November 17
JEA, Optiwatt Pilot to Monitor EV Charging
Top consumer smart energy news hand-selected and brought to you by the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative.
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Optiwatt recently announced a partnership with Florida public power utility JEA and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) to help the utility plan for expected increases in energy demand with an increase in electric vehicle use in the Southeast. Optiwatt, JEA and EPRI are inviting EV owners in the JEA service area to participate in an Electric Vehicle Research Pilot, a program that will monitor EV charging and its effect on overall electric demand.
Energy efficiency programs offered by Public Service Electric & Gas are saving New Jersey customers hundreds of millions of dollars annually and should be extended, the utility said Wednesday. PSE&G’s efficiency programs have “made a substantial positive impact on our customers, encouraged energy conservation and delivered savings,” Karen Reif, the utility’s Vice President of Renewables and Energy Solutions, said in a statement.
As the year comes to an end, we’re reflecting on the ways our industry changed in 2023 and what those changes mean for energy efficiency programs going forward. The excitement and growth in our industry continues to present both new challenges and huge opportunities for utilities, states and other stakeholders looking to shape the future of energy. Here are the top trends from 2023.
Virtual Peaker recently announced that two executives have been appointed to board positions at leading energy industry non-profits. Colin Lamb, Vice President of Delivery, joins the Board of Directors at Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative (SECC), and Eric Van Orden, Director of Partnerships, was selected for the Peak Load Management Alliance (PLMA) Executive Committee.
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Industry News
Solar is expected to generate 14 percent more electricity than hydroelectric facilities next year, thanks to the growth of new utility-scale and small-scale solar facilities, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a Tuesday report. If solar energy performs as forecasted in 2024, it will be the first time in the U.S. that solar has annually generated more electricity than hydropower.
Maine is considering new kinds of electric rates to encourage more widespread home adoption of electric vehicle chargers and heat pumps while easing the strain these technologies add to the power grid. Central Maine Power, the larger of the state’s two investor-owned utilities, is working with regulators and advocacy groups on designs for time-of-use rates, which charge customers more for electricity use at times of day when demand on the grid is at its peak.
Business customers are paying more than ever for their electricity, and they’re not happy with the steps utilities are taking to support their business needs – driving customer satisfaction down even further. According to the J.D. Power 2023 Electric Utility Business Customer Satisfaction Study, overall business customer satisfaction with electric utilities has reached an all-time low of 754 (on a 1,000-point scale).
One recent autumn afternoon, I watched the Atlantic gusts collide with the cliffs that rise above Nazaré, Portugal. Rain pelted down, and the world-renowned swells rose into walls of water that even the most death-defying surfers reach only via Jet Ski. For me, this looked like a rained-out, late-season beach getaway, but for the sliver of Iberia that is Portugal, it looked like a bright future. That weekend, the nation of 10 million ran on nothing but wind, solar and hydropower.
