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Make a Powerful Difference with Commonwealth
Commonwealth Associates, Inc. ®
Commonwealth provides traditional and renewable engineering, consulting, and design services. From IPPs to IOUs, to federal contracts, to city power and light, big or small, Commonwealth has you covered. With offices and experts across the country, Commonwealth is here to make a powerful difference for you. To learn more, visit www.cai-engr.com or call 517.788.3000.
 
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Burns & McDonnell
Alltricity Network Member Information
RMEL's trusted network is now accessible on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. These are forums intended for RMEL members only. Working side-by-side in a cooperative manner, RMEL members band together for the common goal of bettering the industry and improving service for utility customers. For more than 100 years, these key principles have proven successful and, more importantly, are tried-and-true methods for building strong business relationships.

 

RMEL Champions is a prestigious group of RMEL supporters with access to useful and beneficial promotional opportunities. Thank you, 2023 RMEL Champions!

Visit https://www.rmel.org/page/RMELChampions to view the full article online.

The game has changed from the traditional O&M model.
Black & Veatch Corporation®
Big Data helps owners detect issues before they become big problems. Prioritize field responses, balance the costs and benefits of maintenance activities, and generate the greatest ROI with these 4 key methods to optimize DER assets through data-driven O&M.
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Industry Information
  
Projects that have yet to secure interconnection approvals are no longer attracting bids, LevelTen Energy says. Demand for later-stage projects remains strong, but earlier and more speculative projects that have not yet secured interconnection approvals have seen limited interest from buyers, according to Patrick Worrall, Vice President for the Asset Marketplace.

Visit https://www.utilitydive.com/news/LevelTen-buyers-speculative-renewable-energy-wind-solar-projects/691460/ to view the full article online.


There are five “significant evolving and interdependent risks” to grid reliability, and energy policy tops the list, the North American Electric Reliability Corp. said in a report. Rounding out the five risks are grid transformation, extreme events, security and critical infrastructure interdependencies. 

Visit https://www.utilitydive.com/news/nerc-assessment-new-risk-grid-reliability-energy-policy/691590/ to view the full article online.

  
As the American power sector confronts a broader shift towards cleaner, more distributed forms of energy, as well as the movement towards an increasingly electrified transportation and building sector, experts are taking a closer look at ways to structure electric rates and make them more equitable.

Visit https://www.utilitydive.com/news/american-power-system-changing-electricity-rates/651752 to view the full article online.

The fossil fuel price crisis has accelerated the competitiveness of renewable power, according to a report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). Around 86% (187 GW) of all the newly commissioned renewable capacity in 2022 had lower costs than fossil-fuel-fired electricity.

Visit https://www.renewableenergyworld.com/solar/utility-scale/renewables-more-competitive-amid-high-fossil-fuel-costs-report-says/ to view the full article online.

  
In the 12 months since the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, companies have hurriedly launched a variety of manufacturing plans in pursuit of the law’s lucrative tax credits for U.S.-made components. States have eagerly courted these projects, offering companies tax incentives and collaborating on workforce development programs to support the growth of thousands of jobs.

 

Visit https://www.utilitydive.com/news/inflation-reduction-act-one-year-anniversary-charts-investment-roundup-evs-battery-solar/692147/ to view the full article online.

The initiative, supported by Inflation Reduction Act and administered by DOE's Grid Deployment Office, is designed to not only overcome state and local challenges to expand transmission capacity but also support communities along major new and upgraded lines.

Visit https://www.tdworld.com/overhead-transmission/article/21272845/us-doe-announces-300-million-grants-to-speed-up-strengthen-electric-transmission-siting-and-permitting-processes to view the full article online.

  
This guidance marks the end of the first phase of the Treasury Department’s implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act’s clean energy provisions. The Inflation Reduction Act’s prevailing wage and registered apprenticeship requirements apply to many of the clean energy deployment tax incentives under the law, including for the clean energy investment and production tax credits that help finance utility-scale wind, solar and battery storage projects as well as for the credits for carbon capture, utilization and storage and clean hydrogen projects. 

