Utility Companies
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As the demand for electric cars grows, utility companies are considering their effect on local power grids—both positive and negative. Recently, California's PG&E and BMW wrapped up a pilot program testing experimental vehicle-to-grid technology to see if electric cars could actually aid the grid—and they did. The program showed electric cars were able to aid the grid during peak usage, which can lead to cost savings and greater flexibility for the utility. DON'T MISS: Electric Cars Can Stabilize Utility Grid Via V2G, Study Shows Both partners worked in concert to lessen the...
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California's PG&E utility now offers $500 rebate for electric-car use
Pacific Gas & Electric now offers a rebate to customers who charge electric cars at home.
Stephen Edelstein -
Should Utility Customers Pay For Electric-Car Charging Stations They Don't Use?
California is by far the most advanced state in adopting plug-in electric cars. Fully 45.3 percent of the country's more than 400,000 plug-in cars were sold in California, according to data from the state's Plug-In Electric Vehicle Collaborative. But electric cars need public charging stations...
John Voelcker -
UPDATE: 'Under The Dome' Video: China's 'Silent Spring' Air-Pollution Wakeup
A new Chinese documentary on air pollution has gone viral.
Stephen Edelstein -
In Just One Year, Electric Cars Have Gotten Cleaner: How'd They Do That?
Electric cars have no tailpipe emissions, but their overall impact on the environment includes the electricity generated to recharge their batteries. The carbon emissions associated with that power vary greatly, depending on the local utility that provides it. Now an updated study from the Union of...
John Voelcker -
Some Solar, Wind Power Competes With Natural Gas Without Incentives: Study
Fossil fuels have been an integral part of the industrialized world since it began 250 years ago. While renewable, carbon-free energy sources have long been viewed as the ideal solution, they were always more expensive than pumping carbon into the air. That may now have changed, according to a new...
John Voelcker -
Swiss bank UBS predicts home solar will be widely adopted in the next decade.
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Electric Cars Equal Gasoline Cost Of Just 75 Cents A Gallon
The last time you could buy a gallon of gasoline in the U.S. for 75 cents was around the late 1970s. If you own an electric car today though, the price you're paying for electricity is equivalent to about 75 cents per gallon. READ: Tesla's Important Not Only For Electric Cars But For Silicon...
Antony Ingram -
Residential Solar Competitive With Electricity In 25 States Next Year: NRG CEO
Solar power for your home has been around a long time, but for many homeowners, it's required subsidies, special financing arrangements, and still delivered long payback periods. That's changing fast, according to the CEO of a major Texas electric utility. David Crane, who runs NRG Energy, says...
John Voelcker -
Minnesota Leads Nation, Mandates Off-Peak Electric-Car Charging Rates
Minnesota is the first state to mandate special off-peak charging rates for electric cars.
Stephen Edelstein -
Is Tesla Motors A Carmaker...Or Really A Grid-Storage Company?
Many among the Detroit auto media were skeptical of Tesla Motors for years, correctly noting just how hard it is to start a car company and build a genuinely appealing product--electric car or not. But as Tesla continues to sell Model S electric luxury sedans, expanding into Europe and China as...
John Voelcker -
Proposal: Buy Out, Shut Down U.S. Coal Industry For $50 Billion
Give Felix Kramer credit for thinking big. Twelve years ago, he and others founded CalCars, a group dedicated to promoting plug-in hybrid vehicles with large battery packs--and built the world's first plug-in Prius hybrid. Now he and coauthor Gil Friend have published an audacious proposal to buy...
John Voelcker -
These are interesting times in the automotive and electric-utility businesses. While the reasons are different, it turns out they may intersect. It's been quietly discussed among electric utilities that increasing amounts of distributed solar power and other renewable energy may destroy their business model. The worry is that if consumers can generate much or all of their own electricity, the utilities lose the revenue from selling them power--while continuing to shoulder the substantial costs of maintaining the electric distribution network as a backup. MORE: Electric Utilities Now Fighting...
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How One Electric Utility Encouraged Employees To Use Plug-In Cars
While workplace charging is still a work in progress at most companies, a few progressive corporations and nonprofits now offer incentives to employees to commute in plug-in electric cars. One example is PSEG, the publicly-owned New Jersey electric and gas utility, which has seen employee usage of...
John Voelcker -
The Next Big Emissions Battle Is Not Cars; It's About Coal
The rules for vehicle gas mileage are pretty much locked down from now through 2025. The math is complicated, but vehicles in 2025 will have to reach a fleet-wide average of 54.5 mpg by 2025--or about 42 mpg on their window stickers. So what's the next battleground over reducing emissions? It's...
John Voelcker -
Will Solar Panels Destroy Electric Utilities' Business Model? Yes, They Say
Technology can be a real drag. CDs killed cassettes. MP3s killed CDs. Video killed the radio star. Bummer. Now, a new threat looms in the dark pit we call progress: solar power. According to Grist, utilities are worried that wiring up photovoltaic cells to human ingenuity will soon upset the...
Richard Read -
Electric-Car Charging: Why Some Households Are Paying Too Much
Owners of plug-in vehicles like the Nissan Leaf, Chevrolet Volt, and even the new Tesla Model S may be paying too much when they charge their car. Why? Because they haven’t signed up with the right utility plan. According to a recent survey from the California Center for Sustainable Energy...
Bengt Halvorson -
When Do Electric Cars Really Charge? All At The Same Time
If you’re not an electric car driver, the chances are that how and when electric cars recharge is one of the lesser mysteries of the universe. After all, if every electric car in town charged at the same time, wouldn’t it bring down the electrical grid? The answer, at least for now, is...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
It is apparently quite possible that the local utility company that provides the power to charge your new electric vehicle may not have "all its ducks in a row" when it comes to charging you properly for that electricity. I recently bought both a 2011 Nissan Leaf and a 2011 Chevy Volt, and well beforehand, I applied for the rate that would let me recharge them with cheap power if I did it overnight. But my utility's failure to bill me correctly made me realize what pioneers we are, and why it's important for all of us to check our utility bills carefully and promptly. Last October, I filled...
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Do High Electricity Tariffs Make CA Electric Cars Costly?
California might be considered the U.S. spiritual home of the electric car, but according to a new study by Purdue University in indiana the cost of charging electric cars in California may be higher than anywhere else in the U.S. Or is it? According to the university’s Wally Tyner, the James...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield