Discover the Latest News and Initiatives for a Sustainable Future

SOLAR: To get around New Hampshire’s 5 MW solar net metering cap, the town of Bow plans to develop 6 MW of capacity across three municipal sites — double the capacity of the largest array in the state. (Concord Monitor)

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ALSO:

• A 2023 Maine law forces a solar developer to reduce the size of two solar farms slated to provide 2.7 MW each to conform to a new 1 MW or less cap. (Maine Monitor/Quoddy Tides)
• Some residents of Raymond, Maine, threaten legal action against a proposed solar farm they say is too close to their residential neighborhood and may harm their local ecosystem. (News Center Maine)
• A suburban Philadelphia township decides to write a letter of support for a state bill that would allow for community solar facilities. (Maine Line Times & Suburban)

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OFFSHORE WIND: The head of the Connecticut Port Authority says New York’s selection of the Empire Wind and Sunrise Wind projects promises more turbine assembly activity at the New London state pier. (The Day)

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GRID:

• The trial of two people charged with plotting to destroy substations around Baltimore will begin in early July, a federal judge decides. (Baltimore Sun)
• In Maryland, utilities and state regulators are coming to different conclusions as to the extent that electrification will impact the grid. (Daily Record)

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CONSUMERS: Maryland lawmakers advance new residential ratepayer protections for those purchasing power from retail suppliers, including a price cap over the standard service offer. (Associated Press)

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HYDROPOWER: Dover-Foxcroft, Maine, considers whether to remove or restore a former hydroelectric dam that provides an attractive backdrop for daily life but is structurally unsound. (Bangor Daily News)

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CLIMATE:

• New York City plans to use federal grants to upgrade or build greenway paths as part of its climate resiliency strategy, forming new paths for low-to-no emissions transit and mitigating the heat island effect. (Inside Climate News)
• Some coastal Maine towns debate whether managed retreat of certain buildings and homes is a better option than rebuilding on plots prone to flood damage after January’s storms. (Maine Monitor)
• A new study finds thousands more homes than previously believed in Atlantic City, New Jersey, will be flood prone by midcentury due sea level rise and sinking land. (WHYY)
• A state-federal program says climate change is bringing more nitrogen and phosphorus pollution into the Chesapeake Bay. (Bay Journal)

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COMMENTARY: New Hampshire’s consumer advocate writes that Eversource Energy is undertaking a $400 million transmission line upgrade project in a way that indicates the utility is “hoping nobody, or almost nobody, will notice.” (In-Depth NH)

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HYDROGEN: Pennsylvania’s governor says at a divisive public meeting that the state is “all in when it comes to the hydrogen hubs,” but environmentalists say the hard-to-reach location of the meeting shows a lack of interest in community engagement. (WHYY)

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FOSSIL FUELS:

• Pennsylvania’s governor promotes the plugging of the 200th abandoned oil well since he took office, but there’s a long road ahead to plug the estimated 350,000 undocumented ones remaining across the state. (Butler Eagle)
• New York’s assembly advances a bill to ban drilling and fracking natural gas and oil with carbon dioxide, a process some fracking firms are had considered in the state. (Finger Lakes 1)

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SOLAR: In New York, Niagara County’s environmental coordinator says the county’s solar panel recycling law is improving end-of-life panel management, but not all solar projects are complying. (Union-Sun & Journal)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• Some top Maine legislators want to strip power from a citizen board on vehicle emission standards and give it to themselves, but the NRDC says that would hurt clean car progress. (Portland Press Herald)
• A lack of public charging options continues to hinder electric vehicle adoption in New Jersey. (Asbury Park Press)
• An electric vehicle charging consultancy opens its new headquarters in Hanover, Maryland. (news release)

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GRID: New Jersey lawmakers mull the potential impact of two bills, which would codify a gubernatorial order to have all electricity sales involve clean energy by 2035 and spend $300 million on grid upgrades. (RTO Insider, subscription)

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POLICY:

• Several Maryland bills supporting the governor’s climate action plan are stuck in legislative committees, including solar installation incentives and a new fee on coal and natural gas transported by rail through the state. (WBAL)
• The Massachusetts Institute of Technology plans to launch a new climate change initiative aimed at connecting climate research to policymakers, but some students and observers worry the university will eventually turn to funding from fossil fuel firms. (Inside Climate News)
• North Yarmouth, Maine, begins forming its own climate action plan, following the steps of several neighboring towns in recent years. (The Forecaster)

