Acting Deputy Administrator Elliot Mainzer joined U.S. Department of Energy Assistant Secretary Patricia Hoffman, Senator Ron Wyden, Salem Mayor Anna Peterson and Ron Melton from Battelle for a tour of PGE's new Salem Smart Power Center on May 31.
The Northwest is another step closer to a smarter, more efficient power grid thanks to a new `microgrid’ facility in Salem, Ore.
Portland General Electric unveiled its new Smart Power Center at a ribbon-cutting ceremony, May 31. The new 8,000-square-foot facility is part of a region-wide umbrella project – the Pacific Northwest Smart Grid Demonstration Project – that’s testing and validating smart technologies and capabilities. A 5-megawatt battery system is the star of the new center and the largest application of energy storage in the Battelle-led demo project, which is the largest regional smart grid project in the country.
“The Pacific Northwest Smart Grid Demonstration Project is a successful public-private partnership involving 17 organizations across five Northwest states," said Patricia Hoffman, assistant secretary for DOE's Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, which oversees regional smart grid demonstration projects. "It is a highly innovative project demonstrating transactive energy management, which is a promising, cost-effective way to integrate variable renewable energy, energy storage and demand response at scale. The celebration of the Salem Smart Power Center makes it clear that Oregon is helping to lead the way on energy storage commercialization and grid modernization.”
PGE, an investor-owned utility that serves more than 821,000 customers in northwest Oregon, is one of 11 electric utilities from five Northwest states that are participating in the five-year, $178 million regional smart grid project that launched in 2010. About half of PGE’s $23 million involvement in the project was paid for with DOE funds, including the $10 million Smart Power Center.
PGE’s new center will test how smart assets can work together at the regional level to optimize the Northwest's abundance of renewable resources and provide needed balancing services that can enhance the reliability of the regional grid. The 5 MW lithium-ion battery system is a component of the microgrid facility which has been designed as a highly reliable, localized power zone that can provide reserve power to about 500 local customers if there’s a electricity disruption or power outage. The battery and microgrid are examples of the innovative technologies and methods being tested through the demonstration project. Click here or watch the video to learn more about PGE’s Salem Smart Power Center.
Sen. Wyden, a champion of smart grid and energy storage initiatives, helped kick off the event.
Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, chairman of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and a champion of smart grid and energy storage initiatives, joined Assistant Secretary Hoffman as a speaker at the grand opening.
“Increasing renewables, reliability and storage moves our country toward a low-carbon, more sustainable energy future,” Sen. Wyden said. “This Smart Power Center and the Pacific Northwest Smart Grid Demonstration Project show that when it comes to energy innovation, Oregon takes a back seat to no one.”
The energy storage system will respond to regional grid conditions with the help of a key aspect of the demonstration project called transactive control. Transactive control is based on technology from DOE's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, managed by Battelle. The technology helps power producers and users decide when and where the area's power will be consumed by automatically responding to signals representing future power costs and planned energy consumption. The cost signals originate at Battelle's Electricity Infrastructure Operations Center in Richland, Wash. They are updated every five minutes and sent to participating utilities, including PGE.
The automated signals allow project participants to make local decisions on how their piece of the smart grid project can support local and regional grid needs. The Salem battery will use the signal to coordinate its charge and discharge cycles with the power grid's supply and demand.
“Two-way information exchange in the Pacific Northwest Smart Grid Demonstration Project allows grid operators to make the existing electric grid more efficient, while also exploring how using other technologies such as PGE's energy storage system, smart appliances and wind power can bolster the reliability of our system,” said Carl Imhoff, who manages Battelle's Electricity Infrastructure Market Sector in Richland.
Mainzer spoke about BPA’s role in developing a business case that points the region to the smart technologies that will provide the greatest value.
The Bonneville Power Administrationis a major partner in the project and is leading the development of a regional business case for investing in smart grid infrastructure and technologies.
“New, smarter technologies can help us make the most of the region's renewable resources, improve how we operate the power system and bolster its resilience,” said Elliot Mainzer, BPA's deputy administrator. “We're looking closely at the benefits and economics so we can tell Northwest electric utilities and ratepayers which 'smart' investments will provide long-term value.”
