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The Home Data + Clean Energy Connection
What will the next wave in clean energy need? smart meter/smart home data like rooftop solar, in-home energy storage systems, electric vehicles and smart home technologies like app-controlled lighting and smart thermostats
How does this translate to regulation and legislation?
- A need for policy leadership
- Creation of regulations governing the intersection of smart homes and smart grids
- Clear rules/laws surrounding data ownership and security between consumer devices and utilities
- Utility data such as the value of distributed energy resources for critical grid services, including voltage regulation, frequency stabilization, energy arbitrage, peak demand reduction and ramping reserves
- Incentives for utilities to tackle this data
That’s a lot, what are the 3 big buckets of data? data ownership, data access and grid security
Pecan Street Inc via Forbes | Regulating Consumer Data Will Catalyze Clean Energy Deployments
State Legislation: Renewable Gas Mandate for Utilities.
The State: Colorado
The legislation: SB20-150 (2021 | CO)
What are we talking about renewable gas?
- compel utilities to capture and consume gas to produce electricity
- by tapping into energy generated from the methane emissions of coal mines, natural coalbeds, landfills, wastewater treatment plants and agricultural operations
Environmentalist opposition says biogas isn’t all that because it promotes the growth of polluting industries like factory farming
Route Fifty | Colorado Lawmakers Eye Renewable Natural Gas Mandate
Florida Power Reliability Model
Which other states are looking to Floria as a model for power reliability? Oklahoma
What is Florida doing to ensure power reliability since hurricane Wilma in 2005?
- Received regulatory approval for large scale resiliency upgrades to systems
- Hardening main power lines that serve police and fire stations, hospitals and 911 centers
- Annually review of 15,000 miles of line
- Annually trimming vegetation
- Installing more than 172,000 smart devices that automatically detect faults, reroute power or provide the utility with additional situational awareness
- Pilot program to explore cost-effective ways of moving lines underground
- Underground lines are significantly more reliable (50% or more)
The Oklahoman via Governing | Oklahoma Looks to Florida to Improve Its Power Reliability
Anatomy of Large Public Utility Push for Electric Vehicles
The EV, electric vehicle, is being pushed by the largest public utility in the U.S., the Tennessee Valley Authority.
Here’s the info:
- Estimating that at least 200,000 EVs will be operating in its 7-state region by 2028
- Their partners in the EV push:
- state and local governments
- power companies
- car manufacturers
- service stations
- environmentalists to promote that EV adoptions means cleaner air, climate action, and economic benefits for local communities
- TVA is revamping its rates so that new power rates improve the price of fast-charging stations
- looking at ways to promote or even add and operate more rapid-charging stations
Chattanooga Times Press Press | Tennessee Utility Aims for 200,000 Electric Vehicles by 2028
State’s Energy Plan for a Long Hot 2021 summer
The State: California
The energy options California is considering to protect itself from blackouts and brownouts:
- Lithium storage (battery storage) of solar energy
- as grid resources to form “virtual power plants” that bring together hundreds or thousands of batteries
- as residential energy back up
- Incentivizing energy conservation
What do stakeholders, like California Solar and Storage Assn. say?
- must simplify the process of applying for clean energy subsidies
- maintain “net metering” compensation program
- change the system to allow households, with batteries, to export electricity to the grid during emergencies
- speed up local government approval processes
LA Times via Governing | California Looks for Ways to Alleviate Coming Energy Squeeze
2020 Recap: Innovation Roars
This year, energy got creative and innovative. The industry was impacted by building code changes, the sheer proliferation of renewable plus battery storage as part of utility planning, recycling wind turbine blades, powering buildings with EVs and smart roads, energy from land fills, ocean based wind farms, energy generating bicycles that power street lights, and new and original partnerships between diverse industries.
Oil companies announced that they would focus on sustainability and back away from fossil fuels. Creative tax entities want to apply utility taxes apply to Zoom or other streaming services. Quick thinking COVID tracers used wastewater to track the disease. It was innovation on top of innovation.
City partners with Utility + EVs to Reduce Building Costs
Where: Boulder, Colorado
What is the goal of Boulder’s partnership? to reduce the city’s building energy costs with an innovative pilot with EVs and utilities
Welcome vehicle-to-building charging.
How does vehicle to building charger work? The charging station enables two-way electricity — from the building to the car and from the car back to the building.
How does it reduce city energy costs? it gives the city new ways to manage its energy load and reduce energy costs
Factor in a city fleet charging at a city building and viola!
T&D World | Boulder to Explore How EVs Can Reduce Building Energy Costs
Minnesota Prioritization for EV Charger Grants
What agency is in charge of EV charger grants in Minnesota? Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
What will be given priority in funding? EV chargers that use solar panels or source renewable power from another local source
Other priority items: locating chargers in areas with poor air quality and health issues or by installing more powerful Level 2 chargers.
Why? the goal of the funding is to incentivize using renewable energy
1st Wind Blade Recycling Program
Who: GE
What: a multi-year agreement with Veolia North America for the first U.S. wind turbine blade recycling program
How does it work? It mirror commercial sales of composite materials for cement manufacturing made from shredded blades to create a “circular economy for composite materials,”
The environmental impact of the program:
- make wind turbines fully recyclable
- will reduce carbon dioxide emissions from cement production by a net 27%
Utility Dive | GE announces first US wind turbine blade recycling program with Veolia
Virtual Power Plants. Get to know them.
Who: Swell Energy is an installer and manager of residential renewable energy, energy efficiency and storage technologies
How much funding is Swell raising for virtual power plants? $450 million to finance the construction of four virtual power plants
What is a virtual power plant? For Swell it is the pairing of 200 megawatt hours of distributed energy storage with 100 megawatts of solar photovoltaic capacity
How are utilities involved?
- Utilities in 3 states want to establish dispatchable energy storage capacity
- To get there, there will be construction and aggregation of approximately 14,000 solar energy generation and storage systems
What’s the goal for the grid that these 3 utilities look to meet? To make local grids more efficient.
MA State Auditor: Solar Tax Laws Outdated. Harms Solar.
How could tax laws harm solar energy?