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STORMS: Massachusetts plans to appeal federal emergency management officials’ decision to not issue a major disaster declaration over the severe flooding that swept through the state in September. (Associated Press)

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CLIMATE: The president of the New York Farm Bureau says his farmers support climate action but worry the push for electrification comes before electric farm equipment can handle the long hours required. (Spectrum News 1)

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TRANSIT: Two Somerville, Massachusetts, council members plan to introduce a resolution to remove “unnecessary” parking spaces from new developments to help meet climate goals. (Boston Herald)

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OFFSHORE WIND: Ørsted and Eversource begin sending power from their 132 MW South Fork wind project to the New York grid, the country’s first commercial-scale offshore wind farm to open. (Associated Press, Bloomberg)

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ALSO: Federal regulators approve an interconnection agreement for the 810 MW Empire Wind offshore project between New York’s grid operator and utility Con Edison. (news release)

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CLEAN ENERGY: Maryland legislators advance legislation to stop local jurisdictions from banning or limiting certain renewable energy resources, including incineration facilities, but some municipalities say it supersedes their zoning authority. (Frederick News-Post)

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FOSSIL FUELS: A development group finishes dismantling a former oil refinery in south Philadelphia, once the East Coast’s largest such facility, and begins construction on an industrial space and life sciences lab. (Philadelphia Inquirer)

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CLIMATE:

• A meeting of the Maine Climate Council discusses how the state is already seeing numerous side effects of the climate crisis, like experiencing its warmest four years since the last climate report was issued. (Bangor Daily News)
• Although New York City saw triple the amount of last winter’s snow total, it was only about 25% of the area’s typical accumulation. (CBS New York)

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SOLAR:

• A clean energy nonprofit’s new report finds Pennsylvania schools have tripled their solar resources in the past decade to around 39 MW. (news release)
• A Pennsylvania appeals court will hear a legal case over the denial of a conditional use permit for a proposed 858-acre solar farm in Pennsylvania’s North Annville Township. (LebTown)

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UTILITIES:

• A Maryland environmental group releases a study detailing the extent of lobbying efforts of the state’s investor-owned utilities toward state policymakers. (Maryland Matters)
• Concord and several other New Hampshire towns vote to adopt community power programs, despite some concern around existing net metering customers. (Concord Monitor)

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CLEAN VEHICLES:

• After being rejected in 2022, Princeton, New Jersey, school officials again apply for a state grant to help buy two battery-electric school buses. (Princeton Packet)
• New Jersey lawmakers advance legislation that would implement a $250 fee on zero-emission vehicles and five years of incremental gas tax hikes. (NJ Advance Media)
• Maine regulators begin using a 2021 law to fine those who sell diesel pick-up trucks modified to evade emissions control systems, with an Auburn dealership facing a possible $4,000 penalty. (Bangor Daily News)

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PIPELINES: Residents who live along the Mountain Valley Pipeline complain that Virginia regulators are ignoring erosion and pollution complaints as construction nears completion. (WVTF)

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ALSO: The Mountain Valley Pipeline’s biggest stakeholder announces it will merge with its former owner, Pittsburgh gas company EQT, in a $5.5 billion stock deal. (Cardinal News; Bloomberg, subscription)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• A new report finds North Carolina leads the country with $8.9 billion in new electric vehicle manufacturing and battery supply chain investments since August, and trails only Georgia and Michigan with a total of $19.2 billion in EV and battery investments in recent years. (Raleigh News & Observer)
• A Georgia lawmaker misrepresents why a planned 500-home subdivision near Hyundai’s planned electric vehicle factory was canceled. (Savannah Morning News)
• Florida’s Miami-Dade school system receives $19 million from the U.S. EPA for 50 electric school buses. (WTVJ)

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SOLAR:

• A company obtains financing to build a 408 MW solar farm in Texas, with all of its power going to Microsoft through a power purchase agreement. (Dallas Morning News, news release)
• Texas and Florida rank first and third for solar installations in 2023. (PV Tech)
• A Virginia county board narrowly approves a 12 MW solar farm — the county’s first — after a contentious two-hour public hearing. (Cardinal News)
• A North Carolina public works commission considers bids to build a 1.9 MW solar farm. (City View)

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OIL & GAS:

• Texas oil companies are charging ahead with drilling test wells for carbon capture in a race to capture federal permits and incentives available through the Biden administration’s climate package. (Houston Chronicle)
• Texas sues the U.S. EPA’s over its methane emissions rule that would mandate better leak monitoring and other emissions-reducing measures. (The Hill)
• A Texas group leads oil producers challenging federal rules that would require them to report their greenhouse gas emissions. (Bloomberg, subscription)

