Smart appliances and dynamic demand in the US and the UK
In the the first quarter of 2009, General Electric will introduce a suite of ”smart” appliances or energy management enabled appliances that will receive a signal from the local utility and react based on the appliance’s internal programming. GE needs utility companies to collaborate in this endeavor. There are over 3,000 utilities in the US. GE is currently conducting a pilot program in Louisville, KY in partnership with Louisville Gas and Electric Company (LG&E).
A similar pilot program in the UK will evaluate smart fridges. The electric and gas utility npower, is working with the RLtec to trial a dynamic demand program that substitutes load response for generation station response, balances supply and demand, improves the thermal efficiency of the electric grid, facilitates renewable generation integration, and mitigates system faults, all with no discernable impact on load performance. In the first phase of the UK program, 300 fridges fitted with RLtec’s technology will be distributed to npower consumers. Eventually the trial program will deploy 3,000 fridges and freezers of different types and models and assess the benefits of the technolgy.
Hawaii signs agreement for statewide electric car infrastructure
Hawaiian Electric Companies and Better Place signed a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate on both the infrastructure and the energy sources to power Better Place’s unique network of public charging spots and battery swapping stations with renewable energy. Hawaiian Electric is the first utility in the United States to sign an agreement with Better Place. The partnership will enable the island to capitalize on abundant renewable energy resources with statewide deployment of the electrical vehicle infrastructure.
Better Place, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based company, will build the car recharging stations and provide recharged batteries for electric cars.
Hawaii currently uses petroleum to generate about 3/4 of it’s electricity! In terms of vehicle miles / BTU energy input, vehicles powered by electricity are typically more efficient than conventional internal combustion engine vehicles. But the island would need to increase it’s proportion of renewable resources and coal in order to truly ween itself from imported oil. Imported oil and coal are extremely expensive in Hawaii, so the island is expected to develop greater renewable resource capacity with its ample access to solar, wind, wave and geothermal power.
American Municipal Power-Ohio Inc. adding hydroelectric plants along Ohio River
HAMILTON, Ohio (AP) — Many decades ago, cost-conscious Henry Ford turned to hydroelectric plants to power his car factories like the one by the Great Miami River, near this Cincinnati suburb. That assembly plant is long gone, but the power plant and the technology behind it isn’t. Read More.
AMP is preparing to construct five hydroelectric power plants at existing dams along the Ohio River (see map), totaling an overall investment of nearly $2 billion.
For more information:
Mandates driving surge to the river for hydropower
AMP-Ohio to add hydroelectric plants along river
Two Kentucky Public Power Communities to join AMP-OHIO
Pennsylvania PUC hears presentations on energy conservation and demand side response
HARRISBURG – The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) held a hearing last week on alternative energy resources, energy conservation and efficiency, and demand side response. Various points of view were expressed by industry representatives. Their presentations are available on the PUC Web site.
PA Governor, Ed Rendell, signed House Bill 2200 into law as Act 129 last month. Act 129 requires utilities to adopt cost-effective plans to cut electricity use 1 percent by 2011 and 3 percent by 2013. Utilities must also implement plans to cut energy use 4.5 percent during peak demand periods when prices are highest—typically the hottest days of summer and coldest days of winter—by 2013. Electric utilities that fail to meet the law’s requirements may face steep penalties. The cost of the energy efficiency and conservation plans will be recovered from the ratepayers.
Acting PA Department of Environmental Protection Secretary John Hanger is pushing for the implementation of advanced meters, aka “smart meters”, that allow consumers to respond to higher prices during periods of peak demand by shifting their consumption to times when power prices are lower. Act 129 requires that utilities must provide their customers with smart meters within 15 years.
Pa. court rejects request by FirstEnergy utilities to break rate caps, increase electric rates
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Two Pennsylvania utilities cannot raise electric rates they charge to customers and break the deregulation-era rate caps on the cost of electricity to which they agreed a decade ago, a state judge ruled earlier this month.
Commonwealth Court Judge Rochelle S. Friedman upheld a January 2007 decision by state utility regulators to deny the request by Metropolitan Edison Co. and Pennsylvania Electric Co.
The utilities had argued that they should be able to raise customers’ retail electric rates to reflect the increasing price of wholesale electricity. But Friedman wrote that the utilities chose not to sign long-term contracts that would have locked in all of their wholesale electricity costs over the life of the rate caps.
In 2006, the companies, both subsidiaries of Ohio-based FirstEnergy Corp., asked regulators to let them begin increasing electric rates, instead of waiting until 2011, when the utilities’ rate caps expire.
Location of Projected New Nuclear Power Reactors in U.S.
On the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s website, for applications that have been received by the NRC, you may select a site name to view the specific Combined License (COL) application, reactor design, safety and environmental review schedule, and public meeting dates.
U.S. NRC has registered applications for licenses to build 25 new reactors since July 2007
For more than 30 years, no one has begun construction on a new nuclear reactor in the U.S. But amid growing concern about energy supplies, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has registered applications for licenses to build 25 new reactors since July 2007. Read more
Progress Energy Carolinas Receives Approval for Four New Energy-Saving Programs
RALEIGH, N.C., Oct. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Progress Energy Carolinas received approval from the N.C. Utilities Commission for four new programs designed to help customers save energy and money. The company is completing a program design and expects to begin offering the new energy-efficiency and demand-side management (DSM) programs to customers in the coming months. Read more
New Jersey Approves Grant of $4 Million for Offshore Wind Project Proposal
New Jersey to Develop a 345-Megawatt Offshore Wind Power Project (EERE)
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) announced on October 3 that it has selected Garden State Offshore Energy (GSOE) a joint venture of PSEG Renewable Generation and Deepwater Wind to develop a 345.6-megawatt wind project off the coast of New Jersey. The BPU awarded a $4 million grant to GSOE, of which $400,000 will be paid upfront to conduct studies and to prepare the permit applications for the $1 billion facility. It will consist of 96 wind turbines located 16-20 miles off the shore of Atlantic City and will barely be visible from the shore. According to the BPU, construction could begin in 2010 at the earliest, while PSEG hopes to start generating power in 2012, achieving full commercial operation in 2013. See the press releases from the New Jersey BPU (PDF 25 KB) and GSOE (PDF 200 KB) and the GSOE Web site. Download Adobe Reader.
A report prepared for the BPU in September by Global Insight examined the potential costs and benefits of a wind facility located off the shore of New Jersey and concluded that the facility would provide more than 1% of the state’s electricity needs. Read more
New PA law will reduce energy demand and consumption and expand alternative energy sources
PUC Commissioners Direct Implementation of House Bill 2200 (PUC Press Release 10/9/08)
HARRISBURG – The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) unanimously approved a Motion October 09, 2008 to begin implementation of House Bill 2200, which expands the PUC’s oversight responsibilities and imposes new requirements on the Electric Distribution Companies (EDCs), with the overall goal of enhancing procurement; reducing energy demand and consumption; and expanding alternative energy sources. Read more
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EIA: Retail Prices
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