- Solar tax laws were written to favor large communities that are property wealthy
- Solar tax laws create a disadvantage for property poor areas and rural areas
- Large solar operations took leave of a tax credit that was intended for small and rural solar projects
Solar Power World | Massachusetts State Auditor says tax laws for solar operators are outdated
Record High in Battery Storage Deployment
3rd Quarter in 2020 saw US energy storage industry deploy record setting high of 476MW / 764MWh in a single three-month period between July to September
How high are these numbers? more than double previous record highs for battery storage deployment
The US Market is expected to grow to 7.5GW / 26.5GWh by 2025
Epicenter of growth: California
Energy Storage | US’ record-high quarterly energy storage deployments a ‘sign of things to come’
City Bans Gas Stoves
Oakland, CA has banned gas stoves in new homes, restaurant and shop buildings, and offices.
Why? According to Oakland’s Building Department “substituting natural gas with electricity is one of the quickest, safest, and least expensive pathways to eliminating [greenhouse gas] emissions from buildings”
By 2030, Oakland’s new Equitable Climate Action Plan calls for a citywide switch to electric construction
Berkeley Side Nosh | No more gas stoves? Oakland unanimously votes to ban them in new buildings
Florida Approves 3 Optional EV Charging Tariffs
Florida’s Public Service Commission approved 3 optional EV tariff for Florida Light & Power that includes:
- Utility-Owned Public Charging for Electric Vehicles (UEV)
- establishes a charging rate for utility-owned direct current fast charging stations
- price of US$0.30/kWh for electricity sold to motorists
- Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Riders for General Service Demand (GSD-1EV)
- General Service Large Demand (GSLD-1EV)
- establish a rate for competitive market charging stations operating in FPL’s service area
Corporate Climate Change Supporters
Supports of climate change action:
- Bank of America • BASF Corporation • BHP • bp • Cargill • Carrier Corporation The Chemours Company • Citi • Danone North America • Dominion Energy • Dow Inc. • DSM DTE Energy • DuPont • Edison International • Entergy Corporation • Exelon Corporation Ford Motor Company • General Motors • Goldman Sachs • Google • HP Inc. • IBM
- Intel Corporation • Johnson Controls • JPMorgan Chase • LafargeHolcim
- Microsoft Corporation • Morgan Stanley • National Grid • Nestlé • NRG Energy, Inc. Ørsted Offshore, North America • PG&E Corporation• PSEG • Schneider Electric • Shell TOTAL • Trane Technologies PLC • Unilever United States • Walmart
Are urging the U.S. to rejoin the Paris Climate Accord & support these policy goals:
- establish durable national policies that harness market forces
- mobilize investment and innovation
- provide the certainty needed to plan for the long term
- meet the needs of marginalized communities, low-income households, and workers and communities disadvantaged by the energy transition.
“Leveraging American investment and innovation toward the technologies of tomorrow will create jobs, drive growth, and strengthen U.S. competitiveness.”
IN SUPPORT OF AMBITIOUS, DURABLE, BIPARTISAN CLIMATE SOLUTIONS
WSJ | Big Companies Urge Biden, Congress to Address Climate Change
City to Ban Natural Gas in Construction
Where: San Jose, CA
Why is San Jose, California city council voting to ban natural gas in new construction?
- trading movement to welcome all-electric energy to fight climate change
- the city has an existing ban in new residential building that went into effect in January 2020
What type of construction does the ban apply to?
- new commercial and high-rise residential buildings
- beginning in August 2021
- “Limited hardship exemptions” for new food service establishments and manufacturing and industrial facilities until Dec. 31, 2022
What other cities have similar bans?
- San Francisco, CA
- Berkeley, CA
San Jose Mercury News via Governing | San Jose Expected to Ban Natural Gas in New Construction
Anatomy of an EV Infrastructure Bill
The legislation: HR 8807 (116th Congress)
What will HR 8807 do?
- Create a $10M grant program for local governments and utilities
- To determine where to locate EV charging stations
3 Benefits Supporters point to:
- communities will save money on transportation costs
- reduce environmental impact from emissions
- allow access to transportation technology
- offer better data, that is publicly accessible, to make planning and investment decisions.
Next Gen Transportation News | Lawmakers Introduce EV MAP Act to the House
Arizona Republicans Mandate Cleaner Energy
How did Arizona end up with a clean energy mandate from its energy regulator? Republican members of the Arizona Corporation Commission supported a rule calling for the state to eliminate carbon emissions from its power grid by 2050
The vote break down: YES: 3 Republicans + 1 Democrat | NO: 1 Republican
What factor worked in favor of a clean energy mandate?
- falling cost of renewables
- innovative technology like battery storage is being regularly deployed
Is there a take away: Arizona followed a similar road map to that taken by Colorado
Scientific American | With GOP Support, Arizona Mandates Cleaner Energy
Regulatory Proposal Integrates electric vehicles as grid resources to Aid in Disasters
The regulatory body: California Public Utilities Commission
The CPUC proposal: Agenda ID # 18973
What is the disaster tie in? That EVs could be an alternative source to maintain a grid during a disaster
What would utility need to do? Prepare vehicle-to-grid integration as a resiliency plans
Green Jobs Bill with a Utility Installed EV Charger Component
Meet AB 841 (2020 | California) which includes a requirement that the state Utilities Commission ramps ups the pace to approve utility installed EV chargers.
Legislative Climate Change Committee
The state legislature considering a climate change committee: Florida
Is this against the grain? No, under Republican Governor DeSantis leadership, the state has begun talking about climate change (AKA their tourism dollars need beaches)
Tampa Bay Times | Florida environmentalists want Legislature to create climate change committee
New Alternative Energy Partnership in Texas
The Partnership: UT- Arlington is partnering with North Central Texas Council of Governments
The alternative energy source: diverting food waste from landfills to anaerobic food digesters.
Funding for the partnership: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently awarded NCTCOG $300,000 in funding to help reduce food waste.
The study will be entitled: North Central Texas Food Waste to Fuel Feasibility Study adn will consider eight existing wastewater treatment plants with digesters
The environmental/climate change angle: Methane, the biogas produced from the food waste, is a greenhouse gas. Capturing this gas has a positive environmental impact.
EurekAlert | UTA partners with NCTCOG to generate energy from food waste found in landfills
Arkansas School District + Solar = More Pay for Teachers
A school district in Arkansas installed 1400 solar panels, saving 1.6 kW in 3 years.
The school district turned a $250K energy cost deficit into a $1.8 M surplus that is being used to fund teacher pay raises
E& E News | This Arkansas school turned solar savings into better teacher pay
What People say will Make Distributed Energy Resources Work for Texas
Who is saying it? R Street
What does R Street say makes Texas ripe for distributed energy resources? electric distribution remains under a regulated monopoly system in Texas and as such offers transparency in the planning of resources
What actions should Texas take?
