Image: epa.gov

As a new climate and energy bill winds its way through the U.S. Senate, opponents and watchdog groups are voicing concerns that the proposed legislation could strip power away from the Environmental Protection Agency and individual states.

According to multiple reports, a draft in progress from Senators John Kerry (D-Mass.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) would call for greenhouse gas curbs across multiple economic sectors, with a target of reducing emissions 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050. Power plant emissions would be regulated in 2012, with other major industrial sources phased in starting in 2016.

The three met with industry leaders on March 17 to discuss features of the bill. Among the potentially controversial items: Restricting the EPA’s powers to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act and curbing states’ climate laws and regulations.

“It wasn’t in our earlier bills, but in terms of getting this energy independence, job-creating carbon pollution bill going, this gives the business community the predictability that they need. It’s very important to them,” Lieberman said.

Industries generally are eager to consolidate new climate rules under one federal program rather than deal with regulation on a case-by-case or state-by-state basis. Any weakening of the Clean Air Act, however, is likely to encounter stiff resistance from environmental groups.

Center for Biological Diversity Executive Director Kieran Suckling was quick to go on the attack.

“If correctly reported, the Kerry, Lieberman, Graham approach is unacceptable. It won’t stop global warming, and by attacking the Clean Air Act, it will remove the only tool we currently have that can do so,” he said in a statement released by the organization.

“Kerry, Lieberman, and Graham appear to be taking Congress to a new low in its long-term failure to rise to the challenge of stopping global warming.”

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), chairwoman of the subcommittee that oversees the EPA budget, also voiced skepticism about the proposed changes.

“I don’t think it should pre-empt EPA from anything,” she said.

Bill Becker, executive director of National Association of Clean Air Agencies (which represents state and local air pollution control agencies) added his concerns.

“Climate change is such a monumental problem that action at all levels — local, state and federal — is essential if we are serious about achieving our ultimate goals,” he said. “Future climate legislation should build upon this successful partnership, not supplant it, and preserve the rights of state and local governments to take more stringent actions where needed.”

Kerry later told reporters that a full draft should be ready by next week, but was unsure when it might be released.

With prices down and incentives still available, more and more individuals and businesses are looking into solar panels as a way to cut down energy costs and protect the environment. According to a poll released this week, support also is growing for solar on the utility scale.

A utility-scale solar plant in Blythe, Calif. Image: First Solar

The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) unveiled statistics gathered by Gotham Research Group that show 75 percent of those surveyed advocate the development of solar energy plans on public lands. The survey also determined that solar was the first choice as best use of public land (38 percent).

Asked which energy sources the government should prioritize, respondents picked solar farms and wind (22 percent each), natural gas and nuclear (16 percent each), oil (11 percent) and coal (4 percent). Findings were based on polling conducted February 24-26, involving a sample of 500 American adults 18 years of age or older. The margin of error on the total sample of 500 is +/- 4.4 percent.

“When Americans talk about solar energy, they usually envision rooftop systems, which are great. But it’s important to also realize the significant role that utility-scale solar has to play,” said Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), who joined a conference call to announce the results.

“Large solar installations use economies of scale to achieve significant cost savings and help Americans to get the most solar ‘bang for the buck.’ It’s great to confirm that the rest of America is just as excited about utility solar as we are.”

According to the SEIA, five new pilot plants came on line in 2009 and more than 100 utility-scale solar projects are under development. The group estimates that projects represent more than 17 gigawatts of capacity, enough to provide clean power to 3.4 million households and to create more than 100,000 jobs.

Image: Pike Research

With Americans focusing more and more on streamlining their energy consumption and reducing costs, microgrids may become an increasing part of the solution. Smart integration that can allow communities, companies or institutions to operate “off the grid” is not only attractive, but is rapidly becoming a genuine alternative.

