| This week's sponsor is AT&T. |  | AT&T offers a wide range of Field Solutions, such as Fleet Management, Enhanced Push-to-Talk, and Workforce Management, designed to help keep your business on track. Learn more. |
Also Noted: Kony
Army tests driverless vehicles in 'living lab'; House votes to save bans on city Internet service and much more... Where do utilities really stand with customers?
Conventional wisdom might have us believe that electric and gas utilities are at the bottom of the customer satisfaction heap compared to other service providers. After all, for every power outage and loss of heat, gas or air conditioning issue, there is the potential for an outcry among ratepayers that can negatively impact satisfaction scores overnight -- or within hours for that matter. Article
List of cities mandating energy benchmarking grows
Cambridge, Massachusetts is the latest city to require the benchmarking and disclosure of building energy performance for large commercial, institutional, and multifamily buildings, joining Boston, along with eight other major U.S. cities -- Austin, Chicago, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, New York City, Seattle, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. -- as well as two states and one county. Article
California, Mexico partner to promote low carbon economy
California -- a pioneer in addressing climate change -- and Mexico have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to cooperate on a range of environmental issues, from pricing carbon pollution to air quality to promoting clean vehicles. Article
News From Across the Energy Industry:
1. Consumer viewpoints on sustainability
2. Exelon to buy Integrys
3. BGE contribution to MD economy in the billions
More headlines...
Today's Top News 1. CPUC settlement recognizes value of demand response
A new settlement agreement filed with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) will open the door for demand response in California and accelerate the state's transition to a clean energy economy. The settlement recognizes the increased value of demand response, supports a cost-effective transition toward more renewable energy, and acknowledges that existing market and regulatory mechanisms fail to monetize all benefits load modifying demand response provides to consumers -- such as deferring distribution investments and reducing the need for flexible capacity. California's investor-owned utilities, the California Independent System Operator, the Clean Coalition, and the Environmental Defense Fund, among others, collaborated as part of the effort to increase the role of demand response as a clean, cost-effective approach to meet California's rising energy demands, reduce emissions, and more efficiently operate the state's power grid. "As California progresses towards its 2020 renewable energy goals, it is critical that demand response providers have access to compensation for meeting system needs," said Stephanie Wang, policy director for the Clean Coalition. "This settlement recognizes that we need smarter market and regulatory mechanisms to drive the deployment of cost-effective demand response." As part of the settlement agreement, a working group will be established to guide full monetization of load modifying demand response and provide recommendations for the demand response roadmap that will be developed in 2015. While this settlement does not set new deployment goals for demand response, parties agreed to the parameters of a study that will determine firm goals in the near future. Future goals will be designed to meet system needs and state objectives, rather than being based solely on a percentage of peak needs as has been done in the past. The study will also examine the potential to integrate demand response with other distributed energy resources, such as electric vehicles and solar, to meet a broader range of system needs. Until future goals are determined, the settlement maintains a floor for demand response at 5 percent of the sum of the peak demands for all three investor owned utilities (Pacific Gas and Electric, San Diego Gas and Electric, and Southern California Edison) by 2020. The utilities are collectively at 3.9 percent, according to load impact reports filed in April 2014. Together, the utilities need to bring another 640 MW of demand response online by 2020 to meet 5 percent of current projections for peak needs. CPUC will decide on the settlement agreement in December 2014. For more:
- see the settlement agreement Related Articles:
OpenADR not just a "California technology"
San Diego Gas & Electric urges demand response
Incentives, technology making DR more attractive to customers Read more about: demand response, California Public Utilities Commission
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2. New transmission and distribution infrastructure needs $2 trillion by 2024
