing customer engagement and trust in the utility brand. Register Today! |
Also Noted: Climate change risks and much more... Net zero energy house earns credit for surplus energy
The net zero energy test house at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in suburban Washington, D.C. celebrated its one-year anniversary on July 1 with enough surplus energy to power an electric car for about 1,440 miles. Article
SRP transmission line in service after 14 years
Salt River Project (SRP) has reached a major milestone, completing the last segment of a new 150-mile transmission line that runs from the Palo Verde Nuclear Power Plant area near Tonopah to the Browning Substation located in east Mesa, Arizona. The Palo Verde-Southeast Valley - Browning (PV-SEV) 500 kV project was finally placed in service after 14 long years. Article
LED street lights taking over, but smart network will take time
Falling prices for light-emitting diode (LED) street lights have spurred a global transition from older technologies to newer, more efficient, and more controllable LEDs. This offers city managers cost savings from reductions in both energy consumption and maintenance costs, as prices for LED street lighting come down to the point where payback periods are becoming reasonable with or without subsidies. Article
News From Across the Energy Industry:
1. Power plants go virtual in the emerging energy cloud
2. Utilities testing DVCA cross the grid
3. DOE conditionally commits to U.S. offshore wind industry
More headlines...
Today's Top News 1. NV rooftop solar benefits outweigh costs
The grid benefits of rooftop solar systems installed in Nevada through 2016 will outweigh costs by more than $36 million, according to a study by San Francisco-based Energy + Environmental Economics (E3) for the Nevada Public Utilities Commission. The study comes as the Nevada PUC is reviewing whether solar customers should be in a separate class for future ratemaking decisions.  | | Credit: Lvtalon/Wikimedia Commons | The study found that the state's net energy metering (NEM) program -- which gives Nevada residents full credit on their energy bills for the clean electricity they deliver to the utility grid -- has "no substantial cost shift to nonparticipants… given the current and proposed reforms to the program." Taking into account the cost savings of avoided distribution upgrades, E3 estimates a net benefit of $166 million over the lifetime of solar systems installed through 2016. Solar advocates have long claimed that utilizing solar energy would benefit Nevada communities, and that net metering will empower state residents to install solar -- ultimately creating new jobs and infusing tens of millions of dollars into the state and local economy. Nevada currently has 476 MW of solar generating capacity installed in Nevada, making it 5th nationwide for installed solar capacity. Average installed residential and commercial photovoltaic (PV) system prices in Nevada dropped by 25 percent last year. In addition to the other benefits of solar, a typical solar household in Nevada saves 55,000 gallons of water per year. For more:
- see this study Related Article:
Nevada's renewable energy boom Read more about: net metering
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| This week's sponsor is AFCEA Energy. | | 
| | DOE, FERC, NNSA and more to speak at half-day symposium - Register Today. |
2. Despite coal phase-out, Ameren falling behind in clean energy
Ameren has filed testimony with the Missouri Public Service Commission (PSC) saying it would phase out its Meramec coal-fired power plant in south St. Louis County by 2022, with an option to phase out the plant more quickly. The decision to phase out the Meramec coal plant was approved by Ameren's Board of Directors based on the fact that the 61-year-old coal plant had reached the end of its useful life. Ameren has seen great success saving energy through customer energy efficiency programs. Ameren believes that the power generated by the Meramec coal plant could be entirely replaced through strong energy efficiency programs. The announcement to retire the Meramec coal plant comes as Ameren attempts to gain approval for a $264 million rate increase from its customers. Ameren currently receives more than 75 percent of its energy from coal, and cited the rising costs of coal as a cause of its rate increase to customers. Despite the col plant closure, Ameren has some catching up to do when it comes to clean energy. Although Ameren is the largest utility in Missouri, second-largest utility Kansas City Power & Light (KCP&L) beats Ameren when it comes to clean energy investments. AS KCP&L doubles its investment in wind power, it will soon have more than nine times the wind energy of Ameren. The announcement of the phase out of the Meramec coal plant represents the 168th coal plant to retire or announce retirement since 2010, which in total will cut nearly 252 million tons of carbon emissions, or the equivalent of 53 million passenger vehicles. For more:
- see the filing Related Articles:
Coal ash controversy
Mandatory groundwater monitoring demanded for Ameren coal plants Read more about: Ameren
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3. Northeast Utilities by the numbers
Programs administered by Northeast Utilities and its operating companies saved customers enough energy last year to equal the output of a 500 MW power plant, and prevented 30,000 tons of waste from being dumped into landfills, according to the company's Responsible Energy report. The report highlights hundreds more examples of sustainable practices, corporate responsibility, and benefits generated for NU's 3.6 million customers and other stakeholders. These include expanding renewable energy options, promoting energy efficiency, reducing the companies' carbon footprint, improving the reliability of the energy infrastructure, and enhancing the overall service experience for NU customers across Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. According to the numbers, NU has reduced its carbon footprint by cutting its total emissions by 35 percent since 2009. Customers participating in energy efficiency programs administered by NU's operating companies saved nearly 828 GWh of power last year -- enough to serve all the power needs of NU's 3.1 million electric customers for five days. Home improvements from these programs have also saved customers the equivalent of about 440,678,000 cubic feet of natural gas -- or enough to serve heating and cooking needs of NU's 484,000 gas customers for three-and-a-half days. In Western Massachusetts, NU has built three solar generation sites utilizing capped landfills and other environmentally-challenged sites providing 8 MW of clean energy that can serve at least 6,000 homes. When complete, the 1,200 MW of clean hydropower imported to New England by NU's Northern Pass transmission line will lower CO2 emissions by up to 5 million tons annually. For more:
