Orange County’s largest landlord is installing battery-powered energy systems at more than a dozen office buildings as part of a state initiative to combat global warming and rebuild capacity lost when the San Onofre nuclear power plant was shut down.
Competitive Challenges
Learn about the competitive challenges and other new developments in the energy and utility industries.
How ‘grid neutrality’ can build the backbone for the modern grid
As utilities and customers look to cut carbon emissions and modernize their grids through the use of distributed energy resources (DERs), one of the nagging questions facing sector stakeholders nationwide is how to decide where, when, and how new technologies like rooftop solar or storage will be deployed on the grid.
New York’s revolutionary plan to remake its power utilities
By now, many people are aware of the ongoing battles between customers with rooftop solar panels and power utilities around the country. At first blush, this can look like a standard story of scrappy outsiders versus evil corporations. But as I’ve been arguing, that’s not quite right.
Utilities’ newest solar battleground: California
California, the very heart of the rooftop solar panel industry, could be facing a major roadblock in the coming months, and its status as one of the most solar-friendly states in the country could change as a result.
Moody’s: Declining battery prices could lead to commercial and industrial customer adoption in 3-5 years
Commercial and industrial use of lithium-ion batteries for energy storage could become economically viable in the next three to five years if the decline in battery prices persists, according to a new report by Moody’s Investors Service. Battery prices have declined more than 50% since 2010. Expanded battery use will be credit negative for US… [Read More]
The top 10 trends transforming the electric power sector
Analysts told us this would happen — the traditional electric utility model would be upended, and utilities would need to adjust their business models to operate in a new energy future. Now, with plummeting prices for renewables and energy storage, the finalization of the nation’s first carbon regulations, and the proliferation of distributed energy resources, changes are taking hold faster… [Read More]
Creating Opportunities for Good Jobs in Distributed Solar
Policy makers have confirmed a commitment to a mix of utility-scale and distributed solar. Here we define distributed as inclusive of rooftop but also anything under 20 MW. While interest groups find many reasons to favor one over another, each has advantages and each can be made better. Utility-scale solar farms can be – and… [Read More]
ViZn Energy Systems Wins Contract with Hecate Energy
ViZn Energy Systems Inc. (ViZn), a leading provider of energy storage systems for microgrid and utility applications, announced today that it has won a contract with Hecate Energy, a leading United States based developer of power projects, to supply a 2 MW zinc-iron redox flow battery system for the provision of ancillary services to the… [Read More]
Are Solar Energy Jobs Good Jobs?
Job numbers tell great stories. Clean energy job creation in California has become something of a parable, told and retold around the Capital’s metaphorical campfire. Estimates of the size of the clean energy workforce (here, here, here, and here) and testimonies of workers who have turned their lives around in the solar industry (here, here,… [Read More]
VIDEO: “Competitive Challenges” – Managing Change in the Energy Industry
IBEW 1245 Business Manager Tom Dalzell lays out the many challenges facing our union as the energy industry evolves. From threats to our generation jobs to microgrids and the rise of new industry players, Dalzell gives a comprehensive overview of what we’re facing – and how we’re fighting back.