August 11
ComEd, Nicor Gas Select Whisker Labs for Residential Efficiency Pilot
Top consumer smart grid news hand-selected and brought to you by the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative.
Member News
ComEd and Nicor Gas have selected Whisker Labs' "Connected Savings" platform for a residential smart thermostat pilot program. The program will save customers money, but the objective of the pilot program is research: Utilities want to learn how connected thermostats can be improved with advanced analytics. The pilot program will enroll 3,000 ComEd and Nicor Gas customers who already have a Honeywell Wi-Fi thermostat installed in their home.
With the REV strategy, the State of New York has established itself as a leader in re-thinking how electric utilities can transform to better serve customers now and in the future. In 2015, when the New York PSC initiated its REV proceeding, the primary focus was on fundamental changes to the ways that utilities provide distribution services.
Several public power utilities are included on top 10 lists compiled by NREL for utility green pricing programs. The recently released rankings are for 2016. NREL noted that utility green pricing programs allow homes and businesses to procure green power through their electric utility. Since 2000, NREL has compiled data on these utility green pricing programs and released annual top 10 lists to recognize outstanding programs.
The New York PSC has approved a low-income solar program proposed by Con Ed, to serve up clean energy to between 800 and 1,600 customers in the first phase. Con Ed will develop solar panels on company-owned roofs and grounds, and expects to begin providing renewable energy to low-income customers in 2018. The first panels will be installed on properties in Brooklyn, Queens and Westchester County.
Get Your Weekly Edition
Industry News
Tesla announced delivery of the first 30 production units of its Model 3 electric vehicle. EV technology has generated plenty of buzz in the electric utility industry over the past decade and, with last week’s announcement, it would appear that projections of a significant market presence for EVs could give way to rapid growth. Tesla’s announcement could not have come at a more critical time for utilities, which face unprecedented challenges.
More than 750 Salt River Project customers are participating in the Advanced Inverter study to investigate how solar and other types of customer-generated energy sources impact the grid. The purpose of the pilot study, which is being conducted in conjunction with EPRI, is to better understand how advanced inverters can help maintain grid reliability as solar installations increase.
Want to know how the coming solar eclipse will affect your local solar farm? The U.S. EIA has the data. The solar eclipse coming on August 21 will cast a pathway of shadow across the United States, with the moon shading at least half of the sunlight reaching Earth across all 48 continental states. A path of “totality,” or complete obscuration, will stretch from Oregon to South Carolina.
NYSERDA has created a new website bringing companies and New York’s electric utilities together to accelerate innovation, adopt new business models and technologies. The new website, called REV Connect, will support the collaboration between companies that offer distributed energy and smart grid solutions and utilities to develop high quality REV demonstrations and other innovative projects.
