June 5
Salt River Project Powers 13 Homes in Navajo Nation
This week's top smart energy news, curated by the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative (SECC).
Member News
Crews from the Salt River Project (SRP), a community-based organization, recently connected 13 families in the western Navajo Nation to electricity through its Light Up Navajo VII initiative. SRP was able to do this in coordination with the American Public Power Association (APPA) and Navajo Tribal Utility Authority (NTUA), which aims to help bring electricity to roughly 10,000 Navajo Nation families that lack access.
In its annual sustainability report, Xcel Energy detailed how it is strengthening its energy grid with new electric generation and infrastructure to adapt to a rapidly evolving energy landscape. As it grows the capacity and resilience of the grid, Xcel has reduced carbon emissions from the electricity it provides to customers by 58% from 2005 levels.
Paul Lau, CEO and General Manager of California public power utility SMUD, and Texas public power utility CPS Energy recently received Smart Electric Power Alliance 2026 Power Player Awards. This year, SEPA received nearly 130 award nominations from across the energy ecosystem – utilities, corporations, project teams and individuals – reflecting the depth of innovation driving the energy transition, it said.
Residents in Whatcom County, Washington will have a new opportunity to participate in renewable energy through a partnership between Puget Sound Energy (PSE) and the Port of Bellingham, which has launched a new community solar installation at Zuanich Point Park. The project, located on the roof of Fishermen’s Pavilion, marks PSE’s 14th Community Solar site and will generate 100 kilowatts of AC power.
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Industry News
Menards is a Midwest staple: The Wisconsin-based chain, known for its “Save BIG Money” slogan, is the nation’s third-largest home-improvement retail brand, behind Home Depot and Lowe’s. But in Illinois, it’s slowly becoming more than just a place for folks to pick up ceiling hooks and gardening gloves, as developers eye the big-box store as a promising spot to build public EV chargers.
The United States installed 9.7 GWh of battery storage in the first quarter of 2026, up 32% year over year, the Solar Energy Industries Association said last week. It’s the highest-ever first-quarter energy storage deployment in the U.S. Utility-scale deployments reached 1.5 GW/7.8 GWh; C&I deployments reached 648 MWh; and residential deployments hit 515 MWh.
It’s hard to get 74% of Americans to agree on much, but a new PowerLines-Ipsos poll found this is how many are concerned about rising electricity bills. That number cuts across all political affiliations and income levels. Most respondents (61%) said their energy bills have added to their financial stress, and 52% said changes to their utility bills have impacted their spending habits.
After the school year ends in the Massachusetts towns of Acton and Boxborough, the district’s electric buses will mostly stay put in a parking lot. But they won’t sit idle all summer. The three vehicles will charge up their nearly 200-kWh batteries overnight, when the power supply is at its cleanest and cheapest, then send energy back to the grid from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on days when the grid is strained.