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COAL:

• Kentucky lawmakers advance legislation to let the state’s smallest coal companies reduce the number of miners with emergency medical training required to staff each shift, which critics warn is an important safeguard against mining deaths. (Kentucky Lantern, Associated Press)
• Austin, Texas’ municipal utility agrees to consider the mayor’s push to withdraw from its partial ownership of a coal-fired power plant, but warns doing so would complicate its future generation plans. (KXAN)

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UTILITIES: The prosecution rests and defense begins its case in the trial of two former executives who are accused of scheming to collect bonuses by privatizing Jacksonville, Florida’s municipal utility. (WTLV)

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CLIMATE:

• A study finds the Gulf Coast is rapidly sinking, with Louisiana especially threatened by rising seas. (WSB-TV)
• Texas officials say the largest wildfire in state history is now 89% contained, but caution that forecasted weather conditions could lead to more blazes. (Texas Tribune)
• Virginia lawmakers pass a bill allowing localities to impose restrictions on developers to preserve the tree canopy and its climate benefits, but builders warn the measure could significantly drive up their costs. (Virginia Mercury)
• A study ranks Richmond, Virginia, as the most climate-resilient city in the U.S., based largely on an extremely low score in a federal index which determines vulnerability to natural disasters. (WRIC)

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EMISSIONS: North Carolina’s new climate plan says that increasing support for low-income housing weatherization, upgrading energy efficiency in government buildings, and other measures to trim energy usage could get the state 60% of the way to its 2030 emissions reduction target. (Energy News Network)

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ALSO:

• The U.S. EPA opens an investigation into whether Alabama regulators committed discriminatory acts by renewing clean air permits for five industrial plants near a predominantly Black neighborhood. (E&E News, subscription)
• Activists crash a panel on climate emissions to protest Miami-Dade County’s plan to build a new trash incineration plant. (Miami Herald)

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OVERSIGHT: A South Carolina energy regulator resigns in protest of legislation to facilitate a natural gas-fired power plant that critics warn limits public engagement and offers a blank check to the power industry. (The State, Post and Courier)

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BIOMASS: Wood pellet producer Enviva files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and plans to restructure after reaching agreements with creditors to significantly reduce its debt. (Wilmington StarNews, Associated Press)

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CLEAN ENERGY:

• A new report ranks North Carolina just behind Michigan, Georgia, Texas, California and South Carolina as one of the top six states for clean energy investment since the 2022 passage of a federal climate package. (WRAL, Climate Power)
• U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen joins Kentucky’s governor and other state leaders to cut the ribbon on a new factory that makes carbon batteries and other products for electric vehicles. (Louisville Public Media)

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SOLAR: Rural health centers in Tennessee consider applying for a federal grant to install solar microgrids to maintain critical services during power outages. (WPLN)

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OIL & GAS:

• Texas lawmakers call for more state investment into oil and gas infrastructure in the Permian Basin to continue to break production records there. (Odessa American)
• Mild weather and rising inventories along the Gulf Coast lead natural gas prices at the benchmark Henry Hub to fall to their lowest since the early 1990s. (S&P Global)
• Nine Virginia lawmakers come out against Dominion Energy’s plans to build a natural gas-fired plant near the state capital. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
• Entergy asks Louisiana regulators to approve its plan to build a 112 MW natural gas-fired power plant on a floating barge to support several nearby communities. (E&E News, subscription)

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GRID: An Arkansas electric cooperative receives nearly $50 million in federal funding to install hundreds of miles of power lines and fiber-optic lines. (Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• Georgia residents who sit near the site of electric vehicle maker Rivian’s planned factory say silt from the construction site has seeped into groundwater and contaminated their wells. (WSB)
• A private water company wants Georgia lawmakers to allow it to bypass local governments to provide water service to new homes near Hyundai’s planned electric vehicle and battery factory. (WAGA)
• Electric vehicle charger manufacturer Blink relocates its headquarters from Florida to Maryland. (South Florida Business Journal, subscription; Daily Record)

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CLIMATE: A lawyer representing one of the landowners suing a Texas utility over a downed power line says damages from the enormous wildfires that resulted could exceed $1 billion. (KXAN)

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OIL & GAS: The data center building boom and resurgence in manufacturing have spiked power demand in the Southeast, prompting utilities to propose building dozens of new natural gas-fired power plants. (New York Times)