Microgrids are “islanded” power generation and distribution zones that operate autonomously from the larger electrical grid. A new report from Pike Research predicts that more than 3 GW of new microgrid capacity will be come online globally by 2015 at a total investment of $7.8 billion. The firm expects more than 2,000 sites to be operational worldwide by 2015, up from fewer than 100 in 2010.

Pike sees North America as the biggest player, accounting for 74 percent of industry capacity. Researchers anticipate that most of that will come in the form of institutional microgrids, followed by commercial/industrial and community grids.

In Europe and Asia Pacific, community microgrids are forecast as the largest categories.

As the current top-down system becomes increasingly unreliable and insecure and isn’t always friendly to renewable power generation, microgrids may gain appeal, with the potential to be part of a larger effort to create a Smart Grid that can add intelligence and automation while giving customers greater control over consumption.

“The distinguishing feature of a microgrid is the ability to separate and isolate itself from the utility’s distribution system during brownouts and blackouts,” says Pike Research managing director Clint Wheelock. “This degree of localized control is compelling for many microgrid proponents during this time of increasing concern over grid reliability.”

As climate change accelerates, leading investment groups are asking to hear more from corporations about their plans to adapt and survive in a changing world.

U.S. investors – pension funds, labor, religious and other institutional investors – filed a record number of climate change resolutions in 2009.

The 95 shareholder resolutions were filed with 82 U.S. and Canadian companies, some of which face special challenges from climate change, according to a news release by Ceres, a coalition of investors, environmental and social responsibility groups.

The number of resolutions represent a 40 percent increase over 2009 and were likely encouraged by recent guidance from the Securities and Exchange Commission on climate disclosure.

“As the SEC recently affirmed with its disclosure guidance, climate change presents clear material risks and opportunities for U.S. businesses – and investors have a right to know which companies are well prepared and which are not,” said Mindy S. Lubber, president of Ceres, which helps coordinate the shareholder filings.

Companies targeted by the resolutions include oil and gas corporations such as ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips, as well as the nation’s largest coal companies, electric utilities, homebuilders, “big box” retailers, financial institutions “and other businesses that investors believe are not adequately disclosing and managing potential climate-related business impacts,” according to Ceres.

Tar sands open mining, Alberta (Photo: U.S. Dept. of Interior.)

Investors want to know about the risks companies are taking with certain business practices that could increase a company’s carbon footprint and work against sustainability.

Resolutions, for example, targeted ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips over the companies’ plans to spend billions to extract fossil fuels from Canada oil sands deposits. The  shareholders want more information about the environmental impacts of this controversial practice, which faces legal challenges in both Canada and the U.S. They also asked for the companies’ assessments of potential risks to their reputation over oil sands extraction, a more complex, costly way to extract oil for petroleum.

Other resolutions asked big coal and electric utilities about their plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as the U.S. readies for possible regulation of GHGs.

“We want our companies to closely look at the impact climate change legislation and regulation have on them, to realistically assess those risks, and to consider the indirect consequences of climate change-driven regulation and business trends on their activities,” said Jack Ehnes, CEO of CalSTRS, the California teachers’ retirement pension fund, which manages $131 billion dollars in assets.

New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, whose office oversees the state’s $129.4 billion pension fund and filed resolutions with CONSOL Energy Inc. and engineering firm KBR, also spoke out on behalf of more transparency.

“Investors cannot remain silent to the threats of global climate change, which has the potential to negatively impact businesses and their long-term profitability. The New York State Common Retirement Fund wants the companies it invests in to more clearly assess and better manage the far-reaching risks of climate change,” DiNapoli said.

Photo: Green Right Now

From Green Right Now Reports

Californians got just a little more incentive to think solar late last month when Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill raising the cap on solar net metering from 2.5 to five percent.

Net metering is the process that allows solar owners to send surplus solar electricity back to the grid in exchange for credit. Customers are billed only for the net energy they consume.

Currently, more than 50,000 California businesses, schools and homes take part in the program to help lower their utility bills.

