August 28
ComEd to Electrify Half Its Vehicle Fleet
Top consumer smart energy news hand-selected and brought to you by the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative.
Member News
ComEd plans to electricity half of its 3,000-vehicle fleet by 2030, the company announced recently, and eliminate some 29,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions along the way. Currently, the transportation sector accounts for one-third of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, according to ComEd. The company’s fleet includes 1,400 biodiesel-fueled line trucks and 430 units capable of running on E85. While more than 200 of its vehicles are currently hybrid, plug-in hybrid electric or fully electric vehicles, the new plan represents a major green shift.
Electrification is increasingly gaining attention as utilities and policymakers look to address climate change and decarbonize the economy. In recent months, utilities have announced initiatives around electric buses, all-electric homes, fleet and personal electric vehicles, and more. Given the growing importance of this area, the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative commissioned a survey of 1,200 Americans to investigate consumer interest in transitioning to electric transportation, space heating, cooking and water heating.
Duke Energy recently announced that it has begun operating the largest battery storage system in North Carolina. The 9-MW/9-MWh Samsung battery system is located next to a Duke Energy substation in the Shiloh community, which is part of the city of Asheville. Duke said the project cost less than $15M and will be primarily used to help the electric system operate more efficiently providing frequency regulation and other grid support services but added that it could power around 1,000 homes for 4.5 hours on one charge.
Grid Forward recently announced the winners of the Grid Innovator Awards, as part of its 10-year anniversary celebration. Uplight, Portland General Electric and Terry Oliver were honored for their roles in helping lead the regional electric utility industry forward in grid modernization over the past 10 years. Uplight has transformed what customer engagement means in the utility industry. It has continuously provided innovative products that bring greater efficiency, flexibility, equity and decarbonization to the energy sector.
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Industry News
The U.S. Energy Storage Association (ESA) is aiming to have 100 GW of new energy storage deployed in the U.S. by the end of this decade, a goal that the association says will produce 200,000 new jobs by 2030. Energy storage is “the next great chapter in a story of American energy innovation,” U.S. Department of Energy Deputy Secretary Mark Menezes said at the virtual ESA Energy Storage Annual Conference and Expo on Monday.
Multi-family housing is a hard nut to crack for solar and battery developers. Sonnen and Wasatch Group say that bundling the value of solar and storage for tenants, property owners, outside investors, utilities and grid operators can make it work. Now, one year after launching their first project in Utah, they’re bringing the model to California.
A well-placed battery has the potential to ease electric grid congestion, bolster resilience and even postpone costly utility equipment upgrades. Owners of energy storage systems are rarely compensated for all of that value, though, because most states simply haven’t calculated what it’s worth. New Hampshire regulators will take a step toward fixing that problem as a new state law calls for them to study how energy storage projects might be made whole for the benefits they provide to the state’s electric grid.
The New York Power Authority (NYPA) recently announced the start of construction on a large-scale, 20 MW energy battery storage project in Northern New York, one of the largest such projects in the nation. The facility, located in Franklin County at the top of the state, will advance progress toward achieving New York's target to have 3,000 MW of energy storage deployed by 2030, NYPA noted. The project is expected to be in service early next year.
