Energy

  1. Small Town Makes Big Strides in Energy Efficiency

    NORTHAMPTON, Mass. -- When you’re trying to advance sustainability in a small town, it’s important to focus on priorities, pick your battles carefully, and don’t show up in the council chambers looking for a hand-out. Chris Mason, energy and sustainability officer for the small town of Northampton, population 28,500, said prioritization is a key component of a sustainability strategy in a smaller community where manpower and financial resources are often in short supply.

  2. Power Purchase Agreement Wins in Iowa District Court

    DES MOINES, Iowa – You can call Barry Shear and his Dubuque-based company, Eagle Point Solar, a lot of things – renewable power advocates, solar energy system developers, cutting-edge local business, for example – but the one thing you can’t call them is an electric power utility. So ruled a district court judge last week when reversing an Iowa Utilities Board opinion to the contrary. Polk County District Court Judge Carla Schemmel reversed the board’s 2012 ruling that a power purchase agreement between Eagle Point Solar and the city of Dubuque constituted a breach of Alliant Energy’s protected service territory.

  3. Microsoft to Build Zero-Carbon Data Center in Cheyenne

    Microsoft, ranked as the third largest purchaser of green power among the Environmental Protection Agency's Top 50 Green Power Partnership organizations, will expand its contributions to sustainability with yet another cutting-edge research project -- the first zero carbon data center powered by a fuel cell burning 100 percent renewable biogas from a wastewater treatment plant. The new, small prototype 300 kW “Data Plant” is being built outside of Cheyenne, Wyo. at the city’s Dry Creek Water Reclamation Facility and will run on methane produced by the facility.

  4. Solar Energy at Wastewater Treatment Plant Becomes Reality

    GALENA, Ill. – Who says a small town can’t use solar power to cut the energy costs of its wastewater treatment plant in half? This town of 3,429 in the northwest corner of Illinois has proven it can be done – albeit with a little help from its friends. City officials worked with Eagle Point Solar, their local utility and other partners to plan and develop a 368-kilowatt solar array that will provide about 480,000 kilowatt hours of electricity and avoid 920,000 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions per year for the projected 40-year life of the system. Installation began with a ground-breaking ceremony on Monday and is expected to be complete by August.

  5. Community Choice Aggregation Grows in California

    How about a power play that allows residential, commercial and industrial utility customers to not only have a major say in the rates they pay for electricity and natural gas, but also expands the use of renewable energy, reducing pollution caused by fossil fuel generation? It’s called Community Choice Aggregation (CCA).

  6. Bright Future Seen for LED Streetlights

    Could a streetlight retrofit save your community time, energy and money while providing safer, more luminous neighborhoods? Experts say yes, but there's a catch: currently the most energy-efficient lights on the market - the light-emitting diode, or LED variety - are up to three times more expensive than their traditional counterparts. Still, if you can afford the up-front costs, experts say LED streetlights can save money in the long run by consuming 50 to 80 percent less energy than conventional lighting products and virtually eliminate maintenance costs for up to 20 years. These benefits, advocates say, provide a 5-year payback in most cases.

  7. Green Streets and Energy Tested in Iowa Burg

    Cruising through the tiny hamlet of West Union, Iowa, heading for the trout streams of rural Fayette County, a traveling sportsman might view the road construction as just another small-town street project under way. But, he would be wrong. The locals call it the Green Pilot Community Project, and Robin Bostrom, program director for Main Street West Union and the Turkey River Recreational Corridor, calls it a model for best practices in green infrastructure and district geothermal energy systems that many believe could sweep the nation in years to come.

  8. Power Purchase Agreements Debated in Iowa

    Imagine you are a municipality interested in sustainability and lowering your carbon footprint. You notice a big open rooftop on your city shop, perfect for solar panels to collect the sun's rays and provide part of the building's electricity. You connect with a local solar company that agrees to install the solar photovoltaic (PV) system. But the two of you can't do it alone because, as a tax-exempt organization, your city cannot use renewable energy incentives. You identify a third party investor - a local bank, perhaps - that would own the system and sell you the power through a third-party Power Purchase Agreement (PPA).

