While there have been prominent news stories of smart grid cost overruns and customer dissatisfaction with programs run by investor-owned utilities, municipal utility smart grid...
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce describes itself as "the voice of business." But a growing number of small independent businesses and even local chambers are...
Unlike many cities, Portland, Maine, has forged ahead with a significant energy efficiency plan without federal stimulus dollars. Simply borrowing money through bonding and investing...
An article in the New York Times last week suggested that a dearth of financing is holding back solar power in the United States. In...
An article in the New York Times last week suggested that a dearth of financing is holding back solar power in the United States. In...
New York State is focusing on Extended Producer responsibility to get materials out of the waste stream. But the state is ignoring the most obvious...
But assuming we can agree that there’s good reason to subsidize solar power, as well as other forms of low-carbon electricity (including nuclear), you have...
A recent study in the journal Safety Science suggested that the most vulnerable parts of the grid were the smallest, like neighborhood substations. “That’s a...
Unlike many cities, Portland, Maine, has forged ahead with a significant energy efficiency plan without federal stimulus dollars. Simply borrowing money through bonding to investing...
In by far the most exhaustive and detailed study to date, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) found that solar homes sold 20% faster, for...
The death of German renewable energy advocate Hermann Scheer last week – dubbed the sun king or even the Stalin of renewables – is a...
It’s been a common argument against feed-in tariffs that federal law preempts states from establishing prices for renewable energy above the utility’s avoided cost (a...
This initiative was announced in September 2009 with the goal of using 100,000 household-sized combined-heat-and-power gas units to provide grid electricity and home heat. The...
Traditionally, the reliability of small PV systems’ power output has been a concern for utilities, project developers and grid operators, since all it takes is...
There’s been much discussion of whether state-based feed-in tariff policies comply with federal energy law, including PURPA and the Federal Power Act. Fortunately, the brilliant...