Do customers still want solar even if they can’t put it on their own house? From Orlando, the answer is a resounding Yes! Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC), the municipally owned utility serving one of Florida’s largest cities, launched its Community Solar Program in March. Within six days, all 400kW were fully subscribed, and OUC had received another 300kW+ (more…)

China’s five largest power utilities, which depend on water-intensive, coal-fired stations to generate electricity, are vulnerable to water supply disruptions because they are centered in the country’s water-scarce northern regions, a new report says.

According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, the five power generators — Huaneng, Datang, Huadian, Guodian, and China Power Investment — operate (more…)

Did you read this article in Bloomberg about how rooftop solar is costing California ratepayers billions!!!!??? Then you should know it’s largely horsemalarkey.

What the article doesn’t say is how the utilities arrive at their figures–but based on previous assertions, we think it’s safe to assume the approach is grievously (more…)

It’s easy to get the impression that technology game-changers happen in a near flash. And the stories of Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Apple leave us thinking that genius pops right out of the dorm room.

But in the energy industry it’s not that easy. The innovation we see today often stems from years of (more…)

Utilities worry about a lot of things, such as keeping the lights on, earning a return for investors, and making regulators and customers happy with their service.

Now there is a new worry: How can they protect customers from what one utility refers to as “mental fatigue?” (more…)

Americans tend to beat themselves up over their imperfections. We eat too much, watch too much TV and owe China too much money. Despite all of our sloth, we can feel good about one area: our progress saving energy.

A report issued this week by the Institute for Electric (more…)

Minneapolis electronics retailer Best Buy announced last month it is launching a new Home Energy Management Concept. In addition to an “online learning center,” stores in select cities (Chicago, Houston, San Carlos, Calif.) will have an “in-store experience,” complete with demonstration vignettes for a touch and feel (more…)

U.S. utilities are getting smarter, and smart grids are making the difference. This theme permeated the recent Autovation 2011 conference in suburban Washington, D.C., which provided an overview of trends and recent developments.

How smart? No one from the utilities admitted (more…)

In a previous post, I wrote about Texas smart meter company TransData‘s patent infringement suit against CoServ, a Texas utility.

TransData recently extended its patent enforcement activity from Texas in an easterly direction through the southeastern United States, filing complaints (more…)

Utilities are often dismissed or ignored in most discussions of energy efficiency and green building  I find this quite remarkable.  First, many state laws mandate that utilities engage in energy efficiency efforts.  Second, as utilities are directly connected to the energy consumer, utilities are often (more…)