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ALSO:

• A report finds Louisiana and Texas have awarded billions in public subsidies for the Gulf Coast’s booming petrochemical buildout but don’t require companies to follow the terms of their state pollution control permits. (Inside Climate News)
• A company announces plans to retire 859 MW of natural gas-fired power at a Texas plant, likely squeezing the already stressed state power grid even more. (Bloomberg)

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EFFICIENCY: A Virginia company offers a free online calculator to help homeowners navigate federal tax credits and point-of-sale rebates for efficient appliances. (Energy News Network)

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EMISSIONS:

• Majority Hispanic neighborhoods along the 52-mile Houston Ship Channel face toxic emissions from one of the world’s largest petrochemical complexes, but inadequate monitoring data leaves them largely unaware of whether the air they breathe is safe. (Texas Tribune)
• A new study finds oil and natural gas wells, pipelines and compressors may be leaking three times more methane than official estimates, though scientists note most emissions come from a small fraction of facilities, potentially making the problem easier to solve. (Associated Press)

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CLIMATE:

• The role of a decayed power pole in sparking this month’s historic Texas wildfires has led to discussion about the state’s general lack of regulations for utilities related to wildfire mitigation. (NPR, Houston Chronicle)
• New research shows how hurricanes and other extreme weather worsened by climate change severely disrupts college students by making them more likely to withdraw from difficult courses and default on their student loans. (NPR)

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OVERSIGHT:

• Kentucky lawmakers advance legislation to create a commission to view the state’s energy needs through an economic lens and add another layer of consideration to power plant retirements, but critics say it gives fossil fuel interests even more influence. (Courier Journal)
• South Carolina lawmakers consider legislation to clear the way for Dominion Energy and state-owned utility Santee Cooper to partner on a 2,000 MW natural gas plant, though it also makes sweeping regulatory changes that led one state regulator to resign. (South Carolina Daily Gazette)
• Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoes a bill to require that long-running vacancies on the state’s environmental justice council be filled. (Virginia Mercury)

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BIOMASS:

• Wood pellet producer Enviva says it will continue building a $375 million Alabama plant despite filing for bankruptcy to restructure and shed $1 billion in debt. (AL.com)
• Tax breaks and direct appropriations from the congressional climate package could boost the Southeast’s biomass industry, which has seen growing exports to Europe but struggled economically. (Inside Climate News)

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COAL: The Southeast is home to five of the 14 coal plants that closed in the U.S. last year, but power generators are still largely looking to natural gas to replace that capacity. (Inside Climate News)

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COMMENTARY:

• Legislation to clear the way for a new natural gas-fired power plant in South Carolina also removes guardrails requiring utilities to act in the public interest, writes an official in the state’s League of Women Voters. (South Carolina Daily Gazette)
• West Virginia should consider repurposing some of the seven coal-fired power plants scheduled for closure over the next 15 years for nuclear power production, writes a Democratic state lawmaker. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)

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UTILITIES: Clean energy advocates applaud Minnesota’s largest gas utility for drafting a $105 million decarbonization plan, but say it doesn’t move fast enough to meet state emission-reduction targets. (Energy News Network)

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POLITICS:

• An aide to Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine stays quiet about her knowledge of a $4.3 million payment FirstEnergy made to an attorney who DeWine went on to appoint to the Public Utilities Commission. (Ohio Capital Journal)
• An Ohio bill would prohibit utilities from passing lobbying costs on to ratepayers and require more disclosures of political spending. (WFMJ)

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PIPELINES:

• A federal judge says the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers should have required Dakota Access pipeline protesters to obtain a permit to camp on Corps land during protests in late 2016 and early 2017. (South Dakota Searchlight)
• An investigation determines that a reported leak in rural South Dakota was unrelated to the Keystone pipeline. (Dakota Scout)

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CARBON CAPTURE: The developer of a multi-state carbon pipeline says it remains open to contracts that offtake the carbon for enhanced oil recovery, despite sworn testimony that the project is for underground storage. (Reuters)

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EMISSIONS: Indiana regulators say they are limited in setting more stringent air pollution requirements, though former state officials say options are available to reduce pollution in areas that fail to meet air quality standards. (IPR)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES: U.S. automakers are rebalancing budgets and laying off workers as they contend with shifting electric vehicle demand and higher labor costs. (Detroit News, subscription)

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RENEWABLES: A new online tool allows users to see how much wind and solar power was generated on a certain date. (Des Moines Register)

