It’s a hot day and you agree not to jack up your air conditioner in exchange for a discount on your utility bill. Startups like Smart Grid Billing are developing applications to help manage this process, and the startup plans to launch a pilot next month. Read more »
We were wondering where Apple and Bloom Energy were planning on getting all that biogas to run the large fuel cell farm at Apple’s North Carolina data center. According to a filing with FERC, Apple will get the biogas from landfills. Read more »
Despite some of the push back from a very vocal but tiny group, smart meters in the U.S. are coming — and fast. According to research group NPD, 75 percent of the electric meters in the U.S. will be smart digital meters by 2016. Read more »
Efforts to modernize the U.S. grid in recent years have emerged as a hodgepodge of pilot projects, the installation of new technology and hefty financial backing from the U.S. government and private investors. How to plan for such a change is a daunting task. Read more »
The Federal Regulatory Energy Commission recently passed a new rule for frequency regulation to support emerging technologies that can provide quick bursts of power to the grid. We break down what this new rule means and who will benefit. Read more »
Federal regulators canceled three ocean power project permits in California because the permit holder, located in Sonoma County, couldn’t come up with the money to carry out the projects. Read more »
EnerNOC spent a lot of money on acquiring companies in the first quarter, and it showed in the U.S. demand response leader increased revenues and growing losses for the first quarter. Read more »
Viridity Energy is competing for a Defense Department contract to control power use at federal and military facilities, and has already signed up one military base customer. That’s a big prize for a startup, if it can scale to match its demands. Read more »
A new rule giving demand response “negawatts” an equal price as megawatts of generated power on energy markets is meant to make the grid more efficient and power more affordable. But what if it backfires? Read more »
The federal grid regulator has ruled that the “negawatts” delivered by demand response companies deserve the same market prices as megawatts of generated energy — a ruling that could pay huge dividends for the demand response industry. Read more »
The U.S. grid regulator (FERC) issued a report on the state of the U.S. smart meter and demand response markets, laying out a few tidbits for the industry to keep an eye on, like protecting consumer data privacy and using the Internet to connect variable pricing. Read more »
A project that could’ve helped to advance wave energy development is now under the water. At least for now. The Pacific Gas and Electric Co. has suspended a 5-megawatt project off Northern California coast primarily because it’d cost too much. Read more »
A group of federal researchers have dived into a project to explore animal magnetism, except it’s not what you might think — it looks into the potential effects of electromagnetic fields on marine wildlife, and could become a key reference for any environmental impact review. Read more »
Wanted — California electricity consumers who can turn off 100 megawatts or more of power use on a moment’s notice. In return, you can get paid as if you’re actually generating that same amount of power, with prices set on the open market. Read more »
Nobody likes high-voltage transmission lines running through their backyards, not even in the energy-loving heart of Texas. Recently a group of landowners (the Heart of Texas Landowners Coalition) persuaded the state’s regulators to force utility Oncor to reroute a $100 million transmission line around their property. Read more »
