October 2
Dominion Energy Launches EV Rebate Programs
Top consumer smart energy news hand-selected and brought to you by the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative.
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In an effort to accelerate the adoption of EVs in Virginia, Dominion Energy launched a rebate program this week for charging stations in a variety of locales and announced plans for a residential plan to launch early next year. Dominion Energy Virginia’s Smart Charging Infrastructure Pilot Program currently provides offerings to multi-family communities, workplaces, transit bus depots and fast-charging locations.
Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD), the publicly owned utility in California's capital city, has changed its energy efficiency metric from avoided electricity consumption to avoided CO2 emissions. SMUD is the first utility in the country to count avoided carbon emissions from the existing building stock as part of its progress on energy efficiency. This makes building electrification central to SMUD’s energy efficiency efforts.
PSE&G received approval for its $1 billion energy efficiency program, New Jersey's first efficiency plan to incorporate new rules intended to move electric utilities toward a service-based model. The program is part of the state’s larger regulatory push to significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions as laid out by the 2018 Clean Energy Act. Described by PSE&G as the “centerpiece” of the utility's Clean Energy Future proposal, the efficiency program represents a shift in the utility business model for New Jersey.
Ameren has joined the ranks of U.S. utilities pledging to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, with a long-range plan that invests nearly $8 billion in renewable energy and accelerates some coal plant closures – although it will retain much of its coal fleet through 2040. Like other net-zero carbon goals, Ameren’s will rely on “further advancements in innovative, carbon-free technologies and constructive federal and state energy and economic policies” to reach its final goal.
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Industry News
Utility decarbonization commitments move pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss them. Case in point: One week ago, GTM published a list of the major investor-owned utilities that had not committed to eliminating carbon emissions. Given all the commitments announced over the last few years, we could only find five holdouts, one of which was Entergy. But Entergy pulled itself off the list with an announcement pledging net-zero emissions by 2050.
As cold weather approaches and COVID-19 continues to hit harder in disadvantaged neighborhoods, advocates in Massachusetts are pushing the state and its utilities to do more to ensure everyone has equal access to the energy efficiency services that could help them stay warmer and healthier throughout the winter. This has been driven in part by a recent report by the major utility companies that concludes residents use energy efficiency services at significantly lower rates in communities with lower incomes, more renters or higher populations of non-English speakers.
Electric companies around the U.S. marked National Drive Electric Week by setting a good example for consumers, who will likely be making the switch from cars and trucks powered by gasoline to cleaner EVs in the not-too-distant future. The special outreach campaign being held from Sept. 26 to Oct. 4 informs motorists that EV technology, economics and convenience are reaching a level that would make switching from gasoline to emission-free a seamless transition.
Since the coronavirus pandemic began shutting down cities and states, the U.S. solar industry has had to cope with a new normal. Though it’s only been a few (very, very long) months, solar developers, financiers and installers have pivoted to new ways of selling and funding projects. With an end to the pandemic nowhere in sight, those changes look to be enduring. Some have even benefited the industry.
