Intermittent resources create unique challenges for 21st Century Utilities, RTO’s and System Operators. The now infamous "Duck Chart" highlights a key element of the problem — central station thermal plants cannot ramp efficiently, leading to "worst of all" scenarios where the benefits of renewables are not fully utilized and central station plants operate inefficiently for
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PG&E Announces Energy Storage RFI
California’s Pacific Gas and Electric Company (“PG&E”) announced today that it plans to issue an Energy Storage Request for Information (“RFI”) to obtain information on utility-scale, dispatchable, and operationally flexible storage resources through a solicitation of interest from technology providers, owners, and developers of energy storage resources. PG&E said that it plans to issue the…
PNWER Energy Storage Conference, Pivotal Leaders Event–Portland, October 8
The Pacific Northwest Economic Region (PNWER) Energy Storage Coaliation (ESC) will be holding an important energy storage conference at the Portland Convention Center on October 8, 2012. ESC has worked with the Oregon and Washington public utility commissions to bring together a diverse mix of developers, utilities and regulators to share their perspectives on opportunities and barriers…
Upcoming Webinar on Order No. 755 (Frequency Regulation) and Energy Storage
In October 2011, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued Order No. 755, which requires regional transmission organizations (RTOs) and independent system operators (ISOs) to pay for frequency regulation services based on the actual amount of service provided in response to actual or expected frequency deviations or interchange power imbalances. The order directs RTOs…
Gov. Kitzhaber Names Margi Hoffman as Oregon’s Energy Policy Advisor
Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber announced today that he has named Margi Hoffman to serve as his Energy Policy Advisor. She will join the Governor’s office on April 2.
Ms. Hoffman has served as Senior Vice President and Director of Oregon Operations with Strategies360, a strategic consulting firm, and has also worked closely with Renewable Northwest Project (RNP)…
Upcoming Event: Energy Storage for the Grid: Watchful Waiting or the Perfect Storm?
I’ll be moderating Energy Storage for the Grid: Watchful Waiting or the Perfect Storm? at the MIT Enterprise Forum Northwest’s May 8, 2012 program at Seattle’s Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) , 2700 24th Ave East. The event, which includes a networking reception, will be held from 5:00 to 8:30 pm.
The evening’s panelists will be:
- Terry Oliver, Chief
…
CUB Policy Center and UO Hold Inaugural Smart Grid Conference in Portland
The CUB Policy Center, in partnership with the University of Oregon School of Law, will be holding its inaugural policy conference: Smart Grid: Today’s Regulation and Tomorrow’s Technology, on Friday, October 21, 2011, at the University of Oregon White Stag Block (70 NW Couch St., Portland, OR 97209). The luncheon keynote speaker will…
New Resources for Electric Energy Storage
For those who like to pay close attention to developments in the energy storage industry, take a look at Stationary Electricity Storage, which collects and presents articles about storage industry news, noteworthy projects, and other topics. It’s well organized (with articles filtered by category, storage provider, organization and location), offers a free daily newsletter and looks like a…
CPUC Seeks Comments in AB 2514 Electric Storage System (ESS) Docket R.10-12-007
California’s AB 2514 directs the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) to determine appropriate targets, if any, for load-serving entities to procure viable and cost-effective energy storage systems. If the CPUC decides that targets are appropriate, it is supposed to set dates for achieving those targets.
As a follow up to an AB 2514 workshop held…
EPRI Project to Develop Functional Requirements for Customer Energy Storage System (CESS) Launched – Public Webcast July 22
The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) is developing a new report to define functional requirements for customer energy storage systems (CESS). The project is engaging energy storage stakeholders to collaborate on the development of the functional requirements through a public process.
EPRI’s effort is designed to create an understanding between electric utilities and their storage…