Butte, Montana
On Friday, March 26th, Governor Charlie Baker signed a new climate bill into law. The official name of the law is “An Act Creating A Next Generation Roadmap for Massachusetts Climate Policy”. Kind of a mouthful. This new law aims to tackle a wide range of challenges and sets goals for the state to reach. It continues the trend of Massachusetts being one of the most progressive states when it comes to climate action.
On Wednesday, March 24th Advanced Energy Economy (AEE) held a webinar titled "Search for Resilience: Texas Blackouts, Policy Fallout, and How Advanced Energy Can Help”. It has been about one month since the disastrous winter weather caused blackouts all across ERCOT, Texas’s electric grid. It was enlightening to hear from industry and policy experts about what has happened in the wake of the blackouts, and what the future of ERCOT and other electric grids across the United States will look like.
Breiter Planet Properties President Andrew Breiter-Wu goes into detail about the recent IPO offering of Array Technologies. Array manufactures tracking and racking equipment for solar systems. This technology allows homeowners, property owners, and businesses to get the most production out of their investment into clean energy. Tracking systems allow the panels to track the direction of the sun so they are receiving the most direct sunlight throughout the day.
Murray Energy, the largest privately held coal company in the United States recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. This continues to be a trend for coal companies over the last couple of years. As renewables like solar and wind become more cost effective, they are beginning to move coal fired power plants out of the picture. Unfortunately, the effects of this bankruptcy will harm only the most vulnerable. It will lead to workers and coal miners getting the short end of the stick, and top executives at Murray Energy getting off scot-free. “It (Murray Energy) will seek to be relieved of its obligations to retirees, their dependents and widows. We have seen this sad act too many times before.” (Source)
What Is Peak Demand?
Peak Demand is when electrical power demand is the highest. A likely time for Peak Demand to come is during a heatwave, when households and businesses across the nation turn on their air conditioning to stay cool. When peak demand occurs, utilities fire up peaker plants, which are able to meet the increased demand for electricity.
