Related Companies
Silver Spring Networks is commencing deployment of the smart grid element of ComEd’s 10-year, $2.6 billion infrastructure investment plan to strengthen the Illinois electric system. The company will also be opening a downtown Chicago office to support the rollout of ComEd’s smart grid infrastructure modernization program.
Source: Electric Light & Power
France-based multinational electrical equipments company Schneider Electric has proposed a bid to acquire Invensys for GBP3.3bn ($5bn). Invensys is a UK-based multinational engineering and IT company with offices in more than 50 countries and its products are sold in around 180 countries.
Source: Energy Business Review
Microsoft Corp. launched a new initiative called CityNext to spur innovation and encourage leaders to create sustainable cities at its annual Worldwide Partner Conference. Through CityNext, Microsoft will work with city leaders and focus on eight core functions: energy and water; buildings, planning and infrastructure; transportation; public safety and justice; tourism, recreation and culture; education; health and social services; government administration.
Source: Xinhua
Utilities
Constellation is expanding its commercial and industrial efficiency offering, Efficiency Made Easy, to competitive electricity markets nationwide. The program has saved 75,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions since launching in select regions in early 2011.
Source: BusinessWire
Consumers Energy customers have saved $365 million since the utility’s energy efficiency programs were launched in 2009. In 2013, more than 106,000 residential customers and more than 29,000 business customers participated in at least one energy efficiency program.
Source: Consumers Energy
The Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance and NorthWestern Energy are piloting a program in Eastern Montana to make managing energy costs a systematic part of company business planning, on par with other priorities like safety training. NEEA conducted the first programs in cities in Washington and Oregon, then turned to Montana.
Source: Billings Gazette
ComEd announced that the Illinois Commerce Commission yesterday issued an order approving the accelerated deployment of smart meters to all ComEd customers. Following this ICC order, ComEd can begin installing smart meters to customers in September 2013, with installations complete by 2021.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
Utilities – Business
Duke Energy Corp.’s board has elected lead director Ann Maynard Gray to succeed Jim Rogers as chairman upon his retirement at the end of the year. Ms. Gray will continue working as lead director and chair-elect until Mr. Rogers retires, assisting recently elected President and Chief Executive Lynn Good to ensure a smooth management transition.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
Target Rock Advisors views the announced acquisition of NV Energy, Inc. by Berkshire Hathaway’s MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company subsidiary as a positive from a sustainability standpoint. “Both companies have demonstrated impressive long-term improvements in emissions and emissions intensity rates, and are industry leaders in energy efficiency and conservation,” said Managing Partner Richard Rudden.
Source: PRweb
A federal judge slashed 10 years off of his prison sentence of former Enron Corp Chief Executive Jeffrey Skilling on Friday, a decision that could set him free as early as 2017. Under the deal, more than $40 million of Skilling’s fortune, which has been frozen since his conviction in 2006, will be distributed to victims of Enron’s collapse.
Source: Reuters
Institutions & Cities
The Retail Merchants Association of New Hampshire (RMANH) has published a Field Guide to Energy Conservation and Efficiency for New Hampshire Businesses. This Guide has been developed by RMANH to help NH business owners reduce their use of energy and the related expenses and impacts of poor building performance and is now available as a free publication.
Source: RMANH
A single advanced building control now in development could slash 18 percent – tens of thousands of dollars – off the overall annual energy bill of the average large office building, with no loss of comfort, according to a report by researchers at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The report is based on extensive simulations of the impact of a variable air volume terminal box, which is currently very expensive but costs are expected to fall rapidly.
Source: EurekAlert
States
Mississippi’s Public Service Commission voted unanimously Thursday to adopt energy efficiency rules requiring all gas and electric companies with more than 25,000 customers to begin offering programs within six months. Quick start plans could include energy audits, tuning customer heating and air conditioning systems, appliance and lighting rebates, weatherizing homes, and paying builders to make new homes and commercial structures more efficient.
Source: R&D
Maine lawmakers voted 121-11 to override Governor LePage’s veto of an energy bill designed to lower costs. LePage objected to parts of the bill, like allowing the Maine Public Utilities Commission rather than the Legislature to set the systems benefit charge that’s added to nearly all electric bills to fund conservation and efficiency programs.
Source: MPBN
Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin has signed three bills that promote energy efficiency and clean energy for homes, farms and businesses. The legislation allows the Vermont Economic Development Authority to borrow up to $10 million from the state Treasury to establish the loan programs and a new energy efficiency loan guarantee program.
Source: Burlington Free Press
Louisiana’s utility regulatory agency revived a planned statewide energy efficiency program — but delayed implementation to work on program modifications. Commissioner Scott Angelle agreed to revive the initiative, but said he wants more public comment time and modifications to the program before he’ll vote for it to begin.
Source: Yahoo News
Advanced Energy Economy (AEE), a business advocacy organization, released a white paper on California’s Proposition 39, a landmark energy improvement initiative for schools and public buildings. The paper argues that Prop 39 would benefit from dedicating a portion of the revenue to leverage private sector capital for energy efficiency and advanced energy projects.
Source: AEE
North America
Accenture released its ‘New Energy Consumer Handbook’, building on four years of research into energy utilities and consumers. The handbook is followed by a special report on small and medium businesses, considered the “neglected middle.”
Source: Accenture
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) has compiled a nationwide inventory providing detailed summaries of energy efficiency evaluation reports—commonly called evaluation, measurement, and verification (EM&V) reports—on electricity and natural gas programs. This is the first such inventory available for public use, organizing useful and timely information for energy demand analysis.
Source: EIA
Fitch Ratings believes the large investment over the last few years by U.S. utilities in Smart Meters will pay increasing dividends in cost savings, service reliability, demand side management, and energy efficiency according to a report published today. Smart Meters are a cornerstone in federal and state energy policy and, going forward, Fitch believes Smart Meters will play an increasingly integral role in retail rate design as energy efficiency programs mature and distributed generation gains wider acceptance.
Source: BusinessWire
International
Australia Prime Minister Kevin Rudd plans to accelerate the country’s move to emissions trading, scrapping predecessor Julia Gillard’s clean-energy policy that’s left the nation with the world’s highest carbon price. Rudd seeks to bring forward by a year to 2014 the move to a floating price on carbon, according to Treasurer Chris Bowen.
Source: Bloomberg
An amendment to the U.K. government’s Energy Bill was narrowly defeated Tuesday, after lawmakers rejected a move to commit the country to near carbon emissions-free electricity generation by 2030. Conservative lawmaker Tim Yeo, chair of the Energy and Climate Change Committee, argued that uncertainty over the introduction of carbon reduction targets was hampering investment.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault announced the go-ahead of the country’s smart electricity metering rollout, with the first phase of 3 million smart meters to be deployed by 2016. The full nationwide rollout of 35 million smart meters will be completed by 2020, with an investment of €5 billion (~$6.5 billion).
Source: Metering