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BIOFUELS: Executives planning a sustainable jet fuel production plant in South Dakota say their company is undervalued and will offer an effective way for airlines to hit their emission-reduction targets. (South Dakota Searchlight)

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COMMENTARY:

• Xenophobia is taking over a central Ohio town where opponents seek to halt a joint venture involving a Chinese company  from building a planned solar panel factory, an editorial board writes. (Columbus Dispatch)
• An Iowa climate activist says climate change is costing state residents upwards of thousands of dollars per year through higher insurance premiums and soaring food prices. (Des Moines Register)

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UTILITIES: AES Indiana announces plans to convert its remaining coal units to run on natural gas and add up to 1,300 MW of renewables by 2027, becoming the state’s first investor-owned utility to stop burning coal. (Indiana Capital Chronicle)

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‍ELECTRIFICATION: A GOP-backed bill in Minnesota to prevent municipalities from banning gas stoves gets a hearing in a Democratic-led committee, though its chances of advancing are unlikely. (Star Tribune)

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POLITICS: A bipartisan bill would require more extensive federal national security reviews of certain real estate purchases by foreign countries of concern in response to a debate over a proposed Michigan battery manufacturing plant. (E&E News, subscription)

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GRID:

• A new scorecard says most regional grid operators have been too slow to adapt to market conditions with dysfunctional interconnection processes that slow clean energy projects. (States Newsroom)
• A Minnesota bill aiming to streamline clean energy and transmission permitting was spurred by a work group that built consensus among local governments, clean energy businesses and advocates, utilities, farmers and landowners. (MPR News)

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PIPELINES:

• North Dakota regulators will meet on Monday to set a schedule for hearings on Summit Carbon Solutions’ proposed carbon pipeline and storage project. (North Dakota Monitor)
• A federal appeals court in Cincinnati will hear arguments next week over whether Michigan’s lawsuit to decommission Line 5 should be in state or federal court. (Journal Sentinel)

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OIL & GAS: A new study finds U.S. oil and gas producers may be emitting three times more methane than EPA estimates. (E&E News, subscription)

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SOLAR: A northern Michigan utility signs a 20-year, $14.3 million contract to purchase power from a 140 MW solar project near Ann Arbor. (Record-Eagle)

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CLIMATE: Iowa and South Dakota are among just five states that declined to participate in a federal program that will provide $4.6 billion to cities, states, and tribes to implement local climate plans. (CBS News)

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BIOENERGY: An Iowa city explores partnering with a California firm to generate electricity from methane captured at a local landfill and sell the power back to the grid. (KYOU)

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COMMENTARY: An electric vehicle rideshare company representative calls for federal incentives that encourage EV charging stations in cities and that cover both upfront costs and maintenance. (Utility Dive)

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SOLAR: Ohio regulators are scheduled to consider plans next week for a $1 billion, 800 MW solar project with 300 MW of storage on thousands of acres partially owned by Bill Gates. (Columbus Dispatch)

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ALSO:

• A conservative lawmaker from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula joins an Ann Arbor Democrat to sponsor community solar legislation they say would ultimately benefit ratepayers. (WMUK)
• A U.S. solar manufacturing executive urges congressional lawmakers to make tax code changes that prevent Chinese solar companies from benefiting from Inflation Reduction Act incentives. (Utility Dive)

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RENEWABLES: Nebraska clean energy supporters cry foul over a bill that would require wind and solar projects to receive approval from a siting board appointed by the governor. (Nebraska News Connection)

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PIPELINES:

• A four-week trial ends in North Dakota, in a case to determine whether the state or federal government should pay $38 million in policing costs for Dakota Access pipeline protests, though a judgment isn’t expected for weeks . (North Dakota Monitor)
• Court documents in the Dakota Access case show that up to 10 FBI informants were embedded during the protests in late 2016 and early 2017, far more than the single one that had been confirmed until now. (Grist)
• Great Lakes tribal leaders, along with federal judges, are waiting for the Biden administration to state its position on whether the Line 5 pipeline should be shut down on tribal land in northern Wisconsin. (Michigan Advance)

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OIL & GAS: North Dakota’s oil and gas production has fully recovered from double-digit declines during a cold weather snap in January. (S&P Global)

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BIOMASS: Environmental groups are concerned that the federal Inflation Reduction Act could create tax incentives for wood-to-energy biomass projects and potentially worsen climate emissions. (Inside Climate News)