- review its rules governing interconnection
- Texas PUC should require transparent distribution planning
- require utilities to consider non-wires alternatives before embarking on expensive grid upgrades
R Street | How to Make Distributed Energy Resources Work for Texas
TX Governor Opposition to Nuclear Waste Storage
What? Texas Governor submitted an opposition letter to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission opposing a nuclear waste storage facility in Andrews County
Who is involved in the project? Interim Storage Partners (ISP), a joint venture between Waste Control Specialists and Orano USA
Why does the Governor oppose the project?
- “imperil” oil and gas production
- could make the region subject to a terrorist attack
- imperils America’s energy security
- “specialized emergency response” required fort he facility would disrupt other local industries
What did the NM Governor say about the project? Also opposed, the Governor called the project “economic malpractice”
Legislature vs. Regulator. Clean Energy Rules.
Where: Virginia
The latest salvo in clean energy regulation in Virginia: Lawmakers say the State Corporation Commission rules implementing the Clean Economy Act violate the spirit of the law.
Who is on what side?
- Utilities support the regulators proposed storage rules
- Lawmakers say the proposed storage rules violate the spirit of the law to open up the sector to innovation
- Industry groups are calling for the adoption of more aggressive interim targets
What are industry and lawmakers asking for?
- A required 3rd-party administrator
- To oversee bidding on future energy storage projects to increase transparency
- Open permitting to allow for small third-party developers to enter the market
Louisiana Governor: Renewable Energy Initiative for Gulf Of Mexico
How did the Lousiana Governor start this process? By creating the Climate Initiatives Task Force
What is the goal of the Renewable Energy Initiative for the Gulf? To harness the renewable (wind) power in the Gulf
Does Louisiana have federal partners? Yes, U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to help us establish a task force of federal, state and local officials
Is this long term industry movement? Yes, Louisiana energy companies have been engaged in a wind program off the coast of Rhode Island
The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory says one, single 600-megawatt, off shore wind facility will:
- create 4,400 jobs during construction
- produce $445 million in economic output during construction
KATC 3 | Gov. Edwards Announces Renewable Energy Initiative for Gulf of Mexico
COVID. Minnesota Asked Utilities for Economic Recovery Help. Things Get Weird Fast.
What happened? In the spring of 2020, Minnesota utility regulators asked state electric and gas utilities to pitch investments that could help jump-start the state’s economy.
The response: multibillion dollar plans.
Then other state agencies caught wind: The state Attorney General’s Office and Department of Commerce support economic recovery but non utility regulators have more experience with statewide economic recovery.
The biggest dispute: who should pay for the recovery.
Ask the commerce people and they say ratepayers shouldn’t bear all costs; the company should pay 50 percent. Shareholders should not be exempt from sharing a portion of the burden of rate relief.
Star Tribune via Governing | Minnesota Asked Utilities for Economic Help; Now Isn’t Sure
2020 Ballot Propositions ENERGY
- Nevada 50% renewables by 2030
- Passing with 57%
- New Mexico de-politicizing regulators moving the regulators from elected to appointed
- Passing with 56%
- Columbus OH 100% renewable by 2023
- 76% approval
- Denver CO 0.25% sales tax to fund climate-related initiatives
- 64% approval
- Boulder CO wants to know if it should continue its contract with an electric provider or go to a municipal electric provider
- 56% support a new 20-year franchise agreement with Xcel Energy
Utility Dive | 5 ballot initiatives poised to propel states, cities to 100% clean energy
Legal TREND. Consumer Refunds of Overpayments from Utilities
Where: Texas Courts
What: A 3rd Court of Appeals Opinion could make it harder for Texas consumers to receive a refund for overpayment
Why is this important? Read the room- making an argument to keep costumer refunds isn’t COVID friendly and the Legislature is about to convene
The Future of Energy Storage: Automated Bidding
Why is automated bidding the future of energy storage? Following studies of European base load market, and its optimization through asset-level and portfolio control to increase the value of energy storage assets by leveraging artificial intelligence
Where can we find regulatory road maps for automated bidding in competitive markets? California and Australia
Utility Dive | Automated bidding is the next step in the evolution of energy storage
Local Incentives. Water Conservation.
Where: Plano, TX
What incentives are offered in Plano for water conservation?
- instead of utilizing the highest annual usage, rates will transition over time to a five-year rolling average
- incentivized conservation will bring long term or ‘generational’ savings for member cities who conserve while ensuring the long-term financial health of the water district
Dallas Morning News | Plano city leaders applaud new water deal that ‘incentivizes conservation’
Ballot 2020. How many climate change propositions on the ballot?
- Alaska wants to increase by a factor of almost 4, the tax on oil production
- Denver wants to raise the sales tax by 1/4 a cent to fund $40 million per year for programs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
- LongBeach wants to increase the local oil production tax by 15 cents a barrel to fund a climate change action and adaptation plan.
- Berkeley wants to raise taxes on gas and electricity utilities by 2.5%
- Albany, CA wants to also raise utility taxes to fund pollution-reduction efforts, like electrifying buildings
- Columbus OH wants permission to buy clean energy credits
- Nevada will not whether solar, geothermal, and other renewable resources will provide half their electricity by 2030.
Grist | Climate change is on the ballot in 7 cities and states
Do utility taxes apply to Zoom?
Zoom announced that start collecting & remitting local utility and communications taxes in California, New York, Maryland, and Virginia
Does the Tax Foundation agree that Zoom should pay utility taxes?
Not at all. The Tax Foundation says utility taxes are “inappropriate for software-as-a-service companies”
Why should we care? Lawsuits like this are popping up everywhere, we see you New Boston, Texas, as technology bumps up against the old ways of taxation.
Tax Foundation | Zoom Calls Not a Taxing Matter
Netflix, Hulu Face Suit Over Alleged Unpaid Texas Utility Fees
COVID resilience. Houston Wastewater Treatment
How has Houston’s treatment of wastewater grown more resilient during COVID?
- Houston deployed a new wastewater testing solution for early detection of COVID-19 in communities
What impact does that have on COVID spreading?
- By identifying locations from wastewater samples, Houston can focus its contact tracing and prevention efforts in those area
How did Hurricane Harvey help Houston cope with COVID?
