April 3
BGE Deploys BYOT and Electric Vehicle TOU Programs
Top consumer smart grid news hand-selected and brought to you by the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative.
Member News
EnergyHub announced a new partnership with Baltimore Gas and Electric (BGE) to evolve and grow the utility’s behind-the-meter DER programs. BGE will use EnergyHub’s Mercury DERMS platform to manage multiple asset classes, including a Bring Your Own Thermostat demand response program and a time-of-use (TOU) EV charging program. This is the first-ever instance of a utility implementing a rate-based TOU program based on charging data from a DERMS platform. The programs allow BGE to build a multi-DER portfolio for grid services while providing value to customers.
DTE Energy filed an updated renewable energy plan recently with the Michigan Public Service Commission. The company is proposing to add about 350 MW of renewable power to its generation capacity over the next two years and is asking the commission to approve a still-to-be-determined surcharge to customer bills for the increase in clean power. The company said it plans to ask the commission later this year to approve contracts for a wind project and two solar projects it has selected through a recent RFP process.
Landis+Gyr won an advanced metering infrastructure contract by The Hongkong Electric Co. in support of Hong Kong's transformation into a smart city. The contract includes the deployment of Landis+Gyr's Gridstream solution platform comprising Landis+Gyr smart meters, communications infrastructure, head-end system and meter data management system over the next two years.
As the spread of novel coronavirus impacts families and households across North America, we are all facing a new reality and feeling at least a little anxious about the future. Energy consumers receiving home energy reports are spending more time at home, many of whom may not be able to work–adding to their concerns over energy bills and usage. In fact, Uplight’s data scientists are already seeing evidence of increased household energy usage, and they will continue watching these usage trends as social distancing and stay-home policies continue.
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Industry News
In a race to the future, automotive manufacturers are placing bets on various new mobility solutions to improve consumers’ experience. Such solutions encompass ideas like self-driving vehicles, battery-electric vehicles, car sharing, subscription services and more. The concept of improving mobility is at the heart of each of these solutions, but consumers remain reluctant. Why the hesitation?
Offshore wind in the U.S. will exceed 1 GW of capacity by 2024 and add more than 1 GW annually by 2027, according to a report released last week by Navigant Research. The report calculated over 17 GW of offshore state and federal leases for wind production. However, the owners of those leases have only announced first phase plans for 1,870 MW of capacity, leaving much of the projects in early stages with significant room to grow.
Rarely has such a crucial enterprise for the future of human civilization led to such little commercial success. Long duration energy storage holds great potential for a world in which wind and solar power dominate new power plant additions and gradually overtake other sources of electricity. Wind and solar only produce at certain times, so they need a complementary technology to help fill the gaps. And the lithium-ion batteries that supply 99 percent of new storage capacity today get very expensive if you try to stretch them out over many hours.
Utility customers are adopting smart home and office products to streamline energy management and comfort. From smart thermostats to voice activated light bulbs and assistants to security systems, the utility customer invests in these once-novel products to save time, money and energy resources. Utilities across North America and Europe recognize these changing customer needs and are meeting them through the launch of utility online energy marketplaces.
