September 01, 2010

You can't miss it -- 213 solar panels and a battery the size of a tractor trailer sit alongside one of Duke Energy's electric substations on Charlotte, North Carolina's Highway 51.

And that is intentional, said Paige Layne, Duke Energy's corporate communications manager. "We found because the solar panels are out there on one of the busiest highways in Charlotte, people call in and ask us about them."

August 30, 2010

Duke Energy's chief executive doesn't mince words.

It was early May, under stormy skies, when Jim Rogers gave the opening keynote, "Smart Grid: The Catalyst to Transform the Energy Sector," at the Smart Grid Roadshow in Cincinnati. Later that morning, he followed up about his vision for the utility industry. One of his key messages: Keep educating the customer, and pay attention to the customer's wants and needs.

"As we design products for customers, it's important to listen to what the customer wants," Rogers said. "But it's also important to notice that the customer doesn't necessarily know what he wants yet."

August 25, 2010

Juggling four bowling pins is difficult enough, even for the polished entertainer.

But add four more pins to the mix, then light one or two on fire, and you might grasp a clearer understanding of the daunting demands facing California's investor-owned utilities as they navigate toward the smart grid of the next decade.

"If you look at all of the policies and directives, 2020 is a really important year for us," said Mike Montoya, director of grid advancement at Southern California Edison (SCE). "We're going to have to do a lot of things differently than we are today. It's going to be a challenge."

August 23, 2010

Hydropower may be green energy's forgotten cousin. But industry representatives are keen to push it hard now that the U.S. Congress is grappling with energy legislation. They say that hydro holds great potential, noting that despite being an emissions-free source only 3 percent of 79,000 U.S. dams are capable of producing such energy.

Producing electricity from dams is one way to increase the hydro sector's prominence. Generating power from smaller hydro units is another way. Such facilities are less disruptive environmentally but useful in supplying electricity to remote areas. All told, researchers say that almost 60 percent of the nation's water energy resources are potentially available for development using new technologies.

August 20, 2010

Efforts to enact legislation that would limit carbon emissions have seemingly stalled. So it would appear that new standards to make the transmission wires more amenable to transporting green electrons are untimely. But those who are in charge of ensuring the dependency of the electric grid say that such measures are vital.

The essence of the argument presented by the North American Electric Reliability Corp. is that climate change initiatives are ongoing and that utilities are already incorporating those standards into their business plans. As such, if greenhouse gas emissions are to be cut, then it would require those power companies to diversify their generation portfolios and to offer more sustainable energy.

Below are a few letters received at EnergyBiz Insider on topics that appeared in the past few weeks. They capture the essence of how many readers say they feel.

________________________________________

August 18, 2010

The renewable movement has gotten the green light. Now it's a matter of crafting the right policies to ensure that projects get built in a cost-effective and consumer-friendly way. Californians think they have the answer.

After getting tested by their domestic utilities, the California Public Utility Commission has come up with a "marketplace tariff" that fits with national laws. Basically, California's utilities have to buy green energy to meet the states renewable portfolio standards. But they don't have to do it at state-controlled prices. Instead, producers will bid into a system -- one that requires those utilities to buy at the lowest cost.

August 16, 2010

Keeping those air conditioners flowing is a summer necessity. But getting the most out of them has become national priority. The long-term goal is to equip utilities and consumers with the technologies they need to make better energy decisions.

While private entities are the most integral part of the mix, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is also emerging as a vital facilitator. When it comes to establishing smart grids, the national energy regulator's role is to set the agenda and to become a meeting place so that the stakeholders can advance their ideas. As such, FERC has said that improving reliability, increasing the use of green energy and enticing investors are among its highest objectives.

August 13, 2010

If energy consumption is a major standard by which to judge economic prowess, then China has joined the big leagues. The International Energy Agency now reports that China has surpassed this country to become the world's biggest energy consumer.

The distinction carries with it two implications. The first is that China now possesses unfettered weight in global markets while the second is that it carries new-found obligations to reduce its air emissions. While the Chinese are destined to supply most of their energy needs with coal, natural gas and oil for decades to come, they are nonetheless committed to building out their renewable and nuclear energy programs.

August 11, 2010

Carbon capture could become commercial within 10-15 years. And while it holds the potential to significantly cut heat-trapping emissions, it may be noticeably more expensive than current technologies and thereby cause consumers to pay more.

That's the primary findings of the Government Accountability Office, which concluded that current carbon capture and sequestration technologies would increase the cost of power by 30 percent to 80 percent, albeit it has greater potential to reduce carbon emissions than other ideas. The alternative to such progressive technologies is one that centers on improving efficiency gains, or reducing the amount of coal that is burned so as to limit emission levels.