February 21
Uplight Enhances Flexibility Management Solution Suite
Top consumer smart energy news hand-selected and brought to you by the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative.
Member News
Uplight, a clean energy technology company that enables utilities and their customers to conserve, deploy, manage, and monetize energy resources, this week announced updates to its flexibility management solution suite and expansion of its partnership program. These milestones further accelerate the company’s ability to unlock energy flexibility at scale.
Seventy-nine percent of consumers say that they would likely participate in a program where they voluntarily adjust their heating system for a small financial incentive during the winter, according to the latest survey from the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative (SECC), a nonprofit organization that studies Americans’ energy-related behaviors, interests and values.
Ameren Missouri recently unveiled an ambitious plan to accelerate energy generation investments in efforts to support Missouri’s economic expansion, enhance grid reliability and create jobs statewide. The company said its revised Preferred Resource Plan, which is part of its Integrated Resource Plan, outlines a strategy to meet an expected 1.5 GW increase in energy demand by 2032.
Enphase Energy has expanded support for grid services programs – or virtual power plants – in Puerto Rico, Nova Scotia and Colorado, the solar and battery provider said. In Colorado, nearly 1,000 customers with about 10 MW of enrolled capacity participate in Xcel Energy’s recently expanded Renewable Battery Connect program, Xcel spokesperson Tyler Bryant said.
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Industry News
Kathy Palmer was intrigued when her neighbor, an environmental lawyer she’d met while volunteering on a Minneapolis climate committee, sang the praises of the new heat pump he had installed in his home. Now, Palmer is enjoying the warmth of her own heat pump.
The pressure on electric utilities in the United States is peaking. In 2024, the average residential electric bill increased to a record $182 per month, according to J.D. Power data, causing customers and legislators in some states to push back against rate hikes.
Many of today’s most pressing energy trends are converging in Texas. Data center growth and electrification are driving up electricity demand; the state’s grid is moving increasingly toward renewables; and at the same time, Texas electricity prices have continued to drop. According to a new report, Texas was the largest market for new utility-scale solar last year.
Heat pumps just keep getting hotter. The über-efficient, emissions-free appliance outsold gas furnaces in 2024 – and by a bigger margin than ever. According to shipment data from the industry trade group Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute, Americans bought 32 percent more air-source heat pumps than gas furnaces last year.
