The investigation to determine the cause of an Arizona fire is still underway, but utility APS is not backing down from its ambitious plans for energy storage. Utility Arizona Public Service reaffirmed its commitment to grid batteries after a fire at one such facility injured four first responders. The April 19 explosion at the McMicken […]
Gas goes out again as top US utility SCE picks energy storage instead
Southern California Edison, one of the US’ top-ranking utilities for energy storage capacity already deployed, has signed contracts for seven more clean energy projects, totalling 195MW in its California service area. The company has announced contracts for six energy storage facilities and one demand response contract. In April 2018, Smart Electric Power Alliance statistics showed that […]
Southern California Edison Picks 195MW Battery Portfolio in Place of Puente Gas Plant
How a California community succeeded in pushing for a reliability fix that will see the installation of storage projects rather than a natural-gas peaker plant. What started as a routine gas plant procurement ended as a testament to the changing electrical grid. This week, utility Southern California Edison selected a roster of energy storage projects […]
Southern California Edison Picks 195MW Battery Portfolio in Place of Puente Gas Plant
How a California community succeeded in pushing for a reliability fix that will see the installation of storage projects rather than a natural-gas peaker plant. What started as a routine gas plant procurement ended as a testament to the changing electrical grid. This week, utility Southern California Edison selected a roster of energy storage projects […]
Can China keep its climate promises and source 20% energy from renewables by 2030?
Tripling the share of non-fossil fuels will require a major overhaul of China’s recalcitrant power sector and the full deployment of a fledgling emissions trading system, they said in the journal Nature Communications Paris: China can easily meet its Paris climate pledge to peak its greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, but sourcing 20 per cent […]
Utilities are starting to invest in big batteries instead of building new power plants
Due to their decreasing costs, lithium-ion batteries now dominate a range of applications including electric vehicles, computers and consumer electronics. You might only think about energy storage when your laptop or cellphone are running out of juice, but utilities can plug bigger versions into the electric grid. And thanks to rapidly declining lithium-ion battery prices, […]
EIA Outlook 2019: The ‘Extremely Conservative’ Case for Renewables Growth
Outside analysts see better long-term growth prospects for wind, solar and electric vehicles than the projections offered up in the government report. The U.S. Energy Information Administration last week published the federal government’s annual long-term energy outlook report. Top-level items focused on the surging production of U.S. oil and natural gas, which the EIA expects […]
Wind To Surpass Hydro as No. 1 U.S. Renewable Power Source in 2019
Meanwhile, coal will keep losing. Wind power is on track to surpass hydropower as the U.S. grid’s largest source of renewable electricity in 2019, according to Energy Information Administration data. Hydro had a century-long head start, and plants like the 2,000megawatt Hoover Dam and 6,800-megawatt Grand Coulee Dam still outsize any other generating stations. However, […]
NY Governor Wants Zero-Carbon Electricity by 2040
A “politically easy” move or an ambitious target? New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Monday that he will push for New York to transition to 100 percent clean electricity by 2040, in a statement outlining his agenda for early 2019. The announcement places New York in a small but growing group of states, including neighboring […]
Inside Puerto Rico’s Quest for 100% Renewables: A Clash Over Natural Gas
“If your goal is to get to 100 percent renewables by 2050, you should start investing in them now,” clean energy advocates tell the government. The number of jurisdictions pursuing a goal of 100 percent renewables keeps growing. Puerto Rico looks to be next, with a late November plan from the island’s governor and a […]