  9. Chicken Poop to Power Water Plant in Wine Country

    For the Sonoma County Water Agency, the decision to work with chicken poop was kind of a no brainer. The agency had first considered cow manure for its purposes, but when it learned that, pound for pound, chicken waste contains more energy potential than the typical cow patty, the conclusion was a fairly simple one. Come sometime in early to mid-2012, the agency - which provides water and wastewater services for Sonoma and Marin County, Calif. residents - anticipates being able to offset as much as 30 percent of its energy needs with the clean electricity it intends to begin producing with chicken waste from area farms.

  10. Oregon Hits the Gas on Solar Highway

    PORTLAND, Ore. - Following the success of the nation's first solar energy installation ever built on federal highway right-of-way, the Oregon Department of Transportation is poised to complete construction of two additional "solar highway" facilities just south of Portland, bringing ODOT's total solar power capacity to about 4.5 MW. ODOT's pilot project, a 104-kilowatt array of 594 ground-mounted solar panels spanning about the length of a football field, is located at the interchange of Interstates 5 and 205. Once expanded to its full capacity, with the addition of 150 kilowatts, the demonstration site will generate more than 80 percent of the power needed to light the interchange.

  11. Local Governments Lobby Feds on Clean Energy Funding

    WASHINGTON - A coalition of municipal leaders made the rounds on Capitol Hill Thursday to implore their federal counterparts to continue funding clean energy programs that help fight climate change and reduce America's reliance on foreign oil. More than 100 city and county leaders attended the Local Clean Energy Leadership Summit presented by Climate Communities and sponsored in part by Sustainable City Network on Wednesday through Friday last week. One day of the summit featured a whirlwind series of congressional office visits in which local leaders made personal pleas to legislative aides in House and Senate offices representing more than 20 states.

  12. Portland Energy Retrofit Program Goes Statewide

    PORTLAND, Ore. - Lauded by federal authorities as a national model for residential energy efficiency retrofit programs, the city of Portland's Clean Energy Works pilot is going statewide beginning this week. Portland and newly formed nonprofit Clean Energy Works Oregon announced Monday the completion of the pilot and the expansion of the program to 17 communities throughout the state.

  13. Energy Efficiency Gives Columbus More Bang for Its Buck

    COLUMBUS, Ohio - These are tough times for cash-strapped cities that struggle to continue sustainability initiatives, but one that can maintain traction and make sense to taxpayers is energy efficiency. For cities like Columbus, Ohio, energy efficiency programs are viewed as a necessity in tough economic times simply because they stand to save significant tax dollars going forward.

  14. The Increasing Viability of Small-Scale Solar for Cities

    Global market forces, product improvements and new funding mechanisms are making small-scale solar a viable option for communities across the country. It's showing itself in the laboratories for innovation created by the Department of Energy's Solar America Cities program, which has now been expanded and renamed the Solar America Communities program. The program, begun in 2007, started by providing 25 cities with financial and technical assistance, and has spurred a host of initiatives. For example, Philadelphia has set a goal of purchasing and generating 20 percent of its electricity from alternative energy like solar. This is accomplished in part by educating residents on how to install photovoltaic (PV) panels on their houses and constructing three, large-scale solar arrays to power 600 homes.

  15. Cities Take Steps to Reduce Energy Consumption and Save Money

    While renewable energy systems continue to make the headlines, an old standby is quietly shrinking the carbon footprint of cities across the country. Communities everywhere are reducing consumption by increasing efficiency. Among the municipalities making energy conservation a high priority, the City of Baltimore has several programs and projects that promote efficiency.

Energy Product Announcements

Tuesday 05/21/2013
Company Selected to Develop Solar Project
Updated: May 22, 2013 - 9:00 pm

DELMAR, N.Y. -- Owens Corning and Constellation announced the development of a 2.6 MW solar generation project that will supply clean energy to the company’s thermal and acoustical insulation plant in Delmar, N.Y. Scheduled for completion in late 2013, the solar project is designed to supply more than 6 percent of the plant’s annual electricity needs and will support Owens Corning’s 2020 Environmental Footprint Goals for energy use and greenhouse gas emissions reduction.

