April 4
Puget Sound Energy Unveils Solar Program for Multi-Unit Buildings
Top consumer smart energy news hand-selected and brought to you by the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative.
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Multi-Occupant Solar, a new program launched by Puget Sound Energy (PSE), aims to transform how tenants of multi-unit buildings in Washington State access and benefit from solar energy. The initiative addresses what the company says is a long-standing barrier in clean energy adoption by enabling customers to share in the advantages of on-site solar power where they live and work.
The electric utility industry is facing a perfect storm. Billion-dollar weather events and unprecedented energy demand from AI and electrification are forcing utilities to rethink their strategies and seize opportunities. With this in mind, ICF surveyed 100 utility program leaders to explore their challenges with capacity, plans for electrification and technology adoption.
Utilities face growing challenges in managing grid reliability and integrating distributed energy resources (DERs). Itron, Inc. and Schneider Electric are expanding their collaboration with Microsoft to deliver a Grid Edge Intelligence solution that addresses utility grid visibility and control challenges. This initiative is meant to accelerate the integration of real-time, high-bandwidth data between utility control centers and grid-edge devices.
Duke Energy Florida launched three new programs that it says will incentivize customers to more easily access EVs – the Charger Prep Credit, the Off-Peak Charging Credit and the Fleet Advisory programs for both residential and business customers. The utility’s Charger Prep Credit program will give both sets of customers a one-time credit to defray the cost of installing EV charging infrastructure.
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Industry News
Five years ago, San Francisco-based startup Span debuted a smartphone-controllable electrical panel that allows homeowners to manage their solar panels, backup batteries, EV chargers, HVAC systems and other major household appliances in real time. It was a high-end product for a high-end market.
PG&E plans to award up to $43 million in Microgrid Incentive Program (MIP) grant funds to develop nine new community-driven microgrids throughout its service area where it serves more than 16 million people. The microgrids selected in the first wave of MIP funding are located throughout PG&E’s North Bay and North Coast region and comprise four projects in Humboldt County, three projects in Lake County and two projects in Marin County.
U.S. energy storage installations reached 12.3 GW/37.1 GWh in 2024 despite a 20-percent year-over-year drop in the fourth quarter, Wood Mackenzie and the American Clean Power Association said. The full-year 2024 and Q1 2025 Energy Storage Monitor projected 15 GW/48 GWh of energy storage deployments in 2025, a 25-percent increase over 2024, due to strong growth in the utility-scale segment and an expected 47-percent jump in the residential segment.
Want to know why EV chargers can be so hard to connect to crowded urban power grids? Just look to San Francisco’s latest public charging station, opened by startup Revel last week. At first glance, the station, Revel’s first foray outside of its home city of New York, doesn’t seem like it should be that tricky for Northern California utility Pacific Gas & Electric to connect.
