Lake County Fairgrounds breaks ground on the installation of its first solar power project
PRESS RELEASE December 02, 2013 | By: Realgy, LLC
Lake County Fairgrounds, Grayslake, Ill., will soon be partially powered by a 160 solar panel PV system.
Realgy, LLC has announced the start of installation on a 37.5 kilowatt (kW) solar photovoltaic (PV) system for Lake County Fairgrounds. The solar PV system will be installed on the roof and will occupy approximately 53- by 54-square-feet of space. Lake County Fairgrounds, operated by Lake County Fair Association, is the home of the historic Lake County Fair and other quality year-round events.
The solar PV system is being installed by Renewable Energy Alternatives of Arlington Heights, Illinois. This is the first solar project that Renewable Energy Alternatives has completed for Lake County Fairgrounds. “We are excited to be a part of this venture,” said Kacie Peters, Director of Sales and Marketing at Renewable Energy Alternatives. “The array is in a very public space and will be seen by thousands annually. We hope that this array will inspire others to know solar is possible—and practical in Illinois.”
Realgy, LLC is an alternative energy service supplier in Illinois, and will be supplying Lake County Fairgrounds their electricity and selected them for this installation. Lake County will receive all of the solar energy produced by the panels, which will reduce their reliance on fossil generated energy produced primarily from coal in Illinois.
Once complete the Lake County solar PV system will produce over 49, 000 kilowatt hours (kWh) of energy annually and more than one million kWh over the next 25 years. That is enough energy to power about 2 average U.S. homes every year. The environmental benefits associated with the system will offset about 900 thousand pounds of carbon dioxide over the initial 25 years of operation.
“We are excited to announce the start of the Lake County Fairgrounds solar project,” said Michael Vrtis, President of Realgy. “Realgy made this investment as a part of our sustainable energy commitment and due to the support of Illinois Department of commerce Renewable Energy Program and the Illinois Solar Energy Association.”
Contacts:
Lake County Fairgrounds
1060 East Peterson Road
Grayslake, Illinois 60030
847-680-7200
www.lcfair.com
Renewable Energy Alternatives
Kacie Peters
3670 Commercial Avenue
Northbrook, Illinois
847-291-7693
www.renewableenergyalt.com
Realgy, LLC
Nicole Werner
675 Oakwood Avenue
West Hartford, CT
860-233-2270
www.realgyenergyservices.com
Don’t let Energy Vampires ruin your Holidays
Standby or vampire power as it is most commonly referred to, wastes $10 Billion of Electricity Annually in the United States alone. The average US household has about 25 electronic devices that constantly draw small amounts of power, costing on average $100 per year.
Top 10 Energy Vampires in Your home
- Laptop computers (when they are plugged in)
- Answering machines
- Computer printers
- TVs and cable boxes
- Video games
- Cell phone chargers
- Internet hubs and routers
- Plugged-in electric toys
- Night lights
- Holiday lights and decorations
How to slay the energy vampires in your home?
Minimize the amount of lights you use to decorate this year, switch to LED lights and most importantly use a timer for your holiday lights both inside and out.
Use a power strip as a central “turn off” point when you are done using equipment, which completely disconnects the power supply.
Unplug your chargers: cell phone chargers, camera chargers, battery chargers or power adapters, etc. These are drawing energy even when not in use (and even when not connected to an end-use product).
Check out the biggest Vampire Energy offenders
Sources:
Energy Star, Standby Power and Energy Vampires
Energy.gov, Are Energy Vampires Sucking You Dry?
Standby Power, Ranges of Standby Power
AOL, Energy Conscious Holiday Lighting
Greenhouse gas emissions are decreasing thanks to Natural Gas
According to the EPA Press Release on October 23rd, greenhouse gas emissions are decreasing due to an increased use of natural gas in power generating plants. Utilities have shifted from using coal to using clean burning natural gas, a major factor in causing a decrease in carbon emissions.
The EPA collects annual greenhouse gas information from over 8,000 facilities including power plants, gas and oil production and refining plants and landfills. The EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, which started in 2010, collects facility-level greenhouse gas data from major industrial sources across the US.