- visit this website Related Articles:
Net zero energy house earns credit for surplus energy
The New Energy Consumer wants more from its provider Read more about: Energy Efficiency
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4. NEEA outlines strategic and business plans
The Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA) has laid out plans regarding its five-year plan to represent more than 140 Northwest utilities and energy efficiency organizations. The 2015-19 Strategic and Business Plans serve as the foundation for NEEA's market transformation work in Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington. The Strategic Plan sets forth NEEA's strategic goal of filling the energy efficiency pipeline with new products, services, practices and approaches, as well as creating market conditions to accelerate and sustain market adoption of the same. NEEA's Business Plan outlines how the alliance will deliver regional value, by concentrating its activities in four strategic markets: consumer products, residential new construction, commercial new construction and commercial lighting. In addition, NEEA will deliver data services and regional building stock assessments, and continue to scan the market for and accelerate the development of new, emerging energy efficiency technologies. Further, NEEA will continue working to increase stringency in codes and standards as the ultimate end goal to support long-term, sustained market transformation without continued investment. NEEA forecasts that the activities within the 2015-19 Business Plan will ultimately result in significant energy savings of at least 145 MW of total regional energy savings by 2019 -- from an investment ranging from $145 to $169 million over five years. NEEA's Board of Directors -- comprised of representatives from the Bonneville Power Administration, consumer- and investor-owned utilities, state government, public interest and efficiency industry organizations -- approved the 2015-19 Strategic and Business Plans in late June in a special session. "The NEEA Board's approval of the 2015-2019 Strategic and Business Plans is a major milestone towards our shared vision for the next five years," said Susan E. Stratton, NEEA's executive director. "This new chapter represents greater transparency and better regional coordination as we adapt to our stakeholders' needs to deliver cost-effective energy efficiency for the good of the region." For more:
- see the strategic report
- see the business plan Related Articles:
Certification program leverages utility energy efficiency programming
Research brings energy efficiency into the 21st Century Read more about: Energy Efficiency
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5. Dominion shooting for 30 more solar installations
Dominion Virginia Power (DVP) and Old Dominion University (ODU) have dedicated a new solar installation on the roof of ODU's Student Recreation Center -- the first installation of its kind in the Hampton Roads area. ODU was one of the first participants in the DVP's Solar Partnership Program under which Dominion builds and operates solar facilities on leased rooftops.  | | The solar roof at Old Dominion University. Credit: Dominion Virginia Power | "ODU is a good fit for this program as it continues to pave the way for alternative energy research at the university level in the commonwealth. This project will undoubtedly provide both community and educational benefits," said Ken Barker, vice president of Customer Solutions at Dominion. "Our new program allows us to integrate solar power into our diverse mix of resources to ensure reliable electricity. Solar energy will be a source of generation moving forward." More than 600 solar panels were installed on the roof and will generate about 125 kW of electricity during daylight hours. Over the next several years, Dominion hopes to add 20 to 30 new solar installations. The Solar Partnership Program was approved by the Virginia State Corporation Commission in November 2012. Under the program, Dominion will construct and operate up to 30 MW of company-owned solar facilities on leased rooftops or on the grounds of commercial businesses and public properties throughout the company's Virginia service area. For more:
- see this fact sheet Related Article:
Dominion expands solar footprint Read more about: solar energy
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Also Noted News From Across the Energy Industry:
> NY putting clean energy industry to work Post
> Increasing costs squeezing oil industry Post
> Rio Grande Valley, TX booming with economic opportunity Post
> Duke meets merger transmission project conditions Post
> Global leaders embracing smart cities Post
> North American smart water management growing Post
> Maine's largest utilities partner on transmission projects Post
> National Consumer Telecom and Utilities Exchange (NCTUE) - August 5, 2014, 2pm ET / 11am PT This must-attend Equifax webinar - led by the NCTUE board members Buddy Flake (SCANA), Leon Broughton (Citizens Energy Group) and Bob Romeo (AT&T) - dives deep into the mechanics of an industry specific data resource from the (NCTUE) that offers practical, relevant credit insight on more than 170 million consumers. Plus you'll hear exclusive use cases based from real utility organizations that have leveraged this data to solve common business issues, update and realign their business processes and reap substantial financial benefits. Reserve your spot today!
| > AFCEA Energy IT Symposium - July 17 - Washington, DC Register today to hear from federal leaders and program managers within DOE, FERC, NNSA, PNNL and more discuss how they have strengthened program management, adopted emerging technologies, and built partnerships that support the global energy community by solving mission critical IT issues.
| > Whitepaper: Download a FREE PREVIEW of the 2013 Smart Grid Hiring Trends report! Featuring 76 unique tables illustrating nearly 30 Smart Grid hiring topics, this original research offers human resources professionals and hiring executives unique insight into emerging Smart Grid human resources challenges, solutions and trends. Click here to download the executive summary. > Removing the Hurdles to Energy Storage Adoption There is a real need for energy storage in the coming years. Troy Miller of S&C Electric Company, an expert in the industry, reviews highlights from the Energy Storage Association’s 2014 annual conference, including the benefits, road blocks, and overall progress facing real-world energy storage. Read more here. | |
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