Sparking Grid Savings Starts at Home

Date: 2 Sep 2020 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

This 2020 update to a 2016 report finds that while new technology has made electricity demand response simple and cost-effective, and has opened the opportunity for residential savings, utility implementation of demand response programs is lagging.… Read More

Five Reasons Solar’s Win Over Gas in Minnesota is Just the Beginning

Date: 28 Feb 2014 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Solar advocates were popping corks when a New Year’s Eve ruling by an administrative law judge in Minnesota said that distributed solar arrays were a more cost-effective resource than natural gas to meet Xcel Energy’s peak power needs. The energy media were aflutter for weeks, but many missed the bigger significance. If solar trumps gas for … Read More

New Peak Power Capacity Should Use Solar, Not Gas

Date: 17 Apr 2013 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 5 Facebooktwitterredditmail

It’s parochial, since I’m a Minnesota resident, but I just can’t stand that our state’s largest utility, Xcel Energy, is planning to use ratepayer money to buy three new natural gas fired peaking plants instead of a) installing solar power or b) supporting the proposed solar energy standard.  Share the graphic below if you agree: FYI, … Read More

Going Local Gives More Value to Solar Power

Date: 27 Nov 2012 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 2 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Update: you can now read the whole essay – Wide-scale Implementation of Solar Power I just read an essay by a Canadian utility executive arguing that solar is the most economic energy source, and he systematically dismantles the notion that “cheap baseload coal” is more competitive that solar electricity. First: Solar is Cheaper Than Coal He … Read More