Tag Archives: Smart Grid

Shaw partners with City of Calgary to offer free public WiFi

Posted on by
Reply

See on Scoop.it – Twitter & Social Media

The City of Calgary has reached an agreement with Shaw Communications to provide free Wi-Fi at city-owned locations.

Duane Tilden‘s insight:

>After reviewing applications, the city decided Shaw had the best proposal and technical expertise, and awarded Shaw the contract.

Shaw will partner with the city to install free WiFi zones in a variety of public locations including recreation facilties, parks and LRT stations.

“The City manages a variety of public spaces and we were looking to partner with an organization that would be able to provide reliable WiFi services, at no cost to citizens, as well as meet industry regulations and provide technical support,” says Heather Reed-Fenske, the city’s manager of  Information Technology.

During the initial launch of the program, public WiFi will be available in a select number of public spaces. […]

Mayor Naheed Nenshi says free public WiFi will give Calgarians better access to city services.

Once the initial zones are up and running, the city will collect feedback from Calgarians to evaluate the success of the program.

An announcement is expected soon on when the service will be available.<

See on globalnews.ca

Utilities and Energy Efficiency – How to Bridge the Gap

Posted on by
Reply
energy-efficiency-pyramid

Image found at: http://bit.ly/1bAHOiM

See on Scoop.it – Green Building Operations – Systems & Controls, Maintenance & Commissioning

As much as such improvements can provide positive financial returns to utility customers, the utilities themselves face some very real financial barriers to offering customer energy efficiency programs.

Duane Tilden‘s insight:

>The inherent conflict between a utility’s business objectives and the objectives of customer energy efficiency programs has long been recognized. Alternative regulatory mechanisms can be implemented that not only make utilities indifferent to the amount of energy they sell, but that also can provide positive earnings from their customer energy efficiency programs. Alternative regulatory mechanisms such as “decoupling,” (separating an utility’s revenues from the amount of energy it sells to customers) are in place in a growing number of states.

Since the premise of these alternative regulatory mechanisms is that they can protect utilities from suffering financial harm from energy efficiency programs, ACEEE examined the experiences of a selected group of utilities to find out how well such regulations have worked. The utilities we selected all have relatively large-scale energy efficiency programs that serve all types of customers. We interviewed utility program managers and executives as well as clean-energy advocates and regulators. We also examined the financial performance of these utilities as represented by their stock performance.

What we found is that these utilities all have performed well financially. We found no evidence to suggest that energy efficiency programs have had negative effects on shareholder returns. While addressing utility business concerns with energy efficiency programs is clearly important, doing so is really just one part of comprehensive policies and regulations that support customer energy efficiency programs. Other keys to successful energy efficiency programs include:

Strong commitments to energy efficiency by regulators and utilities,Ongoing collaboration among utilities and stakeholders,Shared sense of purpose and common goals, and Willingness to experiment and learn from experiences.

See on aceee.org

California Building Code Title 24 Will Revolutionize Efficiency Financing for Buildings

Posted on by
Reply

See on Scoop.it – Green Building Design – Architecture & Engineering

If successful, Title 24 will open the door to increased amounts of energy efficiency financing, expanded sources of capital and lower financing costs.

Duane Tilden‘s insight:

>California’s Title 24

Title 24 is California’s body of state building codes. These codes have been revised to move the building industry toward comprehensive building solutions with a goal of achieving Zero Net Energy (ZNE) residential and commercial buildings. In a ZNE building, the annual building’s energy consumption is equal to the building’s onsite renewable energy generation. California has set a goal for all new residential construction to be ZNE by 2020 and for all new commercial construction to be ZNE by 2030. Additionally, the repurposing and remodeling of existing buildings that are of a size-threshold defined by Title 24 will also have to comply with Title 24 revised codes.

Financing a “smart” Zero Net Energy building

The challenge of financing any energy efficiency or renewable energy project is in providing assurances to the source of capital that the project will actually generate sufficient cost savings to cover financing costs plus repayment of invested capital. The number one challenge for winning energy efficiency investments is the uncertainty in documenting bill savings results. Too often, the cost savings generated by an investment in energy efficiency is lost in higher electric bills as new loads are added and utilities raise rates.

Information technologies that monitor, control and financially operate a building through links to real time prices of grid-supplied electricity are the foundation for enabling Title 24 project financing. Smart ZNE buildings will operate to optimize the economics between reducing building demand, reducing energy consumption, on-site generation, use of on-site energy storage and purchases of grid electricity.