The legislation became more critical as Pacific Gas & Electric nears the 2.5% net-metering limit. More than 16,000 of the utility’s customers have installed more than 173 megawatts of solar generation, and several thousand more have applied for rebates to install 80 more megawatts, according to government data.

California Assemblymember Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley), author of the bill, said the new law will help promote the growth of the solar industry in the state. California leads the nation in solar energy, accounting for more than 65% of all solar installed in the U.S.

“The Governor’s signature signals to the over one thousand solar contractors and companies doing business in California that our solar market is stable and ready for investment,” Skinner said. “California is continuing to let the sunshine in to produce affordable, local power for our businesses, schools and public facilities and homes.”

Light Emitting Diode (LED) technology, already making inroads in traffic signals and Christmas lights, will get yet another application in New England: Green Mountain Power has submitted a plan to the Vermont Public Service Board to offer LEDs in streetlights throughout its Colchester, Vt., service area.

LED street light. Image: OSRAM

The more energy-efficient lights would replace worn-out mercury vapor lighting. Already, Colchester’s is the first electric utility in New England to offer an LED rate for outdoor lighting.

If the plan gains approval from regulators, customers will be able to request LEDs when installing new streetlights or replacing old ones. Mercury vapor lights will be phased out over time.

LEDs create light from the movement of electrons in a semiconductor material. They produce a comparable amount of light with a 66 percent savings in energy relative to their mercury vapor counterparts. An LED light also has a potential lifespan of more than 25 years, compared to 5-7 years for traditional street lamp bulbs.

The LED fixtures Green Mountain Power also will help reduce light pollution and glare. They direct 100 percent of the light below the fixture, with no light escaping above.

“Offering this new lighting technology to our customers furthers Green Mountain Power’s commitment to being an environmentally responsible company,” said Mary Powell, Green Mountain Power president and chief executive officer.

“By promoting energy efficient technology, we help customers to reduce the amount of energy they use and we also protect Vermont night sky.”

Copyright © 2010 Green Right Now | Distributed by GRN Network

A sudden cold snap creates a spike in consumption. Christmas lights are fun at the time, but they, too, keep that meter running. Kids routinely leave electronics on, even when they’re not in the room.

Advanced Metering System

Sure, you try to do all those little things that, in a perfect world, can help keep cost and environmental impact down. Unfortunately, this is not a perfect world, and a big number on that electric bill each month can come as a shock to both the system and the budget.

But what if your world was just a little more perfect? What if you could log on to your computer and check consumption down to, say, a 15-minute period? What if you could figure out that your teenager is running the TV, stereo, a game player (or two) and every light in his room — all despite the fact that he’s spending the night at a friend’s house?

That’s the future of the Advanced Metering System (AMS), and that future is closer than you may think.

In Texas, electric infrastructure provider Oncor already has installed more than 700,000 of the new meters as part of its Smart Texas program, and the company plans to roll out a total of about three million by 2012. The technology feeds information directly to your electricity service provider, eliminating the need for anyone to come read the meter. Once a new website is launched in the next few months, users will be able to access reports broken down into 15-minute intervals, allowing them to chart how much energy is being consumed in their home or business.

It may not make your teen any more energy-efficient, but at least you’ll have a little more information in the fight against high bills and increased carbon footprint.

“The great thing about these meters is that they allow consumers to have, in their hands, real-time information so they can make better decisions about how they can use their electricity,” said Megan Wright, an Oncor spokesperson.

“You can see, at 3 p.m, my energy use is spiking. That’s when my kids are getting home from school. I need to talk to them about shutting the doors and not leaving the TV on while they’re doing things in their room. It allows you to have control over your electric consumption.”

How is all this being funded? By a service charge on the monthly electric bill, even for those who have yet to receive the new meter. According to an agreement with the Public Utility Commission, consumers will be levied $2.21 per month for the next 11 years to pay for equipment and installation.

(And what about all the money saved by eliminating the meter readers? According to Oncor, the reduced personnel savings were built into the surcharge.)

