QUICK NEWS, September 25: UTILITY REVERSES, FINDS NEW ENERGY CHEAPER THAN GAS; UK’S BIGGEST BIRD PROTECTION GROUP TO BUILD HQ WIND; WHAT 60 MILLION SMART METERS SAY

UTILITY REVERSES, FINDS NEW ENERGY CHEAPER THAN GAS Utility Agrees: (Their) Solar Should Supplant Natural Gas

September 16, 2013 (Institute for Local Self-Reliance)

“Five months ago, one of the country’s ten largest electric utilities told regulators in Minnesota that it needed three new natural gas power plants to handle peak energy demand. This week, the same company’s Colorado division announced plans to use more solar power because it is cost competitive with gas…Maybe they need a memo to share the news: solar is cheaper than gas. A lot cheaper… Even small scale solar is competitive with natural gas power for supplying energy when the grid needs it most…” click here for more

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UK’S BIGGEST BIRD PROTECTION GROUP TO BUILD HQ WIND Major bird charity plans wind turbine at HQ; Wind power critics argue that turbines kill birds. So why is the U.K.'s largest bird charity planning a turbine?

Sami Grover, September 18, 2013 (Mother Nature Network)

“Whenever a new wind turbine project is announced, it's common for critics to pipe up and complain about the risk of bird kills…That strategy may fall a little flat with a planning application being submitted in Bedfordshire…by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), Britain's largest bird conservation group…[and] wind energy developer Ecotricity…Both Ecotricity and the RSPB say they have undertaken thorough environmental assessments of the site, and they are confident that there will not be a significant impact on either local wildlife or the surrounding community…” click here for more

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WHAT 60 MILLION SMART METERS SAY Utilities Try to Learn From Smart Meters; Vast customer data is starting to transform the ways companies operate

Rebecca Smith, September 23, 2013 (Wall Street Journal)

“Utilities have installed more than 60 million smart meters in North America in the past decade… Now they have to figure out what to do with all the information the devices are generating…It's a mind-boggling amount of data…[Traditional meters] were read 12 times a year…[S]mart meters bombard utilities with…readings every 15 minutes, or 35,000 times a year. They also alert utilities to electricity theft and dozens of other useful things…[And] information is streaming in from the grid itself, where millions of sensors and smart controllers are giving utilities deeper, more timely information on equipment performance and power flows…As utilities get their arms around the data, the implications for consumers could be significant…” click here for more

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