August 4
PSE&G Reaches One Million Smart Meter Milestone
Top consumer smart energy news hand-selected and brought to you by the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative.
Member News
New Jersey utility Public Service Electric & Gas Co. (PSE&G) has announced a key milestone passed with the installation of its millionth smart meter. The smart meter program, which began in early 2021, is replacing 2.3 million existing electricity meters with new smart meters at residential and commercial customer premises across the service territory. Completion is expected by the end of 2024.
Bidgely and GridX have announced a partnership to deliver enhanced energy cost accuracy and control for utilities and their customers. By combining behind-the-meter consumption insights with highly accurate cost insights, utilities can implement grid management initiatives, such as cost-based load shifting and time-varying rates, that keep energy reliable and affordable for consumers.
For the past few years, California has been trying out a new way to do energy efficiency. Rather than measuring the value of efficiency investments based on estimates – the dominant method throughout the U.S. – the new approach uses real-world data to pay providers based on how useful their projects are to the power grid.
Since the onset of 2021, Duke Energy and its foundation have invested more than $70 million into communities most in need, offering affordability-focused Foundation grants, bill assistance for low-income customers and several energy efficiency programs. The energy efficiency programs alone accounted for investments of more than $40.4 million, but affordability is at the top of the docket, according to Amy Strecker, Duke Energy Foundation’s President.
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Industry News
Sunrun customers in California have shown great interest in a program meant to increase grid resiliency during critical months of peak energy consumption. Through a partnership with Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), Sunrun said it quickly reached maximum enrollment and energy capacity goals of 7,500 new and existing residential solar-plus-storage systems.
The U.S. needs far more fast-charging stations for electric vehicles. Now seven of the world’s largest automakers are joining forces to increase their numbers on U.S. highways and at other public charging sites. BMW Group, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz Group and Stellantis NV announced that they’ll form a joint venture to “significantly expand access to high-powered charging in North America.”
Nationwide, 82 percent of electric utility customers are served by a utility with a stated carbon-reduction target. However, only 19 percent of customers are aware of those targets, and just 26 percent believe U.S. utilities will ever achieve the goal of 100-percent clean energy, according to the J.D. Power 2023 Sustainability Index.
Vermont is pioneering two novel approaches to try to maximize the benefits from electric vehicle rebate programs. Electric vehicles have so far done little to lower gasoline consumption, with one analysis estimating that 2.25 million EVs on the road in 2021 only reduced U.S. gas fuel sales by about half a percent.
