SMUD Archives

2024 ‘Power Player’ awards announced for energy innovation

This year’s award categories are tied to SEPA’s five critical focus areas: resilience, transportation, energy storage, emerging technology, and policy, along with energy equity

The crush of solar interconnection requests challenges utilities as each application requires a technical evaluation to assess the potential grid impacts of the new solar installation.

SMUD’s 2.7-MW South Fork Powerhouse hydroelectric project goes operational

Sacramento Municipal Utility District’s (SMUD) 2.7-MW South Fork hydroelectric powerhouse is now operational on the American River near Camino, Calif. Electricity from the new powerhouse will supplement generation from an existing powerhouse at Slab Creek Dam. Because the new powerhouse is a small hydro project (less than 30 MW), the electricity it produces counts toward the state Renewable Portfolio Standard.

SMUD is overpaying rooftop solar customers, study says (updated)

[first published 8/4 and updated 8/7 with Vote Solar comments] Cost-shift to non-solar customers is at least $25M annually, study adds. Yesterday, Energy + Environmental Economics (E3) – an energy consulting firm commissioned by SMUD to study the value of solar in its service territory – released an independent study that evaluated the true value of solar in the Sacramento

SMUD declares climate emergency; sets goal to be carbon neutral by 2030

The Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) Board of Directors adopted a climate emergency declaration, committing to working toward the goal of delivering carbon neutral electricity by 2030. The utility said it has previously helped to pioneer renewable energy programs and standards. In 2018, SMUD reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 50% from 1990 levels. Furthermore, SMUD reduced the carbon intensity of

SMUD can use community solar to satisfy California mandate of solar on all new homes

This week, SMUD lauded the California Energy Commission’s (CEC) approval of its Neighborhood SolarShares program for the 2019 Building Standards, which requires all new low-rise residential homes under three stories high to be built with solar starting in 2020. The SolarShares program provides solar to new developments through an off-site solar project, like a community solar plan. The 2019 Building

Five 2020 trends show how utilities can take a leadership role in the clean energy transition

For many electric power companies, leading the economy-wide transition to lower carbon, cleaner energy sources starts close to home. As capital markets and othe…

Sacramento’s municipal utility will use blockchain software to track rewards for customers who charge with solar power. The city of Sacramento is preparing to…

The insurance industry has lots of exposure to climate change. But as Warren Buffet has explained, not so much for companies that do annual policy adjustments, …

In early February, during DistribuTECH, the Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA) hosted a workshop to discuss what requirements are necessary for successful dis…

Just the number of acronyms in the headline for this article ought to offer a tiny glimpse into the complexity surrounding the deployment of Distributed Energy …

On Wednesday, January 24 during a DistribuTECH networking breakfast, panelists — 3 women from the energy industry — described how they had overcom…

A microgrid at Blue Lake Rancheria, a tribal reservation in northern California, was the winner of the Distributed Energy Resource Integration 2018 POWERGRID In…

I’m not sure if this is a blessing or a curse, but I happened to be a member of the Crossing The Chasm development team along with Geoff Moore all the way back …

Chattanooga, TN, is adding over $1 billion to its local economy in the next decade by implementing one of the most advanced smart grids and delivering the faste…