In July, Tesla Motors and Panasonic signed a cooperation agreement to build a large-scale battery manufacturing plant in the United States. They call it the “Gigafactory.” The Gigafactory is being created to enable a...
An unusual, groundbreaking solar plus energy-storage microgrid project in Rutland, Vt., was recently announced. The Stafford Hill Solar Farm is being developed by Green Mountain Power in collaboration with Dynapower and...
Falling somewhat outside ofthe scope of the electrical industry, the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design [LEED] green building standard has been embroiled in a long-running controversy with the nation’s chemical...
The fight against greenhouse gases takes commitments from all industries, if for no other reason than their emissions can be traced to so many different sources. Recognizing the role of the built environment and their own...
We live in an era when electrical power is mostly indispensable. Electricity touches almost every aspect of our daily lives and drives even mundane tasks. With that dependency comes the need for reliability. In short, having...
In July, the National Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee (NJATC) for the electrical industry announced a name change to the Electrical Training Alliance (ETA). As the first step in a structural reorganization, the...
While the debate over climate change rages, we can all agree that methane gas is stinky, and anyone who’s been to a landfill can confirm the presence of the gas. But what if we could not only harness the gases from...
The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s new “Annual Energy Outlook 2014” predicts that below-average annual increases in U.S. electric generating capacity will occur through 2040; most new capacity will be natural gas...
In the utility sector, not many issues cause industry stakeholders more anxiety than the aging infrastructure and continuously increasing demand. Around the country, utilities are investing heavily to keep up with degradation...
Wind, rain, wildfires, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, heavy snowfalls, ice and falling trees are all potential causes of unpredictable and often prolonged power outages. Combine these more frequently occurring...
Almost everyone agrees that saving energy is the right thing to do. Talking about it is one thing, but actually doing it is completely different. Four utilities in Minnesota have discovered that their customers are up to the...
Less than one year after raising the ire of solar-power advocates by imposing feed-in tariffs on homeowners with rooftop installations, the Arizona Public Service Co. has come up with a completely different proposal that is...
Solar-power researchers are always trying to squeeze more power out of their devices. After all, more power from solar cells effectively lowers the overall cost, and a more cost-effective cell will make solar photovoltaics...
The evolution of lighting technology is touching every aspect of society. Smart technology and alternative sources of energy are similarly expanding their reach, leading to a range of innovations even in street lighting...
Scientists at the University of Southern California (USC) have developed an organic, rechargeable battery that could be scaled up for use in power plants, making the energy grid more resilient and efficient by creating large...
Like so many innovations of the digital age, electric vehicles (EVs) promise to transform the way we do seemingly mundane things, such as driving a car. One of the other miracles of modern technology is its ability to stretch...
An uninterruptible power supply (UPS) is typically used to protect electrical equipment where an unexpected power disruption could cause injuries, business disruption or data loss. UPS units range in size from small ones...
It’s been said before that all politics are local. Recently, local leaders took that adage and applied it to the pursuit for a new energy society. In a June meeting, city leaders from across the country renewed and expanded a...
In late May, the investment company Barclays took a bold step, issuing a downgrade of the bond rating for the entire U.S. electric utility sector. The firm downgraded the sector to “underweight,” a term that advises investors...
As technology and electrical devices play an expanding role in our daily lives, the chance for abuse of that relationship also increases. According to a recent survey conducted by the Electrical Safety Foundation...