BPA is working to support utilities in the project as they unite to address both regional and utility requirements. Communication and collaboration between utilities is key to making this all work, especially considering that five states are involved, with everything from large investor-owned companies to smaller publicly-owned entities. The utilities have varying goals, but are working together to enhance the economics, reliability and integration of renewables for the power system. BPA has taken a lead role in assuring that the utility perspective as well as the regional perspective is addressed to meet the needs of electricity consumers throughout the Northwest. BPA’s Technology Innovation Office is contributing $10 million to the five-year project, which is matched with an additional $10 million from DOE.
About Pacific Northwest Smart Grid Demo Project
The Pacific Northwest Smart Grid Demonstration Project is the largest regional smart grid project in the country, with 60,000 metered customers over five Northwest states. It was co-funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act through DOE, as well as the project’s utility and vendor partners. Battelle, the project, which includes BPA and 11 Northwest-based utilities: Avista Utilities (Spokane, Wash.), Benton PUD (Kennewick, Wash.), City of Ellensburg (Ellensburg, Wash.), Flathead Electric Cooperative (Kalispell, Mont.), Idaho Falls Power (Idaho Falls, Idaho), Lower Valley Energy (Afton, Wyo.), Milton-Freewater City Light & Power (Milton-Freewater, Ore.), NorthWestern Energy (Butte, Mont.), Peninsula Light Company (Gig Harbor, Wash.), Portland General Electric (Portland, Ore.) and the University of Washington/Seattle City Light (Seattle, Wash.). The project also involves a diverse team of technology providers, including Alstom Grid, IBM Netezza, 3TIER Inc. and Quality Logic Inc. Washington State University and Central Washington University are also directly involved.
Researchers look underground and find a promising energy storage option
Elizabeth Harball, E&E reporter
In the late springtime, weather conditions in the Pacific Northwest are a little too perfect for renewable energy generation.
According to Peter McGrail of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), a Department of Energy research institution, spring runoff from the mountains overwhelms the region's hydroelectric system. Additionally, spring is when wind velocities are at their highest, creating a surplus of energy from the region's wind farms.
"It's also the time of year when electrical demand is usually relatively low," McGrail added. "We have way too much generation capacity taking place when load is quite low, so there's an imbalance in supply and demand."
To solve this problem, a new federal study indicates it is possible to preserve significant amounts of the Northwest's excess wind energy by storing it underground in the form of compressed air.
The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), a federal power marketing agency based in Portland, Ore., worked with PNNL scientists to study the potential of compressed-air energy storage in the Northwest. In the end, two economically viable sites were identified with a combined storage capacity of about 380 megawatts -- enough to power about 85,000 homes each month, according to PNNL.
If constructed, these facilities would be the first compressed-air energy storage plants to use natural basalt deposits as reservoirs, representing a unique solution to the supply-demand imbalance that often plagues renewable energy projects.
Quick growth spurs need for storage
Oregon and Washington are now two of the top states in total overall wind power generation, ranking fourth and sixth, respectively, according to the American Wind Energy Association.
Washington's government has required the state's large utilities to get 15 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020. Oregon's renewable portfolio standard obligates utilities to source 25 percent of their electricity from renewables by 2025.
"We have already seen here in the Northwest some of the greatest penetration of renewables over the last few years," said Steven Knudsun, who oversaw the BPA/PNNL report. "It's been an increasing challenge to balance all those renewables.
"It was actually the very successful development of renewable generation in the Northwest ... that caused us to start looking for new and innovative ways of integrating those resources," he added.
Compressed-air energy storage could allow the Northwest's wind energy providers more flexibility regarding when and how much electricity is meted out to the grid.
Excess wind energy, normally dumped before it overloads the grid, would be used to power compressors that pump air into deep geological reservoirs, found more than 1,500 feet underground. When this energy is needed, the air is brought back to the surface, expanding back to normal atmospheric pressure and spinning a turbine that drives a generator to turn it back into electricity.
At the one compressed-air energy storage plant currently operating in the United States, located in McIntosh, Ala., the air is held in a man-made underground salt cavern. However, these formations are not common in the Pacific Northwest, so the PNNL/BPA researchers turned to the 81,000 square miles of continental flood basalt deposits beneath Washington, Oregon and Idaho.
