Electric utility

Groupe ADP, the French company that operates Paris area airports, is running a trial of autonomous electric vehicles (EV) transporting luggage in the Charles de Gaulle platform – the biggest in Europe now that Brexit has turned Heathrow into a mid-Atlantic outpost.

California’s Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) today launched the Community Microgrid Enablement Program. The program will help communities identify, design, and build permanent, multi-customer microgrids that serve critical facilities and vulnerable customer groups.

US energy company Con Edison has announced the development of the country’s first fully electric bucket truck. Its partnership with manufacturers Lion Electric and Posi-Plus will deliver the zero emission utility vehicle truck next year. The bucket truck is a recognizable symbol of electric work. It is now the latest heavy-duty utility vehicle to see an electrified revamp.

A number of utilities in the US Southeast want to create the Southeast Energy Exchange Market (SEEM). They filed a proposal to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in February, and they want an approval by May 13. The nonprofit advocacy group the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE) explained why SEEM isn’t a good move for the transition to green energy or reducing energy costs.

The funny thing about utilities is, the vast majority of the population don’t know a lot about them, yet they directly affect every single person who uses the energy the utilities sell – and that’s why this is important.

States, cities, and utilities from coast to coast are expanding programs to encourage EV adoption and new charging infrastructure. The pause in driving and pollution during the pandemic is urging authorities to promote electric cars. These local efforts come as the federal government weakens emissions standards.

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US utility companies are borrowing big because interest rates are so low. Investors are keen to buy utility bonds because they offer safe and strong returns.

So the bond cash — a record $90 billion in 2019 — is resulting in utility companies making more green energy investments.

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Have you ever thought, “You know what I need…a pickup truck that I can pedal like a bicycle”?

Yea, me neither. But I recently got the chance to test one out anyways, and now I realize what I’ve been missing in my life. The XCYC Pickup is a ridiculous e-bike that actually works really well and may just be the answer to urban cargo solutions.

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North Carolina is now the 30th state to allow public EV charging companies to offer pricing by the kilowatt-hour (kWh), instead of charging per minute. The change was thanks to bipartisan legislation — House Bill 329, Renewable Energy Amendments — passed by the legislature and signed by Gov. Roy Cooper.

The vast majority of Americans now live and drive in places where private companies are free to set up EV charging stations and offer pricing for actual kWh delivered to the vehicle. Tesla calls billing by the kWh “the most fair and simple method.” Any EV driver would agree, as all sorts of factors including the weather affect the speed an EV will charge at, making per-minute pricing something of a crapshoot as opposed to how many kWh (like ‘gallons of gas’) was actually delivered.

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Yesterday the Maryland Public Service Commission approved a proposal from three Excelon-owned utilities in Maryland to deploy 850 charging stations on public-use land. The percentage of those that will be DC Fast Charge stations has not yet been determined.

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One of the first questions from a prospective electric car buyer is: “sure I’m not buying gas anymore, but how much will my electric bill go up?”  The answer, just about everywhere, is that an electric car is cheaper to drive, but sometimes it’s hard to figure out by how much.

It’s a complex question to answer because of different electric rates around the country, time-of-use rates, and fluctuating gas prices as well.  But last night, Tesla CEO Elon Musk suggested that Tesla could build software into their vehicles to answer just that question – and to help owners save money as well. The idea came, as many have, in a late-night answer to a tweet.

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Two weeks before Christmas 2017, US Charging network Chargepoint filed a patent infringement suit against its competitor SemaConnect. In its request for a restraining order against SemaConnect, Chargepoint claimed that its patents gave it the exclusive right to sell and operate networked EV charging stations in the US. Obviously this has large implications for the Electric vehicle market…
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At just $5,000, the Pickman is one of the cheapest electric utility vehicles on the market.

But before you start planning to tow your RV with it, make sure you check the specs. This little guy’s 1,100 lb capacity and low top speed make it more of a neighborhood electric vehicle (NEV). Even so, the Pickman is poised to fill an interesting niche in the US, and that could be the secret to its success.

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Delivery vehicles and other utility vehicles are some of the best candidates for EVs. With frequent stops, starts and idling as well as the need for powerful low-end torque, these work horses can reap many of the most important performance benefits of electric vehicle drivetrains.

Apparently the industry agrees, with Bosch and Tropos Motors both announcing new EV products today.
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SolarCity announced today that the company signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Kaua’i electric utility (KIUC). SolarCity already built a 12-megawatt solar array for KUIC which  went into operation in September 2014 and now supplies 5% of the island’s electricity, but under the new deal, the California-based solar installer will develop a new solar array and a massive 52 MWh energy storage system to provide electricity when the sun is down.
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