Energy Monitoring - Energy:Minute
January 25, 2010
You can't manage what you can't measure. Monitoring is an essential component of managing energy use. (podcast) (transcript)
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Top 10 "Cleantech Top 10" Lists for 2010
January 01, 2010
One of the items on my "top 10 observations on January 1, 2010" is how many people are making Top 10 lists this week. Here are, well, how about 10 of them.
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America's Berlin Wall of Energy
November 09, 2009
Germany's Berlin Wall fell 20 years ago today. It reminds me of the green movement...
Microsoft "Hohm" Connections Available to Seattle City Light Customers
October 07, 2009
Seattle City Light is the first utility to announce that it is offering customers the ability to link their electricity consumption data with Microsoft Hohm. Google's Powermeter has a head start over Hohm, but both lag behind the energy-monitoring industry.
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Duke Rhymes with... Smart Grid?
September 23, 2009
When utility CEOs make proclamations about leadership in renewables or the smart grid, it's often difficult to get the troops to take it seriously. As a result, progressive pronouncements often are met with nods, but no action. At Duke Energy, observes the Smart Grid News, that may be changing.
Duke's Smarts
August 11, 2009
Duke Energy’s smart grid program continues to expand. The nation’s third-largest electric utility struck an agreement with Echelon to make the vendor's Networked Energy Services (NES) system a key part of the program. Duke CEO Jim Rogers, considered a visionary in the utility industry, tells Fortune about his career path.
Connectivity's Train Has Arrived
July 02, 2009
Some have called smart energy "the internet's next killer app." Actually it's the other way around.
Juval Lowe Interview
June 30, 2009
Juval Löwe, Principal of IDesign and Microsoft "Software Legend" and keynote speaker at ConnectivityWeek 2009, interviewed by Denis Du Bois, Editor of Energy Priorities Magazine. (podcast)
FERC Reports a National Assessment of Demand Response Potential to Congress
June 19, 2009
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) delivered its report to Congress quantifying the potential for demand response in the United States. The report was mandated two years ago by the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA 2007) Section 529 (a).
Continue reading "FERC Reports a National Assessment of Demand Response Potential to Congress" »
New Dictionary Defines Everything about the Smart Grid, and Then Some
June 11, 2009
Every business needs a dictionary to define important terms and decipher acronyms, and the smart grid business sector finally has one.
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ConnectivityWeek 2009: Internet Visionaries Share their Energy Views
June 10, 2009
ConnectivityWeek 2009 keynote presentations this morning ranged from networks and nuclear to blackouts and blogging. Speakers were Bob Metcalfe and Juval Lowe.
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Energy Efficient LED Streetlight Demonstration in San Jose To Use Intelligent Controls
April 21, 2009
The City of San Jose will soon embark on its second streetlight pilot using light-emitting diodes. The LED project is part of the city's Green Vision, a 15-year plan to promote environmentally sustainable practices and reduce energy use. (photos)
Smart Grid Battle Moves to the States
February 26, 2009
At the federal level in the U.S., the fight to legitimize the Smart Grid is over. It has been recognized in several key pieces of legislation -- mostly recently the stimulus package -- as an essential national asset. But the federal government has only limited say over the electric power industry. The final say lies at the state level, where public utility commissions oversee the regulated utilities that deliver the lion’s share of the nation's electricity. Here's what that means for Smart Grid proponents.
Smart Meters Read $4.2 Billion in Stimulus
February 19, 2009
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act signed into law this week calls for a $4.2 billion grant program that would support smart grid and smart metering projects.
Continue reading "Smart Meters Read $4.2 Billion in Stimulus" »
Google Taking a Step Into Smart Meter Monitoring
February 10, 2009
Is this genuine hardware-agnosticism, or naïveté? Google launched a service to monitor residential electricity consumption, without knowing whether smart meters will work with it.
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GE Smart Grid Ad Laments: "If I Only Had a Brain"
February 04, 2009
GE's Smart Grid campaign started during Super Bowl XLIII this week with a $3 million, 30-second ad.
Continue reading "GE Smart Grid Ad Laments: "If I Only Had a Brain"" »
Wasting Our Watts: Efficiency and Conservation
January 06, 2009
Time Magazine writer Michael Grunwald gets it. Energy efficiency is the fifth fuel. His 3,000-word article in the most recent issue explores the potential and the barriers. Here are the main points.
Continue reading "Wasting Our Watts: Efficiency and Conservation" »
Smart Metering Is Gaining Traction in France
November 13, 2008
Smart meters haven't taken off in France yet, while electricity distributors wait for European standards. A consortium of distributors decided to take the lead with open-interface meters that will let them expand capabilities later.
