My Friend Went 100% Solar. . . Indirectly
I was speaking with one of my friends recently and they were proudly telling me that they signed up for their utility’s 100% solar rate plan. I…
Spring Cleaning: Organizing the Impacts within the Behind-the-Meter Energy Storage Closet
Electric utilities are increasingly promoting and adopting distributed energy technologies as an opportunity to modernize the electric grid and…
Is My Smart Home Really Smart?
I am a smart home geek. I have all the “smarts”: voice assistant/speaker, security cameras, lighting, fans/air purifiers and a thermostat. My home…
Itron at IEPEC in August
The International Energy Program Evaluation Conference (IEPEC) is the premier conference for energy program implementers; evaluators; local, state,…
The Smart Home Study
The vision of a smart grid is based on distributed energy resources dynamically interacting to create smart homes and smart loads that automatically…
Rooftop Solar PV and Smart Streetlights Survey
Itron recently surveyed the load forecasting community concerning the possible impact of rooftop solar PV installations on utility operations. There…
The Mile-High 2019 ISO Forecasting Summit
They have a saying in Denver – “If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes.” While that is clearly an exaggeration, it’s not too far off from…
Developing Net Load Uncertainty Forecasts to Support System Operations
Today, the deep penetration of renewable generation resources system operators are requiring new tools to place reasonable confidence bands around…
Bringing Innovation to Life: Caltech’s FLOW Rocket Fund
Itron is proud to be a corporate sponsor of the FLOW Rocket Fund at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), which is now accepting…
2019 Forecasting Conferences – Register Today!
The 17th annual Energy Forecasting/EFG Meeting and Training will be hosted in Boston, Massachusetts on April 3-5 with optional one-day training…
A Consumer’s Perspective – Residential Solar with an Electric Vehicle
Recently, I wrote a blog on residential solar. In it, I mentioned that I needed at least a 6 kW system, but I installed a 7.25 kW system with 25…
Residential Solar From a Consumer’s Perspective
I live in Southern California with a kid who runs the air conditioning like electricity is free and pretends that he lives in a frozen tundra. This…
Market Trends That Will Drive the Next Evolution of Operational Load Forecasting Models
Grid operators schedule and dispatch generation resources to meet demand in as cost-effective manner as possible. In a perfect world, the least…
Will the Solar Panel Tariff Kill Solar Adoption?
The recent U.S. administration’s 30 percent tariff on imported solar cells and modules has not been well received by the solar industry. Effective…
A Simple Approach for Addressing Behind-the-Meter Solar Generation
I was recently asked to account for behind-the-meter (BTM) solar generation in a set of day-ahead hourly electric models. Fundamentally, the problem…
America’s Finest 2018 ISO Forecasting Summit
San Diego’s slogan is “America’s Finest City” and being fortunate enough to call this place my home for the past seven years, I see why. It has a…
Joining the Conversation Around Clean Energy
As part of our efforts to stay abreast of innovations in the cleantech space, Itron Idea Labs is now a corporate sponsor of the Los Angeles Clean…
2018 EFG Meeting Summary
Sometimes when I sit back and consider all the things that need to be done, I feel overwhelmed. The endless demands for regular work—like producing…
Forecasting New Technologies – When Nothing Else Works
In a recent project, we were asked to help settle a question. Which forecast is reasonable: One forecasting average annual system demand growth of…
The CEC Releases “Improving Short-term Load Forecasts by Incorporating Solar PV Generation” Interim Report
The California Energy Commission’s (CEC) Energy Research and Development Division supports energy research and development programs to spur…
2018 Important Meeting Dates – Mark Your Calendars!
The Annual Energy Forecasting/EFG Meeting and Training will be in Austin, Texas on April 24-27 in 2018! The ISO/RTO/TSO Forecasting Summit will be…
Remember the 2017 ISO Forecasting Summit
This year’s 11th Annual ISO/RTO/TSO Forecasting Summit was held in San Antonio, Texas from May 16-18. Just like the defenders of the Alamo banded…
Common Challenges at the Energy Forecasters Meeting
Turning to her left, then right, Grace finds herself surrounded by strangers – men and women from across the United States; there’s even one from…
Free Forecasting Brown Bag Webinar
Now in our 11th year of hosting Itron’s popular, free hour-long internet seminars on a range of forecasting topics, we take great pride in helping…
A Grand View
The view from the 96th floor of the John Hancock Center is amazing. From here, cars are merely dots between the straight rows of lights and people…
Behind-The-Meter Solar Generation and Real-Time Load Forecasting – Part 3
In my blog posting “Behind-The-Meter Solar Generation and Real-Time Load Forecasting,” I presented four load forecasting challenges that have arisen…
Behind-The-Meter Solar Generation and Real-Time Load Forecasting – Part 2
In part on of this series, I presented four load forecasting challenges that have arisen as the result of deep penetration of behind-the-meter (BTM)…
A Million Solar Rooftops and Counting… California Researches Grid Integration
At social events and dinner parties I no longer find myself having to explain at length to polite inquiries on what I do, as long as I utter the…
Behind-The-Meter Solar Generation and Real-Time Load Forecasting
Recently, I was invited to speak at a California Energy Commission (CEC) sponsored workshop on Research Needs for Renewable Energy Forecasting. The…
FREE Forecasting Brown Bag Webinar
Itron continues to host its popular hour-long Internet seminars on a range of forecasting topics. We’re now in our 11th year! Itron is always at the…
Who is Forecasting Long-Term Solar Generation?
In this last forecasting brown bag presentation on solar load forecasting, we asked participants who had developed a long-term solar load forecast…
IUW15 Knowledge Center – Spotlight on Itron Total Services and Solar Monitoring Solution
This afternoon we spoke with Itron’s Bryan Seal and Jeff Simmelink in the Knowledge Center to learn more about Itron® Total Services and our solar…
Accelerating the Integration of Variable Generation into the Electric Grid
Recently, I was invited to speak at the Utility Variable Generation Integration Group (UVIG) Conference, which was focused on improving the…
Improving Net Load
Renewable Portfolio Standard requirements and decreasing costs of photovoltaics (PV) are resulting in significant amounts of solar PV systems being…
The Buzz about Solar Forecasting
Installed solar generation capacity is growing worldwide and this movement’s effect on load forecasts is significant. Energy service providers and…
The Solar Lease Deal
Working in the energy industry puts a big target on your chest when it comes to solar leasing deals. In the span of weeks, I have had several friends…