Posted August 1, 2023

SAN FRANCISCO, July 27, 2023 - Leap, the leading platform for energy market access, today announced the launch of its new California Demand Side Grid Support (DSGS) offering to unlock additional value for battery storage technology providers. DSGS is a new statewide grid services program introduced by the California Energy Commission (CEC) in order to incentivize distributed energy resources (DERs) to provide flexible support to the grid during periods of high demand for electricity. 

Leap will be one of the first platform providers to offer DSGS. Leap’s software will facilitate fast, automated integration with DSGS starting August 1st for the program’s first season of operations, enabling Leap’s partners with commercial and residential battery storage systems in California to generate additional grid revenue alongside existing demand charge management and bill savings value streams. 

Leveraging its expertise in monetizing DERs in energy markets, Leap served as a lead contributor to the proposal that was used to develop DSGS program guidelines. The resulting capacity-based program is the first in California to widely compensate behind-the-meter (BTM) battery storage systems for exporting energy back to the grid, meaning that batteries will be credited for the full value they can provide to the grid during periods of strain. The program structure also simplifies market participation for battery storage systems by streamlining site enrollment and performance measurement processes. 

“Thanks to Leap’s leadership role in shaping DSGS program design, Leap is uniquely positioned to help battery storage technology providers in California realize the full value of their assets by optimizing DSGS revenue alongside other battery revenue streams,” said Andrew Hoffman, Leap’s Chief Development Officer. “We are excited to enable California’s rapidly-growing network of commercial and residential battery storage systems to participate in Leap’s virtual power plants across the state. Batteries participating on our platform will play a key role in maintaining grid reliability as temperatures and load increase statewide.”

CLICK HERE to read the full press release.

Posted August 1, 2023

Entergy New Orleans and Sagewell, Inc. are working together to reduce the cost of EV ownership by offering EV owners the ability to earn a financial reward for off-peak charging. For 2023, the program is accepting 350 enrollments on a first come, first served basis and EV drivers can enroll online at https://www.bringyourowncharger.com/energysmartbyoc. Sagewell’s Bring Your Own Charger® (BYOC) program has received industry awards from the Peak Load Management Alliance (PLMA), Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA) and American Public Power Association (APPA).

The program incentivizes EV owners to charge their vehicles during preset off-peak hours, with no special hardware or separate meter required. Participants will program their vehicles to charge during off-peak hours, and software algorithms developed by analytics company Sagewell will confirm off-peak charging is happening using advanced meter data. Enrolled customers will receive a credit of $7 per month, paid quarterly. For an EV driver that charges off-peak, the incentives earned are enough to pay for electricity for a typical EV to drive approximately 2,000 miles per year[1].

Off-peak EV charging helps smooth energy demand and utilizes available overnight capacity in the electric system, resulting in lower energy costs and less strain on the energy grid. Other communities participating in Sagewell’s programs have seen participants charge off-peak at least 90% of the time, helping to integrate EV charging load more efficiently with the utility’s distribution system.

“Entergy New Orleans continues to embrace new ways to support electric vehicle drivers and the growing number of EV registrations in New Orleans,” said Ross Thevenot, Entergy New Orleans Demand Side Management Senior Project Manager.  “As the proliferation of EVs continues, programs like this will help benefit all customers and help minimize impacts to the grid.”

Pasi Miettinen, CEO of Sagewell added, “We are very excited to launch the program with Entergy New Orleans. The City of New Orleans is still early in the EV journey, but programs like BYOC can help make EVs more affordable for residents and help ensure EV growth does not negatively impact the grid.”

The pilot will initially enroll up to 350 EV drivers who are residential customers of Entergy New Orleans and who use any type of Level 2 charger at home, including 240-volt charging cables provided by vehicle manufacturers. Interested EV drivers can enroll by visiting: https://www.bringyourowncharger.com/energysmartbyoc.

^[1]Assumes $7 monthly incentive, weighted average $/kWH on electric rate RES-25, and 3 miles per kWh. Individual results may vary.

CLICK HERE to read the full press release.

Posted July 25, 2023

Job Summary
Pair your expertise in program evaluation, social science, and energy/utility industry experience to lead ILLUME’s evaluation and research studies. The energy industry is rapidly transitioning, increasing the importance and value of program evaluations within the industry. ILLUME seeks an individual who brings deep understanding of research methods, client and team-centered focus, keen attention to detail, and is excited by the intricacies and challenges of all aspects of managing and leading projects end-to-end. ILLUME is a fast-paced environment known for its exciting cutting-edge projects and deeply supportive team. In this role, it will be important to be able to juggle multiple priorities to deliver exceptional work to our clients.

THE CLEAN ENERGY PROGRAM EVALUATOR (MANAGING CONSULTANT) WILL: 

Help clients understand their path and progress toward a clean energy future. Support clients in meeting their energy, decarbonization, and customer engagement goals. Apply evaluation expertise to confidently navigate the technical, policy, program design, and customer considerations and to thoughtfully identify opportunities for clients to enhance program designs and impacts.

Use and create frameworks for measuring success. In addition to leveraging existing evaluation guidance and protocols, help our team and clients expand on best practices to assess emerging interventions.

Demonstrate exceptional end-to-end project management and leadership. Lead and own planning, budget management, reporting and successful delivery of projects, including team and client guidance and communications.

Mentor project team members to grow the knowledge and expertise of the ILLUME team. Provide in-project training and clear feedback to ensure professional development for our multidisciplinary project teams. Specifically, this role will help to train analysts and consultants around best practices and methods in evaluation.

CLICK HERE to read the full job description to apply.

A comprehensive, integrated approach increases grid flexibility for utilities and opens doors for multi-device, multi-OEM demand response programs to meet energy needs and minimize EV grid impacts.

Posted July 25, 2023

Louisville, KY – July 25, 2023 – Virtual Peaker, a cloud-based SaaS company that empowers modern utilities with the friendliest distributed energy platform on the planet, today launched its electric vehicle (EV)-managed charging solution, solidifying its leadership position as a holistic distributed energy resource (DER) platform designed to help utilities harness the collective energy of all DERs in one end-to-end platform.

“As electric vehicle adoption continues to grow, we’re committed to ensuring our platform can meet that growth for innovative utilities by helping mitigate EV load congestion and delivering value to both the customer and the grid,” said Virtual Peaker Founder & CEO, Dr. William “Bill” Burke. “We’re proactively focusing on creating a single, scalable solution to increase adoption of distributed energy resources programs and help utilities reach their goals more quickly and efficiently.” 

Virtual Peaker’s EV-managed charging solution delivers value to utilities by enabling them to build more comprehensive demand response programs and better manage EV grid impacts—and future-proofing their distributed energy resource management strategies. 

This new solution allows utilities to: 

• Utilize both EV telematics data and internet-connected EV chargers 
• Manage multi-device, multi-OEM demand response (DR) programs in one, unified platform
• Build customer trust with a privacy-focused telematics approach 
• Support EVSEs, both V1G and V2G capabilities, all in one platform
• Gain real-time visibility into EV charging behavior and energy consumption

CLICK HERE to read the full press release.