Daniel Pidgeon, ERS, for Zondits The California-based beer company Sierra Nevada has installed Tesla Powerpack batteries to help mitigate the costs that stem from electricity demand charges. Sierra Nevada has grown substantially since it began as a West Coast craft brewer and can now brew up to 1.4 million gallons of its signature pale ale … Read more
Why bother with energy efficiency? Control Design, January 19, 2017 “The end user is looking for energy-efficient machines, but these users are also looking to do more work with fewer machines as a means of saving energy,” says Mark Sobkow, vice president of manufacturing solutions, RedViking in Plymouth, Michigan. “We do a lot of projects that focus … Read more
Jesse Remillard, ERS, for Zondits Southern California is becoming a high-stakes testing ground for utility-scale battery energy storage. The energy storage provider AES has secured two contracts totaling 37.5 MW (150 MWh) that will be critical for San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E) to meet its peak demands. The AES press release states that the two … Read more
Jesse Remillard, ERS, for Zondits Over the last few years, the Federal Energy Regulation Committee (FERC) has been implementing policy to build energy storage into electricity markets. FERC Order 745, which required grid regulators to allow energy storage resources to bid into wholesale markets, was initially passed in 2012. In 2014, Order 745 was challenged … Read more
Ameresco to build renewable-powered microgrid for US Marine Corps Energy Storage, January 13, 2017 Ameresco will build a renewable-powered microgrid at a Marine Corp facility in Parris Island, South Carolina. The project at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot (MCRD) includes 6.7MW of PV generation, a 3.5MW combined heat and power facility and a 8MWh battery storage … Read more
5 Trends for the Smart Energy Home of the Future Greentech Media, January 9, 2017 While “smart home” could probably describe the offerings over half of the thousands of exhibitors spread out across the acres of CES floor space, this section was filled with many companies that are using home wireless networks, connected devices, and … Read more
Matt Golden, Open EE January 4, 2017 Billing analysis, Bayesian statistics, randomized control trials, phone polls — with the advent of EEMetering, smart meters, and pay-for-performance, one of the most important questions we have to answer as an industry is how do we measure energy efficiency? Turns out, it depends on the purpose. While the … Read more
US administration: Energy storage and other grid investments vital to security and resilience Energy Storage News, January 9, 2017 Energy storage should be properly valued and supported at federal level in the United States, according to a government document analysing and evaluating energy policy released by officials of the outgoing Obama administration. The Quadrennial Energy … Read more
States, Power Companies Lead in Cutting Carbon; Election Not Slowing Expected 2017 Progress EDF, January 10, 2017 2016 was a big year for progress in the U.S. power sector. Renewable energy sources provided 16.9 percent of the country’s electricity in the first half of 2016, up from 13.7 percent for all of 2015. The country’s first offshore wind farm opened … Read more
CO2 Utilization: A Look Ahead The Energy Collective, January 9, 2017 Finding ways to convert carbon dioxide from an energy and industrial sector waste product to a useful commodity could spur the development of new technologies, products, and industries while limiting emissions to the atmosphere of climate-altering pollutants. In 2016, U.S. policymakers demonstrated leadership in … Read more