ENERGY STORAGE
JDSupra Business Advisor: Massachusetts DOER to Set Energy Storage Targets
On December 27, 2016, the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) announced that it is prudent for the Commonwealth to adopt an energy storage target for electric companies to procure viable and cost-effective energy storage systems to be achieved by January 1, 2020. The next step in the process is for DOER to adopt energy storage systems targets by July 1, 2017…
UTILITIES
Energy Storage News: Oregon latest US state to prepare for energy storage procurement by utilities
Oregon has become the latest US state to lay out its foundations for electricity companies to procure and deploy energy storage systems, with the state Public Utility Commission (PUC) providing guidelines and timelines. The state actually enacted bill HB2193, which would authorise utilities to explore the possibilities of deploying energy storage for reasons including deferring spending on transmission infrastructure, back in 2015…
KPBS: SDG&E’s Plan To Lobby On Community Choice Is Suspended
San Diego Gas & Electric’s plan to lobby on the alternative energy program called community choice aggregation was approved in August 2016, but now has been suspended because it does not comply with state directions. Under state law, the utility is prohibited from lobbying or marketing on community choice unless it forms an independent district that’s funded by shareholders, not ratepayers…
Utility Dive: Hawaii Electric aims to hit 100% renewables 5 years early with new power supply plan
Hawaiian Electric Co. has filed its latest Power Supply Improvement Plan (PSIP) with the state’s Public Utilities Commission, outlining how it intends to reach 100% renewables by 2040 — five years ahead of the state’s mandated goal. The plan calls for HECO to provide 48% renewable power by 2020, without the use of imported liquefied natural gas…
PV Magazine: SCE awaits third energy storage unit approval
Southern California Edison (SCE) is awaiting approval from the California PUC for the third unit within its 27 MW of lithium-ion storage plans. The utility filed in late December with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for a Generator Interconnection Agreement with the third of the three, the PPA Grand Johanna LLC for a 2 MW/8MWh storage project called Grand Johanna…
RENEWABLE ENERGY
The Motley Fool: 100% Renewable: Las Vegas Is Now a Beacon Of Sustainability
…When SunPower (NASDAQ:SPWR) recently turned on the Boulder 1 solar project, the City of Las Vegas’ government became the first in the country to be entirely powered by renewable energy. This follows Las Vegas’ leadership in water conservation, cutting consumption by 23% between 2005 and 2015. As cities across the country look for ways to cut costs and use resources more sustainably, maybe Las Vegas should be where they look to find a success story…
Mashable: Costa Rica ran almost entirely on renewable energy in 2016
…The Central American nation ran entirely on renewable energy for more than 250 days last year, the country’s power operator announced…The country of 4.9 million people gets most of its electricity from large hydropower facilities, which are fed by multiple rivers and heavy seasonal rains…Geothermal plants and wind turbines are also prominent sources of power, while biomass and solar power provide a tiny but growing share of electricity…
The Guardian: Christmas Day 2016 sets new UK record for renewable energy use
Christmas Day was the greenest on record for energy generation, according to the power group Drax. The company said more than 40% of the electricity generated on the day came from renewable sources, the highest ever. It compared with 25% on Christmas Day in 2015, and 12% in 2012…
Greentech Media: For the First Time, Emerging Markets Are Deploying More Renewables Than Developed Nations
…The 58 emerging-market economies aggregated in the Climatescope report set a record for clean energy deployed in 2015 with 70 gigawatts built, compared to the 59 gigawatts of clean power deployed in the 35 wealthier OECD countries. Cumulatively, the developing nations have won $154.1 billion in cleantech investment and added more clean energy capacity, with faster growth rates than the OECD nations using both those metrics…
Bloomberg: Solar Could Beat Coal to Become the Cheapest Power on Earth
…Since 2009, solar prices are down 62 percent, with every part of the supply chain trimming costs. That’s help cut risk premiums on bank loans, and pushed manufacturing capacity to record levels. By 2025, solar may be cheaper than using coal on average globally, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance…
POLICY
The New York Times: Weak Federal Powers Could Limit Trump’s Climate-Policy Rollback
…We do not know for sure that the New York wind farm will get built, but we do know this: The energy transition is real, and Mr. Trump is not going to stop it. On a global scale, more than half the investment in new electricity generation is going into renewable energy. That is more than $300 billion a year, a sign of how powerful the momentum has become…
Utility Dive: How will Rick Perry run the Department of Energy?
…Governor Perry has close fossil fuel industry ties but has also demonstrated “a wider view on energy,” wrote World Resources Institute Energy Program Global Director Jennifer Layke recently. Through his Texas experience, he can show the Trump administration how clean energy can “create jobs, protect people’s health, and support American competitiveness.”…
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
Greentech Media: Hawaii Wants to Lead on Energy Efficiency, Not Just Renewables
…In the past 20 years, the state’s energy office has signed more than $440 million in performance contracts for a savings of more than $1.1 billion. Hawaii is home to the single largest performance contract in the U.S., a $158 million deal with the Hawaii Department of Transportation that covers nearly all of the state’s airports. It will cut energy use in 12 airports by nearly 50 percent…
IOT
The Motley Fool: What Does 2017 Hold for the Internet of Things?
… Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO) estimates that the number of connected devices worldwide will double from 25 billion in 2015 to 50 billion by 2020. That’s why chipmakers like Intel and Qualcomm launched new low-power chips for IoT devices, and networking leaders like Cisco and Juniper Networks added IoT features to their networking hardware and software…
