June 18
Con Edison “Uniquely Positioned” to Lead Clean Energy Transition
Top consumer smart energy news hand-selected and brought to you by the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative.
Member News
Meeting New York’s aggressive clean energy goals will require the addition of new renewable resources, spending billions on efficiency and electrification, and ultimately shifting away from natural gas, the head of Consolidated Edison (Con Edison) said on Tuesday. The utility serves New York City, where summertime power demand soars as air conditioning loads crank up.
Ameren Illinois announced plans to swap approximately 10,000 streetlights containing sodium vapor, mercury vapor and metal halide with newer, more energy-efficient LEDs by the end of 2021. LED lights utilize between 55-65 percent less energy than their technologically older counterparts. They also boast triple the life expectancy and reduce maintenance and operational costs at large while producing less carbon emissions.
Energy efficiency firm CLEAResult has hired longtime industry executive Rich McBee as its new CEO. The Austin, Texas-based company’s appointment of McBee will take effect July 6. He also will join the company’s board of directors. CLEAResult is a provider of energy efficiency and demand response solutions for companies in the U.S. and Canada. It is owned by private equity fund TPG.
Some Baltimore Gas and Electric (BGE) customers may soon receive a one-time payment to their BGE account in the form of a grant from the State of Maryland. The grants are being provided to customers who meet certain requirements determined by the state. It is part of the stateʻs $83 million grant program made available through the Recovery for the Economy, Livelihoods, Industries, Entrepreneurs and Families (RELIEF) Act of 2021.
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Industry News
Although changing prices could alter the picture to come, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported this week that the electric power sector’s CO2 emissions have tumbled over the past 15 years as the generation mix has transitioned from coal to natural gas and renewables. In 2005, coal made up 50 percent of U.S. electricity generation, but by 2019, it had dropped to less than half that.
OhmConnect has pledged to give away up to one million smart thermostats over the next few months to combat the risk of summer grid emergencies in California. The move could be seen as a massive public relations gambit, complete with a celebrity endorsement from Kristen Bell and contests between cities to enroll the most customers.
New analysis from the California Energy Commission shows the state will need nearly 1.2 million public and shared chargers by 2030 to meet the fueling demands of the 7.5 million passenger plug-in EVs anticipated to be on California roads. The Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Assessment examines charging needs to support Governor Gavin Newsom’s executive order requiring sales of all new passenger vehicles to be zero-emission by 2035.
For the first time, the U.S. solar market surpassed 100 GW of installed generating capacity this week, according to the new U.S. Solar Market Insight Q2 2021 report from the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and Wood Mackenzie. For reference, that means the industry has more than doubled its capacity in the last 3.5 years, and in the first quarter of the year, accounted for 58 percent of all new electric generating capacity.
