According to the latest research report from the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative (SECC), “2020 State of the Consumer,” consumer interest in residential energy efficiency and energy saving technologies is increasing...
A new initiative offered by Duke Energy, and recently approved by the State of North Carolina Utilities Commission, may be a template for things to come with other utilities that are tasked with serving remote locations in...
Does the National Electrical Code (NEC) stand in the way of implementing new technology? In the words of Michael Johnston, chair of the NEC Correlating Committee, “The NEC’s purpose is to ensure the safe but sound...
The Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA) recently published its first power technology market gap analysis report, titled "2019 Grid Integration Insights," which is designed to bridge the gap between the technologies...
In December 2017, the Thomas Fire killed two people and burned 300,000 acres in the hillsides surrounding Santa Barbara, Calif. One month later, during a winter rain storm, the burnt slopes gave way to mudslides, which killed...
Self-generated power is an old idea gaining new currency. Thanks to an aging grid, a quest for different power solutions and the march of technology, time has caught up to the microgrid. It’s a market on the rise. “The...
In New York’s Chautauqua County, the community is going green in many ways. It has adopted a policy that will track and report energy use in the county’s municipal buildings. It has deployed two all-electric, heavy-duty...
The little island of Isle au Haut lies about six miles off the coast of Maine, and a single power cable strung across the ocean floor is its electrical lifeline. With that cable already 15 years past its anticipated 20-year...
Around the world, electrical transmission and distribution systems are becoming bigger and smaller at the same time. At the largest scale, high-voltage, direct-current (HVDC) technologies are enabling bulk transfer of...
There are few people in the electrical contracting profession who aren't familiar with LEED, the building rating system created by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), part of which involves the power and electrical...
As Puerto Rico continues to rebuild its battered electrical infrastructure more than six months after the devastation of Hurricane Maria, one tool is emerging as a popular, outside-of-the-box solution. It is also becoming a...
The rise of renewables has helped launch other related energy technologies, such as storage and efficiency. Microgrids can trace their increasing popularity to this same phenomenon, as providers look for ways to manage...
Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood is one step closer to getting a microgrid courtesy of ComEd. Though the project received crucial support from Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) administrative law Judge Jessica L. Cardoni...
We are all aware fiber optics is the backbone of communications networks such as telecom, the internet, local area networks, cable television and more. It’s also the backbone of the electrical grid. For about three decades...
Microgrids are the hot new idea that’s been around forever. Thomas Edison’s first New York City power plants could be considered microgrids because those generating stations each acted independently from the others, serving...
In the early days of the United States, people generated their own power. Then, over time, starting with the first electric utility, Thomas Edison's Pearl Street Station in New York in the late 1800s, centralized utilities...
It hasn’t been easy to live in Connecticut the last couple years. First Hurricane Irene slammed through the state in August 2011, leaving some residents without electricity for weeks. A freak Halloween snowstorm two months...
As alternative-energy sources become more commonplace, the need for infrastructure to support their expanding reach into mainstream energy markets is also on the rise. Microgrids have emerged as an ideal technology to meet...
