October 13
Rooftop Solar Is Increasing in ComEd’s Service Territory
Top consumer smart energy news hand-selected and brought to you by the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative.
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ComEd announced that more than 51,000 distributed energy resources (DERs) have been connected to its electric grid as of September, including more than 49,000 residential rooftop solar systems and related energy storage facilities. This represents a large increase from 837 rooftop solar systems connected to the ComEd grid in 2016, reflecting an annual growth rate of 53 percent.
As energy demand continues to rise, utilities are faced with the complex task of balancing the growing impact of higher load peaks and distributed energy resources (DERs)on the grid while supporting the increasing number of customers who adopt DERs. CLEAResult recently announced the launch of CLEAResult ATLAS™ GridSaver, a DERs management solution that makes it easier for utilities and their customers to adapt to evolving energy demands and fluctuations.
ComEd joined Millennium Garages to highlight the first 100 electric vehicle (EV) chargers installed as part of a plan to offer up to 300 total EV chargers at the downtown Chicago parking complex by 2026. Millennium Garages’ four underground facilities include more than 9,000 parking spaces in the heart of the Chicago Loop. With 100 level-2 EV chargers, Millennium is already the region’s largest public EV charging hub, and it plans to triple EV charging capacity by 2026.
North Carolina clean energy advocates rarely pull punches when it comes to Duke Energy, protesting everything from the utility’s treatment of rooftop solar to its plan to slow-walk carbon reductions required under state law. But last week, they lavished praise on the company for its response to another provision of that same statute, which calls for an on-bill repayment program for energy efficiency upgrades.
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Industry News
Electric vehicles will account for 62 percent to 86 percent of global sales by 2030, with China reaching an EV market share of at least 90 percent by then, according to an RMI report. Policy and lower battery costs will fuel the widespread adoption of EVs, leading to battery-powered vehicles costing the same as internal combustion engine vehicles in every major car market and segment by 2030, the report says.
As the growth of Xcel Energy’s demand response programs in Minnesota lags a state target, some stakeholders say it’s time to expand the use of third-party companies to enroll customers. Demand response refers to a broad range of voluntary programs in which utility customers agree to reduce energy use during periods of peak demand.
Vermont utility Green Mountain Power (GMP) submitted a petition Monday to the Vermont Public Utility Commission asking it to approve a Zero Outages Initiative aimed at grid hardening and decentralizing energy in the state by providing batteries to customers. GMP is seeking authorization for up to $250 million in hardening investments, along with $30 million for customer and community storage programs.
For years, grid batteries couldn’t get much respect from the U.S. electricity sector. But this summer, the up-and-coming clean energy technology notched several big wins that signaled its arrival as a serious player in the industry. Battery developers built more new grid-storage capacity in the second quarter of 2023 than in any previous quarter, according to American Clean Power and Wood Mackenzie.
