Remember the quaint old days of cellphone advertising when all we wanted was to be heard, and a corporate mascot became ubiquitous with his repeated query, “Can you hear me now?” Today, we stream movies and bank on mobile...
One of the most significant changes from the COVID-19 pandemic has been the shift to remote work. The disruption of live-work patterns has had its own impact on other behaviors, such as energy use and generation. A study by...
Extreme weather events are occurring more frequently than ever. We have experienced it personally, learned about it in the media, and it is confirmed by a range of meteorological experts, including those at the National...
The last decade has seen enormous change in how we generate electricity. In 2011, for example, U.S. solar photovoltaic capacity totaled 3.95 gigawatts (GW), including residential, commercial and utility-scale projects. As of...
It is counterintuitive that, in the effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, we’re going to need to use a lot more electricity in our homes. We need to move many of the activities we now use fossil fuels for—driving...
Imagine this: you have solar panels on your house that generate more energy than you need, so you decide to sell your excess energy. You go to an online marketplace, where you have the ability to sell the energy to your local...
An overwhelmed person asked me for help solving a problem she was assigned but had no background in. She was tasked with reducing the electric bills for a church/meeting building and two parsonage dwellings (residences A and...
In early 2021, Omaha Public Power District (OPPD) began a comprehensive review of installing underground power lines. Then, a major storm hit the utility’s service territory in July, causing the utility to look even more...
Electrical utilities were among the first in the industry to adopt fiber optics, closely following the telephone companies, who were involved in developing the technology. Telcos saw fiber optics as the most cost-effective...
What does it take to survive hurricane season each year for utilities—especially those in the Southeastern United States? It takes a lot, including well-trained utility workers, partnerships with other utilities and great...
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, Colo., released a plan to help the General Services Administration (GSA) shift its huge real estate portfolio to a more grid-interactive and energy-efficient operation...
To protect and meet the energy needs of its 16 million customers, and also enhance its own energy systems, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is proposing a series of safety, resiliency and clean energy investments in...
As the largest utility in California, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), San Francisco, along with its 16 million customers, has been heavily impacted by the state’s growing number and intensity of wildfires. Last week...
Electric utilities in the United States apparently got off easy from the massive SolarWinds cyberattacks, according to the organization charged with protecting North American power supplies. That was possibly due more to luck...
Electric utilities are going through a transition in their relationships with customers. Once seen as the only players in town when it came to supplying electricity, they are now facing new challengers in the form of solar...
Utility spending on transmission work, in terms of new transmission lines and existing transmission line system operations and maintenance (O&M), is continuing to grow. A March 2021 report report from the U.S. Energy...
U.S. electricity use is expected to increase by 2.1% this year, over last year’s pandemic-related 3.8% drop in demand, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. This rise, however, will mostly reflect a return...
A number of utilities (all subsidiaries of Exelon, Chicago) working together in cooperation have won three of the Electric Power Research Institute’s (EPRI) 2020 Technology Transfer Awards for Innovation. The annual EPRI...
According to a January 2021 report, “A 2030 United States Macro Grid,” from Breakthrough Energy Sciences (BES), an organization founded by Bill Gates that works to promote innovation designed to help eliminate greenhouse...
Electric vehicle (EV) use is growing rapidly across the country. As the technology catches on, demand for a comprehensive network of charging infrastructure is also on the rise. Stakeholders recognize the trend and are taking...
