ENERGY STORAGE
Greentech Media: In Shift to Longer-Duration Applications, US Energy Storage Installations Grow 100% in 2016
Led by a record-breaking fourth quarter, energy storage deployments in the United States totaled 336 megawatt-hours in 2016, doubling the megawatt-hours deployed in 2015. According to GTM Research and the Energy Storage Association’s U.S Energy Storage Monitor 2016 Year in Review report, 230 megawatt-hours came on-line in the fourth quarter of the year, more than the sum of the previous 12 quarters combined…
UTILITIES
The Wall Street Journal: How California Utilities Are Managing Excess Solar Power
California utilities including PG&E Corp., Edison International and Sempra Energy are testing new ways to network solar panels, battery storage, two-way communication devices and software to create “virtual power plants” that manage green power and feed it into the power grid as needed…
Greentech Media: Utilities Have Invested Over $2.9 Billion in Distributed Energy Companies
Investment in distributed energy companies has tripled in value in North America and Europe since 2010, with more than $1 billion in investment in 2016 alone, according to new data from GTM Research. The report, Utility Investments in Distributed Energy: Trends Among North American and European Utilities, analyzes the substantive capital invested in solar, energy storage, customer energy management and distributed energy resource (DER) integration companies by the investment arms of 42 utilities…
Utility Dive: How California’s utilities are mapping their grids for distributed resources
…If this growth in distributed energy resources (DERs) is to continue, utilities must better understand where customer-sited resources can be added to their grids without causing reliability problems. In the state’s integration capacity analysis (ICA) proceeding, engineers from the state’s three big investor-owned utilities (IOUs) are addressing that question — working with DER providers to develop a methodology to identify where DERs can connect to the distribution system, and how much each feeder can handle…
Las Vegas Sun: Deadline looms for grandfathered net metering rates
Rooftop solar customers eligible for grandfathered net metering rates are running out of time to opt-in. As of Wednesday, just 2,085 of the 7,898 customers who are eligible for the exempt rates who had not yet interconnected or installed a rooftop solar system have responded to move forward, according to NV Energy. The deadline to opt-in is Feb. 28, so those who are up for the grandfathered net metering rate are asked to act fast to ensure they lock in the rate…
POLICY
Utility Dive: Senate confirms Rick Perry to lead Department of Energy
The U.S. Senate has confirmed former Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) to head the Department of Energy, where he will oversee the nation’s nuclear weapons program as well as research into clean energy and other advanced technologies. Perry’s nomination was approved 62-37, with nine Democrats voting in favor…
RENEWABLE ENERGY
OilPrice.com: Why The U.S. Military Is Fully Backing Renewables
The renewable energy theme has had many develop a knee-jerk reaction – pro or against – simply because of the sheer attention it is being given. In the renewables narrative, the aspect of how green energy will save the planet from the harmful results of human activity seems to take priority most often. There is, however, another aspect that has been relentlessly highlighted by the U.S. army in recent years: the practicality of green energy…
Power Engineering International: New Zealand a ‘world-class renewables success story’ says IEA
…New Zealand has been hailed as “a world-class success story for renewables” by the International Energy Agency…The government has set ambitious goals to cut greenhouse gas emissions to 30 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030. However, the IEA notes that to be in line with the Paris Agreement, it will have to adopt policies “supporting the energy system transformation, encouraging greater energy efficiency, electrified transport and expanding renewable energy in the buildings, heat and industry sectors”…
Renewable Energy World: More Than 3 Million in US Now Work in Clean Energy
On Wednesday, February 22, national business groups representing the range and breadth of clean energy companies in the United States cheered government statistics showing their industries support more than 3 million American jobs – equal to the employment of retail stores across the country, and twice as many jobs as involved in construction of buildings. This is based on 2016 data recently released by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in its second annual U.S. Energy and Employment Report…
Greentech Media: Visualizing the Growth of California’s New Energy Economy
The integration of renewables and distributed energy resources (DERs) are driving electricity planning in California — inviting new and existing players to collaborate and battle over the future of the state’s energy system. In advance of GTM’s California Distributed Energy Future conference, GTM Research and Wood Mackenzie examined some of the characteristics of the new energy economy…
Statesman: Georgetown now 100 percent powered by renewable energy
The city of Georgetown is now one of the first cities in the U.S. to run on 100 percent renewable energy. The milestone is met after the city ended a long-term power contract in 2012, and found new options for power suppliers that would source renewable energy—like wind and solar power— from transmission lines in West Texas and the Panhandle…
OilPrice.com: Australia’s 100% Renewable Energy Grid
Australia is posed to build an electricity network with 100 percent renewable energy, that is both affordable and secure, and that utilizes existing technology. The Australian National University has published a study detailing how a zero-emissions grid would work. The grid would rely on wind and solar technology, but the innovation comes from the pumped hydro storage, which would support the network…
Utility Dive: AEE: Advanced energy grows to a $200B industry in US
New economic analysis from Advanced Energy Economy pegs renewables and grid-edge technologies as a $200 billion industry in the United States, with annual revenues twice that of beer sales and equal to domestic pharmaceutical manufacturing…Specific to the United States: advanced energy technologies like efficiency upgrades, electric vehicles, storage, and solar and wind generation all helped grow the market. Plug-in vehicle charging investments revenues jumped 11%, up a striking 600% in the last five years…
