Green Building

Solar Panels

Posted Nov 2019

Nation’s Largest Municipal Solar Project Underway

William Atkinson

On Nov. 21, the City of Cincinnati released details of a plan to build the largest municipal solar array in the United States—a 100 megawatt (MW) solar installation. The project...

Solar energy grids.

Posted Nov 2019

Electric Utility on Track to Provide 100% Daytime Solar

William Atkinson

In 2002, Kit Carson Electric Cooperative, Taos, N.M., began implementing solar energy for its distribution grid, which serves three counties in the state. At the time, board members voted to...

Shutterstock/ romanslavik.com

Posted Nov 2019

The Rise of EVs in the Emerald City

Chuck Ross

Electric vehicles amount to a fraction of total U.S. auto sales, but they represent a potentially lucrative market for electric utilities. Still, few have developed strategies to ease their adoption;...

Recent Stories

Oct 2019

Pittsburgh Establishes International Centre of Excellence

Holly Sauer

In September, the United Nations Economic Council on Europe (UNECE) and Pittsburgh’s Green Building Alliance (GBA) agreed to establish Pittsburgh’s International Centre of Excellence on High Performance Buildings. Following...

A green building.

Oct 2019

Airport Solar Farms Improve Air Quality, Reduce Emissions

Marlena Chertock

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s a solar farm coming to Washington Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Virginia. One of the D.C. region’s airports may soon feature one of the largest solar facilities in Northern...

An image of solar panels absorbing sunlight.

Oct 2019

Tariff on Bifacial Solar Panels To Go Into Effect

William Atkinson

On Oct. 9 , the Office of the United States Trade Representative announced a once-exempt type of solar panel will now be subject to a tariff. The technology, called bifacial solar panels, will be subject to a 25% tariff...

Solar panels.

Oct 2019

Pennsylvania Joins Regional Cap and Trade Program

Rick Laezman

Politics can be a delicate act of juggling the demands for bold leadership with the controversy they often court. This month, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf, a Democrat, defied the will of his own, Republican-controlled...

Carbon emissions.

Oct 2019

Moving With the Times: Baker Electric discusses opportunities in EV charging stations

Andrew McCoy,

Fred Sargent

Electric vehicles are so prevalent these days, they hardly seem like news anymore. Perhaps that’s why so many electrical contractors do not seem to recognize the potential that still lies ahead for installing and, better yet,...

Flickr / George Sander / HTTPS: FLI KR/P/ASWYFS. A 20th century car display.

Oct 2019

Clean Over Green

Chuck Ross

Renewable portfolio standards (RPS) have helped drive the adoption of solar, wind and other renewable energy technologies for almost two decades, but there is a twist in the newest generation of these mandates. As fears of...

shutterstock / olivier le moal

Oct 2019

Growing Green: Green technology is increasing by leaps and bounds

Chuck Ross

When it comes to covering advances in renewable energy technologies, the focus has primarily been on new ways—and incremental improvements—for bringing down cost. With prices for electricity from solar and wind now reaching...

shitterstock / iarmenko sergii / higyou

Sep 2019

New York’s New Deep Energy Retrofit Initiative

William Atkinson

Last week, the City of New York announced an aggressive new initiative designed to utilize “deep energy retrofits” in nine of the city’s buildings, with another 28 to follow. The first nine projects that the city selected are...

The city of New York.

Sep 2019

San Jose Now Largest City to Require All-Electric Buildings

William Atkinson

On Sept. 18, the San Jose, California city council unanimously passed a proposal to require new construction of detached accessory dwelling units (ADUs), single-family, low-rise and multifamily buildings in the city to be all...

Sep 2019

Duke Energy Becomes Largest Utility to Date to Seek Net-Zero Emissions

William Atkinson

Last week, Duke Energy , Charlotte, N.C., announced that it plans to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, which is an updated climate strategy for the utility. The company is also accelerating its near-term goal by...

IBM, Oncor Team Up for Predictive Utility Maintenance