Why I Prefer Busbar Trunking Systems More Than Cables

Planning concept for power supply // When a planning concept for power supply is developed, it is not only imperative to observe standards and regulations, it is also important to discuss and clarify economic and technical interrelations (cables and/or busbar trunking systems depending on situations). The rating and selection of electric equipment, such as distribution […]

EV boost: Utilities leading charging efforts from coast to coast

Although California has established itself as de-carbonizing electricity over the last several decades, helping to pave the way for the modernization of the transportation sector, New York is equally impressive.

Finance vs. function: proper valuation essential for energy storage future

Batteries are a viable option for electrical storage in power grids on a global scale, according the Global Smart Grid Federation (GSGF).

Important points about grounding of electronic equipment

Safety grounding // Grounding electronic equipment for personal safety and clearing of faults is no different than that of any other equipment. Safe grounding requires fast opening of circuit breakers or fuses and minimization of voltage differences between exposed metal surfaces on all of the involved electrical system and equipment, to levels that are safe […]

CISO insights: Next-gen authentication (goodbye passwords, hello biometrics?)

In terms of next-generation authentication, CISOs see enterprises moving to augment or supplant the traditional password with advanced technologies

Duke Energy, Southern, TVA among leaders in SMR Start

Leading developers and potential customers of small modular reactors (SMR) have formed a consortium to advance the commercialization of the innovative reactor designs known as SMR Start.

Are wind and hydro the answer to New England's clean energy woes?

"The Wind and Hydro Response" is designed to fit the request by Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Massachusetts for more clean energy to help fuel the region's future growth and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Solar plus storage defining renewable energy

Solar plus storage is a key necessity for solar to overcome limitations like intermittency and the lack of power after dark.

2nd Annual Energy Storage Policy Forum Brings Energy Leaders From Around the Country

Today in Washington, DC more than 100 energy policy decision makers and stakeholders from around the country gathered for ESA's 2nd Annual Energy Storage Policy Forum. This collaborative forum convenes officials and regulators from the White House, FERC, DOE, and Congress with market makers from MISO, SPP, PJM, and state officials from across the country to develop concrete policy objectives and define a path forward for advancing the storage industry.

Harmonics. What are they? What do they do?

What are harmonics? The harmonics allow to represent any periodic waveform. In fact, according to Fourier’s theorem, any periodic function of a period T may be represented as a summation of: A sinusoid with the same period T; Some sinusoids with the same frequency as whole multiples of the fundamental; A possible continuous component, if the function […]

FERC Demand Response Ruling: A $200M decision and energy story of the decade

The court's order is a reversal of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, which had ruled that demand response is fundamentally a retail transaction exclusively subject to the jurisdiction of state regulators.

Failing to delight: Smart home providers ADT, Comcast, ATT

The smart home ecosystem comprises both hardware devices and software apps and together they are supposed to make an efficient system for consumers, but consumers are more frustrate with the applications that manage each device than with the actual devices.

Smart City Management: Internet of Things hits the streets

Smart street management technologies, including street lighting, urban mobility, waste collection, and public safety, is changing the way city streets are used, experienced, and managed, transforming them from points of physical connection to networked landscapes that enable a range of service innovations.

PUC vs. PAC: There's a solar fight brewing in Nevada

A newly formed alliance, working under the auspices of the No Solar Tax Political Action Committee, has filed a referendum petition for the 2016 statewide ballot seeking to repeal new rates and charges by the Nevada Public Utilities Commission (PUC) the alliance claims would be devastating to Nevada solar net metering customers.

Head first: Con Edison diving into electric and gas transmission

Consolidated Edison, Inc. (Con Edison), one of the nation's largest investor-owned energy companies, has created a new subsidiary dedicated to investing in electric and gas transmission projects that can help expand and diversify energy resources while encouraging competitive pricing for consumers.

Underrated: SPP reveals benefits of transmission upgrades

Construction of electric transmission upgrades in the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) from 2012 to 2014 resulted in more than $240 million in fuel cost savings for utilities during the first year of operation of the company's wholesale energy market, according to a new study from the regional power grid operator.

