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SNL Energy just provided the following update "BP now publicly denies that the business is on the sales block. John Graham, president of BP Wind Energy North America Inc., told MarketWatch that BP executives "have reaffirmed their commitment to the alternative-energy business; they told us it's not for sale," according to a July 14 MarketWatch report. "We look at every option all the time; if the price is right, we will sell." However, "we haven't built it [the renewable-energy business] to sell it. There is no need to sell it."
Just wanted to point out that our own Senator from Colorado, Mark Udall, has sent a petition signed by 2,500 Coloradans and a letter signed by 27 Senators to Harry Reid supporting a national RES...
Couldn't have said it better myself. Thanks for the comment!
Chuck,
Thanks for your thoughtful comments. Once I get a sufficient amount of historical data and have the ability to analyze it via Google PowerMeter or some other tool my plan is to try and reduce my energy consumption by 10%. Like you, I'm on a flat rate so there's no incentive for me to reduce my peak consumption. In fact, there's really no financial incentive for me to reduce my overall consumption by 10%. Given my current energy costs it would only save me about $10 per month. I'm really doing it more as an experiment. My intuition tells me that my energy costs would have to be triple what they are right now for me to really care about saving 10%. I plan to continue to blog about my experience anyway.
A few more thoughts based on additional conversations at the Next Generation Oil & Gas Summit in Panama. The oil & gas industry has been exploring and producing from conventional onshore and shallow water fields for decades. Over this period of time the industry has progressively been able to reduce the risks involved in these operations and thus reduce the chance of accidents occurring. However, as everyone now generally accepts, all of the easy oil has been found - forcing oil & gas companies to explore and produce in much more challenging environments such as deep water. Many of these operations are being performed for the first time and, despite any amount of planning and simulation work, are inherently more dangerous. The risk of an accident is much higher. Where BP, the rest of the industry and the US government fell short was not necessarily in trying to prevent an accident from occurring (which still should be a priority) but in failing to adequately prepare for an accident when it did occur.
Well, the polling results are in and the responses were split right down the middle with 50% predicting that Google will become an ESCO and 50% disagreeing with that view. Since I previously stated that I didn't think Google would move beyond its current level and type of investment I guess I swing the total voting into the dissenting category. Interesting results none the less.
I just visited the Better Place battery switching station (BSS) in Tokyo - one month after the launch of the pilot - and got to ride in one of the taxis. The taxis and the battery switching station have been performing as expected, with over 200 battery switching cycles to date, each taking less than one minute. The 3 taxis in the pilot, converted Nissan Dualis', are sharing 6 17kWh batteries from A123 Systems. It typically takes 1 hour to charge the batteries, although the chargers in the switching station are capable of variable length charges. The IT systems remotely monitor the location and status of the taxis including multiple variables related to the batteries and car components. Reaction from the public has reportedly been very positive. The pilot is scheduled to run through the end of July. I will be very interested to see not only the operational but also the economic results, but I expect that Better Place may have found a sweet spot in large urban taxi fleets.
Tokyo BSS 2.JPG (2MB)Good point. However, the Ice Bear earned 90 out of 100 points for smart grid readiness from the SGN Smart Grid Scorecard, authored by Erich Gunther of EnerNex. The score included a 9 out of 10 for security. I know that's just one data point and I'm not sure how extensive the evaluation was, but it's a positive indicator. The full scorecard report is at http://ow.ly/1CzNf
Here's the official statement from GridPoint:
GridPoint is growing its business in the most efficient way possible to fulfill the needs of our customers, partners and shareholders. While Standard Renewable Energy (SRE) has a number of talented people, we will look for cost savings as part of the overall process of integrating the companies in order to align staffing with our mission to offer smart energy solutions. As a private company, we do not discuss specifics about these matters. However, this will have no impact on SRE customers, nor on GridPoint’s utility and enterprise customers, and nothing will change regarding those relationships including ongoing support. That said, we are actively and strategically hiring to capitalize on growing market opportunities. For example, we recently hired 13 employees to continue to strengthen and market our commercial and industrial energy management offering. We are passionate about developing our organization to continue our role as a leading smart energy company.
And the story continues... Last week, the Denver Post ran an article stating that "the cost of upgrading the country's [distribution] system is set at $165 billion over the next two decades by the industry-funded Electric Power Research Institute" and citing resistance to smart grid costs from consumer advocacy groups in Colorado, California and Pennsylvania. Clearly the media has latched onto smart grid costs and consumer resistance as a hot topic. Don't expect it to get any better. Just wait until the republican party spins this a way to bash the democrats.
What the industry needs to focus on is some clear, high level messaging to the public explaining what we "insiders" all take for granted - the condition of the existing grid (aging assets, inability to integrate renewables, etc.), why a smart grid provides benefits for the nation as well as individual consumers, and the costs of doing nothing versus investing in a smart grid. This must be done as a coordinated public relations campaign involving the major stakeholders - government, utilities, technology providers and non-profit industry groups. A piecemeal approach, in my humble opinion, is doomed to failure.