While Oncor’s project is one of the largest around, it is only part of a larger movement toward more manageable energy.

In the Houston area, CenterPoint Energy is working with GE Digital Energy to provide similar service. Southern California Edison is implementing the new technology in portions of 15 counties. Pennsylvania Power & Light has already outfitted more than a million customers in the Philadelphia area. In Canada, Toronto Hydro has transitioned more than 600,000 customers to smart meters.

Meanwhile, General Electric is expanding its smart metering efforts into China. GE is working with the city of Yangzhou, beginning with building a 100,000 square-foot lab to serve as a grid demonstration center.

As often happens, progress comes with a price, and not just the one being added to your electric bill.

Earlier this month, the Maine Public Utilities Commission approved Central Maine Power Company’s proposal to spend $190 million (about half of that coming from a Department of Energy grant) to convert about 600,000 residences to advanced metering. The move immediately drew cries from union officials protesting the elimination of more than 100 jobs, but the PUC ignored the objections, citing overall cost savings.

Meanwhile, Microsoft is looking at getting into the game in a different way. The software giant’s  Hohm application is designed to help users assess usage without having a smart meter. The process requires the cooperation of the local utility, however, or users will have to enter their own data.

Once installed, an Advanced Metering System will be able to communicate with in-home devices (display monitors, smart thermostats) to provide access to your usage information. Oncor currently is creating a Web portal where users will be able to view their information on a “day after” basis.

In addition to the Web portal, customers will be able to employ an in-home display monitor, a wireless device that communicates with the AMS. The monitor also can convert that usage to a dollar amount to allow you to see how much you are spending at a given time. (The in-home monitor can be purchased through your retail electric provider or a retail specialty store.)

The AMS also should allow the power company to know almost immediately if an outage has occurred at a home or business, speeding response time. The technology may even help identify  issues before they turn into outages.

Oncor Smart Texas Program

As part of the educational process, Oncor created the Smart Texas Mobile Experience Center, a 53-foot trailer filled with interactive videos and live demonstrations. The trailer visits local fairs, festivals and the like, in addition to making stops at Walmart, Home Depot and Lowe’s parking lots.

“We’ve had a lot of people react very favorably about it,” Wright said. “They come, they ask questions, they really want to know what they can do to use these meters to the best of their ability.”

“Right now, you’re constantly hearing about the ‘green’ movement. People are really concerned and wanting to be a part of it.”

(Coming soon: Another, smarter tool to help them do just that.)

Copyright © 2010 Green Right Now | Distributed by Green Right Now Network

The energy/electricity generation category garnered $118.5 million in venture investment in Q409.

From Green Right Now Reports

U.S. venture capital investment in cleantech companies in Q4 2009 decreased 45 percent to $564.5 million compared to the prior quarter, according to an Ernst & Young LLP analysis based on data from Dow Jones VentureSource.  The research found that more VC dollars are flowing into the energy efficiency category.

Ernst & Young said the San Francisco Bay Area was the leading region for cleantech investment in 2009, with $1.2 billion invested for the year and $295.6 million in Q4. Southern California came in second place with annual investment of $329.5 million and Q4 investment of $30.5 million. New England was the third-largest regional cleantech center with $283.7 million for the year and $38.0 for Q4.

The number of deals increased 21 percent to 62, according to the report. But investment in 2009 totaled $2.6 billion in 193 financings rounds, a decline of 50 percent in dollars and 16 percent in the number of deals compared to the record investment levels of 2008.

“These results reflect the easing of an investment cycle largely driven by the significant capital demands of solar companies and a shift toward energy efficiency products with lower funding requirements and potentially faster commercialization,” John de Yonge, Ernst & Young LLP’s associate director of Americas Cleantech Network, said in a statement. “Energy efficiency is in the sweet spot of many venture capital investors in terms of skill sets and funding parameters, particularly given its basis in information technology. Consequently, we may see investor participation in cleantech broaden.”