- The City accelerated its smart city plans in 2017 after Hurricane Harvey
- The City has experience working with its community partners
State Tech | Smart Cities Connect 2020: Houston Emphasizes Resilience in Pandemic Solutions
Global Data Report: More Cyber Attacks on the Grid
First things first, the report: Cybersecurity in Power – Thematic Research
What elements are leading to increased cyber events?
- nation state attacks during the pandemic
- increase number of connectivity to the grid such as smart meters
- dispersed nature of existing utility networks increase difficulty in securing data
The goal for energy cyber security: ” unified method for security, which incorporates physical security and cybersecurity, and covers the complete organisation” AND “adequate mechanisms for power utilities to report cyberattacks”
Smart Meters + Cyber Security
More smart meters, more cyber vulnerability they say.
How big of a black market are we talking about? Globally electricity theft is a $96 Billion business according to research by the Northeast Group
What types of cyber protection are available for smart meters?
- device monitoring
- customer alerts
- secure and verified OTA updates to provide increased cyber protection for utilities
- preventing cyberattacks of connected devices, scalable to millions of smart meters
What does corporate funding of battery storage look like?
Who is conducting the analysis? Mercom Capital Group
What did Mercom Capital Group say about corporate funding of battery storage, smart grids, and energy efficiency ?
- up 75% this year
- $4.7 billion in corporate funding through September 2020
- $2.7 billion in 2019
- July-to-September return was up 777%
- venture capital funding rose 78%
New Renewable Source. Seriously Flintstone.
The Netherlands has bikes that convert peddling into stored storage that then loads onto the grid at special bike racks. The stored storage has been used to power street lights and more.
EV Electrification. How to Engage Utilities.
Where: Florida
What does Florida’s EV market look like? It is #2 in EV use but ranks low for utility investment in EV
What are the utility investment numbers in Florida?
- < 1% of IOU investments compared to nationwide
- 30th in EV charger deployment per capita
The legislation to begin utility engagement in EVs: HB 7018 (2019/2020 | FL)
How does HB 7018 spark utility engagement?
- By creating an EV charger deployment master plan
- Upon adoption will require appropriate and necessary utility engagement standards
4 Ways utilities can engage in EV chargers:
Facilitator: Utility provides electric service when and where requested but not engaging directly in the business of vehicle charging.
Enabler: Utility deploys traditional electrical infrastructure up to the point of connection to charging stations but does not take a direct role in installing, owning, or operating the charging infrastructure.
Manager: In addition to delivering electric service to the vehicle charger’s location, the utility manages the charging operation to accommodate grid capabilities and grid needs.
Provider: The utility delivers electric service to the charging equipment, which the utility owns and can earn a return on, and the utility provides charging services.
Clean Energy | “Electrification of Transportation in Florida” 2020 Brief
COVID Funds. Funding Energy Efficiency for Schools & Small Businesses
The state: New Jersey
How is New Jersey using some of its COVID Funds? By allowing its Utilities Board to fund an energy efficiency grant program for small businesses and schools
What would this COVID funded energy efficiency program offer?
- funding to improve heating, ventilation and HVAC fixtures to best function in COVID
- funding to improve old, inefficient plumbing fixtures
- 25% of grants shall be in underserved areas
- promoted to increase jobs in New Jersey
What are they calling the sub grant programs?
- School and Small Business Ventilation and Energy Efficiency Verification and Repair Program
- School and Small Business Noncompliant Plumbing Fixture and Appliance Program
New EV Partnership
Who: EV Connect, a charging management company, announced its Partner Program
The new partners: BTCPower, EVBox and EVoCharge
What’s the partnership all about? Data
What data will the partnership facilitate?
- charging stations’ performance
- improving maintenance so it is quicker and proactive
- help ensure that charging station availability is not affected by downtime
- track charging stations performance data
- help expand charging station access by improving reliability
The benefits: reduced maintenance and operating costs as issues can be more easily tracked and fixed
Utility Dive | Electric vehicle firms partner to ramp up charging station access, reliability
California’s Utility Model for EV Chargers
What are opponents saying about California’s EV Charger construction that they say favors utility built EV charging stations?
- 95% of California will pay more in their energy bills but will get no use from the chargers because the utility can reclaim the charger costs in rates
- Lower income Californians will be disproportionately impacted
- Disincentivizes private sector investment
- Chases small business owners out of this marketplace
Real Clear Energy | California’s Misguided Electric Vehicle Policies
Largest U.S. Retailer Renewable Deal
Who: Home Depot + Enel, a solar power comapny
What’s the renewable deal: Home Depot to purchase 75 MW portion of the 284 MW Azure Sky solar project in Haskell County, Texas
Home Depot will power 150 stores.
What did Home Depot’s 2020 sustainability report call for? A new sustainability goal to produce or procure 335 MW of renewable or alternative energy
Solar Builder | Home Depot agrees to PPA for a big chunk of solar + storage with Enel
New Study: Economics of Electrifying Buildings
The Rocky Mountain institute looked at these 7 cities in their study: TX; Boston, MA; Columbus, OH; Denver, CO; Minneapolis, MN; New York City, NY; and Seattle, WA.
Key findings
- New all-electric, single-family home has a lower net present cost than the new mixed-fuel home in every city
- All-electric home results in substantial carbon emissions savings over the mixed-fuel home in all cities
Rocky Mountain Institute | All-Electric New Homes: A Win for the Climate and the Economy
COVID Energy Impact = Renewables
Who is saying that renewables are benefiting in the COVID new economy? The International Energy Agency
How are spending changes impacting energy? Less oil & gas spending + more renewable spending
What other benefits are renewables seeing for capital investments?
- falling costs in solar and wind
- widespread government support
- COVID monetary policies that support low interest rates
- stable returns to investors
- BP’s announcement to move away from fossil fuels and toward renewables
- French energy firm Total SA is increasing spending up to $3 Billion by 2030
- By 2040, coal will be 1/5 of the global energy mix
Wall Street Journal | Coronavirus Pandemic Speeds Shift to Cleaner Energy
New Economy. New List of Single Use Banned Plastics.
Grocery checkout bags
– Straws
– Stir sticks
– Six-pack rings
– Plastic cutlery
– Food takeout containers made from hard-to-recycle plastics (like the black-plastic packaging)
Are any countries banning these single use plastics? yes, Canada
Any COVID exceptions? Yes. Exceptions for personal protective gear or medical waste
New lingo in EV Charging….Blockchain
Who is behind blockchain and EVs? Mobility Open Blockchain Initiative + Electric Vehicle Grid Integration Working Group
How will blockchain work with EV charging? SECURITY. to protect private user data in electric vehicle charging systems.
