September 6
Georgia Power Chooses Four Sites for Battery Storage
Top consumer smart energy news hand-selected and brought to you by the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative.
Member News
Four locations for 500 megawatts (MW) of new battery energy storage systems (BESS) are planned and under development by Georgia Power Co., the largest electric subsidiary of the Southern Company. The Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) earlier this year authorized Georgia Power’s BESS as part of the company’s 2023 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) Update.
Ford Motor Co. and Texas-based electricity company TXU Energy are joining forces to offset at-home charging costs for electric Ford SUV and truck owners. As part of the TXU Free EV Miles program, eligible Ford owners will receive a 100-percent credit on their electric bill for energy used to charge their EVs between the hours of 7 p.m. and 1 p.m. the following day, which could cover the entire cost of all at-home charging.
The Board of the Residential Energy Assistance Partnership voted unanimously to approve the expansion of the assistance program to offer more support to a greater number of CPS Energy customers to cover their bills, the San Antonio public power utility said recently. The Residential Energy Assistance Partnership is a nonprofit established in 2002 through a partnership between CPS Energy, the City of San Antonio and Bexar County.
Avangrid has improved customer service metrics across its operating companies in Maine, New York and Connecticut, according to recently filed reports with state regulators. In Maine, its power company Central Maine Power (CMP) recently filed its first-ever Service Quality Index Report Card with the Maine Public Utilities Commission (PUC). The report card consists of three components: customer service performance, electric service reliability, and environment and community.
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Industry News
There’s a bit of a disturbing trend in the automotive world right now. Several traditional automakers are suddenly easing off the electrification accelerator in response to a perceived slowdown in EV interest and sales. Whether that slowdown is real or just growing pains, the result is the same: Automakers are reacting. Major manufacturers are backsliding on their once-aggressive timelines for full electrification.
Beam Global, a provider of infrastructure solutions for the electrification of transportation and energy security, announced the City of Pueblo, Colorado has deployed Beam Global EV ARC off-grid, solar-powered electric vehicle (EV) charging systems for use both by the general public and city fleets. The systems were provided through a rebate from a U.S. Department of Energy program.
Vermont public power utility Burlington Electric Department was awarded a $4,890,821 Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Program grant by the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration to deploy electric vehicle chargers throughout the City of Burlington. In implementing its Charging to Net Zero Energy project, BED plans to use the grant funds to install 153 Level 2 and 47 Level 3 fast chargers at approximately 85 publicly accessible sites.
The combination of high energy costs, high temperatures and reduced federal support for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) is setting millions of families back financially, according to the latest quarterly analysis by the National Energy Assistance Directors Association (NEADA). “Paying for energy is not like paying for other basic needs, where you can choose to buy cheaper groceries or cheaper clothing,” said NEADA Executive Director Mark Wolfe.