The basalt deposits are extremely porous, Knudson explained, and compressed air could move quickly in and out of the reservoirs to support the swift cycling needed to balance the day-to-day energy production of a wind farm.
A zero-emissions possibility
One of the proposed plants, the Yakima Minerals Site near Selah, Wash., represents another new development in compressed energy storage.
When air is forced to go from a high-pressure environment to a low-pressure environment, it becomes very cold in what physicists call the Joule-Thomson effect.
"We have to actually provide some heat back into the system so that the air doesn't get so cold that it actually would become liquid," McGrail said.
With conventional air energy storage sites, as with the other proposed plant near Boardman, Ore., natural gas is used to heat the system. But natural gas was not available for the Yakima Minerals Site, so the researchers have proposed the use of geothermal heat, making it a zero-emissions plant.
If the Yakima Minerals Plant is constructed, it would produce power at a cost of 11.8 cents per kilowatt-hour. Power produced at the Oregon plant, called the Columbia Hills Site, would cost about 6.4 cents per kWh. The current average cost of residential electricity in Washington is 8.5 cents per kWh.
Moreover, the cost of constructing a compressed-air energy storage plant would be roughly equal to the cost of building a conventional natural-gas-fired plant, Knudsun said.
"The Northwest does have geology that can support this type of facility," Knudson said, "not only to make it work, but actually make it work in a cost-effective and a competitive manner with other storage technologies."
But more regulations need to be put in place before the proposed projects are attractive options for the region's local utilities or developers.
"One of the biggest obstacles right now is regulatory support for a market mechanism to allow this type of facility or storage asset to be developed and actually be able to market services," Knudson said. "We do not have organized markets in the Northwest like in many other parts of the country ... so there's not a clear path for a developer of this type of asset to be able to recover their costs by selling the products and services into the markets."
He added, "It's going to be important for the regulators to create a path forward for this type of asset to become commercially successful in its development."
Do you know your home’s winter heating loss? Or where that heat is escaping from? That’s only one of the many things you can find out in a home energy audit.
A Home Energy Audit is a technical analysis of how your home currently wastes energy and recommends opportunities to reduce your energy consumption and costs.
Home Energy Audits
A Home Energy Audit includes an extensive data collection, testing and reporting process. The Building Performance Institute (BPI,www.bpi.org) has created a set of nationally recognized standards for these audits and certifies auditors.
Washington Energy Services is a certified partner of GreenHomes America and uses only BPI Certified auditors for our home energy audits. Our program uses the “house as a system” approach to improving the energy performance of homes. This approach has been proven to reduce home utility bills. The benefit of this testing is that it ensures that energy audit recommendations are based on a particular home’s individual design and components.
Some of the recommendations may be simple do it yourself fixes, improving the seal of your home. And some may be recommendations to improve aspects of your heating system, building envelope, windows, weatherization, or insulation. Every home is different and your home energy audit will reflect that.
The Everett Herald profiled the process in the lifestyle section of their paper in May of 2011. CLICK HERE to read the article.
CLICK HEREto Learn More About the Audit Process and Results
If you are like most people, you can always find something that you’d like to improve in your home. Having a thorough audit is a good way to create a wish list for your home improvement needs, and get started lowering your utility costs.
Washington Energy Services now provides BPI certified home energy audits to help you improve your home energy performance. For more information or to sign up for an audit please call 1-800-398-4663. There is a fee for this service.
Washington Energy Services is a member of Home Performance Washington, an organization that brings together residential energy professionals and other stakeholders to fight climate change and foster economic development by enabling a highly effective whole-house energy retrofit industry in Washington State.
