Micro Power Grids Emerge as Way to Keep Electricity on During Shutoffs
California residents recently underwent massive blackouts due to PG&E’s decision to shut down power in hopes to decrease the wildfire risk. Hundreds of thousands were left without power for days. However, Fremont, CA installed “a microgrid, a small, self-contained electrical system, around a fire station”. Using solar panels, batteries and a generator, they can operate independently and focus on public safety. These microgrids are better for the environment, save customers money on energy bills, and provide safety nets for many that require electricity. The CA Public Utility Commission is exploring similar projects to see how these technologies could be implemented, especially for blackout situations.
Realgy Energy Services is a registered Retail Energy Marketer in the states of Illinois, Michigan, Indiana and Ohio. We offer Service Plans that will provide electric and natural gas at wholesale pricing direct to customers without any utility markup. Our Service Plans work with the local utility to provide seamless service and annual energy savings. Service Plans include Guaranteed SavingsTM, ManagedPriceTM, ManagedGreenTM Index, Fixed and PriceAssuranceTM.
Realgy owns and operates 7 solar plants in Illinois and is looking to invest in additional locations.
Additional Information: https://www.kqed.org/science/1948951/micro-power-grids-emerging-as-a-way-to-keep-power-on-during-shutoffs
More wind, solar and storage could add up to savings for Midwesterners
Do you want to pay less for energy used to run all your electronics? What’s keeping costs high? Would you believe it’s the use of coal, oil and natural gas?
In the Midwest and Great Lakes area, the cost of electricity could decrease by over $48/year for the average residential customer. How? By eliminating the way electricity is priced at the wholesale level.
When oil, coal and nuclear energy were the primary fuel sources, payments for energy were based on the ability to deliver energy quickly. This meant the large fossil fuel plants had to be kept in a ready-to-generate mode.
Today’s wind and solar energy are kept in a ready state without any fuel costs. So, transferring to wind and solar while not paying fossil fuel plants to stay ready would result in large and sustainable cost reductions.
Realgy Energy Services is a registered Retail Energy Marketer in the states of Illinois, Michigan, Indiana and Ohio. We offer Service Plans that will provide electric and natural gas at wholesale pricing direct to customers without any utility markup. Our Service Plans work with the local utility to provide seamless service and annual energy savings. Service Plans include Guaranteed SavingsTM, ManagedPriceTM, ManagedGreenTM Index, Fixed and PriceAssuranceTM.
Realgy owns and operates 7 solar plants in Illinois and is looking to invest in additional locations.
Additional Information: https://www.renewableenergyworld.com/2019/10/02/report-more-wind-solar-and-storage-could-add-up-to-savings-for-midwesterners/#gref
World’s largest offshore wind farm is nearly complete; can power 1,000,000 homes
With environmental concerns in the news, how about some news that is addressing sustainable energy production?
The United Kingdom needed new power, as it is an island surrounded by ocean with wind and waves.
They went big.
Located 75 miles off shore (far beyond the horizon of any land), the UK is installing 174 wind towers over 300 feet high with wind turbine blades spanning 250 feet.
The power could serve over 1,000,000 homes.
The cost is significantly below fossil fuels, it is sustainable, and will not add to global warming or create waste.
Realgy Energy Services is a registered Retail Energy Marketer in the states of Illinois, Michigan, Indiana and Ohio. We offer Service Plans that will provide electric and natural gas at wholesale pricing direct to customers without any utility markup. Our Service Plans work with the local utility to provide seamless service and annual energy savings. Service Plans include Guaranteed SavingsTM, ManagedPriceTM, ManagedGreenTM Index, Fixed and PriceAssuranceTM.
Realgy owns and operates 7 solar plants in Illinois and is looking to invest in additional locations.
Additional Information: https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/25/business/worlds-largest-wind-farm/index.html
We’re betting on the people of Michigan’ to help avoid new power plants
The CEO of Consumers Energy of Michigan, Patti Poppe, is on tour letting customers know that the utility plans to add 6,00 Megawatts of new solar and retire 5 coal fired plants.
Ms. Poppe wants Consumers customers to signup for smart grid meters and technology to reduce the demand for electricity on the grid. Yes, the CEO of an electric utility wants you to use less energy.
Efficiency standards are improving and by adopting new technology along with new generation, it will reduce energy waste and ensure that Consumers doesn’t have to build new power plants.
