December 30, 2009

The utility industry is getting older. By some estimates, nearly half of today's workforce will be eligible for retirement in the next decade. Years of hard-won knowledge seem doomed to disappear just as utilities are implementing smart grid initiatives and benefiting from improved data collection and opportunities for advanced customer communications and energy efficiency. Is this a perfect storm?

Are veteran utility leaders dreaming about golf courses and easy chairs rather than smart grid technologies just when their experience is most needed? Philadelphia-based PECO Energy, which serves approximately 2 million electric and natural gas customers in southeastern Pennsylvania, and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) in California don't think so.

December 28, 2009

Jim Avery, senior vice president of power supply for San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E), has a story to tell about smart grid technology and workforce education. This pairing has really taken off at his utility and throughout the area.

"The story is really about the power industry. More will happen in our industry in the next 10 years than has happened over the past hundred years. Now we have smart grid and there's the potential for all sorts of change -- it tells us about outages, is capable of self healing and requires no human intervention," Avery said.

December 23, 2009

Energy's future may have come to light with Exxon Mobil Corp.'s proposed purchase of XTO Energy. If ExxonMobil's predictions are right, unconventional formations such as shale would provide significantly more of this country's generation and transportation fuels.

Texas-based XTO, which has the resource equivalent of 45 trillion cubic feet of shale gas, shale oil and coal-bed methane, might be the perfect fit for ExxonMobil -- or any deep-pocketed oil partner, for that matter. Indeed, Big Oil has made huge profits from high-priced gasoline in recent years and that money must get reinvested. By betting on natural gas, ExxonMobil is saying that fossil fuels will remain paramount but that tighter air quality restrictions are coming; natural gas emits far fewer emissions than either oil or coal.

December 21, 2009

Balancing the electricity load is a difficult job. The hard part is maintaining that portion of the system that often sits idle but which is necessary to meet high energy times.

Enter energy storage, where the electricity can be housed during periods of less demand and then subsequently set free when it is needed most. That, in essence, contributes to a more efficient production and delivery process while also adding to the potential for alternative sources. Stated differently, users can power-up with a "battery" or other device instead of directly from a congested grid or maxed-out power plants.

December 18, 2009

Green energy is causing a blue mood in West Virginia. Opponents of a wind farm there near the Greenbrier resort have long said that a project now underway is killing bats and that it must comply with federal laws. A federal judge now agrees with them.

Despite critical advantages such as newer technologies in combination with volatile energy prices and a push to go green, many regions are having difficulty winning permits for renewable generation. Good wind sites that have easy access to existing transmission are a novelty while opposition groups are getting louder. Some say that windmills are an eyesore and others are worried that the power they generate cannot be counted on to perform during peak periods.