Posts Tagged: Electric Utility
August 20, 2018
How utilities can encourage electric vehicle adoption in their territory
Falling demand for electricity threatens utilities Since steam ceded its position as the main provider of mechanical power to electricity in the early 1900s, there has been one stable relationship; as a country’s output and economy has grown, so too has its consumption of electricity. Thanks to the electrification of factories, by the 1920s, American manufacturing productivity soared to far greater heights than ever[…]
July 18, 2018
Will Additional Public Charging Infrastructure Improve EV Adoption?
On the surface, it seems like a strange question to ask; surely more charging infrastructure increases the chance for electric vehicles (EVs) to thrive. There appears to be a fascination of expanding the number of public charging stations that can charge at rapid rates as investment continues to pour into public infrastructure projects. The question this article asks is whether the public infrastructure is[…]
June 6, 2018
Are EV fleets the answer to controllable loads and grid efficiency?
The adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) is set to grow exponentially. Primarily driven by the reduction in cost compared to the Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) counterparts and generous government incentives to encourage users to switch to EVs. However, increasing the EV fleet puts pressure on global electricity demand. EVs operate via a battery that requires electricity to run. Therefore, the more EVs on the[…]
April 18, 2018
Are you charging your EV with clean or dirty energy?
It feels like the long tailpipe argument never goes away. Simply put, full life-cycle emissions of electric vehicles (EVs) are no different to that of a conventional vehicle. But, this is no longer the case. Fresh research tells us that 75 percent of people in the US live in places where driving on electricity is cleaner than a 50 MPG gasoline car. In the[…]
April 11, 2018
A look at which US utility companies are running EV programs
Electric vehicles are increasing in popularity. But is the electrical utility grid ready to adapt? By 2020, the EV market is expected to reach 3.8 billion. The prices are dropping, which will accelerate the adoption of the new type of vehicles even further. However, this raises some problems: How are utilities going to prepare for taking the extra load? What will happen during the[…]
January 10, 2018
SRP Studying How the Increasing Number of EV Drivers Will Impact the Grid
As more drivers invest in electric vehicles (EVs), energy consumption due to vehicle charging is expected to increase as well. With an eye on this upward trend, Salt River Project is working with the Electric Power Research Institute on a study to determine how this will impact the grid in the future. SRP is one of the first utilities in the country to commission[…]
January 8, 2018
Is Gamification the Solution to Electric Vehicle Load Management?
The principles of gamification have been applied in user-centric product and
process design to influence participant behavior. Many of the applications have been in the form of software design or online marketing programs. But can these same principles, which have been used successfully in other areas, be applied to large challenges such as electrical load management across a utility’s grid?
November 27, 2017
What Are the Impacts of Renewables and Electric Vehicles on the Grid?
Despite a challenging political climate in the US, the renewables energy sector is growing. So too is the market for electric vehicles, but while both of these advances will help to mitigate our effects on the environment, what impact will they have on the stability of the grid and what should utilities firms be doing now to prepare themselves for these impacts? In 2016,[…]
November 23, 2017
How to Charge your EV with Clean Energy
At times, electric vehicles have proved a conundrum to consumers looking to contribute to a greener environment. Although you can get them down to zero emissions, many people are wondering if an accelerated demand for EVs will trigger a greater consumption of fossil fuels. Approximately 41% of electricity worldwide is fueled by coal, with some of the biggest producers, like China, rising each year[…]
October 25, 2017
The Latest in Vehicle to Grid (V2G) Charging
Despite the positive impact energy policy has on the planet, it leaves some issues that must be immediately addressed. As of 2016, over 25% of Europe has quit coal-burning power stations, with plans to end the fossil fuel usage by 2020 in Austria and 2025 in Britain. Although the plant closures will have significant effects of lessening CO2 emissions, it leaves many countries wondering how[…]
