Environment Policy Review
October Edition 2008
What is a Smart Grid and why should I care?
High-powered changes in how you get electricity
State approves rate hike for ComEd to begin developing a new system; critics may appeal, saying customers shouldn't have to pay so much
There are problems with having a 19th Century power grid in the 21st Century.
• When an outage occurs, a utility only learns about it if customers call.
• Many customers unintentionally waste electricity on a daily basis because they see their bills only once a month.
The Illinois Commerce Commission took steps Wednesday to remedy these issues, approving a $270 million rate hike for Commonwealth Edison that encourages the utility to begin developing a "smart grid.”
Under the increase, set to take effect September 14, a typical ComEd customer will pay an additional $4.50 in delivery charges each month. The payment will cover maintenance and operations of the existing network, while ComEd studies how to build a more responsive grid and introduce the next generation of electricity meters. High Powered Changes in How You Get Electricity
Will my next car run on hydrogen?
The car of the perpetual future
Transport: Mass-produced hydrogen fuel-cell cars have been promised for a decade. Where are they?
DURING a keynote address at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January, the boss of General Motors (GM), Rick Wagoner, unveiled the Cadillac Provoq, a new hydrogen fuel-cell concept car. With a drivetrain emitting only water vapor, a 300-mile range and a top speed of 160kph (100mph), the vehicle, said Mr. Wagoner, represented “the promise of truly sustainable transportation”. It was a promise that sounded vaguely familiar.
A decade earlier, in 1998, Mr. Wagoner’s predecessor, Jack Smith, told the Detroit auto show that GM had a plan to produce a production-ready fuel-cell vehicle “by 2004 or sooner”. That same year, Ford’s incoming boss, Jacques Nasser, said that he saw fuel-cell cars as being a viable alternative to petrol cars for many people during the course of his career (he was replaced in 2001). And as recently as 2004 California’s governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, rhapsodized about “hydrogen highways” all across the state by 2010. Full article
Illinois coal = natural gas
BP Canada and Secure Energy Announce Contracts
St. Louis, MO – BP Canada Energy Marketing Company (BP) and Secure Energy, Incorporated announced today that they have entered into a long term natural gas sales agreement whereby BP will purchase up to 67 million cubic feet of natural gas per day from the Secure Energy Decatur Plant once it has been constructed and becomes operational. Secure Energy will have the option to separately sell natural gas to industrial customers in the Decatur, Illinois area for a portion of its production and BP has agreed to purchase any natural gas not sold locally.
The Decatur plant will convert approximately 1.4 million tons of high-sulfur Illinois coal into over 20 billion cubic feet of natural gas each year. “
Full article
Momma, please let your babies grow up to be nuclear engineers
(with apologies to Willie Nelson)
Nuclear industry looking for a wave of new hires
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — The man in charge of the country's nuclear regulatory agency says the United States needs a generation of new scientists, engineers and skilled workers to staff, build and monitor what could be dozens new power plants.
The country is on the verge of a building boom for nuclear plants, but after almost three decades of inactivity, it's just starting to train the workers it will need, according to Dale Klein, the chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
"We need to increase the talent pool across the board, all the way from Ph.D.s to skilled craft," Klein said in an interview Thursday at the University of Illinois.
Full article
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The Illinois Environmental Regulatory Group was created for Illinois Chamber members who are interested in environmental regulations.
