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EERE NETWORK NEWS -- August 27, 2003
A weekly newsletter from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE)
Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).
<http://www.eere.energy.gov/>
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Featuring:
*News and Events
Hydropower and Conservation Contributed to Blackout Recovery
San Francisco Approves $16 Million Energy Efficiency Program
New Jersey Awards $2.7 Million to Renewable Energy Companies
Companies Unveil New Building-Integrated Solar Panels
Automakers Drop Lawsuits Over California ZEV Rules
Organizations, Consumers Still Pursuing Electric Vehicles
*Site News
DOE Updates Its Weatherization Assistance Program Web Site
*Energy Connections
After Blackout, Groups Envision Future Power System Options
*About this Newsletter
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NEWS AND EVENTS
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Hydropower and Conservation Contributed to Blackout Recovery
New York State may draw on a wide number of energy sources for its
electricity, but when it needed to recover from the August 14th
blackout, it turned to hydropower. Hydroelectric power plants have the
ability to "blackstart" -- start generating power without help from
any external power source -- and to produce power immediately. In
contrast, nuclear and fossil-fuel power plants require significant
startup times, and nuclear power plants are not permitted to operate
while the power grid is not energized. According to the National
Hydropower Association (NHA), hydropower facilities were the first to
be placed in operation in order to establish a stable power grid, the
critical first step in restoring power to the region. See the press
release on the NHA Web site at: <http://www.hydro.org/>.
Energy conservation also played an important role during the recovery,
as power supplies remained tight for several days after the blackout.
See, for example, the press releases from two utilities that serve New
York State, Niagara Mohawk and Consolidated Edison:
<http://www.niagaramohawk.com/nimotod/newsindx/newsindx.asp> and
<http://www.coned.com/about/about.asp?pr=20030816>.
San Francisco Approves $16 Million Energy Efficiency Program
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved a $16.3 million energy
efficiency pilot project for the city in late July. The city's
environment department will work with the Pacific Gas and Electric
Company (PG&E) to run the program, which aims to reduce peak
electricity demand for both homes and businesses. The program will
include nine elements aimed at reducing peak power use by 16 megawatts
in the city by January 2005. The nine program elements include
installing energy efficiency measures in the homes of low-income
families, providing energy audits and other technical support to
businesses, and offering rebates to multifamily housing units and
businesses. See the PG&E press release at:
<http://www.pge.com/006_news/006a_news_rel/030723.shtml>.
New Jersey Awards $2.7 Million to Renewable Energy Companies
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) announced in early
August its award of $2.7 million to 10 renewable energy businesses.
The awards are part of the state's Renewable Energy and Economic
Development Program, which promotes renewable energy business
development in the state. The firms will use the grants to explore
wave energy, develop a variety of solar energy technologies,
investigate means of producing hydrogen from renewable energy sources,
and produce power from that hydrogen using fuel cells. The grants will
also go toward efforts to assist local government officials in buying
green power and to assist energy service companies in providing
renewable energy services. See the New Jersey BPU press release at:
<http://www.bpu.state.nj.us/home/news.shtml?46-03>.
Companies Unveil New Building-Integrated Solar Panels
Two companies in recent weeks have announced new solar power products
that will allow solar power to be integrated into buildings. Solar
panels are expensive, and one approach to alleviating that expense is
to make the panels serve a dual purpose, producing power while acting
as a functional part of the building -- an approach called building-
integrated photovoltaics, or BIPV.
United Solar Ovonic LLC -- Ovonic Solar, for short -- has teamed up
with GenFlex Roofing Systems to offer a photovoltaic roofing product
for flat or low-slope commercial roofs. The result, according to the
two companies, is a durable, weather-resistant roofing material that
also generates power. See the Ovonic Solar press release, in PDF
format only, at:
<http://www.uni-solar.com/PDF%20Files/GenFlex_final%20draft.pdf>.
Spire Solar Chicago has introduced a translucent solar module that can
be used for skylights or awnings. The solar modules, which feature a
clear back sheet to allow light to pass through, recently passed
environmental and safety testing by Underwriters Laboratory. The
modules will be used for awnings in a new condominium project and for
cornices in a new commercial building, both located in Chicago. See
the Spire Solar Chicago press release at:
<http://www.spiresolarchicago.com/solar/News/403SSC.htm>.
Automakers Drop Lawsuits Over California ZEV Rules
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) announced on August 12th
that it has reached an agreement with automakers and car dealers that
will end litigation over the state's Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV)
regulation. The litigation involved three lawsuits -- filed by
DaimlerChrysler Corporation, General Motors Corporation, Isuzu Motors
Limited, and several car dealers -- challenging CARB's authority to
promulgate the regulation. The agreement calls for the plaintiffs to
dismiss their lawsuits once the new 2003 ZEV regulation is finalized.
