Category: Energy

Ontario Government Moves To Scrap Green Energy Act | CTV News

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TORONTO — The Ontario government has introduced legislation to scrap the Green Energy Act, which aimed to bolster the province’s renewable energy industry. Premier Doug Ford promised to repeal the act during the spring election campaign. The law was introduced by the previous Liberal government in 2009 under former premier Dalton McGuinty in a bid to grow the province’s solar and wind energy supply. Critics of the Green Energy Act have said it resulted in an increase in electricity costs and saw the province overpay for power it did not…

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Small Nudges Add Up To Big Electric Savings | Ars Technica

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Not all electricity is created equal. Utilities prioritize getting power from the cheapest sources available. That means that, as use rises to what’s typically a mid-afternoon peak, utilities end up sourcing ever more expensive supplies of electricity. By the time we reach the use typical of a late afternoon during a heat wave, the utilities have to call in the most expensive forms of power around—typically, the oldest, least-efficient, and most-polluting plants. So cutting down on energy use during these peak demand events is in a utility’s interests. And, since…

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Energy Jobs Reports Say Solar Dominates Coal, But Wind Is The Real Winner | Ars Technica

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Two updated energy jobs reports have been released, and they paint a picture of how the last year has affected different energy sectors. The news is good for wind and natural gas. The news is less good for solar and coal. The first report, called the US Energy and Employment Report (USEER), comes from the National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO), and it looks at energy jobs across the US in all sectors of the industry. The second comes from the Solar Foundation, a pro-solar association that tracks jobs with a…

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Three Ways Blockchain Could Kill the Old-School Utility Model | Bloomberg Quint

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(Bloomberg) — If utilities think rooftop solar panels and batteries are bad for business, blockchain should scare the bejeezus out of them. That’s because in addition to helping more people slapl panels on their rooftops — which eats into power sales and taxes grids — the distributed, digital ledger that’s proliferated across industries can also be used to trade electricity without a utility even knowing it. Imagine your neighbor with a solar panel directly selling you cheap power to charge your Tesla. Sure, there are some utilities that see the…

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Nova Scotia Power Testing Tesla Batteries In Electrical System – Halifax | Globalnews.ca

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Nova Scotia Power is testing Tesla batteries in a pilot project exploring how they can be used to provide a more reliable power supply. A couple dozen battery compartments, each about the size of an enclosed portable toilet, have been installed at an electrical substation in Elmsdale, N.S. The modular arrangement is called a Powerpack system; essentially a giant rechargeable battery. A smaller-scale system was installed in Australia. “The wind blows when it blows, the sun shines when it shines, but people like to watch TV at night,” Jill Searle, the NSP’s…

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Tesla Looks To Take Solar Mainstream With Home Depot Partnership | TechCrunch

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While Elon Musk is preparing for this week’s launch of the Falcon Heavy rocket, his other company is also preparing for a launch. Tesla has made a deal with Home Depot to sell both the PowerWall and Tesla’s solar panels at 800 Home Depot locations. The retail spaces will be Tesla branded and Tesla employees will be on hand to assist with service and sales. Home Depot has some 2,200 stores across the country, but the 800-store roll out is still the largest retail presence Tesla has ever known for…

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Canadian Oil Selling At A Deep Discount – And It Hurts – Business – CBC News

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North American oil prices are marching toward $65 US a barrel this month, giving the industry a boost after the market collapsed three years ago. The oil sector hasn’t seen these prices since late 2014, but most companies in Alberta are receiving significantly less, just above $40 US a barrel. The Alberta oilpatch continues to increase oil production, but as pipelines fill up, companies are receiving less money for their oil compared to the rest of the continent. While there is always a gap between the North American benchmark, West Texas Intermediate (WTI),…

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Why you should switch to LED lightbulbs right now, before the law requires it – The Washington Post

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When Jason Chroman relocated from San Francisco to the suburbs, he and his family moved into a bigger, newer house. It was all very exciting until their first electric bill arrived. “The house was maybe 30 percent bigger, but the electric bill was something like 200 percent more,” Chroman said. So he started looking around to figure out what could be using so much power. He found the answer when he looked up: “Because it was a new house, it had a lot of recessed lighting, all of which was…

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Renewable Energy Growing In Canada But Solar Installations Lagging Behind – CityNews Toronto

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by Mia Rabson, The Canadian Press OTTAWA – Although the cost to build solar power has plummeted over the last decade, a new report suggests Canadians aren’t rushing use the sun to make electricity. The National Energy Board today released its annual look at the state of renewable energy in Canada and it says solar energy accounts for just 0.5 per cent of all Canada’s generated electricity. And almost all of that exists entirely in Ontario, the report notes. NEB chief economist Shelley Milutinovic said the trend in Canada is…

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Canada, U.K. Join Forces To Phase Out Coal, But At Least 2 Canadian Provinces Want Out – National | Globalnews.ca

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Canada and the United Kingdom have enticed 18 other nations to adopt their mutual goal of weaning themselves off coal-fired power – but at least two provinces are trying to negotiate their way out of the federal government’s own domestic plan. Environment Minister Catherine McKenna was all smiles Thursday as she and her British counterpart officially launched the Global Alliance to Power Past Coal at the United Nations climate change talks in Germany. Eighteen countries, five provinces and two states signed onto the Canada-U.K. alliance. “We’re seeing huge momentum for…

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