“Consumers’ long-term plan calls for doubling its rate of efficiency by 2030 to 2% of its annual load by 2030. Legislation passed in 2016 creates incentives for utilities if they go beyond 1%, which was set in Michigan’s first renewable energy standard in 2008. The 2016 legislation also eliminated a 2% efficiency spending cap.”
Clean energy advocates hold up Consumers’ integrated resource plan as a model for other utilities in Michigan to follow. Most recently it has drawn comparisons to DTE Energy’s, which was filed in March. Clean energy groups criticize DTE’s plan for favoring company-owned generation, failing to build out significant amounts of solar, and only boosting energy efficiency targets to 1.75% by 2040. Analysts have said recently that DTE’s modeling is broadly flawed to discount the value of clean energy, ultimately delaying any significant climate action until after 2030.
Realgy Energy Services is a registered Retail Energy Marketer in the states of Illinois, Michigan, Indiana and Ohio. We offer Service Plans that will provide electric and natural gas at wholesale pricing direct to customers without any utility markup. Our Service Plans work with the local utility to provide seamless service and annual energy savings. Service Plans include Guaranteed SavingsTM, ManagedPriceTM, ManagedGreenTM Index, Fixed and PriceAssuranceTM.
Realgy owns and operates 7 solar plants in Illinois and is looking to invest in additional locations.
Additional Information: https://energynews.us/2019/08/29/midwest/utility-ceo-were-betting-on-the-people-of-michigan-to-help-avoid-new-power-plants/
$3.3 billion wind investment will add 2,500 MW of clean energy in South Dakota
The Midwest of the United States is the Saudi Arabia of wind!
Meaning, the wind resource in the Upper Midwest is so plentiful as to compare with oil resources in the Middle East.
Adding 900 wind turbines, each over 50 stories tall and generating 2,900 MW, requires an investment of $3.26 billion.
This clean energy will extend to Minneapolis with plans to extend transmission lines into Illinois and Indiana.
Construction of the wind turbines will produce more than 400 jobs. Thereafter, 20 permanent jobs paying over $23 million in wages and benefits will be added.
Wind power is a reliable renewable resource and creating such generation will add jobs, tax benefits, and clean energy.
Realgy Energy Services is a registered Retail Energy Marketer in the states of Illinois, Michigan, Indiana and Ohio. We offer Service Plans that will provide electric and natural gas at wholesale pricing direct to customers without any utility markup. Our Service Plans work with the local utility to provide seamless service and annual energy savings. Service Plans include Guaranteed SavingsTM, ManagedPriceTM, ManagedGreenTM Index, Fixed and PriceAssuranceTM.
Realgy owns and operates 7 solar plants in Illinois and is looking to invest in additional locations.
Additional Information: https://energynews.us/2019/09/05/midwest/3-3-billion-wind-investment-will-add-2500-mw-of-clean-energy-in-south-dakota/
This device harnesses the cold night sky to generate electricity in the dark
A new generator using thermodynamics produces enough electricity to power a small light bulb. Although it produces much less than a solar panel, this device is used when the sun is down. Triggered by Cooling night air, energy is produced within the “anti-solar panel”. Eventually, everyone would like to see this piece of equipment on a larger scale in hopes to help remote locations, areas that receive little to no light for months at a time, or as backup power. The possibilities will continue to grow as will the work to optimize all uses of this invention.
Realgy Energy Services is a registered Retail Energy Marketer in the states of Illinois, Michigan, Indiana and Ohio. We offer Service Plans that will provide electric and natural gas at wholesale pricing direct to customers without any utility markup. Our Service Plans work with the local utility to provide seamless service and annual energy savings. Service Plans include Guaranteed SavingsTM, ManagedPriceTM, ManagedGreenTM Index, Fixed and PriceAssuranceTM.
Realgy owns and operates 7 solar plants in Illinois and is looking to invest in additional locations.
Additional Information: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/device-harnesses-cold-night-sky-generate-electricity-dark
This Company Is Converting Energy Efficiency Into Currency
Redaptive works to guide companies to increase energy efficient practices in a cost-effective manner. They assess energy usage then identify and refit less efficient appliances. Old appliances are recycled, preventing more waste and emissions from landfills. Analytics also track and forecast to plan for future needs.
