The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) was selected by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), an agency of the Department of Commerce, to facilitate the development of a smart grid interoperability roadmap for the electricity sector. The ultimate aim of the program will be to provide a framework to aid in the modernization of the nation's transmission and distribution system.

Oilman Ray Hunt was attending a Houston energy conference in early 1998 when he decided to shift his world.

The chairman of Hunt Oil wanted to expand into the electricity industry and was looking for an executive who shared the family's values and work ethic, who could fit easily into the family business founded by wildcatter H.L. Hunt.

"Before I go to my Rolodex and start calling people I know who would fit that description, it occurs to me that I have known somebody like that for over 30 years – and that person is you," Ray said on the phone.

As we confront the challenges posed by climate change, decisions on supplying energy and water to the world’s growing population should no longer be made in isolation. The challenges facing Texas and the rest of the globe require that we recognize the deep inter‐connections and trade offs involved in deciding how to meet power and water needs in an increasingly resource‐constrained world.

This report is the first in a series designed to explore aspects of the energy‐water nexus in Texas. It examines the water requirements for various types of electricity generating facilities, both for typical systems nationwide and here in Texas. It also addresses the use of energy by water supply and wastewater treatment systems, comparing national averages with Texas- specific values.

Growing water supply needs for domestic and agricultural use have created worries that utilities will find it difficult to meet their own need for water to generate power, National Journal reported.

Legislation before Congress would have the National Academy of Sciences analyze energy's impact on water resources, and DOE was studying strategies to lessen water requirements for energy, especially carbon capture and sequestration systems. Stephen Bolze, President and CEO of the water and power unit at General Electric, recommended a 30-percent investment tax credit for technologies to conserve water. Other officials recommended a variety of policies for conserving water, including pricing industrial use of water at a higher rate than residential use.

National Energy Technology Laboratory head Carl Bauer noted: "Most Americans do not realize that they use more water turning on lights and running appliances each day than they do directly through washing their clothes and watering their lawns."

A PJM Interconnection study
concludes that the leading legislative proposals* of the 110th Congress to
reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from fossil-fuel generation plants could
increase wholesale electricity prices from $7.50 per megawatt hour (MWh) to
$45/MWh in 2013.

The study, "Potential Effects of Proposed Climate Change Policies on PJM's
Energy Market," also noted that at those prices the annual market-wide cost of
power increase would range from $5.9 billion to $36 billion.

Denver, CO (March 24) -- A new economic study appears to confirm earlier findings that a Western carbon cap-and-trade scheme pushed by a handful of Western Governors, the Western Governors' Association and some environmental groups could cost the West hundreds of thousands of jobs, slow investment and cut personal income for millions of citizens.

The study also found that the Western Climate Initiative (WCI) would require Western states to dramatically increase the number of government employees hired at taxpayer expense.

The idea has been beaten around for years, but now the money and the will are converging to turn the old analog electric grid into the next big digital network,

This could be the year the smart grid starts its transformation from an overhyped and ill-defined concept to a set of clearly articulated pieces and working prototypes.

The Department of Energy is scrambling to meet an April 18 deadline to lay out plans to spend $4.3 billion in federal stimulus dollars on smart grids. The money is expected to fund a handful of demonstration systems and includes $10 million to accelerate efforts to construct a framework of standards.

Not content to wait, one veteran energy researcher is preparing to launch an IEEE effort to define the core pieces of the smart grid so developers can start building them.

Rep. Kay Granger Lauds Economic and Environmental Benefits of Renewable Energy Super Highway Contract Oncor, Falcon Steel Collaborate to Build Steel Transmission Towers from Scrap Metal

Today, U.S. Rep. Kay Granger praised the creative thinking and cooperative spirit demonstrated by Oncor, Falcon Steel and supplier Nucor in crafting a five-year agreement to build 3,800 transmission line towers out of recycled steel. The Oncor-Falcon Steel contract will result in one of the largest transmission line construction projects built from recycled materials in the United States.

President Obama's comments yesterday in support of climate change legislation included two errors on the fundamental design and history of the cap-and-trade approach that his new administration intends as the centerpiece of its global warming policy, according to several experts tracking the Capitol Hill debate.

Automakers envision electric cars as a solution to gas price jumps. Environmentalists see bluer skies. And electric utilities? They could be the biggest winners of all.