solar city Archives - Michaels Energy

Jan 09

Things You Need to Know Re Electric Vehicles

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Rant 2 Comments

Last week I wrote about understanding the customer and knowing what they want, whether the customer is the utility, regulator, or the end user of energy. Taking this a step beyond, the customer/client may not know what they want. For example, a hypothetical customer may want to control all energy use in their house from a smartphone, 100% renewable energy, and a smart-grid connected electric car. I am convinced once the hoopla settles, customers will want (1) cheap, reliable energy, and (2) any help to be more successful. Three weeks ago, I wrote about Messing with Near Perfection. That post…

Oct 17

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Residential Demand Charges; Harpooning Red Herring

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Rant No Comments

On the one hand, this article from Utility Dive, The flaws in the utilities’ push for residential demand charges, had me shaking my head left and right in disagreement. On the other, not so much considering Solar City’s Chief Policy Officer co-authored the article. The article suggests that rather than using demand charges for residential customers, whether they generate renewable energy (solar) or not, utilities should use time-of-use rates instead. Time-of-use rates are a step in the right direction, but demand rates are still more equitable. Electricity Bills For new readers, here is a quick overview of various ways utilities…