May 31
Are Consumers Engaging with Their Energy Usage Data?
Top consumer smart energy news hand-selected and brought to you by the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative.
Member News
Over the past decade, the number of smart meters in the United States has grown from less than 60 million to roughly 130 million, representing an 80-percent penetration rate. At the same time, smart home devices – particularly smart thermostats – have gone from a nascent industry to commonplace in American households. One result of this transformation has been the expansion in the amount of energy usage data now available to American consumers.
New York’s Con Edison, one of the largest investor-owned energy companies in the United States, has invested $2.3 billion in infrastructure projects across New York City and Westchester County to keep power grid service reliable. The projects include the installation of new substation equipment, 28 underground and 69 overhead transformers that regulate voltage, 938 sections of underground and overhead cable and 241 poles.
Backed by grant funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and led by ComEd, the Bronzeville Community Microgrid (BCM) entered service this month, becoming one of the first of its kind in the United States. While microgrids are nothing new, the BCM is one of the first neighborhood-scale community microgrids. It is supported by rooftop and ground-mounted solar systems at the Chicago Housing Authority’s (CHA) Dearborn Homes property.
Nebraska public power utility Omaha Public Power District on June 6 will host the first of two pilot community resource fairs. The fairs are designed to be a one-stop shop for customers where they can learn about the community services available to them. Customers will be able to visit a variety of informational stations, including OPPD’s.
Get Your Weekly Edition
Industry News
Americans who electrify their homes could reap a massive net savings of $96 billion over the coming decades, but only if policymakers ensure lower-income households aren’t left behind. That’s according to a new report released Tuesday by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), which quantifies the benefits of swapping fossil-fuel and electric-resistance appliances for far more efficient electric ones.
A $156 million federal grant is expected to fund a transformative investment in residential solar for low-income households in Massachusetts, advocates and officials say. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Solar for All program awarded Massachusetts the money for its plans to provide zero-interest loans, financial subsidies and technical assistance to solar projects benefiting low-income households and public housing facilities.
The first monopile foundation for the 2.6-gigawatt Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) was installed recently approximately 29 miles off the Virginia Beach coast, Dominion Energy announced. The monopile was installed by the Orion, DEME Group’s heavy lift vessel. Once the offshore wind project is complete in late 2026, CVOW will consist of 176 turbines that will generate enough clean energy to power up to 660,000 homes.
The Biden administration has issued the next round of funding aimed at cleaning up the country’s school bus fleet. On Wednesday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded nearly $900 million in rebates to help more than 500 school districts buy about 3,400 clean school buses – 92 percent of them electric. With this new round, nearly $3 billion in funding has been awarded to date from a $5 billion program created by the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
