TVA weighs controversial Bellefonte restart
- Details
-
17 Aug 2011
Six TVA board members toured the partially completed Bellefonte nuclear plant Friday, a few for the very first time, as the board prepares to consider a recommendation to complete one of two unfinished reactors at the nuclear power plant in Hollywood at its Aug. 18 meeting.
“[Board members] wanted to visit the site today,” said TVA President and CEO Tom Kilgore.
TVA officials estimate the Unit 1 reactor, which was 88 percent complete when construction was suspended in 1988, could be up and running between 2018-2020 if the construction restart is approved.
Two board members, chairman Dennis Bottorf and Marilyn A. Brown declined to tell The Daily Sentinel Friday how they planned to vote, saying they are still studying and researching.
Cisco exits energy management
- Details
-
17 Aug 2011
Another one bites the dust. At the end of June, the names Google PowerMeter and Microsoft Hohm were chiseled on the grave marker of casualties in the race to build smart grid-linked software and gizmos. To this list of famous fallen, Cisco Systems adds its name, with an announcement Thursday that it will exit building management software services while also retreating from the home energy management market.
The news was tucked into Cisco’s fiscal fourth quarter earnings call. Amidst the rollercoaster markets of the past few days, Cisco showed signs of recovering from recent missteps, solidly beating expectations -- a performance rewarded by antsy investors with a 17 percent stock price runup. 17 Aug. 2011
http://www.greenbiz.com/cisco-quietly-shuts-energy-management-program
. . . as EnergyHub releases home mgt. system
- Details
-
17 Aug 2011
As Cisco and other “bigs” exit the home energy management business, apparently regarding the market for such technology as premature, EnergyHub, a home energy management company based in Brooklyn, N.Y., announced its new online software platform called Mercury, which provides users with analytical data that can help optimize heating and cooling systems, increase energy efficiency, and lower power costs.
The company points to a statement from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory which estimates that the average annual energy bill for a family in America is around $2,000, and that roughly 46 percent of those costs come from heating and cooling. EnergyHub says their software can reduce those costs by 20 percent, or about $200. 17 Aug. 2011
Army to invest $7.1 bn. in renewables
- Details
-
15 Aug 2011
In an effort to combat rising fuel prices, the Army has announced plans to invest a substantial amount in renewable energy sources. The creation of the new Energy Initiatives Office Task Force will be responsible for developing renewable energy projects for the Army. The task force is a part of the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy, and the Environment. The EIO task force is expected to be fully operational by Sept. 15.
Creation of a task force designed to focus on renewability will help the Army achieve its goal of 25 percent renewable energy by 2025 – a Defense Department goal mandated by the National Defense Authorization Act of 2007.
