National Grid recently signed Tesla on to programs in Massachusetts and Rhode Island that use batteries to reduce the utility’s peak loads. Other vendors, including Pika, SolarEdge, Sonnen and Sunrun, were already participating in the program, which began this spring. The program is open to residential customers with battery backup systems and solar systems paired with battery storage.

SECC released this week its latest report on U.S consumers’ energy-related actions, attitudes and interests, which updates the organization’s consumer segmentation. According to the report, titled Consumer Pulse and Market Segmentation – Wave 7, nearly 80 percent of Americans believe that more should be done to protect the environment, and approximately 76 percent say that the environmental benefits are a top reason for reducing their home energy use.

Utilities have traditionally relied on DR strategies to reduce the cost of supply-side resources by curtailing energy use during peak demand periods. While successful, managing these events has required costly controls, like hardware maintenance, and created a rigid customer experience. Today, utilities are implementing new technology solutions and programs to better manage supply-side generation costs, as well as to optimize the use of demand-side resources.

Sales of in-home voice assistants are surging. According to a report by Market Research Future, the market for this technology is anticipated to achieve revenues worth $7.8 billion by 2023 while growing at 39.27 percent of compound annual growth rate in the forecast period. Voice assistants include Amazon’s Alexa, Samsung’s Bixby, Microsoft’s Cortana, Google Assistant and Apple’s HomePod, among others. They come with a set of built-in capabilities that can be added to by developers through custom apps to support interaction with your specific business.

Electricity generation from renewable sources exceeded coal-fired generation for the first time in April 2019, according to EIA’s Electric Power Monthly report. Renewable sources provided 23 percent of total electricity generation while coal accounted for 20 percent. Renewables includes hydropower, wind, solar, geothermal and biomass. This shift reflects seasonal factors – as electricity generation is often at its lowest point during these spring months. But it also reflects long-term increases in renewable generation and decreases in coal generation.

Battery storage is gaining a foothold in the California peaker plant market previously served by fast-acting natural gas generators. Replacing gas peakers notches an early victory for the energy storage industry, but it is not sufficient to decarbonize the grid. Short duration batteries have a physical limitation; they cannot deliver power indefinitely, and longer duration options are rare at commercial scale.