skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

Technology Brings a More Flexible, Efficient Electrical Grid

play audio
Play

Monday, March 21, 2016   

RICHMOND, Va. - Big battery systems and smart appliances are starting to bring rapid change to the electricity grid for Virginia and the rest of the U.S.

The price of grid-scale batteries has fallen dramatically and, as a result, the amount of installed, grid-scale electricity storage doubled last year.

There's been similar growth for smart technologies, which 'talk' to the grid and can manage electrical demand on a split-second basis.

Ravi Manghani, senior energy storage analyst for GTM Research, says these are cheap ways to add flexibility and put off building expensive power plants.

He says they're starting small, but growing fast.

"Storage is still a very, very tiny portion of the market," says Manghani. "But what is interesting is the rate at which the deployments are growing, the rate at which a lot of different states and the regional markets are paying attention to it."

According to one analysis, 40 percent of the home thermostats sold last year were made to connect to the grid and manage energy demand.

Rick Counihan, head of energy regulations and government affairs for Nest Labs in Palo Alto, one of the biggest makers of smart thermostats.

He says the company, founded in 2010, has grown explosively.

"We are a company that didn't exist a while back and now, we have 1,300 employees," says Counihan. "So, instead of talking about 10 percent growth rates, we talk about doubling every year."

Supporters say grid-scale storage and smart technologies that manage demand are a more efficient way to operate an electrical grid.

Kiran Kumaraswamy, market development director for AES Storage, says they've installed battery storage for PJM, which manages the grid for Virginia and its neighbors. He says the batteries have reduced carbon emissions and saved money.

"In the PJM market, we estimate the energy storage fleet AES operates has saved about $20 million per year for PJM customers," says Kumaraswamy.

Critics of advanced-energy technologies, such as renewables, argue the new technologies are being oversold. But Manghani says storage and smart load management make sense, no matter what the power source.



get more stories like this via email

more stories
Iowa families can apply for up to $7,600 a year for private school costs. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

An ethics committee in the Republican-led Iowa House has dismissed a complaint filed by a group of community activists against a state lawmaker for hi…


play sound

Each spring, hundreds of thousands of California high school seniors have to figure out if they can afford to go to college in the fall - and two new …

Health and Wellness

play sound

A health care workforce shortage in New Hampshire is leaving Alzheimer's patients and their families with few options for treatment. Patients facing …


South Dakota ranks 49th in the country for its contribution to indigent legal defense costs, according to a 2023 report from the Indigent Legal Services Task Force. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

South Dakota is creating an Office of Indigent Legal Services after House Bill 1057 passed the Legislature with nearly unanimous support this month…

Environment

play sound

A Knoxville-based environmental group is voicing concerns over what it sees as an increasing financial strain imposed on taxpayers by nuclear weapons …

Environment

play sound

A bipartisan law set to take effect this summer prohibits foreign adversaries from buying Hoosier farmland. The signature of Gov. Eric Holcomb was …

Social Issues

play sound

Today, people across Arizona are voting in the Presidential Preference Election, a chance for registered Democrats and Republicans to choose their …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021