home energy management
Virginia-based energy information software provider Opower now has 10 Minnesota utilities using its Home Energy Reporting program, with its offering covering about 50 percent of the state’s electricity service area. With the latest addition — Shakopee Public Utilities (SPU) — 6 percent of Minnesota households now receive Opower Home Energy Reports,
hydrogen
California has seen the commissioning of the world’s first tri-generation fuel cell and hydrogen energy station, which will provide transportation fuel to the public and electric power to the Orange County Sanitation District’s wastewater treatment plant in Fountain Valley. The fuel cell is called a tri-generation system because
solar thermal energy
Solar thermal power technology company BrightSource Energy has added three new energy sector veterans to its management team. They include Joe Desmond, senior vice president of government affairs and communications; Stephen Wiley, senior vice president of US development; and Yasser Dib, regional vice president of international business development. All three
biofuels
The US Departments of Agriculture, Energy and Navy will invest up to $510 million over the next three years in partnership with the private sector to produce advanced aviation and marine biofuels for military and commercial transportation. The initiative is part of the Blueprint for A Secure Energy Future, the
home energy management
Home automation company Vivint is partnering with Tendril, which provides a cloud-based platform for smart grid, to provide consumers with “an active learning experience that provides insight into their energy usage and how to control consumption based on their specific goals.” Under the partnership, Vivint will connect its Go!Control
electric cars
UK businesses that lease electric cars through Hitachi Capital Vehicle Solutions will be able to have a charging unit installed as part of the package. The offering is part of an agreement between Hitachi Capital and British Gas. Hitachi Capital’s fleet offering includes all electric vehicle (EV) makes and
Smart Grid
The Israeli Smart Grid (ISG) Consortium has received funding through the MAGNET R&D program run by the Office of the Chief Scientist of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor. The consortium, which was spearheaded by CEVA — a licensor of silicon intellectual property platform solutions and digital signal
wind energy
The US Department of Energy (DOE) has finalized a $102-million loan guarantee to Record Hill Wind LLC, which plans to develop a 50.6-megawatt wind power plant and an eight-mile-long transmission line with grid interconnections near the town of Roxbury in Maine. The project, to be developed and managed by
Several major meter manufacturers have agreed to integrate into their portfolio Sensus’ FlexNet long-range radio communications solution for smart metering and the smart grid. The meter companies include EDMI, EM-Lite, Itron, OnStream and Secure Meters. Together, these manufacturers supply the majority of meters to the British energy market. The UK
smart metering
Mission Power will use SmartGridCIS’ Express software to support its advanced metering system (AMS) prepay business in Texas. Atlanta-based SmartGridCIS provides AMS prepay and time-of-use billing software and customer information system for utilities and retail energy companies. It was the first AMS prepay solution to launch in Texas. Mission Power
electric cars
Ontario and the Canadian government are each investing $70.8 million in a project aimed at making the province a leader in electric-vehicle (EV) manufacturing. Under Project Green Light, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada plans to begin assembling electric versions of its RAV4 sport utility vehicle in Woodstock, Ontario, under a
distribution automation
GE Energy has released a new platform of distribution automation (DA) controllers for the smart grid. The Multilin Voltage Regulator Controller, Capacitor Bank Controller and Field RTU represent key building blocks in GE;s advanced distribution automation offerings, according to the company. “We understand the challenges utilities face trying to