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CARBON CAPTURE: Western Michigan University lands a $2.25 million federal grant to advance research to capture and store carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. (WOOD-TV8)

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OVERSIGHT: Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers appoints a regional grid expert and a former engineer to a vacancy on the state’s Public Service Commission. (Journal Sentinel)

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EFFICIENCY: An Ohio college receives $250,000 in state energy efficiency funding to install new heating and cooling systems in residence halls and cut utility costs in half. (News Journal)

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Correction: Connecticut’s Innovative Energy Solutions Program is working with the consulting firm Strategen. An earlier version of this story misspelled the name of the program and firm. Also, the participating company Kraken is not affiliated with the similarly named cryptocurrency company.

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Connecticut regulators have approved the first round of pilot projects in a new program aimed at accelerating innovation across the electric grid.

Seven tech companies have received the go-ahead to partner with utilities Eversource or United Illuminating to test the potential of their hardware or software to help decarbonize the state’s electric grid.

The Innovative Energy Solutions Program is part of a broader effort by the state Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) to modernize the grid. It encourages utilities to embrace new technology while limiting the risk to ratepayers.

The selected companies were winnowed from an initial 50 applications. While some of the technologies have been deployed successfully elsewhere, none have been tested in Connecticut, said Julia Dumaine, PURA’s supervisor of strategy and operations. The projects, funded at a total of just under $10 million, were chosen after a multi-step review process that included scrutiny from a nine-member advisory council.

“Having these increasingly stringent reviews minimizes ratepayer risk,” Dumaine said. “These are technologies that have demonstrated the potential to provide real ratepayer and grid-level benefits.”

None are startups in the research and development phase — they are all prepared to scale up at a later date, she said.

After the pilots launch, each company has a set of metrics they must meet and will be required to report on them quarterly, said Eli Asher, a senior manager at Strategen, the consulting firm responsible for developing and administering the program.

“We will be gathering data on how effective the projects are,” he said. “At the end of the deployment period, we’ll have a cost-benefit analysis to inform the recommendations as to whether they should be fully deployed at scale across the state.”

The program allows the utilities to recover their costs for testing these new technologies, something they might be reluctant to do otherwise.

“I think it’s great to have regulators backing a program like this,” said Alex Ghanem, commercial manager for Piclo, one of the companies participating. “It’s a risk to test things out and it costs the utilities resources to do so. I think this is a great framework.”

Based in London, England, Piclo will work with United Illuminating to launch a grid flexibility market. They will recruit owners, operators and managers of any type of distributed energy resource — battery storage, electric vehicles, and other types of dispatchable power sources commonly known as DERs — to operate in an independent marketplace in return for compensation.

Piclo will work with DER aggregators on their platform. They will provide United Illuminating with local flexible DERs that represent alternative — and ideally, cheaper — places to buy energy than on the wholesale market when the utility has insufficient supply to meet customer demand.

Piclo is already operating in New York in partnership with National Grid.

“The penetration of DERs is disrupting the grid and the utilities need to pull on multiple different levers to manage that,” said John Bayard, Piclo’s chief commercial officer. “Grid flexibility marketplaces are one of the tools they can use.”

Another British company, Kraken, will also work with United Illuminating to help them better manage DERs.

Kraken’s platform “can connect to any kind of DER — electric vehicles, heat pumps, smart thermostats,” said Devrim Celal, chief executive officer. “We can connect to them in an effective way, monitor them in real time and control what they do.”

This pilot will focus on customers that use heat pumps and drive electric vehicles. The company will recruit ratepayers to sign up to use their mobile app, which will give Kraken access to their DERs. For example, they might tell the company what kind of EV and charger they have, and what time of day they need to have their car charged by.

“We will determine when is the best time to charge their cars to achieve low-carbon emission targets, and in exchange we’ll give them a reward,” Celal said.

The pilot is intended to help the grid run greener and more cheaply.

An EV charging software company called AmpUp will work with Eversource to try to balance electricity demand during peak periods by decreasing load at electric vehicle chargers. Based in Santa Clara, Calif., AmpUp will provide incentives to compensate charging station owners for decreasing charging during peak periods.

They are still working out what level of incentive might stimulate participation, as well as whether it might appeal to a workplace with four chargers as much as to a company operating a fleet of vehicles, said Matt Bloom, director of partnerships.

“We’re really excited,” he said. “It’s good to see the regulators take a little risk. This is a good way to innovate, see what we learn and whether it’s something Eversource could adopt long term.”

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