Puget Sound Energy - Residential Energy Efficiency Rebate Programs
Last DSIRE Review: 05/03/2012
Program Overview:
State:
Washington
Incentive Type:
Utility Rebate Program
Eligible Efficiency Technologies:
Clothes Washers, Refrigerators, Water Heaters, Lighting, Furnaces , Boilers, Heat pumps, Duct/Air sealing, Building Insulation, Windows, Heat Pump Water Heater, LED Lighting, Integrated Water and Space Heater
Eligible Renewable/Other Technologies:
Geothermal Heat Pumps
Applicable Sectors:
Residential
Amount:
Ductless Heat Pumps: $1,200
Geothermal Heat Pump: $1,500
Air-Source Heat Pumps: $200 - $800
Heat Pump Sizing and Lock-Out Control: $300
Forced-Air Furnace to Air-Source Heat Pump Conversion: $1,500
Natural Gas Furnace: $250
Natural Gas Boiler: $350
Integrated Space and Water Heater: $800
Heat Pump Water Heater: $500
Storage Water Heater: $50
Clothes Washers: $50 - $100
Refrigerator: $35
Refrigerator Recycling: $20
CFLs: $3 - $12
LEDs: $10
Floor/Attic/Wall/Duct Insulation: 50% of cost
Windows: $5 per square foot
Energy Star Manufactured Home (Gas): $150
Energy Star Manufactured Home (Electric): $300
Energy Upgrade for Existing Manufactured Homes: Free
Maximum Incentive:
Floor/Attic/Wall Insulation: $400 for each form of insulation
Duct Insulation: $200 for each form of insulation
Windows: $750
Heat Pump Water Heater: Energy Star rated
Eligible System Size:
Ductless Heat Pump: 1.0 ton minimum
Equipment Requirements:
Geothermal Heat Pump: Energy Star rated
Natural Gas Furnace: 95% AFUE minimum
Natural Gas Boiler: 95% AFUE minimum
Heat Pump Water Heater: Energy Star rated
Storage Water Heater: .94 EF minimum
Clothes Washers: Energy Star rated
Review Program Website for Full Details on Specific Equipment Requirements
Refrigerator: Energy Star rated
Insulation: Varies
Windows: .30 U-value maximum
Program Budget:
Rebates are based on funding availability and subject to annual program budgets.
Puget Sound Energy's (PSE) Residential Energy Efficiency Rebate Programs offer a variety of incentives for customers who purchase energy efficient appliances and equipment. Rebates include furnaces, boilers, air-source heat pumps, ductless heat pumps, geothermal heat pumps, insulation, energy audits, clothes washers, light fixtures, appliance recycling, refrigerators, equipment conversions, water heaters, and heating equipment upgrades. Some rebates vary according to the capacity or efficiency of equipment. See equipment requirements above to ensure Energy Star compliance on certain equipment. All efficiency requirements must be met in order to receive incentives. More information and incentive applications are available on the program web site.
Washington has few fossil fuel resources but has tremendous renewable power potential. The Columbia and Snake Rivers are immense hydroelectric power resources. The State’s western forests offer fuel wood resources, and large areas of the State are conducive to wind and geothermal power development. The high-temperature geothermal areas found in Washington have the potential to produce up to 300 MW of electric power. Transportation is the leading energy-consuming sector in the State, followed by the industrial and residential sectors. Washington is a leader in the energy-intensive forest products industry and is the site of several large U.S. military bases.
Petroleum
Although Washington has no indigenous crude oil production, it is a principal refining center serving Pacific Northwest markets. Five refineries receive crude oil supply primarily by tanker from Alaska. However, because Alaskan production is in decline, Washington’s refineries are becoming increasingly dependent on crude oil imports from Canada and other countries. The Trans Mountain Pipeline from Alberta supplies more than one-tenth of Washington’s crude oil. Washington’s total petroleum demand is high. Jet fuel consumption is among the highest in the Nation, due in part to several large Air Force and Navy installations. The use of oxygenated motor gasoline is required throughout the State.
Natural Gas
Washington relies heavily on natural gas produced in Canada and transported by pipeline to U.S. markets. The Sumas Center, in Canada near the border between Washington and British Columbia, is the principal natural gas trading and transportation hub for the U.S. Northwest. The Northwest Pipeline Corp. system supplies markets in western Washington and Oregon, and the Gas Transmission Northwest line supplies the eastern part of the two States. The residential sector leads Washington’s natural gas consumption, followed closely by the industrial and electric power generating sectors. Roughly one-third of Washington households use natural gas as their primary energy source for home heating.