See the CARB press release, in PDF format only, at:
<http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/zevprog/zevlitigation/exhibitc.pdf>.
As reported in the April 30th edition of this newsletter, the new 2003
ZEV regulation gives automakers greater flexibility, allowing
automakers to earn credits by selling clean hybrid-electric or
natural-gas vehicles, extremely clean conventional vehicles, or
vehicles powered by fuel cells. See the April 30th story at:
<http://www.eere.energy.gov/news/news_detail.cfm?news_id=584>.
Organizations, Consumers Still Pursuing Electric Vehicles
Despite the changes in the ZEV regulations, which greatly reduce the
requirement to sell all-electric vehicles in California, a number of
programs are underway throughout the country to promote electric
vehicles. In mid-July, the State of Hawaii and Hyundai Motor Company
announced a two-year extension of a program that is testing 15
electric sport utility vehicles in local fleets. Enova Systems
provided a 90-kilowatt electric drive for the vehicles. In late July,
the New York Power Authority (NYPA) and Global Electric Motorcars
(GEM), a DaimlerChrysler subsidiary, donated 300 small electric
vehicles for use in 40 locations around the state. Called neighborhood
electric vehicles, or NEVs, the low-speed vehicles are mainly being
used on campuses. GEM has reached a number of milestones recently,
including sales of 10,000 NEVs in California, 1,000 NEVs in New York,
and introductions of the vehicles in New Hampshire and Maine. And
according to a study by the Green Car Institute, California owners of
NEVs are using them for 65 percent of their daily short-distance
trips, driving a total of 12.6 million zero-emissions miles each year.
See the press releases from Enova Systems, NYPA, GEM, and the Green
Car Institute at:
<http://www.enovasystems.com/investor/pressContent/07142003.asp>,
<http://www.nypa.gov/press/2003/030729b.htm>,
<http://www.gemcar.com/htmls/GemPressRel.asp>, and
<http://www.greencars.org/newsrelease_aug12.htm>.
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SITE NEWS
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DOE Updates Its Weatherization Assistance Program Web Site
<http://www.eere.energy.gov/weatherization/>
The Web site for DOE's Weatherization Assistance Program now has an
updated look and feel that reflects the look of the EERE Web site.
The revised site includes a greatly expanded section on each state's
weatherization activities: Click on "State Activities" to see the
wealth of information provided there. The site also takes on a new
Web address -- www.eere.energy.gov/weatherization/ -- so for those of
you whose Web sites link to the Weatherization Assistance Program,
please update your links to the new address.
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ENERGY CONNECTIONS
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After Blackout, Groups Envision Future Power System Options
In the wake of the August 14th blackout, energy groups are already
trying to answer the most crucial question: How can we prevent this
from happening again? The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI)
thinks it already has the answer. A new EPRI report articulates a
vision of a unified, digitally controlled power grid that can move
power precisely and reliably throughout North America, a concept first
articulated by EPRI in its 1999 Electricity Technology Roadmap. The
new report also calls for advanced meter technologies and increased
use of distributed energy resources. See the 1999 roadmap and the
August 25th press release at:
<http://www.epri.com/corporate/discover_epri/roadmap/index.html>
and <http://www.epri.com/highlights.asp?objid=292711>.
The Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), an energy think tank, agrees with
EPRI on at least one point: the enhanced use of distributed energy
resources -- including relatively small, modular power devices such as
fuel cells, solar panels, microturbines, and combined heat and power
systems -- would boost the reliability of our nation's electrical
supply. RMI also suggests establishing small office parks that can be
isolated from the grid. See the RMI press release, in PDF format only,
at: <http://www.rmi.org/images/other/MR_PR_NEPwrOutage14Aug03.pdf>.
Meanwhile, DOE, the U.S./Canada Joint Task Force, and other groups
continue to investigate the cause of the August 14th blackout. While
the root cause has not been determined, the first failures occurred on
several power lines just south of Cleveland that are operated by
FirstEnergy Corporation. Still unclear is the cause of those failures
and how such apparently minor line failures managed to cascade into
such a widespread outage. According to the North American Electric
Reliability Council (NERC), pinpointing the exact cause of the
blackout will be a challenging task. See the August 15th "Preliminary
Disturbance Report" and subsequent press releases from NERC at:
<http://www.nerc.com/~filez/pressreleases.html>.
According to FirstEnergy Corporation, the transmission grids
throughout the region were experiencing load swings and unusual
voltage and frequency fluctuations for hours prior to the blackout.
See the FirstEnergy press releases from August 16th and 18th at:
<http://www.firstenergycorp.com/fenews>.
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ABOUT THIS NEWSLETTER
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