April 12
AEP Ohio Creates Online Comparison Tool for EVs
Top consumer smart grid news hand-selected and brought to you by the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative.
Member News
AEP Ohio launched a new online tool this week to help car buyers compare the total cost of owning and operating electric vehicles against more traditional gas or diesel-powered vehicles. “As more customers consider making the switch to an electric vehicle, AEP Ohio wanted to provide a tool that helps them understand the total cost of owning an EV compared to a vehicle with a traditional engine,” Julie Volpe Walker, AEP Ohio’s Energy Efficiency Program Manager, said.
The California Energy Commission in California is launching a program to provide up to $15.5 million in funding for electric vehicle charging stations with some of the funds coming from the Sacramento Municipal Utility District. The rebates, available through the Sacramento County Incentive Project, are available for qualifying local businesses and non-profit organizations for the installation of commercial-grade Level 2 chargers and high-powered DC fast chargers.
You hear it from utility executives at every industry conference: The energy industry is pivoting away from an outdated transactional model toward a future focused on serving the customer. This transformation has manifested itself in many ways across the country. Utilities are restructuring their organizations, implementing new consumer-facing software, improving methods of engaging with their local communities and more – all with the end goal of better meeting consumers’ evolving needs and wants.
We’ve all heard it – electric vehicles are coming. But, in order for EVs to be adopted, customers need to be educated. Acquiring an electric vehicle, as it currently stands, is complicated. From locating dealerships, to identifying EV rates, incentives, and charging options, customers have to navigate a maze of information in order to make informed decisions.
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Industry News
The American Energy Association (AWEA) recently released its U.S. Wind Industry Annual Market Report, Year Ending 2018, which found that the U.S. wind power industry saw eight percent capacity growth last year. The United States has approximately 96,433 megawatts of cumulative installed wind capacity. Wind projects installed in 2018 represent more than $12 billion in new private investment.
Solar arrays floating on man-made bodies of water can now be cost-competitive with ground-mounted solar and offer unique benefits to utilities. While the technology has a number of advantages, growth in the U.S. has been limited by a lack of definitive data on benefits and financing obstacles due to banks that are reluctant to loan money for projects.
Poised to grow to 10 million in 2025 and surpass conventional vehicles by 2040, electric vehicles will create a $2 trillion eMobility opportunity for utility companies, according to new research by Accenture. Utilities stand to make significant competitive gains by bundling services for EV owners, says the Accenture Strategy report, Utilities: Lead the Charge in eMobility.
Solar capacity is gaining in urban areas across the U.S., according to a report released this week by Environment America Research & Policy Center and climate research organization the Frontier Group. The number of U.S. cities with more than 50 megawatts of solar installed jumped from eight in 2013 to 23 in 2018. During that same period, 79 percent of the 57 cities the organizations followed through six editions of the report more than doubled their installed solar capacity.