No payment is required up front. Instead, customers compensate them via a share of the energy bill savings through monitored programs and AI validated by utility meter data. Once Redaptive’s contract is up, clients continue to net those funds. Along with saving money, these necessary changes benefit shareholders and the environment.
Realgy Energy Services is a registered Retail Energy Marketer in the states of Illinois, Michigan, Indiana and Ohio. We offer Service Plans that will provide electric and natural gas at wholesale pricing direct to customers without any utility markup. Our Service Plans work with the local utility to provide seamless service and annual energy savings. Service Plans include Guaranteed SavingsTM, ManagedPriceTM, ManagedGreenTM Index, Fixed and PriceAssuranceTM.
Realgy owns and operates 7 solar plants in Illinois and is looking to invest in additional locations.
Additional Information: https://www.forbes.com/sites/natalieparletta/2019/09/09/this-company-is-converting-energy-efficiency-into-currency/#44c920ee4238
The next target in the climate-change debate: your gas stove
History was made when Berkeley, CA banned natural gas systems in new buildings. Now multiple cities cross-country are following suit. The strategy is to move towards a greener energy solution through the electric grid. Renewable energy is increasingly powering the grid with many states planning to become fully reliant on green energy by 2050.
However, opposers say increased usage of gas cuts carbon emissions since it burns cleaner than oil or coal. Improved technologies also limit emissions showing a recent decline in those numbers. Other disputes of the proposal include that many business models would be upended, completely halted or suffer large losses. Either way you look at it, the hope is to improve the environment with the least casualties along the way.
Realgy Energy Services is a registered Retail Energy Marketer in the states of Illinois, Michigan, Indiana and Ohio. We offer Service Plans that will provide electric and natural gas at wholesale pricing direct to customers without any utility markup. Our Service Plans work with the local utility to provide seamless service and annual energy savings. Service Plans include Guaranteed SavingsTM, ManagedPriceTM, ManagedGreenTM Index, Fixed and PriceAssuranceTM.
Realgy owns and operates 7 solar plants in Illinois and is looking to invest in additional locations.
Additional Information: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-naturalgas-buildings/the-next-target-in-the-climate-change-debate-your-gas-stove-idUSKCN1VU18Q
Reversing Emissions-Reducing Lightbulb Energy Efficiency Standards
President George W. Bush’s administration implemented energy standards to phase out high energy usage light bulbs. Obama’s administration was set to finalize that legislation in January 2020 to include specialty bulbs becoming more energy efficient. Trump’s administration wants to undo these regulations. Not only would this encourage consumers to spend more money on bulbs with lower life expectancies, it would increase their bills due to less energy efficient products and increase carbon dioxide emissions. If regulations are reversed, they will be challenged.
Realgy Energy Services is a registered Retail Energy Marketer in the states of Illinois, Michigan, Indiana and Ohio. We offer Service Plans that will provide electric and natural gas at wholesale pricing direct to customers without any utility markup. Our Service Plans work with the local utility to provide seamless service and annual energy savings. Service Plans include Guaranteed SavingsTM, ManagedPriceTM, ManagedGreenTM Index, Fixed and PriceAssuranceTM.
Realgy owns and operates 7 solar plants in Illinois and is looking to invest in additional locations.
Additional Information: https://www.npr.org/2019/09/04/757623821/trump-administration-reverses-standards-for-energy-efficient-light-bulbs
Love Michigan Clean Energy Plan
Consumers Energy unveiled a “Love Michigan” tour to introduce their Clean Energy Plan. Their focus is on meeting the state’s electricity demands with 90% clean energy resources by 2040 while reducing carbon emissions and eliminating coal. They will be encouraging every resident and business to participate in various programs designed to save energy and money. Optimization of new technologies geared towards these goals will be put in place to rely more on renewable energy sources such as wind and solar.
Realgy Energy Services is a registered Retail Energy Marketer in the states of Illinois, Michigan, Indiana and Ohio. We offer Service Plans that will provide electric and natural gas at wholesale pricing direct to customers without any utility markup. Our Service Plans work with the local utility to provide seamless service and annual energy savings. Service Plans include Guaranteed SavingsTM, ManagedPriceTM, ManagedGreenTM Index, Fixed and PriceAssuranceTM.
Realgy owns and operates 7 solar plants in Illinois and is looking to invest in additional locations.
Additional Information: https://www.mlive.com/news/2019/08/clean-energy-plan-is-consumers-energys-commitment-to-people-planet-prosperity.html