In 2009, the analysis found the number of financing rounds in the energy efficiency category — encompassing technology areas such as smart grid and residential and commercial energy management solutions — grew in absolute terms by 11 percent to 61, making it the number one area of cleantech deal activity. The energy efficiency category share of total financing activity in 2009 rose from 24 percent to 32 percent. At the same time, the share of financing rounds directed to the more capital intensive energy/electricity generation category fell from 30 percent to 18 percent. Similarly, the share of deals going to alternative fuels declined from 13 percent to 8 percent.

Ernst & Young said the energy efficiency category received the most U.S. VC investment in Q409, with $252.8 million and 22 deals, compared to $133.7 million and 14 deals in Q309. This category raised $593.3 million for all of 2009. The largest deal of Q409 in energy efficiency — and across all cleantech segments — was the $105.0 million investment in Silver Spring Networks Inc, a provider of networking infrastructure and services for smart grids, based in Redwood City, Calif.

The energy/electricity generation category garnered $118.5 million with 11 deals in Q409, down from the $316.5 million invested in 8 deals in the prior quarter; $654.6 million was invested in this category in 2009. The largest deal in Q409 was the $38 million raised by Nordic Windpower Holdings Inc., based in Berkley, Calif.

The industry focused products and services category raised $76.7 million in Q409 with 11 deals and $608 million throughout 2009. The funding in this segment was led by the transportation industry, which raised $33.8 million in Q409 and $362.7 million for the year, propelled by investments such as the $82.5 million in the electric car company Tesla based in San Carlos, Calif. According to a recent study conducted by Ernst & Young’s Global Automotive Center, over 10 percent of U.S. drivers — or approximately 20 million people — would consider purchasing a plug-in hybrid or electric vehicle.

The U.S. government continues to serve as an influential cleantech investor, the report said. Under the Section 48C Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credit of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, $2.3 billion was recently awarded to 183 cleantech manufacturing projects in 43 states. An Ernst & Young analysis of these awards shows that venture-backed projects received $402 million in awards. President Obama’s 2011 budget proposal would provide an additional $5 billion appropriation for the Section 48C program, offering further support for cleantech development.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is supporting government commitments to cleantech solutions by accelerating its examination of certain “green” technology applications to reduce the time required to patent these technologies by an average of one year.

Large corporations are quickly adopting clean technologies to create a competitive advantage through resource efficiency, sustainable growth and cleantech-driven revenue opportunities. In a recent Ernst & Young study of executives at global corporations with revenues in excess of $1 billion, over 50 percent of respondents indicated their companies’ intentions to spend at least $10 million on cleantech products and services by the end of 2010, with 22 percent predicting a cleantech spend of at least $100 million.

U.S. public market investment in clean energy totaled $2.8 billion in 2009, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. With capital markets showing signs of improvement, three cleantech companies recently filed to raise up to $500 million in initial public offerings, according to Thomson Reuters. The largest transaction is expected to be the offering by Solyndra, Inc., which anticipates raising $300 million.

Cleantech merger and acquisition activity reached 53 transactions in the U.S., with a disclosed value of $3.5 billion, according IHS Herold. Nearly half of this activity took place in Q4 2009, which saw 22 transactions with a disclosed value of $1.7 billion. One notable fourth quarter deal is the acquisition of Clipper Windpower by United Technologies Corporation for $327.4 million.

Image: cleanenergyweek.org

Legislators wrestling with health care reform, job concerns and a spiraling federal deficit have another group vying for their attention in Washington this week.  Thanks to a hastily thrown-together coalition, it’s Clean Energy Week, with environmental activists and business leaders descending on Capitol Hill to press for money for more and better green initiatives.

An unlikely catalyst for that change: The jobs bill, which many hope will include more green items than normal. As the week began, the Senate was considering a proposal to deploy $11 billion of the potential jobs bill for efficiency measures. Creation of a Clean Energy Deployment Administration (CEDA) and a Green Bank also were part of the discussion.

