January 27
California Utilities Seek Approval for EV Charging Infrastructure Plans
Top consumer smart grid news hand-selected and brought to you by the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative.
Member News
Investor-owned utilities in California have filed with the CPUC for approval of plans to significantly expand the state's charging infrastructure for electric vehicles. The plan filed by SCE is the most ambitious. It calls for $570 million in programs and infrastructure that would foster the growth of transportation electrification over five years.
Comverge announced this week it recently contracted to roll out an integrated DR, energy efficiency program for small to midsized businesses for one of the top five largest US IOUs. The program is designed to better engage these customers to help improve customer satisfaction scores while also leveraging an untapped load resource.
DNV GL recently released findings from a comprehensive survey of nearly 500 commercial facility managers across the US to analyze the current patterns of energy management and efficiency investments in large- and mid-sized commercial facilities. The potential for cost-effective savings for commercial customers is a 20-30% reduction of current use levels, but utility energy efficiency programs are finding it difficult to achieve their stated energy savings goals.
Con Ed has filed a proposal with the New York PSC for a front-of-the-meter demonstration energy storage project that would set in place a new business model to support larger projects. The project, with microgrid developer GI Energy, would be at four sites and be part of the state’s Reforming the Energy Vision filing before the PSC.
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Industry News
In California, the City of San Leandro announced its program providing the framework for the city’s investment in infrastructure retrofits and smart city applications. The new smart city program is designed to support the City Council’s adopted Climate Action Plan goals.
California's three investor-owned utilities last week proposed spending $1 billion on electric vehicle infrastructure, an indicator of both growing interest in cleaning up the transport sector and the work left to do. Across the US, utilities want to dive quickly into the new opportunity, but they face questions of market structures, business models, technical prowess and consumer demand.
SDG&E plans to increase electric vehicle charging infrastructure in a bid to encourage the adoption EVs in California. The utility firm submitted several proposals with the CPUC to construct thousands of charging stations for EVs with the aim to reduce carbon emissions from the transport sector in California.
A planned network of electric-car charging stations that could carry drivers from Disneyland to Yellowstone has received a $4 million boost from the U.S. DOE. The grant will go toward building fast-charge stations spanning 1,500 miles of highway. The plan is to have a station every 100 miles in Utah, Wyoming and Idaho. That will make long-distance trips along Interstates 15, 90, 70 and 84 much more viable for drivers of electric cars.
