October 7
SEPA Appoints Sheri Givens as New President, CEO
Top consumer smart energy news hand-selected and brought to you by the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative.
Member News
With a new strategic plan in place and its leader of nearly 20 years set to retire this November, the Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA) announced this week that Sheri Givens, currently a Vice President at National Grid, will soon take over as President and CEO. Givens will replace long-time SEPA President and CEO Julia Hamm as the organization celebrates its 30th anniversary.
Uplight, the technology partner of energy providers transitioning to the clean energy ecosystem, recently announced the appointment of Luis D’Acosta as CEO. D’Acosta joins the company from Schneider Electric, where he was Global Head of the Digital Energy business, working to accelerate the digitization of power networks by building and implementing new technology solutions.
Back in 2015, David Roberts wrote that “power utilities are built for the 20th century. That’s why they’re flailing in the 21st.” Sadly, seven years later, little has changed. Or, at least, they haven’t changed yet, although the Inflation Reduction Act promises to radically alter the utility landscape with funding to help meet decarbonization efforts and meet rising energy demand.
Beginning this month, Duke Energy Indiana is launching four EV pilot programs for residential and commercial customers, each of which will run for two years and provide the company insights into the effects of increased adoption of EVs. Charging preferences, customer behavior and potential benefits for Indiana will all be under the microscope.
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Industry News
NextEra Energy Resources and Portland General Electric (PGE) have launched the first utility-scale energy facilities in North America to co-locate wind, solar and battery storage in Morrow County, Oregon. The Wheatridge Renewable Energy Facilities includes 300 MW of wind, 50 MW of solar and 30 MW of battery storage.
In March, Oahu, the most populous island in Hawaii, launched a grand experiment to pay households for sharing clean power from home batteries during the island grid’s high-demand hours. Six months in, nearly 1,800 families have heeded the call, while concerns about the long-term certainty of the compensation scheme have kept others away.
It’s only been a few months since a punishing heatwave cloaked Detroit and the surrounding suburbs. Temperatures rose above 90 degrees for several consecutive days, which ignited warnings about the risks of dangerous illnesses like heatstroke and heat exhaustion. Climate change makes severe weather events like floods and intense heat waves more likely.
Utilities understand that the evolution of the grid includes smart devices all along distribution equipment coupled with smart meters at the end points. These devices enable the utility to have great visibility onto its system and can provide customers with greater insight into their own energy use – allowing them to participate in management of the grid through demand response, energy sales and more.
