PV

SOLON Installs PV at Arizona Water Facility

SOLON completed construction of a 459 kW photovoltaic (PV) system at the Reverse Osmosis Water Treatment Facility for the Town of Gila Bend, Arizona. The system is expected to offset the plant’s energy usage by 86 percent. The project was financed through a State of Arizona Water Infrastructure Finance Authority grant, awarded to the Town of Gila Bend for drinking water infrastructure improvements. SOLON says it has installed nearly 65 MW of solar in Arizona, and 90 MW nationwide.

Sempra starts up Mesquite Solar 1

Sempra U.S. Gas & Power completed construction of Mesquite Solar 1, the first 150-MW phase of the company’s Mesquite Solar complex in Arlington, Ariz., about 40 miles west of Phoenix. The photovoltaic (PV) solar energy project now is operational and ranks among the largest in the United States.

Duke completes solar project in North Carolina

Duke Energy Renewables completed construction of a 12.5-MW solar power project in Beaufort County, N.C. North Carolina Eastern Municipal Power Agency (NCEMPA) is purchasing the output under a 15-year agreement. Duke contracted with SunEnergy1, a solar design, engineering and construction company based in Mooresville, N.C., to build the 53,000-panel photovoltaic (PV) project. SunEnergy1 designed the solar array and will continue to handle operations, monitoring, and maintenance of the system. 

Islands in the Storm

Microgrids begin to make economic sense.

With microgrids in place, doomsday preppers wouldn't need to worry so much about a zombie plague.

March of the Microgrids

Technology is changing the game. Is your utility ready?

Although today microgrids serve a tiny fraction of the market, that share will grow as costs fall. Utilities can benefit if they plan ahead.

Demand Growth and the New Normal

Five forces are putting the squeeze on electricity consumption.

It’s tempting to attribute the recent slowdown in electricity demand growth entirely to the Great Recession, but consumption growth rates have been declining for at least 50 years. The new normal rate of demand growth likely will be about half of its historic value, with demand rising by less than 1 percent per year. This market plateau calls for a new utility strategy.

Vendor Neutral

(December2012) KC Electric Association expects soon to finalize installing a Sensus FlexNet network and iCon A electric meters to serve about 4,000 residential and small commercial members across a 5,000-square-mile territory in rural Colorado. Itron and C3 Energy formed an alliance to integrate and jointly market an energy management solution to North American utilities. And others...

The Fortnightly 40 Best Energy Companies

A challenging year brings a change in the rankings.

(September 2012) Our annual financial ranking shows some remarkable shifts among the industry’s shareholder value leaders. Despite flat demand and low commodity prices, investor-owned utilities are investing heavily in capital assets. Investment discipline and operational excellence distinguish leaders on the path to financial performance.

Vendor Neutral

Panda Energy awards turnkey $300 million turnkey contract to Siemens and Bechtel; Dominion starts up 585-MW CFB plant; Ocean Power Technologies and Lockheed Martin partner on wave power project; Infigen awards wind turbine service contract to Mitsubishi; ITC commissions 345-kV line in Oklahoma; ABB tests world’s biggest DC transformer; Xcel gets green light for Tres Amigas-area transmission upgrades; plus contracts and announcements from Elster, Sensus, Enertech, and others.