Duke Energy goes big on solar in North Carolina, plans to drop $500M
North Carolina is getting a wave of new solar farms bought, built, and developed by utility Duke Energy.
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North Carolina is getting a wave of new solar farms bought, built, and developed by utility Duke Energy.
While Google, Facebook, Apple and others made major strides for clean energy and Internet infrastructure, Amazon and AWS are lagging far behind.
Apple’s two solar farms and one fuel cell farm near its data center in North Carolina are now all live and generating power. The projects are unprecedented in the industry and have helped usher in real change.
Duke Energy has taken an important step forward to enable large companies to buy clean power from it if they’re willing to pay for it.
Building out a “smart” electrical grid is going to take more than just the right gear — that gear has to interoperate, and so utilities are searching for the right standard.
Adding to Apple’s clean power plans for its data centers, Apple confirmed with me that it’s building a large solar panel farm for a data center in Reno, Nevada.
We interviewed executives at some of the biggest Internet companies, as well as hardware vendors, economic development groups, and utilities to find out why North Carolina has emerged as a hub for Internet leaders mega data centers. Here are the 10 biggest reasons:
Changes in the power market are rippling through the Internet industry, altering both the location of data centers and their sources of power.
Nevada has tried very hard to attract solar energy investments and one of its latest efforts is both grandly ambitious and peculiar: Chinese energy company ENN Group promises to invest $5 billion to build a solar panel factory, a solar power plant, and an “eco-community.”
While 2011 will be remember as a troubling year for solar manufacturers, it also is a year when major U.S. power companies such as Duke, MidAmerican and Exelon took a plunge into investing and owning solar power plants.
The emergence of the smart grid has raised concerns about cybersecurity among utilities; two-way digital networks are more vulnerable. But according to utility executives, distributed power generation technologies, such as solar, particularly combined with energy storage, could help minimize the impact of an attack.
Utility Duke Energy has opted for the most advanced wireless connection pretty much available for a new building efficiency program in Charlotte, N.C.: Verizon Wireless’ 4G LTE network. Verizon’s LTE network could help building owners in Charlotte reduce energy consumption by 20 percent.
The bigger the better for the greentech sector. Is 2011 the year of the Godzilla greentech company? On this news-laden Monday, there’s some particularly interesting evidence of the market advantages of being a massive company today selling into the energy, fuel and chemical markets.
The Center for Public Integrity reports that funds from the stimulus package for clean power and energy efficiency were issued with “sweeping exemptions” from basic environmental oversight.
What makes a smart grid pilot a success — even when it’s a failure? General Electric and Accenture spent an hour Wednesday with some energy industry big shots at the World Economic Forum in Atlanta and explained it all to us.
What are the powerhouse trio including Bill Clinton, Cisco CEO John Chambers, and Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers all excited about this morning? If you were thinking a new energy bill or more green stimulus spending, think again. It’s building energy efficiency in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Today on the Net: Apple is moving its iTunes music and movie service into the cloud, about a third of US residents watched the World Cup, according to Nielsen, and TiVo will supply software and services to power a next-generation TV initiative at ONO in Spain.
I came across TrashMe while looking for a decent uninstaller for my Mac. Unlike Scott, I made the transition to Mac quite a while ago, but I still struggle with some aspects of it. One thing that irks me is the way that apps are installed.
Duke Energy says cost estimates for an Indiana coal plant (designed to test carbon capture and storage technology and use what’s called integrated gasification combined cycle tech) have ballooned to $2.88 billion, up from original estimate of less than $2 billion.
Since deciding that a move to the cloud was needed for my lifestyle, I have migrated much of my Mac life there. Here are a few of the key ways I made this happen.
While everyone’s talking about new battery technologies that can store huge amounts of electricity for the power grid, for the time being…
Duke Energy, a utility that has 4 million customers across the Midwest and the Carolinas, doesn’t want to be in the business…
Duke Energy (s DUK), one of the largest electric utilities in the U.S., has added yet another technology partner to its smart…
Google (s GOOG) smart grid news this morning, and you’ll see two major announcements: Duke Energy (s DUK) plans to partner with…
For utilities that are looking to control their customers’ home energy use during peak hours with smart meters and appliances, there can…
We are currently at an inflection point with regard to smart grid upgrades. For the first time, the smart grid movement has the backing of the U.S. government and increasing buy-in from state public utility commissions; utilities themselves are beginning to aggressively push smart meter deployments and broader smart grid initiatives; new advancements in technology promise to revolutionize the capabilities of the grid; and a robust technology vendor ecosystem has begun to form. Within the IT and telecommunications industries in particular, the utility sector is seen as a market ripe for innovation and expansion.