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Data Center Energy: Reduction Is Not Really the Priority
October 01, 2008
White papers are pouring out of vendors in the information technology space as they shift their marketing positions to "green" as fast as they can. Many have locked onto an imagined want in data centers to reduce energy consumption from equipment and cooling. Energy efficiency is out of line with the business goals of most IT departments.
Continue reading "Data Center Energy: Reduction Is Not Really the Priority" »
Grid Operator Warns of Power Rationing Eventuality
August 15, 2008
Michael Morris, chairman, president and chief executive of American Electric Power, which runs the nation's largest electrical transmission system, told the Associated Press he sees a dire situation ahead for the power grid, and the U.S. could eventually face power rationing.
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5-Year Anniversary of the 2003 Northeast Blackout
August 14, 2008
On August 14, 2003, a sagging power line coming into contact with untrimmed trees near Cleveland, Ohio triggered a massive blackout that left 50 million people without electricity in a 9,300 square mile area in the Northeast and Midwest United States and parts of Canada. Economic losses were estimated at as much as $10 billion. Five years later, is the North American electrical power grid less susceptible to disruption?
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PG&E Chief’s Green Crusade (Fortune)
May 01, 2008
PG&E Chairman and CEO Peter Darbee called a handful of journalists into his boardroom and talked about being a successful utility in an era when it's is less about building centralized power plants and more about tapping renewable energy and balancing supply and demand.
Top 12 Green-IT Companies 2008 (CW)
February 16, 2008
The next issue of ComputerWorld magazine (Monday, 18 February, 2008) will feature the magazine's picks for the top "green IT" companies. The winner's circle includes 12 vendors and 12 user companies.
If IT Merged with Energy Technology (NY Times)
October 31, 2007
Thomas L. Friedman says Mumbai and Calcutta, strained from the influx of workers from rural areas, can't keep growing. The tech revolution in India could expand to rural villages, benefiting some of India's 700 million villagers. But it can’t do it off car batteries, backup diesel generators and India’s rural electric grid. It will take a real energy revolution.
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Power Lines Buried, but Not Dead: Novinium Injects New Life into Cables
October 29, 2007
In the 1970s, American utilities started burying cables to avoid unisghtly poles and vulnerable overhead lines. It soon became common practice to also bury privately-owned power lines under corporate campuses, universities, hospitals and factories. Now there are billions of feet of underground aluminum and copper cables nearing the end of their 25-year lifespan. One company has invented a way to rejuvenate cabling and extend the life of its insulation. Novinium treats the cable by injecting chemicals into it, for about half the cost of replacing the line. There are important environmental advantages to this method, too. Denis Du Bois interviews Glen Bertini, CEO of Novinium. (podcast)
Continue reading "Power Lines Buried, but Not Dead: Novinium Injects New Life into Cables" »
DR-Expo 2007 Moves Demand Response to Forefront of America's Energy Sustainability Agenda
October 12, 2007
As American businesses wrestle with sustainability and the prospect of even higher energy costs, competitive energy suppliers and members of the building automation industry are coming together at DR Expo 2007 to collaborate on ways to fast-track energy demand response solutions.
Pushing a Smart Grid (NW Current)
September 27, 2007
In business, as with utilities, the real cost savings come not from the technologies themselves, but from the business strategies they enable. As energy costs rise, businesses must take strategic advantage of being able to know and control the costs in operations and production.
