Utilities: Page 9


  • The BMW Vision Neue Klasse X electric Sport Activity Vehicle.
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    Courtesy of BMW Group AG
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    BMW’s future EVs will support bidirectional charging

    The automaker’s next generation of vehicles will be able to store energy to send back to the grid.

    By Eric Walz • May 7, 2024
  • Close-up of a pipeline in a trench dug in the ground
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    Getty Images
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    How can cities build a future with fewer gas pipelines?

    As some communities question the logic of continued investment in the gas system, a new RMI and National Grid paper looks at efforts to find alternatives.

    By Ysabelle Kempe • May 6, 2024
  • A facade of a Department of Energy building
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    DOE picks local clean energy projects to receive $27M in grants

    More than three dozen state and local governments will receive funds, including $2.2 million for Chicago to launch a building electrification campaign, install EV chargers and other projects.

    By Robert Walton • May 2, 2024
  • A closeup of JPMorgan Chase's headquarters in New York.
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    Michael M. Santiago via Getty Images
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    Clean energy transition could take ‘decades or generations,’ JPMorgan warns

    New research from the U.S. bank pointed to inflation, high interest rates and geopolitical issues as key roadblocks delaying the shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy.

    By Zoya Mirza • May 1, 2024
  • Energy Department finalizes rule to phase out fossil fuels in federal buildings

    The elimination of on-site fossil fuel use in new projects after 2030 is part of the Biden administration’s push for net-zero emissions from federal facilities by 2045.

    By Nish Amarnath • April 29, 2024
  • A detailed landscape design plan showing topographic contour lines, orange building illustrations, green trees, and directional arrows. The layout includes winding paths and clustered vegetation. A triangular scale ruler lies on the left, and three colored pencils, colored blue, green, and yellow, rest on the lower right corner of the page.
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    ‘The sounds of nature’: Cicada noise causes influx of 911 calls in South Carolina town

    Editor's note: This article was originally published in American City & County, which has merged with Smart Cities Dive to bring you expanded coverage of city innovation and local government. For the latest in smart city news, explore Smart Cities Dive or sign up for our newsletter.For the fi...

    By April 25, 2024
  • Photovoltaic solar panels on a residential building.
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    EPA awards $7B to 60 low-income solar access programs

    The funds will support community solar programs as well as initiatives to provide loans and grants to low-income households looking to install rooftop solar, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

    By Emma Penrod • April 24, 2024
  • Group of green sprouts growing out from soil.
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    Getty Images
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    Sponsored by Reworld™

    7 starting points for effective sustainability strategies

    In today's environmentally conscious world, businesses cannot afford to ignore the impact of waste.

    April 22, 2024
  • A detailed landscape design plan showing topographic contour lines, orange building illustrations, green trees, and directional arrows. The layout includes winding paths and clustered vegetation. A triangular scale ruler lies on the left, and three colored pencils, colored blue, green, and yellow, rest on the lower right corner of the page.
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    Getty Images
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    EPA to implement national limit on “forever chemicals” in drinking water

    Editor's note: This article was originally published in American City & County, which has merged with Smart Cities Dive to bring you expanded coverage of city innovation and local government. For the latest in smart city news, explore Smart Cities Dive or sign up for our newsletter.For the fi...

    By April 15, 2024
  • Solar panel over police department parking lot
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    Permission granted by Carlos Chavez & Schneider Electric
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    Sponsored by Schneider Electric

    New tax credits are spurring resilience and clean energy shift in cities

    The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) enables cities to adopt clean energy with new tax credit benefits.

    April 15, 2024
  • A parking space painted with "EV charging only" with a charger behind it
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    Mario Tama/Getty Images via Getty Images
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    5 ways cities can accelerate EV charger deployments equitably

    Seek community input, learn from other cities, reduce regulatory barriers and other ideas from participants in the DOE’s Clean Energy to Communities Program.

    By Iulia Gheorghiu • April 12, 2024
  • Aerial shot of solar panels with a single person in a hard hat working on top of panels
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    Getty Images
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    DOE awards $27M for communities to plan a clean-energy future

    This is the first funding round for the Energy Future Grants initiative, which launched last year to help communities plan for transportation and building electrification, microgrids and solar projects.