Which facets of EV charging will have access to blockchain initiatives?
- Vehicle to Grid Integration (V2G)
- how electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids communicate with the charging grid when they are plugged in and how they send data back to the operator of that specific charging grid
- Tokenized Carbon Credits (TCC)
- help facilitate and secure the trading of Tokenized Carbon Credits (TCC) between companies and corporations
- Peer to Peer (P2P) applications
- how charging networks partition workloads between different users
Why does this matter? Because data privacy matters it the new economy
What type of data issues are involved among which stakeholders in EV charging? “data transparency, trust, coordination, and automation among mobility service providers, consumers, utilities, and government stakeholders.”
GM Authority | GM Partner Announces First Blockchain Standard For Electric Vehicle Charging Grids
+1 City Bans Specific Chemicals
The City: Baltimore, Maryland
The Chemicals that Baltimore is banning:
- toxic pesticides on public and private property—including lawns, playing fields, playgrounds, children’s facility
- Any pesticide that is not compatible with organic land care
The exceptions: golf courses & school system property
Is this new? No, it follows the Healthy Lawns Act passed by Montgomery County, Maryland
Beyond Pesticides | Baltimore Becomes Latest Maryland Locality to Restrict Toxic Pesticides on Public and Private Property
Oil Companies + Environmentalists Against Nuclear Waste
Even a stopped close is correct twice a day, and sometimes oil companies and environmentalists take the same positions.
What are these two groups opposed to? shipping highly radioactive waste from the nation’s nuclear power plants to sites on the Texas-New Mexico border
Why are they opposed? Unsafe for the oil producing Permian Basin
The oil interest group: Protect the Basin
Texas Standard | Texas Governor Urges Trump To Oppose Nuclear Waste Plans
COVID catalyst. Convert Fuel Generation Facilities to Battery Storage Facilities
In Australia decommissioned fuel generation plants are being reimagined as battery storage facilities.
What facts do I need to know?
- The government has a Request for Information for a 100MW / 200MWh battery energy storage project at the site.
- Within 10 years, 50% of homes will have solar
- Within 10 years, 1 in 3 houses will have their own solar PV system
How does COVID factor in? Renewables are included in the COVID economic recovery
State Passes Clean Energy Act. What’s the Cost on Consumers?
Background: Virginia passed the Virginia Clean Economy Act that requires requires Virginia to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative & be carbon neutral by 2045
Were consumer utility costs estimated? Yes.
What happened? The cost for consumer estimate has doubled to $800 per year
What is being asked of utilities during the process at the Public Utility Commission?
- Include a least-cost option compliant with the law
- 3 high cost components of compliance by a utility included: a second offshore wind buildout, a pumped storage unit, and continued operation of an “uneconomic” coal-biofuel hybrid plant through 2045
State Interconnection Rules Impact Solar & EVs
The State: California
The Rule changes that impact solar and EVs: California Public Utility Commission Rule 21, Rulemaking 17-07-007
What’s the impact of the rule changes?
- allow distributed energy resources to play a more active role
- battery-backed solar systems can incorporate flexibility into the grid
- without being aggregated as a virtual power plant
- not as a non-wires alternative to grid upgrades, but as a precondition of their interconnection
- orders investor owned utilities to “develop processes to allow fast-track interconnection of DER projects that use “limited generation profiles”
- standardizes solar-plus-storage and vehicle-to-grid charging
- recognizes “limited export”
- sets rules for utilities to verify that projects are sticking to those limits
Proposed Partnership for Grid Resiliency Standards.
Who would partner?
- Secretary of Energy
- National Science Foundation
- Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate
- National Institute of Standards and Technology
What would the partnership develop? best practices for grid resiliency during cyber incidents
The funding commitment: $800 Million over 5 years
Will there be grants? Yes for research, development, and demonstration
COVID. Power load growth in Manufacturing
What do analysts contribute Texas’ power load growth in September to?
- recovery of drilling activity
- recovery in manufacturing
- loosening of state restrictions
The numbers:
- 57.3 GW this August, weather-adjusted on-peak load averaged
- That’s up 2.3% over July
- That’s up 1.6% over 2019
S&P Global | Texas manufacturing survey shows fourth month of growth, boosting power loads
1st Statewide Styrofoam Ban in Effect
The state that banned styrofoam: Maryland
The legislation enacted these state code provisions banning styrofoam.
What does it apply to : applies to most food service containers
What does it NOT apply to:
- containers for raw butchered meat or seafood
- prepackaged foods when purchased by the Maryland business, like eggs
Did local bans precede the state legislation? Yes, local bans in Montgomery, Prince George’s, and Anne Arundel counties, along with Baltimore City. D.C.’
The DCist | Maryland Bids Farewell To Styrofoam Starting Oct. 1
Impact of California’s Zero Emission Vehicle Standards
What is this new California Zero Emission Standard? This week California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order adopting a goal for the sales of all new passenger vehicles in the state to be zero-emission by 2035
If the state goes EV in its vehicles, what does that mean for power?
- 9% increase in electricity demand by 2030
- EVs are flexible load that open opportunities for supporting the grid
What’s the US Chamber saying about Battery Storage + Climate Change
The US Chamber is here for it. “Momentum for potentially historic climate and energy innovation legislation appears to be growing on Capitol Hill”
The US Chamber has a history of supporting clean air. “The Chamber was an early supporter of bipartisan legislation to phase down their production and use of ” hydrofluorocarbons
They’ve been leading think tanks. They support innovative solutions from battery storage and grid modernization to advanced nuclear and carbon removal technologies
The key element: “ensure the clean energy infrastructure is available to build and commercialize them”
Impact of a Company’s Climate Pledge
The Company: Amazon
What is Amazon’s climate pledge? $2 billion Climate Pledge initiative to become a net-zero carbon company by 2040
How is Amazon investing this $2 billion for climate? Most recently with an additional investment in Rivian
What has Amazon previously invested in Amazon? an undisclosed monetary investment + purchase 100,000 electric delivery vans
CNET | Amazon sinks cash into EV startup Rivian as part of Climate Pledge
New Energy Partnership.
The new partners: Sandia National Laboratories + PNM
What will the partnership work on?
- advance energy storage
- solar photovoltaics
- power electronics
- artificial intelligence
- sensor technologies
The energy goals they want to help the US with:
- grid resiliency
- grid security
- grid stability
Meet the New Kid: Institute for Water Research, Sustainability and Policy
Where is the Institute for Water Research, Sustainability and Policy? Univeristy of Texas- San Antonio
What are the goals of the Institute for Water Research, Sustainability and Policy? To collaborate in the areas of water quality, water quantity, flood control and water policy
What about multidisciplinary water issues? yes, they will tackle those too like hydro-terrorism and the food-water-energy nexus across regional, national and international political boundaries
UTSA Today | New water institute to explore the resource’s impact on society
COVID. A Green COVID Recovery. 7 Options
- Green construction and retrofits
- Clean mobility
- Renewable energy
- Active transport – more walking and bike space
- Nature-based solutions – tree planting and green spaces
- Waste and resources
- R&D for clean technologies (tax incentives)
Utility Dive | 7 investment priorities for a green COVID-19 recovery: report
COVID and Solar Installation
What impact has COVID had on solar installation? States that implemented strict restrictions on activity
The overall impact to solar installations in early 2020? 6% decline in overall solar installations from the first quarter of 2020
The numbers of installs:
- 3.5 gigawatts direct current (GWdc) of new solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity in Q2 2020, a decrease of 6% from Q1
- April, May and June 2020 represented a 52% increase year-over-year in installed capacity
New Energy Partnership. Utilities + Ev Platforms
The EV platform: EV Connect, maker of the world’s leading electric vehicle charging management platform
The utilities: Salt River Project (SRP) in Phoenix and Tucson Electric Power (TEP)
The goals: deployment and management of EV charging infrastructure
COVID reaction. Meet the New Kid on the Block: GridWise Alliance
What is the GridWise Alliance? Advocates for the inclusion of funding for grid investments in any stimulus packages
What 3 areas does Gridwise support additional funding?
- To meet clean energy goals
- To enhance resilience and security
- To replace aging infrastructure
Street Insider | GridWise Alliance Launches Grid Investments for Economic Recovery Initiative
National Water Grid Advisory Board
Where: Australia
What will the National Water Grid Advisory Board do?
- assist the growth of Australia’s agriculture sector
- increase water security
- build drought and flood resilience
What sectors do Board members represent?
- engineering
- agriculture
- economic
- environmental and water sciences
- infrastructure investment
- stakeholder engagement
Utility | Government establishes National Water Grid Advisory Body
What CA Blackouts Mean for TX?
In what sounds like a page of Sun Tzu’s Art of War- what can Texas energy market learn from California’s blackouts?
What some are saying about CA: unreliability of the state’s renewables spurred the dearth in supply leading to blackouts
What do they say that means for TX? Don’t require the 60% renewable market that CA requires because there is a reliability issue with renewables + don’t offer as many subsidies and incentives for bringing new renewable generation.
How do TX and CA differ on renewables: TX does not subsidize its wind and solar producers to the degree that California does by offering 212 different renewable energy subsidies or tax incentives. Whereas TX incentivizes extra capacity.
The Texan | California Blackouts Highlight Contrast with Texas Energy, Provide Forewarning
How the economy can be bolstered by distributed resources and stable energy policy
Who is saying this? Advanced Power Alliance
How will distributed resources and stable policy bolster the economy?
- RURAL COMMUNITIES. “growing renewable energy to bring additional economic opportunities to rural communities”
- CAPITAL INVESTMENTS. stable policies means capital investments
- AFFORDABILITY. new energy businesses can provide communities with greater economic resilience, while supplying affordable electricity to Texans, including oil and gas producers
State to allow Citizens to Sue it for Missed Clean Energy Goals
The State: Vermont
What in the world is happening? H688 (2020 | VT) has passed both chambers and allows
What would H688 do?
- Cut greenhouse gas emissions to 26 percent below 2005 levels by 2025
- A 40 percent cut below 1990 levels by 2030
- An 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050
- Creates a 23-member Vermont Climate Council responsible for approving the plan that the Agency of Natural Resources would be charged with implementing
- Permits lawsuits against the state for not achieving these reductions
- residents cannot get a monetary award, the lawsuits can only make the state act
Vermont’s Independent Voice | Global Warming Solutions Bill Appears Headed Toward Veto Fight
State Legislature: Compensating Customers for Outages.
Where: Connecticut
What: The legislature wants to impose minimum staffing and compensating customers for outages during disasters. Specifically, legislators say utilities should shift to thinking of customers first before shareholders because they provide a public service.
Is this new? No, ConEd in NY compensated customers for an outage voluntarily.
NBC Connecticut | Legislature Discusses Power Outage Reimbursements
COVID Impact to Renewable Goals
Who is adjusting their renewable goals because of COVID? Baltimore County, MD
What is causing the readjustment to renewable goals? Lower Revenues
What specific renewable activities have been curtailed?
- building greener facilities
- building more environmentally friendly stormwater management infrastructure
- replacing fleets
What can Baltimore Co still achieve to their renewable goal?
- Signed an agreement to convert the landfill’s methane gas produced by decomposing waste into electricity for generators
- New 10-year agreement to provide a new glass recycling program for residents
- Install solar arrays on 5 government buildings and 2 closed landfills
Baltimore Sun via Governing | Pandemic May Postpone Baltimore County’s Renewable Goals
Legislation. Stability for solar + storage
The State: California
The Legislation: SB 364 (2020 | CA)
How does this bill provide stability for solar + storage?
- exempts nonresidential active solar energy system constructed or installed prior to January 1, 2025, from taxation until there is a subsequent change in ownership of the nonresidential active solar energy system
- exempts nonresidential active solar energy systems from taxation on and after January 1, 2025, until there is a subsequent change in ownership
SEIA | California Legislature Continues Clean Energy Leadership with Latest Vote
PetroChemical. The US Plastics Pact.
Who is the U.S. Plastics Pact? Led by The Recycling Partnership and World Wildlife Fund.
Where is the financial backing? The Pact is part of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation global Plastics Pact network
What did L’Oreal commit to by signing the Pact?
- By 2021 define the packing that is unnecessary or problematic
- By 2025 100% sustainable packing
The Corporations on the Advisory Council: Amcor, Balcones Resources Inc., Austin Resource Recovery (City of Austin, TX), Eureka Recycling, Grove Collaborative, Mars, Incorporated, Target, The Coca-Cola Company, Unilever United States, and Walmart, Inc.
