October 9
PSEG Details Progress on Sustainability Initiatives
This week's top smart energy news, curated by the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative (SECC).
Member News
In its 2026 Sustainability Report, Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) outlined the actions it is taking to strengthen operations, enhance transparency and advance environmental stewardship. The report shows that the New Jersey utility has made continued progress in its sustainability initiatives, including energy infrastructure investment, biodiversity, workforce development and philanthropic giving in the communities it serves.
Illinois’ grid is being put to the test to a degree it never has before – and for good reasons. Families are choosing electric vehicles. Businesses and homes are installing solar and batteries to keep the lights on during outages and to lower their energy bills. And Illinois’ growing economy is attracting new demand to the state, particularly businesses that are attracted by its low rates, leading reliability and energy policies.
Beginning October 1, Energy Wise customers will benefit from lower winter on-peak rates, and all customers will see a decrease in fuel costs, Colorado Springs Utilities recently reported. Energy Wise rates reward customers for shifting some of their electric use to lower-cost hours when demand is lower. From October 1 through May 31, accounts switch to Energy Wise winter rates. For residential Energy Wise customers, the winter on-peak rate decreases by nearly 50%.
GridCARE is working with Southern California Edison (SCE) to identify additional grid capacity using AI technology. In an initial study, SCE selected a constrained Inland Empire circuit to examine whether additional capacity could be identified. Working with GridCARE, the study identified a potential 20 MW of additional flexible capacity that could safely support future customer energization.
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Industry News
Households and the power grid run on alternating current. Batteries – including those in electric vehicles – run on direct current. That AC-DC divide has complicated the prospect of EVs as home backup batteries. Today, almost every commercially available vehicle-to-home (V2H) backup power system in the U.S. requires a pricey DC bidirectional charger.
Renew Home is now Everyday Electric. The VPP company announced this week that it is expanding its flexibility offerings: from smart thermostats and HVAC systems to a “whole-home solution,” which integrates electric vehicles and their chargers, as well as storage and solar. Accordingly, the company is renaming its VPP program Everyday VPP. As part of this expansion, Everyday Electric has acquired Smartcar.
Two transmission-connected energy storage projects are slated to receive awards in the first round of the Maryland Next Generation Energy Act energy storage procurement, the state public service commission said. The finalists are Flatiron Energy’s 400 MW/1,600 MWh Chalk Point Storage Project in south-central Maryland and REV Renewables’ 40 MW/160 MWh Jade Meadow III Battery Storage Project in the far western part of the state.
Election season is heating up, and while fewer candidates are mentioning climate change, everyone seems to be talking about energy affordability. The topic defined the contests for governor in Virginia and New Jersey, and the usually sleepy election for utility regulators in Georgia. In all those cases, Democrats won. Since then, the cost of energy has only become more salient.
