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Tough Summer for the Power Grid. But the Microgrids are Working

The Ameren microgrid. S&C Electric

microgridknowledge.com - by Elisa Wood - August 2, 2019

Severe heat and storms across the US this summer have strained the electric grid and caused extensive power outages. But the microgrids are working.

Consider the following examples . . .

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More Than 300 Local Officials From 40 States Call For Green New Deal, End Of Fossil Fuels

           

Workers install solar panels.  Associated Press

The open letter includes a signature from a former high-level Mobil Oil executive.

CLICK HERE - Elected Officials to Protect America - Empowering lawmakers to act boldly on climate

huffingtonpost.com - by Alexander C. Kaufman - December 14, 2018

In a little over a month, the so-called Green New Deal has won endorsements from more than three dozen sitting or incoming federal lawmakers as Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) makes a high-profile bid to shift debate over climate change toward policy on the scale of the crisis. 

On Friday, the effort got a boost from 311 state and local officials.

Forty-four mayors, 63 county and state legislators and 116 city council members were among the officials from 40 states ― including some top oil and gas producers ― who signed an open letter issuing a sweeping, full-throated call for the phaseout of fossil fuels and adoption of Green New Deal-style climate policies.

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How a ‘Solar Battery’ Could Bring Electricity to Rural Areas

           

New solar flow battery with a 14.1 percent efficiency. Photo: David Tenenbaum, UW-Madison

CLICK HERE - STUDY - Chem - 14.1% Efficient Monolithically Integrated Solar Flow Battery

theverge.com - by Angela Chen - September 27, 2018

Solar energy is becoming more and more popular as prices drop, yet a home powered by the Sun isn’t free from the grid because solar panels don’t store energy for later. Now, researchers have refined a device that can both harvest and store solar energy, and they hope it will one day bring electricity to rural and underdeveloped areas.

The problem of energy storage has led to many creative solutions, like giant batteries. For a paper published today in the journal Chem, scientists trying to improve the solar cells themselves developed an integrated battery that works in three different ways.

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Solar Installers Should Bundle Panels With Heat Pumps, Study Says

           

Solar installers could make a better business case for panels bundled with heat pumps and other electric devices that offset natural-gas use, according to the Rocky Mountain Institute. Here, Luminalt solar installer Pam Quan moves a solar panel during an installation on the roof of a home on May 9, 2018 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

CLICK HERE - REPORT - Rocky Mountain Institute - The Economics of Electrifying Buildings

forbes.com - by Jeff McMahon - September 2, 2018

Solar installers could offer rooftop customers even more savings by bundling solar panels with heat pumps and other electric appliances, according to a recent study by the Rocky Mountain Institute.

RMI studied the carbon benefits and financial costs  of electrification of home heating in four U.S. cities. The carbon reductions were pronounced in three of the four. The financial costs were harder to overcome—unless the electricity comes not from the grid, but from the rooftop.

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A Dramatic New Proposal in Utility Regulation

       

DC just proposed a first-of-its-kind regulatory body—and utilities should pay close attention.

CLICK HERE - Joint Release: Councilmembers Allen and Cheh to introduce bill modernizing DC’s energy grid

icf.com - by Steve Fine and Matt Robison - April 17, 2018

Two Washington, D.C. City Council members proposed a remarkable change in utility regulation last week. Mary Cheh and Charles Allen introduced a bill to create a Distributed Energy Resource Authority (DER Authority): a first-of-its-kind regulatory body that would be empowered to undertake traditional utility planning functions, and with a specific mandate to assess any proposed utility grid investment greater than $25 million and open it up to competitive bids.

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Wind and Solar Costs Continue to Drop Below Fossil Fuels. What Barriers Remain for a Low-Carbon Grid?

           

Energy Innovation's Michael O'Boyle and Silvio Marcacci outline the barriers to high-penetration wind and solar in the least-cost era

The following is a viewpoint from Michael O'Boyle, electricity policy manager for Energy Innovation, and Silvio Marcacci, communications director for Energy Innovation

utilitydive.com - by Michael O'Boyle, Silvio Marcacci - March 21, 2018

Wind and solar are now cheaper than virtually anyone predicted, and renewable technologies have reached an inflection point: Rapid cost declines made renewable energy the cheapest available sources of new electricity, even without subsidies, in 2017.  In many locations across America, building new wind energy projects is cheaper than running existing coal-fired power plants.

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