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We enjoyed meeting all the customers who attended the Utility Energy Forum  last week—your participation made the event entertaining as well as educational. Special thanks go out to sponsors Sacramento Municipal Utility District , City of Palo Alto Utilities , Imperial Irrigation District , Riverside Public Utilities , Roseville Electric  and Silicon Valley Power  for their hard work putting together a program that addressed regional utilities’ most pressing concerns.

Now you can revisit the presentations to pick up some tips for your own programs, or find out what you missed if you were unable to join us.  You can also learn more about the UEF sponsors and exhibitors.

Attendees who didn’t fill out the paper survey at the forum can still complete an online survey . Your two cents worth helps the planning committee make the UEF better each year.

Circle May 14-16, 2014, on your calendar so you don’t miss next year’s Utility Energy Forum. Western customers in the Rocky Mountain Region, will want to save Oct. 8-10, 2013, for the Rocky Mountain Utility Efficiency Exchange .

And if you don’t have an event in your region that brings together utility colleagues to share challenges and solutions, contact your Energy Services representative and get one started!  In the meantime, consider joining Linkedin Group Discussions .

According to the Solar Electric Power Association’s (SEPA) 2010 Top 10 Utility Solar Rankings report, the top ranked utilities integrated 561 MW of solar electricity in 2010, showing 100 percent growth over one year. 

Utilities were scored in two areas: Solar megawatts installed in 2010 and solar watts per customer. Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association was the only Western customer to appear in the first category, acquiring 30.2 MW of new solar power last year. In the second category, Western customer Silicon Valley Power in California ranked first nationally with nearly 40 watts-per-customer. The City of Banning, also in California, moved into the Top 10 by providing more than 27 watts of solar generation per customer. 

The report indicated that market growth is increasingly occurring in areas outside of the solar resource-rich regions of California and the Southwest. Another emerging trend the report identified is the move toward more utility-owned solar projects and third-party power purchase agreements, like Tri-State’s purchase from the Cimarron Solar Facility in New Mexico.

While 30 utilities reported owning 140 MW of solar—a 300 percent increase in utility ownership over 2009—utility solar portfolios differed widely in solar project technologies and procurement strategies. Factors such as state policies, utility preference, solar resources, electricity prices and available incentives influence the make-up of the top 10 power providers’ solar holdings. In California, for example, interconnected customer systems continue to supply a significant amount of solar power for municipal utilities like Silicon Valley and City of Banning.

SEPA is holding a webinar June 23 to discuss the report and talk about how utilities are integrating solar power into their energy portfolios, how the solar market has changed and new market trends. The one-hour event will take place 11 a.m. Pacific/2 p.m. Eastern. The cost is free to SEPA members and the media. Register online.

Public power utilities, including several Western customers, scored well in the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s “Top 10″ rankings of utility green power programs for 2010.

Ranked by renewable energy sales, Sacramento Municipal Utility District sold the fourth largest amount of renewable energy (kWh/year) in the nation (including investor-owned utilities). SMUD was the only public power utility to crack the top 10 in total number of customer participants in green power programs, ranking fourth in that category as well.

Using information provided by utilities, NREL developed rankings of utility green power programs for 2010 in a variety of categories. Other Western customers appearing in the Top 10 included:

• Palo Alto, Calif., Utilities, first nationwide in percentage of customer participation
• Silicon Valley Power in Santa Clara, Calif., seventh in customer participation
• Moorhead, Minn., Public Service, fifth in lowest in price premium charged

NREL recently added the category of community solar programs to its ratings, giving Western customers another chance to shine. Holy Cross Energy, SMUD, St. George, Utah, and United Power placed sixth through eighth. Community solar programs allow customers to purchase a share of a solar system developed in their community and receive the benefits of the energy that is produced by their share.

The Green Power assessment was performed by NREL’s Strategic Energy Analysis Center (SEAC), which integrates technical and economic analyses and leads NREL’s efforts in applying clean energy technologies to both national and international markets.

Municipal utility Silicon Valley Power will join investor-owned San Diego Gas & Electric and Pacific Gas & Electric as host utilities at the upcoming Smart Energy International Conference & Technology Expo in San Jose, Calif., Sept. 7–9, 2010.

Among the agencies sending speakers are California Public Utilities Commission, Department of Energy, Austin Energy, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Oklahoma Gas & Electric, Portland General Electric, DTE Energy and the European Union.

This year’s Smart Energy International Conference and Technology Expo is focusing on three key areas: energy sustainability, operational excellence and customer engagement. The agenda targets professionals who work in the field of renewable energy, electric vehicles, smart grid, energy storage, Home Area Networks, standards, AMI or smart energy investment.

Attendees will gain valuable information, insights and intelligence about how the smart energy movement is changing the role of traditional utilities and bringing about an evolution that will significantly change the utility and energy “playing field.”  The Technology Expo is an opportunity to “kick the tires” of the latest and greatest technology solutions that are driving the smart energy market today and tomorrow.

More than 300 people are expected to attend the event at the San Jose Marriot. For information about the program, contact Nazya Ayaz  at 347-801-5258.