Marketing Intelligence: The Challenges of Selling Smart Meters in the US
September 20, 2007
One of the promises of a "smart grid" is to bring the advantages of data and communications networks to the infrastructure that delivers electricity to our businesses and homes. That would make it possible to fully deploy ideas like demand response and real-time pricing -- ideas that depend on having intelligence at both ends of the wire -- sophisticated systems at the utility end; and at the customer's site, smart energy meters. Why is the United States so far behind Europe in deploying advanced metering infrastructures? What will it take to accelerate adoption? Denis Du Bois interviews Jeff Lund, a VP in the Networked Energy Services division at Echelon. (podcast) (transcript)
Continue reading "Marketing Intelligence: The Challenges of Selling Smart Meters in the US" »
Energy Efficiency Creates Unusual Alliance between Manufacturer and Utility
August 17, 2007
Trojan Battery Company made record-setting investments in technologies that essentially enable them to buy less energy from their utility. What's unusual about that? The utility paid for the technology, and pays Trojan Battery to use it. The process of preparing for summer demand response yielded a fortunate financial byproduct: Trojan gets lower rates that are saving the company thousands on its electric bill every month. (photos)
Continue reading "Energy Efficiency Creates Unusual Alliance between Manufacturer and Utility" »
Smart Meters
May 21, 2007
Energy Minute: Smart electric meters communicate over a network, so utilities can verify demand response and provide net metering of on-site renewable energy. (podcast)
GridWeek 2007: Buildings and the Future of Electricity
April 26, 2007
This is the last day of GridWeek. Denis Du Bois is hosting a daily podcast series featuring the top speakers at the conference. Today he interviews Kurt Yeager, Executive Director of the Galvin Electricity Initiative, and Volker Hartkopf, Director of the Center for Building Performance and Diagnostics at Carnegie Mellon University. (podcast)
Continue reading "GridWeek 2007: Buildings and the Future of Electricity" »
GridWeek 2007: Balancing Innovation and Regulation -- Interview with NERC President Rick Sergel
April 25, 2007
This morning marks the halfway point for GridWeek. Denis Du Bois is hosting a daily podcast series featuring the top speakers at the conference. Today he interviews four presenters, including the head of the North American Energy Reliability Council. (podcast)
GridWeek 2007: Interview with Kevin Kolevar, Director of the DOE's Office of Electricity
April 24, 2007
Day two of GridWeek is devoted entirely to the topic of demand response. Denis Du Bois is hosting a daily podcast series featuring the top speakers at the conference. Today he interviews the DOE's Director of the Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, Kevin Kolevar, one of today's keynote speakers. (podcast)
GridWeek 2007: Interview with EnerNex CTO Erich Gunther
April 23, 2007
The first annual GridWeek kicks off today in Washington DC. Energy Priorities editor Denis Du Bois is hosting a daily podcast series featuring the top speakers at the conference. Today he interviews Erich Gunther, co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of EnerNex Corporation. (podcast)
Continue reading "GridWeek 2007: Interview with EnerNex CTO Erich Gunther" »
Can Renewable Energy Help Manage Peak Demand?
April 06, 2007
Energy Minute: Demand response programs ask customers to stop buying as much power during periods of peak demand, because there's not enough energy to go around. This "triple-shot" Energy Minute examines whether those customers, or the utilities, could somehow use renewable energy instead. (podcast)
Continue reading "Can Renewable Energy Help Manage Peak Demand?" »
BPA Charts its Grid Future (Smart Grid News)
April 05, 2007
Terry Oliver, Chief Technology Innovation Officer of the Bonneville Power Administration, highlights three emerging issues: intermittency, interaction and immediacy. He also predicts unpleasant surprises for utilities that fail to recognize the growing power of reliability rules and equipment standards.
Continue reading "BPA Charts its Grid Future (Smart Grid News)" »
Demand Management Technology Has Cross-Atlantic Reunion
March 30, 2007
Demand management vendors have traditionally specialized in either industrial or commercial spaces. That means few choices for industrial sites that want to automate their entire facility using a centralized system. A recent merger could eventually result in a new system that can manage both plants and offices. Will it have enough of an advantage over integrating multi-vendor systems?
Continue reading "Demand Management Technology Has Cross-Atlantic Reunion" »
Getting Started with Demand Response
March 19, 2007
Demand response is catching on around the world as a means of reducing the need for new power plant construction, lowering wholesale power costs, and cutting harmful emissions. It can also be a source of revenue for participating companies. If demand response is going to be part of your energy cost management strategy, then you have some options for how you go about it. (podcast)
When Will Demand Response Be as Accepted as Daylight Savings Time?
Demand response has been around for many years, but it still hasn't caught on at a national level here in the US. Participants still are pioneers -- they need a willingness to wade through the options and paperwork, not to mention dealing with immature technologies and managing their programs with sketchy data.
When will demand response become a mainstream resource? I went to America's most progressive state for demand response, and asked the top regulator and top grid operator to get specific about when demand response will be commonplace. (podcast)
Continue reading "When Will Demand Response Be as Accepted as Daylight Savings Time?" »
Demand Response: Experts and Businesses Discuss the Challenges Ahead
March 16, 2007
California's big three utilities have 2,660 MW of demand response enrolled, ahead of the regulators' policy goal for next summer. Enrollment is not the same as participation. Do companies have enough price elasticity to participate? If so, is demand response cost-effective for utilities? Can participating companies recover the cost of the necessary equipment? Who pays the price?
