Jim Pierobon is Founder and principal writer of The Energy Fix. He is a policy, marketing and social media strategist who has reported on, testified and consulted about smarter grids, cyber-security as it affects the power grid, fossil fuel shortages, price spikes, energy efficiency and the rise and fall -- and the rise again of nuclear and renewable energy sources.Bids to Repeal Renewable Energy Standards Getting Traction in AZ, NC, OH & TX, Not in KS
A bid by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and the Heartland Institute to roll back or repeal state Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) requirements is getting traction, including in Arizona, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas. But not in Kansas. The Environmental Defense Fund’s (EDF) Marita Mirzatuny calls their tactics “sneaky.” Heartland’s energy senior fellow, James [...]
Wind power could be a cost-effective hedge against rising natural gas prices
That’s the conclusion of a new report by researcher Mark Bolinger at the U.S. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). He’s done an enviable job of scouring public sources for wind energy supply contracts at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, state utility commissions and long-term power-purchase agreements in various wholesale markets. This question is front-of-mind for [...]
Boone Pickens: focus energy innovation more on cheap, plentiful natural gas made in the U.S.
You may have heard it before from Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens about the potential for natural gas produced in the U.S. But featuring him at this year’s ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit Tuesday near Washington, DC put a new spin on the benefits of America becoming more energy self-sufficient on the backs of the lower-emitting [...]
Energy and climate portion of President Obama’s 2013 State of the Union address
To save you time searching for the energy and climate portion of Obama’s February 12, 2013 State of the Union address, which occurred not quite half way through the speech, here it is, courtesy of ABC News: “After years of talking about it, we are finally poised to control our own energy future. We produce [...]
FAST FIX: How the Smart Grid can save households almost $600 per year
If you need to quickly grasp the potential and benefits of the emerging smart grid in the U.S., this infographic is the best effort yet. It comes courtesy of the Smart Grid Consumer Collaborative and its 90+ member utilities, technology companies, non-profits, regulators and consumers advocates. Increasing the power grid’s efficiency by 9% equates to [...]
U.S. could have cap and trade by 2016 – if California succeeds, starting Wednesday
Think the U.S. could use tens of billions of dollars of brand new revenue to address its budget and debt challenges? And do you think newly re-elected President Obama might take a run at a bonafide climate strategy as part of his legacy by 2016? The answer to the first question is easy. But answering [...]
If half of U.S. consumers don’t know what a ‘smart meter’ is, how are they supposed to engage?
That is perhaps the most interesting question raised by the latest “Consumer Pulse” research by the Smart Grid Consumer Collaborative. In its third survey by the Collaborative of at least 1,000 consumers throughout the U.S. since 2011 reflecting the U.S. demographics, 54% of Americans who are heads of households and at least 18 years old [...]
Energy ‘datapalooza’ draws more apps; know the cost of that old refrigerator?
The Obama administration threw a its third datathon (my word) this week dubbed the “Energy Datapalooza.” It featured about 150 entrepreneurs, policymakers and software developers, among others, and aspired to offer ways to learn new ways to save energy and lower bills from what is supposed to be free and secure data. Government and private [...]
Committee of Chief Risk Officers seeking wholesale power “passport” for ISOs & RTOs
Ten years ago this fall, in the wake of Enron’s collapse and the California power shortage, with huge questions looming about energy “deregulation,” a handful of merchant energy companies and proactive utilities launched the Committee of Chief Risk Officers to help energy and financial managers there get a better handle on and mitigate the myriad [...]
Are low-income consumers slowing smart grid progress? Hardly . . .
The answer thus far would appear to be that low-income consumers are looking forward to smarter energy offerings based on fresh data from the Smart Grid Consumer Collaborative. A recent survey for Collaborative sheds light on the opportunity and the challenge of engaging consumers who have annual family incomes up to $20,000 (for a family [...]