electric utilities
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In theory, it's a wonderful concept: once their tenure in an electric car is over, lithium-ion battery packs with as much as 70 percent of their energy capacity remaining can be sold and reused. In practice, however—especially at scale—the idea turns out to have some practical challenges that must be overcome. At the simplest level, a battery pack from a wrecked or dismantled electric car could be paired with photovoltaic solar panels to let a home or building not only generate solar energy but also store it for later use. DON'T MISS: Durable 2012 Chevrolet Volt: 300,000 miles, no...
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Singapore levies carbon tax on used Tesla for electricity to recharge it
A businessman and electric-car fan who imported a Tesla Model S into Singapore has had to pay an additional emission tax on the zero-emission luxury car. While the Tesla runs solely on batteries and has no tailpipe from which to emit anything, the island state levied the tax to reflect the annual...
John Voelcker -
Utilities To Lead Surge Of Electric-Car Charging In Southern California
Two California utilities have received approval to build electric-car charging stations.
Stephen Edelstein -
Battery-Based Energy Trading: Next Step After Reverse Metering?
Energy trading could allow consumers to sell electricity to each other, cutting out utilities.
Stephen Edelstein -
Multiple Trends Turning Slowly Against Oil, Says Rocky Mountain Institute
The cost of a barrel of oil is now just a fraction of what it was several years ago, and fuel prices have mostly fallen across the globe as a result. Oil prices rise and fall, but most industry analysts suggest that the emergence of North American production has loosened OPEC's ability to set...
John Voelcker -
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 -
For half a century, California has been at the forefront of reducing emissions and cleaning up air pollution. And the state has made breathtaking progress since the days of early-Seventies technicolor photochemical smog alerts. But then bad things happen--and a leak at a single natural-gas well shows how much damage can be done to air quality by hydrocarbon extraction. DON'T MISS: Best Use For Abundant U.S. Natural Gas: Powering Electric Cars According to Reuters, in an article published two weeks ago, an uncontrolled leak at the Aliso Canyon storage field is emitting 50,000 kilograms...
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Report Names Funders Of Anti-Solar-Power Initiatives & Legislation
A new report names utilities and interest groups fighting against the growth of solar power.
Stephen Edelstein -
Innovative Arizona Utility Program Rents Your Roof For Solar Power
An Arizona utility will rent customers' roof to install solar panels.
Stephen Edelstein -
Energy Firm NRG's Business Reset: Will It Affect Electric-Car Charging Network?
NRG Energy is splitting its electric-car charging and solar divisions into a separate company.
Stephen Edelstein -
CA Climate-Change Bill Passed, Electric Utilities To Target Oil Industry
Let's call this one a good news, bad news, good news story. On Friday, September 11, the California Senate approved SB 350, the Clean Energy and Reduction Act--by far the most far-reaching climate change legislation enacted in the U.S. The bill's provisions codify Governor Jerry Brown's goals of...
John Voelcker -
Big Coal Doomed: Not By Climate Rules But Fracking & Finance
Coal is the worst fossil fuel, that much is clear. Its carbon footprint per kilowatt-hour of electricity when it's burned by electric utilities to make electricity is far, far higher than that of natural gas. And that's even before the slowly improving economics of renewable sources come into play...
John Voelcker -
BMW and a California utility will ask i3 owners to delay charging in certain situations.
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Final EPA Power-Plant Rules: Far More Impact On Coal States
The completed rules issued this week by the EPA to limit carbon emissions from power plants run 1,560 pages--nighttime reading only for policy wonks. But the agency's final Clean Power Plan has changed considerably from the draft rules issued in June 2014. And as utility executives, advocacy...
John Voelcker -
Even More Coal-Fired Power Plants To Be Retired Under Proposed EPA Rules
Coal power-plant retirements will accelerate in the next few decades, analysts say.
Stephen Edelstein -
Price Of Electric-Car DC Fast Charging Varies: Sacramento A Test Case
While fast charging for electric cars is still nonexistent--or just starting to roll out--across much of the country, California leads the way. And the state capital of Sacramento now has such stations installed both by private vendors and the local public utility, Sacramento Metropolitan Utility...
George Parrott -
Minnesota Energy Coop Offers Renewable Power To Electric-Car Owners, At No Extra Cost
Many electric-car owners start to think more seriously about the source of their electricity when they plug their cars in to recharge. And at least in California, data show that owners of plug-in electric cars have far higher interest in photovoltaic solar panels than drivers at large. Now a...
John Voelcker -
Will Tesla Powerwall Home Battery Save Money? Cost Calculator Helps You Decide
Determining the economic benefits of home energy storage requires some calculation.
Stephen Edelstein -
The quarterly earnings calls held by Tesla Motors are always a chance to hear CEO Elon Musk describe the Silicon Valley carmaker's operations and outlooks. But last week's call was a first: The bulk of the questions by financial analysts weren't about the company's electric cars. Rather than questions about Model S sales, Model X launch, and development of the Model 3, most of the questions delved into Tesla Energy and its Powerwall home-energy storage systems. DON'T MISS: Tesla Model X, Model 3, Gigafactory: What We Learned On Q1 Results Call The response to Tesla's announcement of battery...
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Wind, Natural Gas, Solar Provide More U.S. Power, Replacing Coal
Wind, natural gas, and solar power generation are set to increase in 2015 while coal decreases, government figures say.
Stephen Edelstein -
What Future For Coal In The U.S.: Slow Decline Or Faster Retreat?
Coal could remain a significant energy source for decades to come, a new report says.
Stephen Edelstein -
As Solar Power Spreads, Diverse Users Fight Utility Attempts To Penalize It
Utilities' attempts to pinch solar are countered by the Left and Right.
Stephen Edelstein -
Coal Power Plant That Can Capture Carbon To Open In Mid-2016
A Mississippi power plant is designed to capture 65 percent of its carbon emissions.
Stephen Edelstein -
Tesla To Offer Batteries To Consumers For Home Energy Storage
It was just a couple of sentences during Wednesday's 2014 earnings call by Tesla Motors executives. But in it, CEO Elon Musk apparently revealed a new line of business for the company: selling or leasing lithium-ion battery packs for home energy storage. DON'T MISS: In 10 Years, Electric Cars Make...
John Voelcker