List of Supporting Corporations & Entities
Allure | L’Oréal USA Commits to Ambitious Goal of 100-Percent Sustainable Packaging by 2025
US Plastics Pact | U.S. Plastics Pact Launches to Ignite Change Toward Circular Economy for Plastic
Energy Investing in Forest Lands
Why are energy companies investing in large swaths of forest?
- The up & coming speculative market in so-called voluntary offsets that can be in forest preservation
Give me an example of how voluntary offsets work:
- In Autumn 2019, BP invested $5 million in Pennsylvania’s Finite Carbon
- Finite Carbon helps landowners create and sell credits
- BP’s investment is aimed at hiring more foresters to begin use of satellites to measure biomass
- This data will allow BP to drum up more credits for use in the voluntary market
How does this work in the real world?
- A company will pay a land owner to keep their trees
- The companies can say they are responsible for having locked up a specific amount of carbon in the standing trees, calculable to the metric ton
- That savings of carbon from the trees offsets other activity emissions
WallStreet Journal | Preserving Trees Becomes Big Business, Driven by Emissions Rules
New Report. EV Charging + Storage Curbs Peaks.
Who is the report by? Guidehouse Insights
The report: Market Data: Energy Storage for EV Charging
What are the touted benefits of EV chargers & combined energy storage?
- Makes EV charging more cost effective
- Drawing energy from the grid during low-demand periods & releasing power to charge EVs during peak-demand periods
- Creates a sense of consumer safety with separate energy storage
- Makes fleet electrification more attractive for the commercial & industrial market
- Could be the most manageable approach to dealing with demand charges at public fast-charging stations
Utility Dive | Energy storage for EV charging can lower demand charges, Guidehouse reports
+1 Desalination Plant in Texas
Where: Alice, TX
Why is Alice, TX building a desalination plant?
- Alice wants to stop buying water from Corpus Christi
- This brackish groundwater desalination plant is estimated to deliver more affordable water
Is there a private entity involved? Yes
How is this arrangement structured?
- Alice will pay Seven Seas Water Corp. about $2.20 per 1,000 gallons of water over a 15-year period
- Seven Seas Water will finance, design, build, own, operate and maintain a brackish water reverse osmosis plant on city owned land
- Alice is expected to use 3 million gallons of water a day, translating to Alice paying $12 million to Seven Seas Water over 15-years
Alicetx.com | Alice hires Florida firm to design, build desalination plant
California Blackouts = Need for Battery Storage
What are people saying about California’s blackouts?
- California lacks the battery capacity to deploy renewable energy
- “the state’s grid integrated more solar power, which without sufficient battery storage can be less reliable than the fossil fuels that drive global warming,” according to Bloomberg.
The hurdles to prevent blackouts with battery storage:
- It won’t be cheap up to $19 billion
- “But more critically, there aren’t enough of these massive batteries to go around right now.”
ETF Trends | California Blackouts Highlight Need for More Battery Storage
COVID Employer TREND. Using Clean Energy as an Employee Benefit
Whose concept is clean energy as an employee benefit? Arcadia
What is Arcadia ? company that gives homeowners and renters a way to offset their carbon footprints through renewable energy credits and clean power developments
How is Arcadia packaging the clean energy as an employee benefit? When employees work from home, employee perks look different. As an employee benefit, “Arcadia can either buy renewable energy credits to offset an employee’s emissions or it can take pay for that employee’s energy usage by acquiring blocks of renewable power from energy markets around the country.”
Solar Inverters Hackability
Turns out some scientists say that solar inverters are a playground for hackers.
The scientists: Cyber-physical systems security researchers at the University of California
How can solar inverters be hacked? By using a “remote spoofing device to target electromagnetic components found in many grid-tied solar inverters”
What happens? At worst, a blackout, and at best destabilization of the grid.
Science Blog | UC Irvine | Security Researchers Highlight Vulnerability Of Solar Inverters
Beer Becomes Renewable Energy During COVID
Who on this green earth is turning beer into renewable energy? Australia
How does beer become energy when most humans relax & slow after consuming beer? biogas from left over beer not consumed because of COVID lockdowns
How much power is being produced? enough energy to power 1,200 homes a month. 150,000 liters of stale beer becomes 355,200 cubic meters of biogas.
Where does the beer get converted to energy? The Glenelg Wastewater Treatment Plant
Is there a cute name for beer energy? “Energy Ale”
Green Geeks | Unused Beer Is Creating Renewable Energy in Australia from Biogas
When Your EV Pays for Parking with its Electricity
How can an EV pay for parking with its stored energy? Nissan has an exhibition space in Yokohama, the Pavilion, at which EVs can pay for parking by sending electricity
The next phase: Allowing Nissan Leafs to power homes and city infrastructure during disasters
Engadget | Your EV’s electricity can pay for parking at Nissan’s new exhibition
Industry Purchase of EV Fleet
The EV fleet purchaser: Republic Services
The EV fleet purchase: 2,500 electric collection vehicles from Nikola Corp. possibly up to 5000 vehicles
The tea leaves: “Republic’s order will be “the reason why the market will go electrified,””
COVID. How Energy Companies are Adapting.
- Oil & gas companies have up to 2/3 of their drilling operations managed remotely
- Remote work is no longer seen as the challenge it was once seen as
- Increasing digitization of work product
- Increasing digitization of equipment from drill bit censors to 3D printing of equipment
Leadership Changes in Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
- Dynamic Duo of Deputy Executive Directors with combined 54 years experience at TCEQ
- Ramiro Garcia, Jr., former deputy director of TCEQ’s Office of Compliance and Enforcement
- L’Oreal W. Stepney, P.E., former deputy director of TCEQ’s Office of Water
- Deputy Director – Office of Water
- Earl Lott, former director of the Waste Permits Division for 12 years
- Deputy Director – Office of Compliance and Enforcement
- Craig Pritzlaff, Assistant Attorney General for the Office of the Attorney General, Administrative Law Division. Effective Sept. 8
2020 Pipeline Protests
Willie Nelson & Paul Simon, both who have homes in Texas Hill Country, are openly opposing a new gas pipeline.
Why the opposition: contributing to the pollution of well water with 36,000 gallons of drilling fuel being leaked into the Trinity Aquifer in April 2020 by the pipeline builder
Is this new ground for Willie Nelson? No, he headline a festival opposing the TransCanada Pipeline. Longtime InfoHive subscribers will remember the festival and the resulting legislation.
