October 14
FirstEnergy’s Ohio Utilities Complete Grid Mod Work
Top consumer smart energy news hand-selected and brought to you by the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative.
Member News
The Illuminating Company and Ohio Edison, both subsidiaries of FirstEnergy Corp., said that they are wrapping up smart grid upgrades across greater Cleveland and Ashtabula County to help prevent or minimize the length of service disruptions, particularly during severe weather. The work includes installation of reclosures in substations and along power lines.
Uplight recently announced the results of its Summer 2022 demand response season, including a 43-percent increase in the number of demand response events run compared to 2021. In the face of climate change and increasingly extreme and frequent weather events, these outcomes reflect Uplight’s vision of best-in-class demand-side solutions that enable deeper engagement and broader reach to meet this growing challenge.
Engaging customers can seem like an insurmountable challenge for some energy companies, given the nature of the industry. As a natural monopoly, customers are a guaranteed component of any operation, and, as such, outreach has proven sluggish over the decades. Still, improving upon customer engagement can lead to massive positive outcomes, including developing the rapport necessary for customer programmatic buy-in, enrollment and participation.
To make the transition to affordable clean energy, Duke Energy plans to invest $145 billion over the next 10 years in critical energy infrastructure to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The recently updated capital investment plan for its seven regulated utilities marks a $10 billion increase over its previous 10-year plan.
Get Your Weekly Edition
Industry News
To Robert Blake, a tribal citizen of the Red Lake Nation of Ojibwe people, solar power isn’t just a tool to escape energy poverty. It’s the key to “energy sovereignty” – a way for his people to regain control over their own energy decisions and continue to be stewards of the land they’ve lived on for centuries. Blake’s solar company Solar Bear has led the construction of the tribal nation’s first two solar installations.
U.S consumers are billions behind on their utility bills and, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, there is no relief in sight, as electricity prices are expected to continue rising this year and next. The agency released its October Short-Term Energy Outlook on Wednesday, forecasting the U.S. residential price of electricity will average $0.1486/ kWh this year, up 8 percent from 2021.
The announcement by automaker General Motors that it is forming an energy management unit called GM Energy is the latest in what has been a steady push by both GM and Ford to move more fully into the electric sector. Their ventures to date have been designed to support multi-billion-dollar investments in electric vehicles.
Mohammed Nasrullah had always wanted to put solar on the roof of his Houston, Texas–area home. But it was the opportunity to join a neighborhood solar cooperative that finally made that plan a reality. “We really care about the environment,” the former NASA employee said. He and his wife are both certified Texas Master Naturalists, volunteering their time to preserve the ecosystem surrounding their home near Galveston Bay.