    By Ysabelle Kempe • April 11, 2024
  • Men standing in front of heavy equipment
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    MORC

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    2023 Crown Communities Award winner: Muscatine Organics Recycling Center

    2023 Crown Communities Award winner: Muscatine Organics Recycling Center

    By Michael Keating • April 10, 2024
  • Northeast's Largest Public Electric Vehicle Fast-Charging Station Opens At JFK Airport.
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    How cities are building out public EV charging infrastructure

    As more electric vehicles hit the road, municipalities and property owners are working with contractors to deploy EV chargers at libraries, airports, parks and other sites.

    By Joe Burns • April 10, 2024
  • Energy Department Secretary Jennifer Granholm behind a podium speaking.
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    Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images
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    Rooftop heat pump technologies can save US businesses $5B annually: DOE

    A new U.S. Department of Energy program aims to bring higher-efficiency rooftop heat pump technologies to market as soon as 2027.

    By Nish Amarnath • April 9, 2024
  • An older and younger person kneel in a workshop as they examine a grey concrete tile on the ground.
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    Courtesy of Consensus Digital Media/Purdue University
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    Indiana DOT, Purdue collaborate on highway that charges EVs

    Researchers will embed coils in a quarter-mile stretch of concrete roadway to produce a magnetic field that can recharge vehicles while they drive.

    By Matthew Thibault • April 8, 2024
  • Inside the rise of groundwater-based geothermal heat pumps

    The technology, which is cost-effective across 75% of the U.S. landmass and ideal for space-constrained users, could eventually displace utility gas service, proponents say.

    By Brian Martucci • April 5, 2024
  • Two people on a residential rooftop drilling solar panels in
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    Mario Tama/Getty Images via Getty Images
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    These 8 nonprofits got $20B from the Biden administration for local clean energy financing. Now what?

    The “green bank” funds must be obligated by September 2024 amid efforts by Republican lawmakers to repeal the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.

    By Ysabelle Kempe • April 5, 2024
  • Aerial shot of buildings in dense urban setting
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    Getty Images
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    High-priority local actions in Biden’s new plan to slash building GHG emissions

    The Department of Energy blueprint lays out specific goals to lower U.S. building emissions 90% by 2050 compared with 2005 levels.

    By Ysabelle Kempe • April 3, 2024
  • A technician connects cable on a solar rooftop array.
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    Opinion

    Utilities must come clean about the full value of community solar

    Utilities often oppose customer-driven, third-party-owned energy projects like community solar because they threaten to supplant utility investments and utility shareholder profits.

    By Jeff Cramer and John Farrell • April 3, 2024
  • Two workers in hardhats and high-vis vests install a solar panel on a roof.
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    Getty Images
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    IRS direct pay framework opens doors for tax-exempt entities to access clean energy credits

    The U.S. Treasury Department’s final rule for the program paves the way for organizations to receive more than 30% of a project’s cost in direct cash payments for clean energy investments.

    By Brian Martucci • April 2, 2024
  • Electric vehicles at an EV charging station.
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    Getty Images
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    New Mexico regulators approve El Paso Electric $11M EV plan, including low-income rebates

    The rebate program has a total budget of $200,000 and will be available to 50 customers. El Paso Electric will also offer smart charging programs and incentives for charging equipment.

    By Robert Walton • April 1, 2024
  • A detailed landscape design plan showing topographic contour lines, orange building illustrations, green trees, and directional arrows. The layout includes winding paths and clustered vegetation. A triangular scale ruler lies on the left, and three colored pencils, colored blue, green, and yellow, rest on the lower right corner of the page.
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    Getty Images
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    Metal buildings could solve urgent infrastructure needs for cities and counties

    Metal buildings could solve urgent infrastructure needs for cities and counties

    By Michael Keating • March 25, 2024
  • Silhouette of power line infrastructure at sunset
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    Getty Images
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    To chart its path away from gas, Massachusetts launches energy transformation office

    Headed by a former utility executive, the office will convene a task force with representatives from utilities, municipalities, business, labor and the supply chain industry.

    By Ysabelle Kempe • March 25, 2024
  • A green IndyGo transit bus pulls up to an inductive electric charging pad.
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    Permission granted by InductEV
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    Wireless charging for electric transit buses: Here’s how it works

    Inductive wireless charging avoids the power requirements of depot charging and can be more efficient and cost-effective, said an executive for a wireless EV charging supplier.

    By March 25, 2024