January 8
PSE&G to Invest $700M in Smart Meters
Top consumer smart energy news hand-selected and brought to you by the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative.
Member News
Public Service Electric & Gas (PSE&G) has received approval from the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities to invest approximately $700 million during the next four years to provide its 2.3 million electric customers with smart meters. The decision clears the way for the largest installation of smart meter technology in New Jersey history. Smart meters are the foundation of PSE&G’s Energy Cloud – Advanced Metering Infrastructure effort.
Clean and smart energy technologies, such as rooftop solar, smart thermostats and electric vehicles (EVs), have weathered the COVID-19 pandemic relatively well. Despite a tumultuous year, the largest solar company actually installed more rooftop solar in Q3 compared 2019, and signs suggest that the EV market is rebounding strongly after a sharp decline in the spring.
The Florida Public Service Commission approved Duke Energy Florida’s Clean Energy Connection program, which will provide customers with about 750 MW of solar power. Through this program, Duke Energy Florida customers can subscribe to kW blocks of solar power for a fixed monthly subscription fee of $8.35 per kW block. The fee will help cover the solar power plants’ construction and operation costs and is included on a customer’s electric bill.
Ameren Missouri has closed on the acquisition of the company's first wind energy center, a 400-MW project in northeast Missouri. The purchase of the High Prairie Renewable Energy Center in Adair and Schuyler counties is the first of two planned investments in Missouri-based wind generation, which will add 700 MW of clean energy to the grid. The High Prairie Renewable Energy Center is the first of many renewable energy additions anticipated by Ameren Missouri.
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Industry News
Over the past 20 years, the increasing recognition that climate change poses a grave threat to our society has given rise to an entirely new clean energy economy. Almost every ambitious clean energy plan recognizes the importance of innovation in renewable generation, DERs, energy efficiency and electrification. However, these plans often neglect the role of the distribution grid and miss an opportunity to leverage a tool that has been part of the system almost since its inception: the meter.
In more than 130 years of recorded data, 2019 proved to be the first time renewable energy consumption in the United States surpassed coal consumption, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Coal’s use in electricity generation has plummeted over the last decade. Between 2018 and 2019, coal consumption decreased by nearly 15 percent. This marked the sixth consecutive year coal consumption has fallen.
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced a series of initiatives to increase the number of electric buses in New York as part of the state's efforts to mitigate climate change, create healthier communities, improve air quality and boost access to clean transportation in underserved communities. Specifically, this effort includes $16.4 million in incentives for the expansion of electric bus usage among public transportation authorities.
Securing capital is a big challenge for many Black- and other minority-owned businesses. Whether through outright discrimination or more subtle bias, many companies face a disadvantage in a financial world where personal relationships can make or break a deal. It’s a particularly vexing problem when it comes to energy efficiency improvements, which can save money and in many cases more than pay for themselves.