What will further enable the financing of ZNE buildings is the ability of enabling information technologies to “look forward” in time to proactively shape a building’s operation and grid purchases to financially support the building’s project financing. The technologies that can achieve these results have already been invented. What California is pursuing through its Title 24 code revisions is a massive economies of scale push for these technologies to drive their costs down and increase their ability to be financed.

The sales pie just got bigger…a lot bigger

Beginning in 2014, Title 24 will blow the sales doors open for smart building technologies, energy efficiency technologies, onsite energy storage and renewable energy technologies. Title 24 will create a new competitive landscape for architects, general contractors, sub-contractors and vendors based upon their ability to offer price competitive services and products that comply with Title 24 codes. The construction industry’s sales path for energy efficiency projects will no longer be anchored by utility incentives that support targeted energy efficiency upgrades like re-lamping a building with more efficient lights. The new sales path will be based upon cost-effectively delivering code compliance to achieve financeable building performance. New competitive advantages will be won by contractors and architects that offer building performance assurances to building owners and financing sources.<

See on www.triplepundit.com

Connecticut Storm Proofing with Micro-Grid Developments

Posted on by
Reply

See on Scoop.it – Green Energy Technologies & Development

Press Release Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced Oct. 30 that nine towns that are part of a pilot microgrid program, including Windham and Storrs, are eligible for additional funding.

Duane Tilden‘s insight:

>A pilot microgrid program, administered by the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, was created under Public Act 12-148 to increase the safety and quality of life for Connecticut residents during electric grid outage situations.

Microgrids provide electricity to critical facilities and town centers on a 24/7, daily basis. They will also include a system of “trips” and “transfers” to isolate the microgrid and provide power within its network even when there is a large-scale outage.

The first round of the program awarded $18 million in grants to microgrid projects in Bridgeport, Fairfield, Groton, Hartford, Middletown, Storrs/Mansfield, Windham and Woodbridge as part of the Governor’s Storm Legislation.

Those projects are expected to become operational over the course of the next 18 months, with the first projects slated to come online in early 2014. […]

“Our first-in-the-nation microgrid program is an essential tool to help minimize hardships to our residents and businesses when severe storms occur. We all know that it is not a question of if, but when the next super storm will strike, and it is essential we do everything we can to be prepared,” Gov. Malloy said.

Commenting on the additional funding, DEEP Commissioner Daniel C. Esty said, “It is essential to public safety that power be maintained to critical facilities and town centers even when the electric grid is down… Connecticut and the northeast continue to experience more severe and more frequent storms, so it is vital that the state aggressively pursues the development of microgrids statewide so that we are in a better position to provide critical services to the state’s residents and businesses.”<

See on mansfield.htnp.com

DOE awards $30M to develop utility cybersecurity tools

Posted on by
Reply

See on Scoop.it – Green & Sustainable News

The Department of Energy today awarded $30 million to a 11 security vendors to develop technology the agency says will better protect nation’s electric grid, oil and gas infrastructure from cyber-attack.

Duane Tilden‘s insight:

>The projects, which will combine power system engineering and cybersecurity, will include testing of the new products to demonstrate their effectiveness and interoperability, the DOE said. […]

While the DOE’s investment is welcomed, a survey of U.S. utilities in May shows what many utilities are up against. That survey called “Electric Grid Vulnerability,” said more than a dozen utilities said cyberattacks were daily or constant. The survey was commissioned by U.S. Democratic Representatives Edward J. Markey and Henry A. Waxman who are members of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee.<

See on www.computerworld.com

Developing an Energy Management Program for Your Business

Posted on by
Reply

See on Scoop.it – Green Building Operations – Systems & Controls, Maintenance & Commissioning

Today more than ever, businesses are concerned with maximizing operational efficiency, minimizing costs, and seeking out untapped revenue streams. At the same

Duane Tilden‘s insight:

>Large energy users like many commercial, institutional, and industrial organizations have a unique opportunity to act as a “virtual power plant” while reducing their real-time demand for electricity—and opening up a new revenue stream. This strategy, known as demand response, is not only a cost-free way to reduce energy usage, but also it generates payments for participating businesses simply for being on call.

Demand response providers work with commercial, institutional, and industrial businesses to identify ways for facilities to reduce energy consumption without affecting business operations, comfort, or product quality. In turn, those facilities agree to reduce their demand during strategic times so that utilities and grid operators can improve reliability during times of peak demand. Demand response also helps increase economic efficiency in regional energy markets and integrate renewable generation capacity into generation systems.

