2011 was outwardly a tumultuous year for clean energy, but economic uncertainty and the air of scandal were in actuality just red herrings. Global investment surged to record levels, and the United States led the pack. The industry’s challenges were many: falling stock prices, bankruptcy, slim profit margins, trade disputes, disappearing energy subsidies, and excess Continue reading →
investment
Despite a tumultuous year for the renewable energy industry, global investment reached a record $260 billion in 2011 while the United States reclaimed the top spot from China, according to a report released Thursday. That’s a 5% jump over the previous year and five times the investment made in 2004, said Bloomberg New Energy Finance, Continue reading →
Norman’s new CNG filling station opened Monday. The project is expected to save the city of Norman and residents thousands of dollars, in addition to using a greener source of fuel with a smaller environmental footprint. But the benefits of this trend-setting station extend beyond Norman and Cleveland County. Norman’s new CNG station is a Continue reading →
ComEd has filed its 10-year, $2.6 billion infrastructure investment plan with the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC). The utility plans to invest $1.3 billion to strengthen the electric system and another $1.3 billion to add smart grid and advanced meter technology throughout northern Illinois. via Renew Grid: Content / New & Noteworthy / ComEd Files 10-Year Continue reading →
he government plans to invest an additional NT$130 billion (US$4.28 billion) in smart power grid infrastructure beginning in 2012, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said Sunday. A digitally enabled power grid that can deliver electricity by using two-way communication will improve the efficiency, quality and reliability of the power supply system, the MOEA’s Bureau Continue reading →
ComEd, a unit of Exelon Corp., has filed performance metrics with a state commission following so-called “smart grid” legislation passed last month. The metrics focus on improving system reliability and reducing customer costs during the 10-year $2.6 billion investment plan to modernize the power grid. via ComEd files performance metrics with ICC – BusinessWeek.
In November 2011 Pike Research (Boulder, Colorado, US) has released a “Virtual Power Plants” report that provides an in-depth assessment of the market opportunity for virtual power plants (VPPs). According to the report, VPP capacity will increase by 65% between 2011 and 2017, rising from 55.6 GW to 91.7 GW worldwide during that period. A Continue reading →
With more than $17 billion in annual revenues, Exelon Corporation is one of the nation’s largest electric utilities. Now, they’ll be putting some of that capital to good use for the environment, with the announcement that the company plans to invest nearly $5 billion in renewable energy projects across the country. This isn’t entirely surprising Continue reading →
US utility Exelon is to invest nearly $5 billion in low-carbon energy projects starting this year, as part of plans to cut carbon dioxide emissions by more than 15 million tonnes a year by 2020. The Chicago-based company will spend close to $5 billion on energy-efficiency and smart grid programmes, renewable energy projects and increasing Continue reading →
We’ve heard a whole lot of talk recently about the coming smart grid, that intelligent re-thinking of our current electricity grid that will help us all to cut the carbon footprint associated with our day-to-day lives. According to ABI Research, all that talk represents real money, as their recent study forecasts that investment in the worldwide smart grid will approach Continue reading →
Governments, industry bodies, and electric utilities around the world are coming together with newfound urgency – spurred in some regions by copious amounts of economic stimulus funds – to stimulate the development of the Smart Grid. These initiatives are designed to improve the reliability of the electrical grid, reduce costs through increased operating efficiencies for Continue reading →
The public utility in Naperville, Ill., has contracted with management consulting firm West Monroe Partners for the support of its smart grid initiative, which is partially funded by federal Smart Grid Investment Grant (SGIG) funds. Naperville initially worked with West Monroe Partners in 2009 when preparing its SGIG application. via Renew Grid: Content / Projects Continue reading →
A study commissioned by CSC and conducted by IDC Energy Insights reveals utility and retail energy providers are increasing investments in information and communication technologies, says CivSource. The report highlights that companies aren’t leveraging data generated by smart grid technologies to understand consumption. This could identify potential revenue leakage, forecast customer costs and allow customers Continue reading →
Energy-efficiency measures in the southern United States could save consumers $41 billion on their energy bills, open 380,000 new jobs, and save 8.6 billion gallons of water over the next 10 years, finds research from Duke University and the Georgia Institute of Technology released today. On average, each dollar invested in energy efficiency over the Continue reading →
The technology is maturing and there’s significant investment on the way, but the smart grid still lacks the regulations and consumer demand for it to take off like the Internet did. On Wednesday, a conference panel of executives involved in the smart grid said that there are a lot of benefits to upgrading the grid Continue reading →
The electric power system in the U.S. is dirty, antiquated, stupid, unstable, and a security nightmare. After years of discussion and debate, consensus now holds that the generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure will need hundreds of billions in new investment to reduce emissions, improve reliability, minimize waste and inefficiency, improve security, and facilitate the integration Continue reading →
There is a great deal of excitement surrounding the smart grid roll-out happening worldwide as it promises to make the delivery of electricity more efficient, reliable, environmentally friendly, and cost-effective. Governments around the world are investing is smart grid deployments. For example, the U.S. government has earmarked $4.5 billion, while in China, a 4 trillion Continue reading →
Pennsylvania is strengthening its position as a leader in solar energy with new investments of more than $5 million in 13 new projects, Governor Edward G. Rendell said today. “We have made remarkable progress in making Pennsylvania a leader in renewable energy in a very short period of time,” said Governor Rendell. “We’ve invested nearly Continue reading →
After years of talking about a needed overhaul of the United States’ electrical infrastructure, the federal government decided to do something about it by awarding US$3.4 billion in smart-grid project grants on Oct. 27. Billed as “the largest single energy-grid modernization investment in U.S. history,” the funding under the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act is Continue reading →
A $3 million investment will allow a Boulder-based company to immediately hire 30 people, most of them engineers, according to its CEO. Boulder-based Power Tagging has received a $3 million investment from Dominion Resources, the fourth-largest power utility in the world, to continue development its “smart grid” technology. via The Longmont Times-Call.