Visit https://www.renewableenergyworld.com/solar/treasury-issues-proposed-guidelines-for-ira-prevailing-wage-and-apprenticeship-rules/ to view the full article online.

Evluma’s Low-Glare Roadway Luminaires
Evluma LED Lighting®
Evluma builds off a legacy of low-glare lighting with the release of RoadMax, a new family of roadway luminaires. For utilities and municipalities concerned with disability glare, meeting stringent roadway specifications, and achieving an efficient use of existing poles and roadway infrastructure, this is a game changing luminaire. The RX1 (small) 30-100W and the RX2 (med) 70-220W range 3,000-28,000 lumens. The RX3 is anticipated this winter.
Learn More about RoadMax
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Member Announcements
  
CPS Energy has received the Gold Award for Serving Vulnerable Customers and the Silver Communications Award for their communications efforts in the development of their color-coded energy conservation system in Chartwell’s 20th Annual Best Practice Awards. 

Visit https://newsroom.cpsenergy.com/cps-energy-receives-two-recognitions-in-chartwells-20th-annual-best-practices-awards/ to view the full article online.

This is the fifth and largest competitive transmission project that the SPP has released to date and the third competitive project that NextEra Energy Transmission Southwest has been awarded by SPP. The project emerged from SPP's integrated transmission planning process during which SPP assesses the future transmission needs of its grid to develop transmission solutions that provide reliable and economic delivery of energy and maximize the benefits to customers.

Visit https://newsroom.nexteraenergy.com/2023-08-29-NextEra-Energy-Transmission-Southwest,-LLC-awarded-the-Crossroads-Hobbs-Roadrunner-345-kV-Competitive-Upgrade-project-by-SPP to view the full article online.

  
New and expanding commercial and industrial customers are contributing to that increased demand, as well as the addition of new homes and businesses within our service territory. The increased electrification of the goods and services our customers use on a regular basis is also a contributing factor.

Visit https://www.oppd.com/news-resources/news-releases/2023/august/oppd-board-approves-plan-that-includes-adding-up-to-25-gigawatts-of-new-generation-capacity-to-meet-unprecedented-demand-for-electricity/ to view the full article online.

The 200-megawatt solar project is at the site of the decommissioned Escalante Station, a 253-megawatt coal-powered plant that Tri-State closed in 2020. Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association has entered into a power purchase agreement for the output of generation from the Escalante Solar Project.

Visit https://tristate.coop/origis-energy-announces-construction-200-mw-escalante-solar to view the full article online.

  
The 5-megawatt (MW), 10-hour-duration project, named Desert Blume, will use CMBlu’s unique non-lithium technology, and the firm will build, own and operate the batteries on behalf of SRP at their Copper Crossing Energy and Research Center in Florence, Arizona. SRP is the first U.S. electric utility to implement CMBlu’s batteries at this scale.

Visit https://media.srpnet.com/salt-river-project-and-cmblu-energy-announce-launch-of-innovative-long-duration-energy-storage-project/ to view the full article online.

White Paper
Efficient and cheap batteries that can also capture harmful emissions could be right around the corner, thanks to a new system that speeds up the development of catalysts for lithium-CO2 (Li-CO2) batteries.

Visit https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/08/230822111650.htm to view the full article online.

Carbon slurries, which consist of a suspension of carbon particles in a solvent, are used to mass-produce battery electrodes. However, there are no adequate methods to evaluate whether the particles are uniformly dispersed in the slurry during the manufacturing process. In a recent study, researchers used an innovative approach, combining viscosity and electrochemical impedance measurements, to accurately assess the dispersibility of slurries, opening doors to enhanced electric vehicles and fuel cell batteries.

Visit https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/08/230824111832.htm to view the full article online.

Methylcyclohexane is very promising as a hydrogen carrier that can safely and efficiently transport and store hydrogen. However, the dehydrogenation process using catalysts has issues due to its durability and large energy loss. Recently, researchers have succeeded in using solid oxide fuel cells to generate electricity directly from methylcyclohexane and recover toluene for reuse. This research is expected to not only reduce energy requirements but also explore new chemical synthesis by fuel cells.

Visit https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/08/230829125841.htm to view the full article online.