March 17
Interruptions Fall to Fourth-Best Rate in BGE’s History
Top consumer smart energy news hand-selected and brought to you by the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative.
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In 2022, in the face of major storms, central Maryland customers of BGE saw their average number of service interruptions reach 0.74 – the fourth-best rate in the utility’s history. Overall, the company invested nearly $1.4 billion into infrastructure improvements and operations, and maintenance last year. Since 2014, it has invested $15.9 billion into its gas and electric systems, and a big part of that has been the focus on getting the number of outages lowered.
The early results of a New Hampshire battery storage pilot are being widely hailed, but it remains unclear whether the program will be expanded to test new models and new ways of benefiting consumers. The New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission issued an order Wednesday declaring that the first 20 months of the pilot, run by Liberty Utilities, met its goals.
For many utilities, customer satisfaction has suffered over the past two years. The rise of extreme weather-related outages, the pandemic, economic uncertainty, and higher monthly bills have amplified consumers’ displeasure. J.D. Power reports that overall satisfaction with electric utilities fell 17 points in 2021. Utilities that prioritize customer satisfaction should consider implementing these seven AI-enabled solutions in 2023.
Duquesne Light Company said it has signed a contract with Itron to improve its operational efficiency, modernize its infrastructure and enable smart city application’s with Itron’s smart street lighting solutions. The company will use Itron’s smart cities central management software, Streetlight Vision (SLV) and its integrated field operations platform, SLV:Go.
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Industry News
Google and clean-energy developer Sol Systems have unveiled a new approach to pairing clean energy with community investment – spend money upfront to make homes more energy efficient so they can use clean energy more effectively. That’s the purpose of the seed funding that Google and Sol Systems are providing to three electric cooperatives and the nonprofit Sustainability Institute of South Carolina.
A Twin Cities solar co-op and affordable housing group are piloting a new approach to helping renters benefit from solar. Cooperative Energy Futures recently completed rooftop solar installations on five Minneapolis apartment buildings owned by Beacon Interfaith Housing Collaborative, a nonprofit that provides deeply affordable housing and social services to residents who have experienced homelessness or who are living in poverty.
With the completion of three new solar energy centers this month, Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) officially brought its total solar facilities to 63, bolstering the country’s largest community solar program. The new facilities included Shirer Branch Solar Energy Center in Calhoun County, Wild Azalea Solar Energy Center in Gadsden County and Chautauqua Solar Energy Center in Walton County.
Three years ago this month, as a global pandemic was quickly becoming a reality, most citizens of the world were ordered to go home and stay there. Working from home became the new normal for those who could do it and people shifted their methods of entertainment to rely more heavily on what they had available at home. Many took up baking or cooked more and streaming television and movies took on much greater importance.