Reed Hundt, co-chairman of the Coalition for the Green Bank, says the clean energy movement has been presented with a rare opportunity, however strange the bedfellows in some cases may be.

“We never expected, six months ago, that we’d be talking about the jobs bill as the bus we’d be getting on right now,” he said. “And in no way does it mean that we don’t need comprehensive energy legislation.

“It just means that if we can get a couple of passengers on the bus right now, let’s do it, because if we do get these expenditures and these lending authorities created, they will further demonstrate the relative ease of implementing all these other measures.”

With unemployment still hovering at about 10 percent nationally, environmental groups are touting the link between good, sustainable policy and good business. Hundt estimates that $2 billion in low-cost loans to utilities and other potentially green operations could stimulate up to $40 billion in total spending. That, in turn, could create up to 400,000 new jobs, he said.

More than 100 organizations and groups have banded together for Clean Energy Week, the brainchild of American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) President Michael  Eckhart and Jeff Anderson, co-founder and executive director of Clean Economy Network. When the two met for breakfast about three weeks ago, they noted that the Renewable Energy Technology Conference (RETECH), expected to attract more then 2,500 attendees, already was scheduled for Washington this week. That, plus budget discussions on Capitol Hill, created a perfect opportunity, as Eckhart put it, to “create a bit of noise” about clean energy.

“The purpose of Clean Energy Week is to get center stage with the Congress among the three, four, five, six major agendas our government has before it today,” he said. “It’s time to make decisions about these policies, to put these policies in place in order to put the nation in motion.

“It’s not just for us and our agenda. This is good for the country.”

The group, which planned 15 related events for the week, stated three major objectives:

• Engage Congress and the Administration to take action now.
• Educate industry and government on the practical applications for clean energy that are economically viable and will create jobs.
• Seek to encourage greater investment in clean energy and energy efficiency technology.

In addition to mobilizing environmental groups, Clean Energy Week organizers also have enlisted the business community. About 120 CEOs from across the country will stage a “fly-in lobby day” to knock on the doors of their respective representatives.

“With so many national imperatives competing, we believe the drumbeat for passage of clean energy policy must be strong, it must be consistent, and it must come from every corner of the United States,” said Kateri Callahan, President of the Alliance to Save Energy.

Copyright © 2010 Green Right Now | Distributed by GRN Network

Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station. Photo: nrc.gov

Supporters and foes of nuclear power are mobilizing for a fight in New England. As owners of the Vermont Yankee reactor seek a 20-year extension of the plant’s operating agreement (which expires in 2012), rising levels of radioactive tritium in the groundwater surrounding the facility have made that renewal the subject of intense debate.

The plant is located in Vernon, along the Connecticut River, just north of the Massachusetts border. On Jan. 7, Vermont Yankee officials notified the state health department that samples taken from a groundwater monitoring well on site at the plant contained tritium.

Increased radiation levels indicate that reactor water is leaking into the soil, but the source of the leak has not been determined. No tritium has been found in drinking water wells or in the river, source of the reactor’s cooling water.

No such plant has been denied an extension since 1989, when Sacramento residents voted to close the Rancho Seco nuclear plant, owned by their municipal utility. Privately-owned  Entergy purchased the Vermont Yankee facility in 2002.

Under the Atomic Energy Act, decisions regarding license renewal usually rest with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Vermont, however, struck a deal with Entergy that gives the state legislature oversight.

Hence, an environmental and economic issue takes on political hues as well. Already, some Vermont lawmakers have announced new opposition to the license renewal. Meanwhile, in his State of the Union address, President Barack Obama called for a “new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants.”

The state health department is posting regular updates on the situation at Vermont Yankee. Governor, Jim Douglas, a longtime proponent of the facility, issued a statement saying that recent revelations “raised dark clouds of doubt” about the reactor’s safety and management. At the same time, Douglas suggested that the legislature delay any decisions on the future of the plant until more is known about the problem.

