For most businesses, profit is the bottom line. Conventional wisdom suggests that concerns about social and environmental impacts, though well-intended, can distract from a public company’s legal obligation to reward shareholders.
I didn’t realize until late last year, October to be exact, that our local utility (spelled monopoly), Green Mountain Power (GMP), had to “open up” the area of our state for Tesla Energy to be even able to offer us a solar generation package. However, we timed our latest inquiry to Tesla Energy just right.
Green Mountain Power in Vermont is offering customers a $10,000 rebate on a new Nissan LEAF in an effort to get more people to switch to emissions free driving.
Tesla has a new idea it calls aggregation and it is the next step in its plan to bring renewable energy to the utility grid. The first phase of that plan is the installation of Tesla Powerpack grid scale storage units at substations throughout the area served by a utility. The second phase is linking thousands of individual Powerwall residential battery systems to provide extra storage capacity.
One new model is emerging that offers an alternative to the traditional investor-owned utility, and aligns with the fantasy of Insull’s original vision to simultaneously protect the public good. It’s the B Corp.
“We just need to become the Ben and Jerry’s of the utility world!”
So said Mary Powell, CEO and president of Green Mountain Power, as she announced in 2014 that her electric utility had just earned B Corp certification, making it one of more than 1,700 companies in the world committed to rigorous standards for sustainability, accountability and transparency.
Once upon a time, utilities were the keepers of the nation’s electricity storage and distribution infrastructure, or grid, as it were. Using plentiful coal, hydropower, and even natural gas, the job of keeping the lights lit has long represented a modern-day miracle. Flick a switch, and power up whatever might … [continued]
Originally published on Solar Love. Vermont’s main utility is going to be providing Tesla Powerwall home battery systems to customers who want them. If the utility’s customer agrees to allow the utility to use electricity stored in a Powerwall at home, the customer will also get paid for its use. There are three … [continued]
Annual US energy storage installations will surge from 51MWh in 2013 to 3,659MWh by 2020 on improving economics and policy developments, predicted GTM Research’s Shayle Kann.
Originally published on Solar Love. Vermont’s first “ePark” will be created with a combination of solar power and Tesla Powerwall batteries. Pika Energy has been chosen by Green Mountain Power to plan and design Emerald Lake State Park so it will be powered by sunlight, with the Tesla batteries providing backup electricity. “We’re excited … [continued]