Demand response can be considered a form of strategic energy efficiency, but what about long-term, persistent energy efficiency, a second key to a comprehensive energy management program? In even the most high-tech, LEED Platinum certified buildings, it can be very difficult to ensure efficient operation over time. […]<

See on www.dailyenergyreport.com

Net Energy Metering Policies Helping To Spur Solar Growth

Posted on by
Reply

See on Scoop.it – Green Building Design – Architecture & Engineering

All across the United States, rooftop solar panels are popping up on homes, businesses and schools like mushrooms in a forest, and utility-scale solar projects are bringing huge amounts of clean energy into our communities.  Why?

Duane Tilden‘s insight:

>Today, smart policies — likeRenewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) and Net Energy Metering (NEM) — are helping to fuel solar’s explosive growth. Our industry now employs 120,000 Americans at 5,600 U.S. companies. What’s more, we’re now generating enough electricity to power more than 1.5 million homes…

Part of this amazing success story can also be attributed to the fact that the average cost of a solar system has dropped by nearly 40 percent over the past two years and by a whopping 50 percent since 2010.  As a result, American consumers, businesses and schools are flocking to rooftop solar.  According to the most recent statistics, the residential market alone grew by 48 percent in the second quarter of 2013 compared to the same time period a year ago. […]

NEM has significantly contributed to this growth.  Simply put, NEM is a credit on your bill that represents the full value of electricity delivered.  Think of it this way: surplus energy generated by a home or business system is exported to the electricity grid, allowing a consumer’s meter to spin backwards.  This allows the homeowner or business owner to have greater control over their energy use and prices.  […]”<

See on www.renewableenergyworld.com

Monitoring Motivates Less Electricity Use

Posted on by
1

See on Scoop.it – Green & Sustainable News

Researchers found that families that were simply told they were in a study to track electricity use reduced electricity use more than 2.5 percent.

Duane Tilden‘s insight:

>The general phenomenon is called the Hawthorne effect: study subjects change their behavior because they’re being observed. So researchers collaborated with a utility to test for the Hawthorne effect in electricity use.

They monitored almost 5,600 randomly selected households. Half received a postcard saying that their energy use would be monitored for a month for research purposes. They also got four follow-up reminder postcards over the month. They received no other information, instructions or incentives.

The control group monitored for the study got no notifications. That group continued using the same amount of electricity. But the families being tracked reduced energy use 2.7 percent. And when the study period ended, their energy use shot back up. The report is in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. [Daniel Schwartz et al., The Hawthorne effect and energy awareness]<

See on www.scientificamerican.com

Are developing Microgrids the Answer to supply next generation Electricity Markets?

Posted on by
Reply

See on Scoop.it – Green & Sustainable News

Managing the effect of intermittent renewables on the grid is one of the critical challenges we address in making the transition to renewables. One of the primary goals of grid modernization (aka “Smart Grid”) is to adapt grid management to account for the effects of intermittency in real time.

Duane Tilden‘s insight:

>Microgrids are one possible solution to these challenges. Microgrids, part of the Smart Grid toolbox, are autonomously managed and powered sections of the distribution grid that can be as small as a single building, or as large as a downtown area or neighborhood. Automation and digital communications are used to manage rooftop solar, small scale combined heat and power systems and storage systems, along with matching supply to demand.  Heating or cooling may also be a part of a microgrid. Microgrids can efficiently manage smaller sections of the grid, according to the local demand patterns and availability of renewable resources. They can also disconnect, or “island” from the larger grid to provide higher reliability.

Can microgrids reduce complexity and increase options for electricity market participants? What are the major barriers to microgrid implementation, and how might they be overcome? Are there other approaches, besides the microgrid, that might be employed as well?<

See on www.ourenergypolicy.org

Smart Grid: Utility sued due to Smart Meter opt-out program

Posted on by
2

See on Scoop.it – Green Energy Technologies & Development

Smart Grid – BC Hydro offered customers who didn’t want to participate in its smart meter program the choice of opting out in mid-July. But that didn’t protect the utility from a lawsuit

Duane Tilden‘s insight:

>Just days after BC Hydro finally agreed to an opt-out program for smart meters, a customer is suing the utility for installing a smart meter last year even though she didn’t want one on her property. […]

The suit claims the installations caused the plaintiff “emotional distress,” because it “interfered with the quiet enjoyment of her property,” which she used to host yoga and meditation retreats. Opponents of smart meters believe the devices’ radio waves have health risks. The lawsuit further alleges that BC Hydro unlawfully leveraged its monopoly powers by imposing a smart meter on the plaintiff.

[…] The utility says that smart meters only broadcast several times a day, and that living next to a smart meter for 20 years would expose a resident to the same level of radiation as a 30-minute cell phone call.<

See on www.smartgridnews.com