The folks at Utility Dive recently conducted its first annual survey of 500+ US utility professionals, “The State of the Electric Utility.” Overall findings? Utility insiders see the industry changing considerably over the coming decade, with a particular focus on greening the grid. Some of the overall findings included: 95% anticipate that … [continued]
The West African nation of Ghana will soon see a significant boost to its solar energy power capacity and its PV manufacturing capacity, according to recent reports from the Ghana News Agency. The plans, put forth by the multinational firm International Solar Utilities, call for the development of 600 MW … [continued]
(SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.) After failing to convince the Arizona Corporation Commission to impose a $50 a month surcharge on rooftop solar customers, the empire is trying to strike back. Arizona Public Service is working to convince Arizona lawmakers to make permanent a new property tax on solar customers who lease their systems. … [continued]
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick is not beating around the bush when it comes to making his state the greenest in the nation. The Green Communities Act he pushed in 2008 started Massachusetts down the road of expanded conservation and investment in renewable energy. One of his current goals is to … [continued]
Last week, Northeast Utilities (NU) in Massachusetts opposed a plan that would bring economic growth to the state while boosting use of cleaner and more efficient solar energy. Solar delivers a financial benefit to all ratepayers, but NU doesn’t like it because it prefers investing in large transmission and gas … [continued]
It may be one of the oldest cooperative utilities in the country, but in the next six months, Farmers Electric Cooperative (FEC) of southeastern Iowa will be leading the nation in this 21st century energy source. Upon completion of a new solar array, the 640-member cooperative will have over 1,500 … [continued]
By Maud Texier Where does cleantech stand? After a big boom in early stage investments and a green policies kick-off a few years ago, the cleantech industry has been through the struggles that always come with a young and maturing industry. Where are we standing now? Unavoidable growing pains Back … [continued]
For now it remains large, investor-owned utilities, and ostensibly locally-focused rural cooperatives and municipal utilities. But the energy landscape of today gives me uncomfortable reminders of the Athenian tragedy by Sophocles — the Oedipus tale. John Farrell, ILSR’s Director of Democratic Energy, gave this panel presentation at the 23rd annual conference of … [continued]
Below is an excellent reflection on solar politics transitions that happened in 2013, some of which I wasn’t actually aware of. Some great stuff. A big thanks to Peter Allen for writing this up. One note I’ll make concerns the part about “double agent” Kreamer. I would just clarify that … [continued]
Josh covered the big news earlier this week that Google just acquired Nest (for $3.2 billion). Our friend Yann Brandt over on SolarWakeup has a good follow-up on this news that he passed along. He connects a few important dots, and the end conclusion is surely a possibility. We’ll have to … [continued]