Over the next decade, an investment of between $140.2 billion and $170.5 billion per year on traditional transmission and distribution (T&D) infrastructure will be needed worldwide to keep pace with growth in electricity demand, while an additional $8 billion to $27.3 billion will be invested annually in smart grid infrastructure to improve the efficiency and reliability of T&D grids, according to Northeast Group, LLC. "The significant need for new power generation capacity makes the headlines on a daily basis. But what is seldom discussed is the equally important need for new T&D infrastructure, which needs an enormous $1.9 trillion in cumulative investment by 2024," said Ben Gardner, president of Northeast Group. "This includes substations, power lines and associated equipment and new technology. T&D investment typically represents approximately 40 percent of total power infrastructure spending." Investment in smart grid accounts for a growing share of the overall market. In 2014, Northeast Group projects that distribution automation investment will account for 5.4 percent of total T&D spending, growing to nearly 14 percent by 2024 -- with a compound annual growth rate exceeding 13 percent. Cumulatively, the world will invest $230.2 billion in distribution automation between 2014 and 2024 -- Northeast projects -- including spending on substation automation; fault detection, isolation and restoration (FDIR); volt/VAR optimization (VVO); and additional grid monitoring and control technologies in the distribution grid. North America and Europe are expected to see lackluster growth in traditional T&D infrastructure spending of around 1 percent, but will account for the majority of smart grid spending. Smart grid annual spending on distribution automation will be concentrated in Europe ($11.5 billion per year), North America ($7.5 billion/year) and East Asia ($6.1 billion/year), as these regions modernize their existing electric infrastructure. For more:
- see this report Related Article:
Smart grid investments haven't boomed yet Read more about: Smart Grid, transmission and distribution
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3. $1B Con Edison investment paying reliability dividends
Thanks to Con Edison's post-Sandy storm hardening improvements – part of Con Edison's $1 billion investment to protect its systems from severe storms -- 20,000 outages have been avoided so far in 2014, according to the company.  | | Smart switches/reclosers. Credit: Con Edison | "The post-Sandy storm hardening improvements are paying service reliability dividends for our customers," said Robert Schimmenti, Con Edison's vice president of Engineering and Planning. "Devices installed on our overhead system isolate damage on our lines so that when outages occur, fewer customers are affected." Con Edison has installed thousands of sectionalizing fuses on its overhead system, as well as reclosers or "smart switches." The fuses create a controlled isolation point on electrical lines. This becomes the first point of isolation when a fault occurs, which can be due to a tree or branch falling, a lightning strike, or other storm-related damage -- allowing Con Edison to design where the breaks in circuits occur and limiting the number of affected customers. The reclosers are more complex devices that can clear temporary faults, such as a fallen tree branch that momentarily touches a line, instantly restoring service so Con Edison doesn't need to send a crew out. Over the July 4th of July weekend, seven fuses limited outages in Yonkers, New Rochelle, the villages of Briarcliff Manor and Mount Kisco, and the Town of Mount Pleasant. Con Edison will continue its storm-hardening efforts through 2015 and 2016. For more:
- read this article Related Articles:
Top 5 best IOUs for reliability
Utilities preparing for another Sandy Read more about: Con Edison, Superstorm Sandy
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4. OpenADR Alliance, ISGF partner on India's smart grid
The OpenADR Alliance and the India Smart Grid Forum (ISGF) have formed a public private partnership to accelerate the development of smart grid technologies in the Indian power sector. The two organizations will work together to facilitate the adoption of Open Automated Demand Response (OpenADR) in India, helping utilities in the country better maintain grid reliability, while also providing customers with demand response-enabled products delivering enhanced energy efficiency.  | | India Gate in Delhi. Credit: Wikimedia Commons/Shashwat Nagpal | The partnership will help create a platform for public and private stakeholder members, research institutions and power utilities to exchange ideas and information on smart grids and develop use case scenarios for clean energy access in India. OpenADR and ISGF will make recommendations to the government, regulators, utilities and consumers by conducting research on the capabilities of smart grids in India through case studies, cost-benefit analysis, study of technical advancements in renewable energy sources, and other ancillary activities. India operates the world's largest synchronous grids today with 250 GW connected capacity, about 200 million consumers, and covers two million square miles. However, 40 percent of the population has no access to electricity and per-capita consumption of electricity in India is one-fourth of the world average. The country is seeing fragmented and independent smart grid endeavors by the national and local governments, public-private collaborations, and private organizations -- at different levels of maturity. Nationally, the Indian Ministry of Power (MOP) is working toward major power sector reform, which includes revolutionizing the grid with bi-directional information exchange. Demand response as a key demand-side management strategy provides a cost-effective alternative to traditional supply-side solutions to address growing electricity demands during times of peak load or when prices are high. Currently, 14 smart grid pilot projects are under implementation by different state distribution utilities. The peak-load management and advanced metering infrastructure will be implemented for most of these pilot projects. OpenADR can be evaluated for applications within India and will play a key role in reducing the cost of technology enablement and help with interoperability and cybersecurity. "Working with the OpenADR Alliance will help bring together experts from regulation, policy, and the corporate sector to build support for smart grid policies," said ISGF President and CEO Reji Kumar Pillai. "Our main objective is to help the Indian power sector deploy smart grid technologies in an efficient, cost effective, innovative and scalable manner with enabling technologies like OpenADR." For more:
- see this article Related Articles:
Emerging market countries to outpace developed world in smart grid investments
Energy demand driving DR in Asia Pacific
Smart grid roadmap makes India part of "elite club" Read more about: OpenADR, India Smart Grid Forum
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5. Data-driven operations mean huge cost savings, competitive edge
New market forecasts from ABI Research show that spending on big data and analytics in the energy industry will total $7 billion in 2014, according to forecasts by ABI Research. In 2019, spending on energy analytics will exceed $21 billion -- a compound annual growth rate of 25 percent. Traditionally, the energy sector has been conservative in adopting new forms of IT, but the resistance to change is lessening. "Greater shareholder pressure is pushing many energy groups to improve their returns after having it easy in the past," said Aapo Markkanen, ABI's principal analyst. "In such a highly asset-intensive field, huge cost savings are possible by making the operations more driven by data. Analytics allow the early movers to gain a critical competitive advantage over laggards, in a field where competing by the end product is seldom an option." In 2014, 31 percent of total spending will reflect the growing use of data in refining and the smart grid, according to ABI. "Energy is an industry that has expensive problems, but can afford premium solutions," said Dan Shey, ABI practice director. For more:
- see this report Related Articles:
Trends in utility automation, integration and data analytics
Analytics winners transforming their utility businesses Read more about: data analytics
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Also Noted | This week's sponsor is Kony. | 
| Webinar: Capitalizing on the digital transformation: Providing mobile value for customers and utilities
Now available on-demand
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! |
> Army tests driverless vehicles in 'living lab'. Article (GCN)
> House votes to save bans on city Internet service. Article (Nextgov)
> US government lays claim to foreign-held data. Article (bit-tech)
> Germany 'may revert to typewriters' to counter hi-tech espionage. Article (The Guardian)
> Hawaii gubernatorial candidate talks Obamacare, state tech issues. Article (GovTech) And Finally... Meet Jibo, the world's first family robot. Video (HuffPost) News From Across the Energy Industry:
> Helms hydroelectric plant turns 30 Post
> Power mag recognizes outstanding power plant achievements Post
> Southern California Edison facing $4.4B bill to decommission SONGS Post
> Cape Wind finds construction contractor Post
> National Grid hails new solar legislation Post
> Social media providing fracking ''facts'' Post
> AEP, Columbia Gas promoting energy-efficient homes Post
> Capitalizing on the digital transformation: Providing mobile value for customers and utilities - Now Available On-Demand This webinar will address how utilities can provide mobile value to their customers while increasing customer engagement and trust in the utility brand. Register to watch now! > IT and Marketing: Extreme Collaboration - Tuesday, August 26th / 2pm ET / 11am PT Media outlets love to focus on the tension between IT and marketing. But if it's a war, both sides lose. Instead, CIOs have to partner with CMOs to help deliver on aggressive business goals in an ever-changing landscape. Register Today!
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