Coal, Electricity, and Renewables
Washington has one large coal-fired plant located near the State’s only coal mine in the southwest. The mine was closed in November 2006, and Washington currently imports coal from Wyoming and Montana. The State’s only nuclear plant, the Columbia Generating Station, is located near the Columbia River in the south-central part of the State, and generates nearly one-tenth of the State's electricity. Washington is a major net electricity exporter, supplying electricity to the Canadian power grid and to U.S. markets as far away as California. The State transmits large amounts of cheaply produced hydroelectric power via the Western Interconnection, which runs from British Columbia and Alberta, Canada through Washington and Oregon to southern California and the northern part of Baja California, Mexico. The system, also known as the Pacific Intertie, is the largest single electricity transmission program in the United States and covers all or part of 14 states. Although the Pacific Intertie was originally designed to transmit electricity south during California’s peak summer demand season, flow is sometimes reversed overnight and has occasionally been reversed during periods of reduced hydroelectric generation in the Northwest.
Typically accounting for close to three-fourths of State electricity generation, hydroelectric power dominates the electricity market in Washington. Coal-fired, natural gas-fired, and nuclear power plants account for roughly equal shares of the remaining generation. Washington is the leading hydroelectric power producer in the Nation, typically generating about twice that of the next leading State. Eight of the State’s 10 largest power plants produce hydroelectricity, primarily from the Columbia and Snake Rivers. The 7,079-megawatt Grand Coulee hydroelectric facility, located on the Columbia River, is the largest generating plant in the United States. Grand Coulee’s generation capacity is almost twice that of Arizona’s Palo Verde nuclear plant, the second-ranked U.S. electric plant.
Nonhydroelectric renewable energy sources currently contribute about 3 percent of Washington’s total electricity generation. Washington is a major producer of wind energy and in 2008 ranked fifth in the U.S. in wind capacity. Washington is also a substantial producer of energy from wood and wood waste, accounting for approximately 3 percent of U.S. production. In November 2006, Washington adopted a renewable energy standard that requires all utilities serving at least 25,000 people to produce 15 percent of their energy from renewable sources by 2020.
Are you interested in upgrading your home? Before upgrading any of your energy features, you should have an independent 3rd party perform a Home Energy Audit for you, to see what elements need to be upgraded.
Energy upgrade California offers a rebate up to $500 to pay for your Home Energy Audit.
If approved, call us at 800-498-4110 and we can perform your Home Energy Audit , and Energy Upgrade California will pay for all the testing fees via their rebate program.
Here are more details on the program.
Whole-House Home Energy Rating Find out your home’s “Energy MPG”
A Whole-House Home Energy Rating (HERS II) provides a comprehensive analysis of your home’s energy use that can help you on the path toward an energy upgrade. The rating is conducted by a Whole-House Home Energy Rater and can show you:
How much energy your home needs to operate
How your home’s energy performance compares to others based on a standardized scale
What improvements you can make to improve your home’s energy performance
Raters may work with Participating Contractors to help a homeowner complete an energy upgrade and receive incentives; however, Home Energy Ratings are not required in order to receive utility incentives. See Frequently Asked Questions for details.
You might be interested in scheduling a Whole-House Home Energy Rating if:
You want a comprehensive analysis of your home’s systems to help plan home improvements and your energy upgrade
You want to know how much energy you can expect to buy in order to operate your home
You want to know how your home compares with others in the state and your area
You plan to sell your home and want to show potential buyers how your home’s energy use compares to others
The Rater completes an initial “test-in” assessment within 45 days of your application to qualify you for a $300 rebate
You may then contact a participating contractor to plan and complete an energy upgrade to qualify for utility incentives. Your participating contractor may conduct a separate analysis of your home in order to come up with a work plan and estimated cost for your project.
After your upgrade is finished, the Rater returns for a final “test-out” rating to qualify you for an additional $200 rebate
Distributed Energy Storage Systems for Voltage Support, Frequency Regulation, Islanding, and Peak Shaving: Market Analysis and Forecasts
Community and residential energy storage systems are sited at the “end of the line” on the grid. These systems are typically much smaller than utility-scale or bulk energy storage and are either situated at the distribution transformer or at the customer premise. Of the varied application areas for energy storage systems, community and residential storage is one of the newest and least understood applications. Currently, utilities, vendors, and even governments are demonstrating community and residential energy storage systems with a goal of understanding the value of these small, distributed systems sited at the edge of the electrical grid. These groups are testing CRES for the purposes of smoothing peaks in electricity demand, enabling voltage support and frequency regulation, and providing islanding capabilities.