California Sets World’s Strongest Energy Efficiency Standards for Small Directional Light Bulbs

NRDC's Noah Horowitz explains new light bulb energy efficiency standards in California that are expected to cut the state's annual electricity bill by more than $400 million.

The California Energy Commission (CEC) made history again today when it set minimum energy efficiency standards for small diameter directional light bulbs used for accent, spot and track lighting that will be the most stringent in the world. The reflector bulbs, which are less than 2.25 inches in diameter, are most commonly found in retail stores, museums, and hotels, and increasingly in new and remodeled homes.

The standards will require bulbs manufactured or brought into California after Jan. 1, 2018, to use up to 85 percent less energy than the current inefficient incandescent and halogen models, and for the bulbs to last a minimum of 25,000 hours. There are currently no national energy efficiency standards for these types of bulbs.

While the new California standards are technology neutral and allow for any type of bulb to be sold as long as they meet the requirements, the new bulbs meeting the requirements are likely to all be LEDs.

There are approximately 16 million small diameter directional lamps currently installed in California. The CEC estimates that once these are replaced with new bulbs that meet the California standards, the state's homes and businesses will save 2,285 gigawatt-hours of electricity per year. To put that in perspective, the standards will:

• Reduce Californians' electric bills by more than $400 million annually;


• Prevent more than 10 million cumulative tons of carbon dioxide emissions from 2018 through 2029 from power plants, one of the major sources of climate change pollution;


• Save twice as much electricity every year as is consumed annually by all the households in Oakland, California's eighth-largest city and home to the world champion Golden State Warriors basketball team.

A big win for businesses and consumers

The old directional bulb that used 50 watts of electricity and lasted around 2,500 to 5,000 hours will be replaced by a compliant LED bulb that uses less than 10 watts and last at least 25,000 hours. The new efficient LED bulbs are just as bright and do everything the old ones did – they are dimmable and can be made to deliver a narrow or wide beam of light. Plus, the longer lifetime means no more annual trips up the ladder to change out the burned-out bulb.

While a more efficient LED bulb will cost a little more than the incandescent and halogen versions, the user can save over $200 over the life of the bulb and recover their upfront investment in less than a year.

Despite the compelling economics over the lifetime of the commonly available LED bulbs and their environmental benefits due to lower energy use, many consumers continue to buy the halogen and incandescent bulbs because of their lower prices. The CEC unanimously adopted today's standard to ensure a minimum level of energy savings for the millions of small directional bulbs being used in California because cutting energy waste reduces the need to burn fossil fuels while generating electricity – and avoids their associated emissions.

As goes California….

As is commonly the case, let's hope these California standards serve as a model and catalyst for future adoption by other leading states and eventually at the national level by the U.S. Department of Energy. If they go national, the benefits will grow dramatically and would save our country more than $2.5 billion a year on our energy bills, alone.

Additional standards for non-directional LED bulbs are coming, too

The CEC today also approved minimum energy efficiency and performance standards for general service LED lamps that go into effect on January 1, 2018. These are the everyday non-directional LED bulbs that would go into a table lamp, reading lamp, chandelier, etc. These standards will help ensure that all of the non-directional LED bulbs sold in California in the future are not only efficient, but also deliver a good consumer experience. As such, the new LED bulbs must have a minimum rated lifetime of 10,000 hours, start instantly, meet minimum light distribution requirements, provide good color rendition, and may not use more than 0.2 watts of power when in standby mode.

This blog originated on Switchboard,  the staff blog of the Natural Resources Defense Council. Noah Horowitz is a senior scientist in NRDC's energy program.

Post-incentive world: New business models driving solar

The global electric power industry is evolving into a model that offers more diversity, both in terms of generation and in the ownership of generation assets.

Supreme Court Hands Demand Response a Big Legal Win in Market Battle with Generators

The U.S. Supreme Court handed demand response a big legal win today in a landmark battle over making energy savings as valuable in wholesale markets as energy production.

The high court decision removed a lower court ruling that had threatened to stymie use of demand response, a mechanism where energy users are paid to reduce consumption when the grid is under strain.