Blogged live from a meeting entitled "Demand Response: Simple Solutions, Real Savings, Fast Payback," this article grew as the meeting proceeded. It's still in its rough form, but nonetheless full of interesting information and perspectives. I invited readers to post questions using the comments form at the bottom of this article, and I posed some of them to the speakers and panelists.
Continue reading "Demand Response: Experts and Businesses Discuss the Challenges Ahead" »
European Utility Expands its Echelon Automated Metering Infrastructure
January 16, 2007
A San Jose company is boasting the largest intelligent metering infrastructure -- and it's in Sweden. Vattenfall AB has ordered 500,000 units from Echelon, and eventually could deploy automated meter reading equipment and software to three-fourths of its one million customers.
Continue reading "European Utility Expands its Echelon Automated Metering Infrastructure" »
Seattle Is Dark
December 16, 2006
Saturday, December 16. Eight shopping days until Christmas, and retailers are closed. Energy Priorities is running on generator and internet dial-up. Utilities say it could be five days before power is restored to most of their customers. What is the cost of a severe blackout?
Demand Response Programs Help Utilities Avoid Rate Hikes
October 27, 2006
Energy Minute: Demand response is a program where electricity customers reduce their consumption at critical times. It's a way for utilities to avoid large capital expenditures and postpone rate hikes. (Podcast)
Continue reading "Demand Response Programs Help Utilities Avoid Rate Hikes" »
European Energy Usage Pushes the Limits (Deutsche Welle)
October 26, 2006
Many EU countries are getting nervous about having enough electricity supply to meet peak demands. Although Europe is not expecting widespread blackouts on the scale of those in the U.S. in 2003, a new report says energy conservation and investments in alternatives are urgent.
Continue reading "European Energy Usage Pushes the Limits (Deutsche Welle)" »
Product Oriented Environmental Management System Measures Embodied Energy in Products (Intl Herald Tribune)
October 13, 2006
Europe's Product Oriented Environmental Management System -- "Poems" for short -- determines how much energy is used across a production process, and what waste is generated at each step. Scoring could eventually allow consumers to compare products and select the more energy-efficient choice.
Modern Grid Initiative Expands Online Resources
September 11, 2006
The Modern Grid Initiative has launched an expanded and redesigned Web site to disseminate information and promote collaboration about grid R&D.
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Demand-Side Management Technology Avoids Grid Construction for Bonneville Power (Case Study)
April 28, 2006
To understand the problem of grid constraints, imagine you're an ice cream maker. It's a hot summer afternoon and you get orders for every last gallon of your cold treats. Now imagine your delivery trucks get caught in a traffic jam in your own shipping yard. You have perishing products, complaining customers, and a retailer revolt -- not to mention the mess. Peak demand management is like keeping your customers from placing their orders all at once.
Peak Demand Management in a Nutshell
An alternative to grid construction is based on changing when energy is used. Several programs are in place across the nation, designed to level the load on the grid by reducing peaks. Consumers use the same amount of electricity, but slightly earlier or later than usual.
This example shows how peak demand management works using technology. Programmable thermostats allowed BPA to remotely raise or lower the temperature setting. Using remote switches, BPA also could turn off the heating elements in water heaters, or turn off pool pumps.
Energy Priorities Turns Two on Earth Day
April 21, 2006
Online magazine separates reality from hype in leading-edge energy technologies for commercial and industrial users.
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Voltage Reduction Saves Snohomish PUD Customers Millions
March 02, 2006
Utilities typically send out more voltage than utility customers need, just to make sure the last customer on the line gets enough. A Washington state utility is changing that -- and willingly costing themselves millions a year in revenue -- by installing conservation voltage reduction devices.
Continue reading "Voltage Reduction Saves Snohomish PUD Customers Millions" »
Time of Use Electricity Billing: How Puget Sound Energy Reduced Peak Power Demands (Case Study)
February 14, 2006
When power prices are volatile or supplies are short, reducing peak loads becomes a top priority for utilities. Billing customers for energy based on the time of day has proven to be a viable means for reducing peak loads. This case study examines one of the first field trials of time-of-use tariffs and automated meter reading technologies, how they worked, the results, and why the program ended abruptly.
California Energy Commissioner Recommends Investing in Efficiency
February 02, 2006
California is a model for the rest of the United States in promoting energy efficiency and renewable energy. Energy Commissioner Arthur Rosenfeld shared some of the state's experiences with an audience of investors at the Clean Tech Investor Summit.