The more than $4 billion allocated in the stimulus package for the smart grid will deliver a massive boost for information technology…
Two minutes and eighteen seconds. That’s how long it took me to set up the $99 Pogoplug hardware and activate it online.…
Going Gets Tougher for Newbies: Despite the long-term promise of clean energy, a new report from Clean Edge forecasts revenues will “remain…
Newark, N.J.’s Public Service Electric and Gas announced today that it wants to put solar panels pretty much everywhere — on utility…
The Edison Electric Institute, which represents about 70 percent of U.S. electricity producers, revealed a new industry wish list for climate change…
Solar service provider SunEdison and real estate company Developers Diversified Realty Corp (s DDR) launched a solar rooftop program yesterday that could…
North Carolina regulators gave a green light for Duke Energy‘s (s DUK) Carolinas subsidiary to install 10 megawatts of photovoltaic systems at…
Duke Energy Carolinas and Progress Energy, two major utilities in the Southeast, have partnered to test a fleet of smart-charging plug-in electric Priuses in what they say will be the country’s first interstate electric car-charging scheme involving multiple utilities.
UPDATED: Duke Energy (s DUK) has decided to cut in half its $100 million distributed solar rooftop program after the utility was…
RGGI Auctions, But Will it Work?: The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative started selling carbon credits in the Northeast today but don’t get…
Duke Energy is calling for solar companies to bid on its planned $100 million distributed rooftop solar project in North Carolina. The…
The formerly dry subject of transmission infrastructure is becoming a hot topic as proposals for sprawling wind and solar farms require new…
There’s a lot of hubbub over how much of the Olympics will be online this year. Despite the fact that NBC is…
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First we had Texas utility Oncor sign a $690 million deal for smart meters and now North Carolina-based Duke Energy has announced…
A deal between solar producer SunEdison and power company Duke Energy could produce the largest solar photovoltaic farm in the United States.…
The debate between massive solar thermal plants and distributed roof top solar projects continues to get more interesting every day. Duke Energy’s…
Some of us have a real addiction to buying domain names. I own about 30 myself, and I have friends with many…
[digg=http://digg.com/software/Send_Yourself_Reminders_With_Twitter_Timer]Like many of my fellow Web Workers, I look to Twitter as a means to communicate and stay connected with others. Recently…
The New York Times reports that Microsoft is going to raise its bid for Yahoo by a few dollars. They quote an…
Skype, the Internet telephony darling, has announced a very inexpensive unlimited plan today. For $9.95 a month, callers from the U.S. will…
Fujitsu’s P8010 notebook caught the eye of jkOTR reader Nomo and I can see why. This lappy offers an LED backlit 12.1-inch…
Tabbed browsing is one of those functions that has definitely impacted my productivity for the better. It’s not uncommon for me to…
Since picking up a Kindle when they first went on sale I have tried so hard to use it for my only…
YouTube: Big Trouble in China? Reports indicate the video-sharing service is being blocked on the mainland just as YouTube launches in Taiwan.…
Back in March I sold my G5 tower in favor of the mobile life and have been using a 17″ MacBook Pro…
As we had reported earlier, Earthlink (ENLK) announced a major restructuring. They will hold a conference call tomorrow morning. According to their…
My Apple TV is looking for more work to do. Yes, it’s happy to be playing songs and the occasional show from…
John Edwards is running for president, or so he says on You Tube
Hot on the heels of a huge Sony battery recall, HP and Sony issued a joint statement indicating there’s no issue with…
MCI’s SkyTel has started offering wifi service in Lexington, Kentucky. $24.99 a month at home, and $69.99 for small business. Average speed,…
Walter Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal recently reviewed the great note-taking app, EverNote. EverNote is an innovative note-taking and organization program…
FCC’s decision to extend monopolistic control over the last mile has The Consumer Federation of America and Consumers Union all riled up.…
Often I come across posts, and dim witted articles which just simply don’t make sense, or don’t look at the heart of…
MCI is prepping itself up for sale? That’s the word fromThe New York Times which reports that “MCI has hired three investment…