Greenhouse gas emissions from power plants have decreased 10 percent in two years. This decrease is largely due to electricity generation switching from coal to natural gas, as well as a slight decrease in electricity production.
Sources:
United Sates Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Releases Greenhouse Gas Emissions Data from Large Facilities
The Washington Free Beacon, Feds: Natural Gas Production Decreasing Greenhouse Emissions
U.S Energy Information Administration, U.S. Energy-Related Carbon Dioxide Emissions, 2012
From the PriceWatch™ Service Desk
It happens every year when the temperatures start to drop; more people start to turn on their furnaces and gas prices rise due to the increased use. Realgy has a solution to the price increases: PriceWatchTM
PriceWatch™ is a Realgy exclusive service that monitors the natural gas market to pin-point the most advantageous time for our natural gas customers to lock in a rate for the winter heating months.
This year the PriceWatchTM analysts here at Realgy have determined that customers will show a significant savings by locking in a natural gas rate for the winter months, November to March. Realgy has already started sending out emails and calling customers to let them know that it’s time to fix their gas rates using PriceWatchTM.
Already we have had many customers lock in their rates; this, along with Natural Gas storage, will ensure that the winter bills will not be as high as they normally would have been if a customer merely relied on with their local utility company.
If you have any further questions please feel free to contact a Realgy Energy Services Customer Service Representative by phone (877)-300-6747, by email support@realgy.com, by fax (860)-23 -3884, or by mail 675 Oakwood Avenue, West Hartford, CT 06110.
In Response to “10 US natural gas export projects you should watch”
Written by Michael Vrtis President of Realgy Energy Services in response to the CNBC article 10 US natural gas export projects you should watch
This article is recognition of the “game changing” affect that natural gas fracking has had on the US.
As recently as 5 years ago; the talk was about importing natural gas. A slew of LNG terminals were proposed to import liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Today, not 1 of those proposed LNG import terminals is on the table or under permit. Rather there are over 15 LNG terminals being proposed or under siting consideration ALL to export LNG.
Quite a turn of events that technology has brought to the US and the world.
Check out the CNBC article: “10 US natural gas export projects you should watch“
In Response to “After six-year dispute, court orders $37 million ComEd refund”
Written by Michael Vrtis President of Realgy Energy Services in response to the Crain’s article After six-year dispute, court orders $37 million ComEd refund
So how do all the various entities work in overseeing a regulated utility or why does it take 6 years to refund overcharges?
This Crain’s article provides a great example, let’s look at the 3 steps:
STEP 1
The utility; ComEd has a monopoly to delivery electricity in its area and is overseen (regulated) by the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC). ComEd wants to be paid more for providing service and goes to the ICC requesting an increase in fees from customers in exchange for providing better and more useful service.
The regulator; ICC approves a rate increase (and the improved service) for which ComEd begins charging customer
STEP 2
The Consumer Advocate; Citizens Utility Board (CUB) is an agency that seeks to ensure ComEd treats its customers (mainly residential) fairly. Remember ComEd is a monopoly and can only charge what the ICC (in some cases politicians) approve. The CUB sees that the ICC approval of the rate increase unfairly treated the consumer to the benefit of ComEd. So, CUB sues ComEd and wins.
The Court; orders the ICC to review the matter. Again, the court won’t get into the technical review (that’s why they sent it to the ICC for re-review).
STEP 3
This step is about appealing (delaying) the previous decisions….. in this case the ICC agrees with CUB and removes those funds from the rate base which means ComEd (having already collected them) has to return them. They don’t have to return them as they were received but by some form of distribution of the funds.
Of course, ComEd appeals to the appellate court (they review lower court decisions) and lost. The appellate court would have to overturn the ICC on technical issues to agree with ComEd.
So let’s see if the money is returned. This example illustrates that a regulated utility has many people who watch them and those who watch and act to hold all sides accountable really do serve the public interest.
How does this affect Realgy’s customers; they will receive a refund (depending on how ComEd disperses them) as this was a charge related to distribution of the wholesale supplied energy in part provided by Realgy.
Check out the Crain’s article: “After six-year dispute, court orders $37 million ComEd refund”