Houston Chronicle | Willie Nelson and Paul Simon rail against controversial Texas pipeline
Swing State Polling on Energy
The swing state: Pennsylvania
The poll(s) results:
- 52% oppose fracking
- 48% favor the oil-and-gas extraction
Electrek | Where key swing state Pennsylvania stands on energy
Bonjour! New Energy Storage Options.
What’s rectangular and can soon be engineered to store energy? Bricks
How is this possible? the red colorant of bricks can be converted to conduct electrcity
Does this make bricks batteries that store energy? No, it makes bricks super capacitors that hold electrical charge. Batteries hold electric chemical energy.
Why does this show promise?
- Bricks are porous and this have a great surface area for storage
- Bricks could easily be connected to solar panels
The Conversation | Clever chemistry turns ordinary bricks into electricity storage devices
Get to Know the Questions the US Senate asked of Power Cybersecurity Industry
What issues did Senators highlight concerning power cybersecurity?
- Department of Energy’s July 8th request for information (RFI), specifying six countries — China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia and Venezuela — as “foreign adversaries” from which the power sector cannot purchase equipment.
- Whether to permit a higher return on equity, for utilities that make cybersecurity enhancements to their grid operations.
- That distributed energy resources could reduce cybersecurity targets by decentralizing electric power supply.
Utility Dive | Senate grills FERC, DOE on power sector cybersecurity
Meet your new utility: Tesla
Where: Germany
What: Tesla may be exploring entering the German electricity market with an innovative tariff .
Why do people think Tesla is exploring becoming a utility? A survey sent to German customers by Tesla concerning utility service
Is this the only clue? No, Tesla also applied to UK for a power supply license from the national regulatory authority to set up automated electricity trading
How Michigan is funding EV Charger Installation Includes Utility Partnership
Michigan’s EGLE Charge Up Michigan Program offers funding for EV charger installation.
Who is receiving funds for EV charger installations?
- cities
- airport authorities
- economic development corporations
- convenience stores and gas stations
How much is available per charging station under the program? $70,000 per charging station
How will the overall costs for charging station installation be shared? In a partnership between the site’s owner, and the electric utility that serves the site. Each pay 1/3 of the cost to install the fast charger.
The program’s funding source: Volkswagen diesel emissions settlement
How one state increased taxes on oil & gas in 2020
The state: Colorado
How did Colorado justify increasing the taxes on oil & gas in 2020? Because of a shortfall in the regulatory agency that oversees oil & gas
How did they get both industry & environmental groups both on board?
- industry got a reduction in the levy rate
- environmental groups support the increased levy rate from the current rate
Business TREND. Cut Oil Production. Invest in Renewables. The Numbers:
Which company is cutting its oil production by 40%? BP
When will it cut production by 40%? over the next 10 years
What is BP’s zero emission goal? 2050
What will the 40% cut in oil look like for BP?
- By 2030, a cut of at least 1 million barrels per day
- By 2030, lower emissions from operations by 30 to 35%
- By 2030, accelerate investment in renewables & biofuels by 10-fold to around $5 billion per year
From the CEO: “Now we are pivoting to become an integrated energy company. …This coming decade is critical for the world in the fight against climate change, and to drive the necessary change in global energy systems will require action from everyone.”
From a London, England energy transition think tank: “BP has radically changed the game,”
Houston Chronicle | BP to cut oil and gas production by 40% over 10 years
39% more COVID cases in areas with lower Air Quality Regulations
The Study is by: American Univeristy
What did the study find? “counties where the EPA rollback may have supported increased air pollution had an average 39% more COVID-19 cases and 19% more deaths from the virus.”
Will this study be mentioned in clean air debates with regulators, legislators, consumers, and activists? yes, of course it will be.
+1 State using CARES Act funds for resident utility bills
The State: North Carolina
What’s happening according to the Governor’s tweets: The Legislature isn’t doing enough. The US Senate isn’t doing enough. So, his administration has a plan.
WBTV | N.C. governor plans to help residents with rent, utility bills
COVID Legislation. Michigan, Meet Your New Utility: The Internet
Other states, hello.
Michigan HB 5949 (2020 | MI) would declare the internet a utility.
The Michigan Public Service Commission would regulate all broadband service companies.
Why regulate the internet? COVID taught us the internet should be accessible and available to everyone (school age kids we see you)
EV Chargers + Utilities. What works. What needs improvement.
What’s working for utilities:
- passive load control
- behavioral management though time-of-use rates
Remember 1st grade when you “needed improvement”, for utilities they say it is:
- Customer experience
- Customers should not be treated as grid assets
- The customer experience should be easy, convenient, & affordable
COVID Utility Response. Installing UV Lights.
Which utility: Tennessee Valley Authority
What is the Tennessee Valley Authority UV Light program?
Offering financial assistance for schools, restaurants, nursing homes and other buildings with public places to install ultraviolet germicidal irradiation lights in air ducts to minimize the spread of airborne microorganisms such as COVID-19.
How does the UV Light work? Installed in air ducts, the UV light kills the virus as the air is circulated into heating or air conditioning units
The incentive offered: $30 per ton for duct-mounted UVGI systems
Chattanooga Times via Governing | Tennessee Utility to Install UV Lighting for COVID-Protection
+1 State Banning PFSAs in packaging
The State: New York
The legislation: S2000B (2020 | NY)
What’s a PFSA? poly and perfluorooctanoic acids
What type of packaging uses PFSAs? bags for pastries and popcorn & pizza boxes
Other legislative action: House supports funding $50 million for research & development funding for PFAS remediation and disposal
Times Union | New York Legislature approves bill to ban PFAS in food containers
COVID Impact on Utility Rate Payers
Florida Public Service Commission is taking on COVID impact to rate payers.
Other issues floating around in the regulatory hearing: passing along coronavirus-related costs to customers in the future.
Tampa Bay Business Journal | Utility regulators to eye Covid-19 customer impacts in Florida
When a Retail Corporation Participates More in Energy Regulation.
Where: Florida
What is happening in Florida utility regulation? Wal-mart is participating in more utility rate regulation
Is there something specific that Wal-Mart is chining in on? Renewable Energy and Rates
Why is it happening?
- Wal-Mart has set renewable energy goals
- It currently buys 1.22 billion kilowatt hours/yr from the state’s 5 major electric utilities with a monthly consumption that is is about 102,000 times that of an average household
Tampa Bay Times | Why is Walmart participating in Florida’s electric regulatory process?
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