Although the CRES sector is still nascent, market conditions, technology capabilities, and economics are beginning to align in a way that points to significant growth opportunities over the coming decade. The expansion of distributed solar photovoltaics capacity, the adoption of plug-in electric vehicles, and the spread of dynamic pricing programs will all be key drivers in the growth of such distributed energy storage systems. However, current barriers to CRES include the need for further refinement of business models for community and residential deployments, regulatory barriers related to financial structures, and the identification of cost/benefit models for various CRES applications.
This Pike Research report assesses the market opportunity for the utilization of battery-based energy storage systems in community and residential deployments. Key applications covered include voltage support, frequency regulation, islanding, and peak shaving using lithium ion, advanced lead-acid, and flow battery technologies. The study includes profiles and SWOT analysis for key industry players as well as global revenue and installed capacity forecasts, segmented by technology and region, for the period from 2012 to 2022.
SolarCity's new battery system can help you keep the lights on and fridge cold in a power outage or natural disaster while potentially saving you even more on your monthly utility bills.
Our battery systems are currently offered in selected California markets. We hope to offer the service nationwide by the end of the year.
Compact, Safe and Durable
SolarCity is making the latest advancements in battery technologies available to you through our partnership with Tesla Motors. Only SolarCity's home backup system uses technology engineered by Tesla, leveraging their expertise in developing battery technologies for premium electric vehicles.
Tesla's long history of research and development has enabled a cost-effective, wall-mounted storage appliance that is small, powerful and covered by a long lasting full 10 year warranty.
The actual battery unit is about the size of a solar power inverter, and will be mounted on the wall in your garage or near your electrical panel.
Be Prepared for Anything
Your battery system will provide your home with power if the utility grid goes down—such as after an earthquake or other natural disaster. A fully charged battery will power basic home needs for a few days and a solar powered home can recharge the battery from the sun to run indefinitely.*
A fully charged battery provides enough energy for your essential needs during an emergency.
Run Your Refrigerator—Make sure you don't lose all the food in your fridge during a power outage.
Charge Your Cell Phone—Stay in touch with loved ones, news, and emergency response when you need it most.
Provide Basic Light—Not being in the dark can make an emergency situation safer and less stressful.
Home Security—Ensure any systems protecting your home and property are up and running.
Reduce Your Electric Bill
An additional benefit of energy storage is to reduce peak-usage charges on your utility bill. Some utilities offer Time-of-Use (TOU) rate plans in which the price of electricity varies based on the hour of the day. Rates are higher during the afternoon when electric demand is at its "peak" across all utility customers.
A storage system may help you save more money by drawing power from your battery instead of from the grid during higher rates peak hours. You can then recharge your battery during lower rate, off-peak hours.
How Home Energy Storage Works
Solar Panels
Solar panels are typically installed on the roof and are made up of photovoltaic (PV) cells, which convert sunlight into direct current (DC) power.
Battery Storage
Your battery system will provide power to your home in the event of a utility power outage.
Inverter
The DC power from the solar panels is sent to an inverter, where it is converted into alternating current (AC) power, or standard electrical current used to power your home.
Electrical Panel
AC power travels from the inverter to the electrical panel, often called a breaker box.
Utility Meter
The utility meter continually measures your electrical supply.
Utility Grid
Your home remains connected to the utility grid to supply you with electricity when power is available.
A Home Energy Audit includes an extensive data collection, testing and reporting process. The Building Performance Institute (BPI,
Some of the recommendations may be simple do it yourself fixes, improving the seal of your home. And some may be recommendations to improve aspects of your heating system, building envelope, windows, weatherization, or insulation. Every home is different and your home energy audit will reflect that.
Community and residential energy storage systems are sited at the “end of the line” on the grid. These systems are typically much smaller than utility-scale or bulk energy storage and are either situated at the distribution transformer or at the customer premise. Of the varied application areas for energy storage systems, community and residential storage is one of the newest and least understood applications. Currently, utilities, vendors, and even governments are demonstrating community and residential energy storage systems with a goal of understanding the value of these small, distributed systems sited at the edge of the electrical grid. These groups are testing CRES for the purposes of smoothing peaks in electricity demand, enabling voltage support and frequency regulation, and providing islanding capabilities.
