In the US historically electric power utilities have attempted to build enough capacity to meet peak load. For example, California uses 5% of its electric power generation capacity less than 50 hours a year. But peakers, as the power plants are called that are only fired up to meet peak load – typically on a Continue reading →
load
Energate Inc., a leading, innovative provider of residential demand response (RDR) for utilities and home energy management solutions for their customers, today introduced its next-generation Foundation™ platform at DistribuTECH in San Antonio. Foundation is the industry’s first multi-load, extensible Home Energy Gateway that supports utility RDR programs and extends control of devices beyond Learning and Continue reading →
Most existing electric power infrastructure was designed to supply power from large utility-owned generation sources to end-use customers with predictable load shapes. Tomorrow, the grid will face new smart grid challenges: increasing energy demands, capacity limitations, environmental constraints, varying load shapes, distributed generation and the deployment of new smart technologies. via Distribution Planning for a Continue reading →
GE Appliances and Georgia-based Flint Energies have launched a two-year smart grid pilot to determine the potential for GE’s Brillion-enabled appliances to save consumers money and reduce peak load when these devices are combined with peak-time rebates. via Renew Grid: Content / New & Noteworthy / GE, Flint Energies Launch Smart Grid Pilot.
A green wireless washer at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show? You read that right – often the technology buzz at this yearly trade show focuses on the exotic gadgets coming from many a manufacturer for the coming shopping year. CES, however, is also a major showcase for new technological innovations in the home appliances sector, Continue reading →
A green wireless washer at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show? You read that right – often the technology buzz at this yearly trade show focuses on the exotic gadgets coming from many a manufacturer for the coming shopping year. CES, however, is also a major showcase for new technological innovations in the home appliances sector, Continue reading →
Constellation Energy (NYSE: CEG) today announced that it has been selected by Montana-Dakota Utilities Co., a division of MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE: MDU), to develop a load response program for the utility’s commercial and industrial electric service customers in Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota. Under the terms of the agreement, Constellation Energy’s retail Continue reading →
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas anticipates that Texas will lack 2,600 megawatts of power during next year’s summer peak, and that research margins will plunge 12 percent due power generation units forcing to shut down or delay planned generation. Ercot, which manages 85 percent of Texas electric load, had struggled this year with a Continue reading →
E-Mon, the electric submetering market leader and manufacturer of the widely installed E-Mon D-Mon® product line, announces the availability of four new Smart Meter Class devices. E-Mon’s new smart meters offer built-in communications, advanced energy information — including 38 metering parameters — and expanded communications functions. In addition to recently completing requirements for UL/CUL listing, Continue reading →
Time-based or dynamic pricing is a form of pricing where consumers are charged different rates for a service depending on the time of day, month, or even season. In some cases, customers can be given price information in real time. In the case of the smart grid, utilities can monitor the load on the grid Continue reading →
Energy management offers obvious benefits to businesses and organizations, but retail electricity consumers seem harder to engage, even with smart-metering technologies and peak-load pricing incentives penetrating the market. The problem: Saving ten or fifteen dollars on your utility bill is fine and all that, but when it comes down to it, it’s not that much Continue reading →
What is the single dumbest electrical component? It’s the load panel (the circuit breakers) in your home or office, which typically has a digital quotient of exactly zero. Even door locks are going digital more quickly. via Smart Grid: The grid’s dumbest component (and how to make it smart).
Comverge, Inc. COMV +9.83% , a leading provider of Intelligent Energy Management solutions for Residential and Commercial + Industrial (C+I) customers, today announced it delivered more than 16 gigawatt hours of energy reduction to its customers during the 2011 summer cooling season that runs from June to September. During historic heat waves that saw peak Continue reading →
Electrification of transportation is becoming a feasible alternative to the conventional gasoline-based transportation thanks to reduced vehicle emissions and operating costs. Especially, Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) are anticipated to be widely adopted as passenger cars and in commercial vehicle fleets in the near future. PHEVs drive on rechargeable batteries that can be charged from Continue reading →
President Barack Obama has called for one million plug-in hybrid electric vehicles to hit the road by 2015. If the demand for plug-ins skyrockets, a flood of new electric cars could strain America’s power networks to the limit. Scientists at Argonne National Laboratory are working to develop a “smart grid” that will not only adapt Continue reading →