The facility, the state’s largest generator of power, began searching for tritium (a radioactive form of hydrogen) under a 2007 nuclear industry initiative that came in the wake of leaks discovered at reactors in Illinois and New York. In the wake of the Jan. 7 revelations, the state has increased the frequency of testing at the elementary school across the street from the plant but has not detected higher levels.

Vermont Yankee spokesman Robert Williams told The New York Times that the company was working to find a leak. “It’s a necessarily slow and methodical process,” he said.

A partnership between Reading (PA) Electric and a leading designer and installer of grid-tiered solar power systems will allow 32 Southeastern Pennsylvania businesses to see the light in a very different way.

Borrego Solar Systems, Inc., plans to team with Reading Electric to install more than 5 MW of solar energy. At the end of 2008, the entire state had fewer than 5MW of solar operations.

The $30 million undertaking will be financed in part by $7.5 million awarded through the PA Sunshine Grant, a $100 million state fund administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. The partners also expect an additional $9 million in funding from the Federal Renewable Energy Grant Program.

Among the businesses participating: Adelphi Kitchens & Cabinetry, Inc. (Robesonia), Heyco Metals, Inc. (Reading), Misco Products Corporation (Reading) and Cougle’s Recycling (Hamburg).

In addition, Reading Electric is teaming  with Borrego Solar to add a 145 kW rooftop/ground mount solar system at its own facility. The system is projected to reduce Reading Electric’s energy costs by more than $700,000 over its lifetime.

“We are excited to incorporate solar into our services portfolio and lead by example by installing our own solar energy system,” said Jim Kurtz, general manager at Reading Electric.

Copyright © 2010 Green Right Now | Distributed by GRN Network

By David Louie

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA (KGO) — Search engine giant and mobile phone marketer Google has set its sights on a more powerful future. It wants to be an electrical marketer.

That means it wants to buy and sell power on a large scale, similar to what utility companies do. Google filed an application last week with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in Washington.

“I don’t think we really know what they want to do,” said Wall Street Journal reporter Rebecca Smith. “When I spoke with the company yesterday, their spokeswomanan said that this green team wasn’t precisely sure what it wanted to do. What they do know is they’ve got an energy problem they want to solve.”

Google turned down a request for an interview about its plans. However, multiple sources tell ABC7 News that it appears that Google has a two-fold reason to go into the power business. It wants a reliable and reasonably priced source of electricity for the large server farms it operates to support its global Internet search engine business, and it wants to expand its environmental agenda by reducing carbon emissions. Its FERC application indicates the company owns and operates no power generating facilities. However, Google has been promoting wind and solar power as sources of renewable energy, including the installation of large solar panel arrays at its Mountain View headquarters.

“You have reliability in case of outages, I presume. You have versatility. You can buy now, sell then, depending on what your needs are when you’re producing excess energy,” said Santa Clara University professor of electrical engineering Timothy Healing. “So I think it’s a very attractive thing for them.”

As part of its filing, Google said it plans to make “ancillary services available” to large-scale power operations, such as Cal ISO (the California Independent System Operator Corporation). Power system experts say that means Google would be free to sell power to the grid to help meet demand for electricity. It is a process known as “demand response.” There would be environmental benefit from this. If Google can offer power to the grid, it would mean other suppliers would not have to burn fossil fuels at conventional power plants during peak demand periods. This will become important after the state set a goal of generating 33 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020.

Most of the country’s power marketers are large utilities. However, some large corporations also have received authority to become marketers, including Pleasanton-based Safeway, Inc. Safeway’s Brian Dowling told ABC7 it got FERC authority in January 2006. It is buying power, not selling it back, as a way to save money on its electrical costs. The company has close to 600 buildings across California, about 500 of them grocery stores. It would not say how much savings has been generated by being a power marketer.

FERC is expected to take action on Google’s request soon. Objections can be filed with FERC until Jan. 19. Google has set up a wholly-owned subsidiary to run its power program, called Google Energy LLC.

(Copyright ©2010 KGO-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)