Continue reading "California Energy Commissioner Recommends Investing in Efficiency" »
Standby Power Supports Business (Energy User News)
May 11, 2005
Businesses are considering the economics of power outages alongside the conventional load calculations when sizing on-site power. Utility incentives and penalties also figure into the decision to be self sufficient with distributed generation. The need for backup electric power is categorized based on the net cost of an outage and a facility's risk tolerance.
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Business Magazine "Energy Priorities" Celebrates One Year Anniversary
April 21, 2005
First "hybrid" publication on energy combines best qualities of magazine and blog.
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Maxwell's Backup Capacitors Bridge Power Outages for Telecom, Other Critical Uses
March 28, 2005
Maxwell takes the "interrupt" out of "uninterruptible" and takes batteries out of the data center. PowerCache was recently named a Best Product of the Year by a mechanical design magazine. The product bridges momentary outages while a longer-term backup power source starts up. Ideal for medical, industrial, telecom and enterprise VoIP environments where continuous electric power is mission critical.
2005 Energy Priorities
January 31, 2005
What are the top five actions that your business can take in 2005 to become a more responsible energy user and take us closer to a clean and sustainable energy future? EP gathered ideas from engineers, entrepreneurs and investors to compile this year's business energy priorities. Here they are, in priority order.
Distributed Generation's Technology Threesome
October 28, 2004
"Energy reliability" is a subjective term. Until the digital age, 99 percent reliable centralized generation was sufficient. Business reliance on voice and data networks and precision manufacturing processes have given "reliability" a new meaning. That hundredth percentage point is the most costly to achieve.
Distributed generation is a logical means of providing high levels of reliability to those who need it, without incurring the public capital outlay of providing it to everyone. As businesses consider making their own electricity, they should take into account a triad of interrelated technologies -- distributed generation, demand management, and alternative energy -- that will be inseparable for years to come.
Continue reading "Distributed Generation's Technology Threesome" »
Distributed Generation in a Nutshell
October 22, 2004
Distributed generation (DG) is an alternative approach to supplying electricity. Instead of building centralized power plants, the power is generated from smaller plants that are geographically dispersed.
Demand Response: Risks, Rewards for Early Adopters
October 09, 2004
Demand response is in its infancy. Even though it depends on regulators and utilities changing their ways, growth in demand response (DR) could happen faster than seems likely.
When that tipping point comes, some businesses will discover internal barriers to participation. Businesses who are prepared to implement DR will benefit in ways that won't be available to later adopters.
Continue reading "Demand Response: Risks, Rewards for Early Adopters" »
Demand Response in a Nutshell
September 30, 2004
In demand response (DR), electricity customers reduce their consumption at critical times. This is different from energy efficiency, which is performing the same services but using less power. In demand response, customers shed loads in response to a demand from the utility. Services (lights, machines, air conditioning) are cut back for a few hours or a day at a time.
Smart Energy -- What's the Big Deal?
September 22, 2004
In the late 1800s, America began building its electric infrastructure. Large centralized generation, coal-fired power plants, wires crisscrossing the landscape, this was the state of the art a hundred years ago -- and we're still using it today.
Our 19th-century model has its share of 21st-century problems. Blackouts, scandals, pollution and high capital expenditures are among them.
Coal Energy Is Green, Clean and Plentiful...?!
August 18, 2004
Your business runs on energy from coal, most likely. And you can take steps today to make that energy clean and plentiful, without large capital expenditures.
Continue reading "Coal Energy Is Green, Clean and Plentiful...?!" »
Enterprise Power Profiles: Sleep Tight, Windows
June 07, 2004
Do you love your PC's power management function, or hate it? If you haven't grown impatient with ill-behaved hibernation and turned off your Windows power management, you're in the minority.
Power management is viewed as a disruption by users, and a nuisance by IT. Windows power features are meager, with no centralized control or reporting. That's why a handful of network power management tools are available to automate PC energy conservation across the enterprise. Is it worth the time to implement and manage them?
Continue reading "Enterprise Power Profiles: Sleep Tight, Windows" »
New Online Resource Launched for Business-Related News on Renewables, Efficiency, Reliability
April 22, 2004
Welcome to Energy Priorities. We have officially launched the first hybrid publication on energy!
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About Energy Priorities
Energy Priorities delivers information, ideas and commentary on smart energy -- a resource for businesses who want to be more informed energy users -- an asset to entrepreneurs and investors in the new energy sector.
Topics include energy-related technologies and best practices for business, presented in non-technical language, with insights that help you take action.
Published in the public interest by P5 Group, Inc., Seattle USA. ISSN 1938-7326
