Recently in The Grid
The Grid:
A new smartphone app allows you to track California's power grid and renewables in real time.
Solar:
It looks as though California has broken another solar power record, and it's done so in one of the least-sunny times of year possible.
The Grid:
The grid we use to move electrical power is big and complex, and it takes a huge amount of effort and intelligence to manage. But the grid itself is inflexible, vulnerable to disruption, and fragile. And an increasing number of companies are working to change that.
Technology:
It's an interesting idea, with obvious potential applications in California.
The Grid:
The California Energy Commission is plowing $1.8 million into UCSD's microgrid to help the University develop it as a model for the rest of the state.
The Grid:
The plan's been in the works for more than a year, but the entity that operates California's largest electrical power grid has made the official announcement: it's now managing the grid in much of southwestern Nevada as well.
The Grid:
Researchers find that a very large power grid could conceivably be run almost entirely on renewable energy, with fossil fuel backup for about a tenth of a percent of the power consumed in total.
The Grid:
A report released last week says smart meters, paid for in large part with Stimulus funding, have served mainly to kill American jobs and increase utility company profits.
The Grid:
California's power grid operator tries to crack down on a deceptively simple way of gaming the market.
The Grid:
FERC has given British bank Barclays 30 days to argue why it shouldn't pay $470 million in damages and fines over the company's alleged gaming of the California electrical power market.
The Grid:
In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, a lesson for Californians seeking to make our power grid more resilient.
The Grid:
On a few calm days this fall, solar has actually outpaced wind in California energy production.
Trade:
Nevada renewables companies complain that without exports to California, their businesses will falter
The Grid:
The Interior Department approves a transmission line across an Area of Critical Environmental Concern.
The Grid:
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) may suspend JPMorgan's rights to participate in the electrical power business unless the company can prove it didn't game the California grid.
The Grid:
LADWP approves environmental documents for a new 75-mile transmission line in the Mojave Desert.
Concentrating Solar:
California's grid operator expands into southwestern Nevada to serve a planned 500-megawatt solar project.
The Grid:
California's grid operators come up with plans to replace power from the San Diego County nuclear power plant
The Grid:
The man who oversees the nation's power grid thinks central renewable energy power stations may be on their way out.
The Grid:
The operators of California's power grid want more leeway to keep people from gaming the market.
News and analysis about renewable energy in California. Blog host Chris Clarke is an environmental writer of two decades standing. He currently lives in Joshua Tree and can be contacted at: rewire@kcet.org.
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- Wind Power
- PV and Solar Thermal
- Energy Return on Energy Invested (EROEI)
- Watts and Watt-Hours, Kilo and Mega
- 'Enough To Power X Thousand Homes'
- The Grid
- Distributed Generation
- Conservation and 'Negawatts'
- Grid Storage
- PACE Loans, Feed In Tariffs and Net Metering
- Base Load and Peaking Power
- Capacity Factor
- Renewable Portfolio Standards
- Biomass
- Transportation and Renewable Energy
- Geothermal