“Today’s decision is a tremendous win for all energy consumers, for the economy, and for the environment. We commend the court and look forward to continuing to help customers actively participate in our nation’s wholesale markets,” said Tim Healy, chairman and CEO of EnerNOC, a demand response company that was a party to the case.

At issue was Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Order 745 that put demand response on the same financial footing as generation in regional wholesale power markets.

The Electric Power Supply Association and a group of generators had challenged the FERC order, contending that the federal agency exceeded its jurisdiction in setting the wholesale payment for demand response. FERC oversees wholesale electricity markets, while states regulate the retail markets.

A lower court backed the generators in May 2014. But in a 6-2 decision, the Supreme Court today overturned the decision. FERC was acting within its authority because demand response is a wholesale market function, said the high court.

“Wholesale demand response is all about reducing wholesale rates; so too the rules and practices that determine how those programs operate,” wrote Justice Elena Kagen in delivering the court’s majority decision. “That is particularly true here, as the formula for compensating demand response necessarily lowers wholesale electricity prices by displacing higher-priced generation bids.”

With profits at stake for both, many in the energy industry have been eager for the Supreme Court ruling.

In giving demand response a significant legal win, the Supreme Court also gave a boost to energy users, according to environmental and consumer groups.  Energy users who participate in demand response receive a payment for reducing their energy use when the grid is under strain. Demand response has largely been the domain of manufacturers and other large energy consumers for several years. But new technologies increasingly open the door for residential customers to participate.

“The Supreme Court’s decision is great news for consumers and the environment. It gives consumers more opportunity to save, and even make, money through smarter electricity use,” said Allison Clements, director of the Sustainable FERC Coalition housed at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Jill Tauber, managing attorney of clean energy at Earthjustice, said that the decision removes "barriers to this vital clean energy resource in wholesale energy markets" and fulfills FERC's "responsibility to ensure just and reasonable rates and enhance reliability.”

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Interstate for Electrons: The answer to intermittent renewables

With improvements in transmission infrastructure, weather-driven renewable resources could supply most of the nation's electricity at costs similar to today's, according to a new study by NOAA and the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences.

10 questions to test your electrician skills

Let's test your electrician skills // These are not-so-easy, but also not-too-hard questions for you to try to answer and test your electrician skills. Whether you are a novice in a field of electrical engineering or a professional electrician, these questions will move your brain cells for sure! To check your results, take a peek […]

Big mistake: FERC cybersecurity ruling omits secure communications

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has released a long-awaited ruling on cybersecurity regulations for the U.S. electric grid -- with one stark omission.

5 conditions for perfect parallel operation of single phase transformers

Parallel operation of transformers // In perfect parallel operation of two or more transformers, current in each transformer would be directly proportional to the transformer capacity, and the arithmetic sum would equal one-half the total current. However, there are 5 conditions for operating transformers in parallel and they are: Any combination of positive and negative […]

No more niche: Is solar the next Uber?

2015 was a banner year for solar power across the country -- from the Carolinas to California -- and 2016 is shaping up to be even better.

2016 hailed "Year of the Distributed Utility"

The "year of the distributed utility," as coined by Zpryme, will feature dropping prices for technologies related to micrgrids and energy storage, with "everyone from cities to environmental groups jumping into developing more distributed grids."

Advanced Sensors: Building blocks for intelligence

In his 2016 State of the Union address, President Barack Obama outlined "four big questions" fundamental to reaching his vision of a prosperous and secure future. Number two brought to mind a huge opportunity. The President posed the question, "how do we make technology work for us, and not against us -- especially when it comes to solving urgent challenges like climate change?" The development of intelligent buildings provides one important answer to this question.

Peabody Energy (and ratepayers) feeling coal's burn

The largest private coal company in the world is selling an Illinois-based coal project -- at a loss.

New reflections on solar: Who's turning up the heat

The Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) is turning up the heat on solar with the launch of its latest initiative: Solar Energy Future.

Cuomo's Clean Energy Fund by the numbers

As part of his Reforming the Energy Vision (REV), in which half of all energy in New York must come from renewables by 2030, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo has launched a 10-year $5 billion Clean Energy Fund.

Tick Tock

The clock is ticking and time is running down for the opportunity to nominate a rising star of smart grid.