February 14
Ameren’s Hourly Pricing Could Reduce EV Charging Costs Almost 90 Percent
Top consumer smart grid news hand-selected and brought to you by the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative.
Member News
A new analysis from Illinois consumer advocate group Citizens Utility Board (CUB) concludes Ameren customers with an EV could reduce annual charging costs by almost 90 percent through the utility's Power Smart Pricing rate. The dynamic rate offering is based on day-ahead prices in the Midcontinent ISO and is open to all of Ameren’s residential customers. CUB’s analysis shows potential savings may be most significant for EV owners.
SMUD, a California public power utility, has developed a unique program that allows the public power utility to partner with customers to install battery systems where they are most needed on the grid. The program, unveiled in January, aims to align the benefit commercial customers would see by installing on-site storage with the locational needs of the grid, according to James Frasher, a member of SMUD’s distributed energy storage group.
Baltimore Gas and Electric has reduced the average length of a service interruption by 58 minutes over the past 10 years through various upgrades and improvements. Electric system upgrades and the deployment of new innovative technologies have contributed to the reduction in interruptions. Since 2009, the number of outages has dropped by 32 percent and outage length has been reduced by 40 percent, the company said. Last year, the average number of interruptions was the second-lowest rate in BGE’s history.
Construction is underway on the next phase of Snohomish County PUD’s Arlington Microgrid and Clean Energy Technology Center project, the Washington State-based PUD said on Feb. 11. Moon Construction recently broke ground on construction of the Clean Energy Technology Center and Modular Data Center, both of which will be located on the same site as the PUD’s community solar array and future Arlington microgrid.
Get Your Weekly Edition
Industry News
Patti Poppe, the head of a Michigan utility that serves 6.7 million people, wanted to get greener, faster. Four years ago, Consumers Energy relied on power plants that burn fossil fuels for 74 percent of its electricity — until staff realized the utility could nearly eliminate its dependence on coal and natural gas, thanks to the plunging costs of renewable energy. Consumers has since stopped adding fossil fuels to the grid.
Electric utilities must help accelerate the adoption and success of EVs through beneficial electrification programs that support the environment, the economy and the grid, said Christopher Budzynski, Director of Utility Strategy for Exelon Utilities. And that’s exactly how Exelon – the Chicago-based American Fortune 100 energy company that in 2018 generated revenues of almost $36 billion – is pursuing electrification, said Budzynski during a Feb. 10 session at NARUC’s 2020 Winter Policy Summit.
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) energy division last week proposed a new transportation electrification framework that would require state utilities to put together 10-year plans detailing investments in electrification infrastructure. The state is aiming to put five million zero-emission vehicles on the road by 2030. As per the energy division's proposal, utilities would file their 10-year plans in 2021 and the CPUC would formally adopt them in 2022.
Dominion Energy has set a goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. The renewed commitment is consistent with the findings of the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The company had previously committed to cut methane emissions from its natural gas operations by 50 percent between 2010 and 2030 and carbon emissions from its power generating facilities by 80 percent between 2005 and 2050.
