February 12, 2010

Building a business case for smart grid investments is a difficult, if not an impossible, task in the current regulatory and economic environment.

Despite that, many utilities have made the reasonable presumption that efficiencies do exist, though in uncertain amounts, and have forged ahead. Similarly, the federal government, in the form of stimulus grants, has recognized the difficulty and provided funding to jump-start smart grid investments. Future progress, however, will depend on a more clearly defined business case and predictable levels of operational and financial risk associated with smart grid investments.

During last year's State of the State address, Gov. Jennifer Granholm informed Michigan's utility industry that business as usual was ending. With states like Pennsylvania, Texas, Iowa and California surging in renewable energy; with China and Europe tops in solar and wind power, and with Michigan lawmakers on both sides of aisle dawdling, she sounded a wake-up call.

Pointing to high energy costs, and Michigan's need for permanent jobs, the governor announced a remarkably comprehensive administrative effort to make Michigan a manufacturing leader in what the world needs now - wind, solar and battery technology and equipment.
 
She told utilities: Before building expensive, polluting new coal plants that tie up billions in capital, spike electric bills, and export more cash to coal country, just prove you need the blasted things.

February 10, 2010

Stop the transmission lines. That's the decision by some major utilities, which reached their conclusion based on the fact that the demand for power has slowed and reduced the sense of urgency needed to get their projects built.

The latest line to be delayed is the Mid-Atlantic Power Pathway (MAPP). Prior to that, the Potomac-Appalachian Transmission Highline (PATH) pulled its application in a key state. In both cases, however, the utilities behind them say that their delays are only temporary and that the grids in the respective areas will become constrained.

Ford Motor Co. this week is unveiling the all-electric version of its Truck of the Year, the Ford Transit Connect, at the Chicago Auto Show.

The truck is outfitted with the Force Drive battery electric powertrain from Oak Park-based Azure Dynamics Corp. and advanced lithium-ion battery technology from Johnson Controls-Saft, a joint venture of Glendale, Wis.-based Johnson Controls Inc. and the French battery maker Saft Groupe S.A.

The all-electric, zero-emission Transit Connect Electric has targeted range of up to 80 miles per full charge, and will be rechargeable in six to eight hours using either 240-volt or standard 120-volt outlets. It will accelerate at a similar rate as the gas-powered Transit Connect and will have a top speed of 75 mph.

February 08, 2010

The strains to our transmission system have been evident for some time.

"The U.S. transmission system is under tremendous strain and only marginally stable," Wayne Brunetti, the former chief executive officer of Xcel Energy, observed in 2002. "It was designed as a regional system and has been forced to function as a national system, a function for which it was not designed and does not handle very well."