July 22
FirstEnergy Proposes Grid Modernization Plan
Top consumer smart energy news hand-selected and brought to you by the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative.
Member News
Three FirstEnergy utilities have filed a four-year, $626 million grid modernization plan with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio that includes installation of 700,000 smart meters and equipment to reduce the duration and frequency of power outages. The filing covers Ohio Edison, Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company and Toledo Edison, and builds on a previous grid modernization plan regulators approved in 2019.
Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) has launched a new program called EV Driven, which offers incentives for developing EV charging infrastructure. The $49.8 million, four-year program, approved by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, has three components: residential charging; mixed-use commercial and multifamily property charging; and public-access DC fast charging.
Six blocks from George Floyd Square in the heart of South Minneapolis, the Sabathani Community Center is a pillar of its culturally diverse neighborhood. One of Minnesota’s oldest African American-founded nonprofits, the center offers everything from a food shelf and clothing closet to senior housing and small-business office space.
As a means of helping certain moderate-income customers clear past-due balances, Ameren Missouri announced this week that it is expanding eligibility and funding available to its Clean Slate program with $1 million additional assistance. Customers now need to pay 10 percent of their past-due balance, down from a 25 percent previous requirement. Clean Slate covers the rest.
Get Your Weekly Edition
Industry News
Utilities are worried that homes switching to electric heating, electric cooking and EV charging will create major new strains on their power grids. And homeowners looking to go all-electric face steep costs if they need to upgrade their grid connections to handle bigger electrical loads. A new report suggests that both problems could be addressed by the latest smart electric panels.
Hawaiian Electric is asking state regulators for authorization to invest around $190 million over five years on upgrading its transmission and distribution infrastructure to be more resilient to the impacts of a changing climate, as the first phase of what the utility expects will be a long-term climate adaptation push.
Electric companies, state commissions and consumer advocates must coordinate and plan to effectively ensure a customer-centered transition to clean energy amid many challenges and uncertainties, according to a new report released this week by the Critical Consumer Issues Forum (CCIF) at the NARUC Summer Policy Summit in San Diego.
Rob Underwood has already fielded calls from over a dozen Delawareans interested in the state’s new solar equity program. The two-year pilot, which launched this month, aims to bring the benefits of home solar to a wider range of people by dramatically lowering costs for moderate-income residents — and getting rid of costs altogether for low-income families.