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First Phase of 21-Site Solar Project Completed
Updated: May 21, 2013 - 10:20 pm

CLOVIS, Calif. -- The Energy Alternatives Division of Cupertino Electric, Inc., announced the completion of the first phase of a parking lot canopy and playground shade structure-based solar system for Clovis Unified School District spanning 21 sites and totaling 5.86 MW. The first phase of the Clovis Unified solar photovoltaic system that is fully operational and generating power includes systems installed at Clovis Elementary School, Fugman Elementary School, Nelson Elementary School, Riverview Elementary School and Mountain View Elementary School.

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Tuesday 05/14/2013
Company Celebrates Texas Carbon Capture Demonstration Project Achievement
Posted: May 14, 2013

LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa. -- Air Products recently celebrated the successful operation of a U.S. Department of Energy Demonstration Project that will capture approximately one million tons of carbon dioxide in an enhanced oil recovery project in which DOE anticipates an additional estimated 1.6-3.1 million barrels of oil to be produced annually from the CO2 injection. This unprecedented achievement comes by way of an Air Products innovative technology, is the first-of-its-kind operating at such a large scale, and has not been accomplished anywhere else in the United States.

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Company Selected for Several Community-Scale Vermont Projects
Updated: May 14, 2013 - 10:11 pm

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. -- ReneSola Ltd., a manufacturer of solar photovoltaic modules and wafers, has recently provided modules for use in three community-scale solar power projects in Vermont in the last few months. The solar projects were installed by solar tracker manufacturer and project developer AllEarth Renewables, Inc.

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System Expected to Save Water District Millions Over the Next Two Decades
Updated: May 14, 2013 - 10:11 pm

RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- Western Municipal Water District's newly commissioned 916 kW SunPower solar power system is soaking up the sun, delivering an expected savings of up to $4.6 million over the next two decades. The system, located at Western's Operations facility off of El Sobrante in Riverside, Calif., is also helping maintain Western's commitment to supporting deployment of renewable energy technologies.

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Tuesday 05/07/2013
Performance Standard Set with Next Generation LED Canopy Series
Posted: May 07, 2013

DURHAM, N.C. -- Cree, Inc., announced a breakthrough innovation in canopy LED lighting with the introduction of the CPY250 canopy and soffit lighting series. Consuming 75 percent less energy than the metal halide systems it’s designed to replace and 5-15 percent less energy with more than 35 percent increased performance compared to competing higher-cost LED luminaires, the new CPY Series delivers exceptional visual environments across a range of canopy applications including gas stations, bank drive-through ATMs and hotel/airport drop-off centers.

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Monday 05/06/2013
Contract Awarded to Upgrade Wind Farm
Posted: May 06, 2013

CHICAGO, Ill. -- S&C Electric Company has been awarded a $2.6 million contract by Sweetwater Wind to upgrade a portion of their 585 MW wind farm in Sweetwater, Texas. This upgrade will enable Sweetwater Wind to meet new renewable energy generation interconnection standards that have been enacted in Electric Reliability Council of Texas.

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Tuesday 04/30/2013
Abengoa to Develop Cogeneration Plant in Texas
Posted: April 30, 2013

SEVILLE, Spain -- Abengoa, the company that applies innovative technology solutions for sustainable development in the energy and environment sectors, has been selected by Rentech Nitrogen Partners, L.P.,to construct a cogeneration plant in the state of Texas. The project will require an investment of approximately $30 million and will create approximately 50 construction jobs.

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First Solar Sells 139-Megawatt Campo Verde Solar Project
Posted: April 30, 2013

TEMPE, Ariz. -- First Solar, Inc., announced it has sold the 139 MW Campo Verde Solar Project to Southern Company subsidiary Southern Power and Turner Renewable Energy. Under the terms of the agreement, First Solar will complete construction of the project and will operate and maintain the power plant for 10 years. Construction of the Campo Verde project began in December 2012 and commercial operation is expected in fall 2013.

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Groundbreaking Pilot in New York City
Updated: April 30, 2013 - 9:04 pm

NEW YORK, N.Y. -- Eos Energy Storage and Con Edison, a subsidiary of Consolidated Edison, Inc., announced a trailblazing partnership to install and test Eos’s cutting-edge energy storage technology within the utility’s New York City facilities. Eos is currently commercializing a safe, low cost, and long-lasting grid-scale battery technology that can reduce customer costs, defer utility infrastructure upgrades and enhance power quality and reliability.

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