Duke Energy Offers New Incentives for Residential Solar Power

DailyEnergyInsider.com – Dave Kovaleski

DEI-Duke Energy (Shutterstock-302004626)
DEI-Duke Energy (Shutterstock-302004626)

“Duke Energy has enrolled more than 1,300 customers in North Carolina in a new pilot program that is designed to make a home solar plus battery system more affordable.

The PowerPair pilot initiative is a one-time incentive-based program that offers up to $9,000 in incentives for residential customers who install a new solar plus battery system. The total incentive is based on the approved capacity of the solar array and battery installed.

The PowerPair program, approved by the North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC) in January and launched in May, was developed in collaboration with various stakeholder groups at the direction of the NCUC.”

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Power Generation by Natural Gas in the U.S. Accelerated During July’s Summer Peaks

EIA.gov (In-Brief Analysis) – Kimberly & Chris Peterson

EIA-NG-Electricity
EIA-NG-Electricity

During the month of July 2024, most power utilities across the country experienced summer peak power demands while dangerous warnings of weather heat advisories were announced. With the spike in warmer than average temperatures and record-breaking heat temperatures, power generation providers relied more on natural gas generation to meet electric power demands.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), “Power plant operators generated 6.9 million mega watthours (MWh) of electricity from natural gas on a daily basis in the Lower 48 states on July 9, 2024, probably the most in history and certainly since at least January 1, 2019, when we began to collect hourly data about natural gas generation.”

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FBI Warning of Cyber Attacks to Power Grid Weaknesses

EnergyCentral.com (source CNBC)

EnergyCentral.com (CNBC) - FBI-Warnings
EnergyCentral.com (CNBC) – FBI-Warnings

In the U.S., with the increased connections to the power grid by cleaner, greener, carbon-free electric generation, and renewable resources, the FBI has issued a warning for the nations power system. “The federal government is becoming more concerned about vulnerabilities with new energy systems being a target for cyberattacks.”

Adversaries and hackers are looking at potential weaknesses in the power sector with “private and individual owners of renewable power systems.”

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New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) Unveils 20-Year Power Demands

DailyEnergyInsider.com – Dave Kovaleski

NYISO (shutterstock-1236384700)
NYISO (shutterstock-1236384700)

NYISO releases their 20-year study (2023-2042) showing the power demands are “expected to increase by 50 percent to 90 percent,” according to the assessment. NYISO estimates that over 100 GW of new power generation is required to meet future demands. “The increase will be driven by electrification of housing and transportation sectors, as well as energy-intensive economic development projects.”

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How Can Virtual Power Plants Benefit the Electric Power Grid?

VPPs-PowerMag.com-Sally Jacquemin
VPPs-PowerMag.com-Sally Jacquemin

PowerMag.com (Sally Jacquemin):
“When DERs and other devices are logically grouped or aggregated, they can form a virtual power plant, or VPP, providing load flexibility for grids that are reaching capacity or economic value with energy market participation, like a traditional power plant.” VPP’s can help prevent current and future plans for adding on new generation plants and can be considered as a method for shrinking future “greenhouse gas emissions.

As power demand increases beyond current power plant capacities and clean energy goals are accelerated, power generation sources of the future will start to look different. In fact, some of these new components—rooftop solar, battery energy storage, electric vehicles and distributed energy resources (DERs)—can already be found in millions of homes.”

READ More @ PowerMag.com (Sally Jacquemin)…

Is There Disorder Coming to the U.S. Energy Industry?

Chevron (Utility Dive-Ethan Howland)
Chevron (Utility Dive-Ethan Howland)

UtilityDive.com (Ethan Howland): On June 28, Chevron received an unfavorable ruling by the US Supreme Court, which “creates legal and regulatory uncertainty for regulated utilities.” This presents disorder within the energy industry due to “the lack of clarity on future EPA mandates.”

“Planning for generation needs will be more challenging for regulated utilities and other power companies, due to the uncertainty of not knowing which cost-effective generation mix to supply.” This will force power providers to add more costly green power to the mix.

READ More @ UtilityDive.com (Ethan Howland)…