Melissa Washington

Community engagement is critical for the success of any renewable project. This is not controversial, but I would argue, even with all the resources in place today; it remains an underappreciated aspect of the industry. More can be done; more local engagement, more local investment, but even more importantly, more follow-up reporting on the benefits of these community engagement efforts (many unique to specific local communities). There are many great stories out there: How many parks have renewable projects constructed? How many local fire trucks were purchased? How many classrooms were funded? How many small family farms were saved? There are many stories that need to be given voice as we continue adoption across the country. #Renewables #RenewableEnergy

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The PJM Energy Capacity market is experiencing a surge in demand for electric generation, leading to price hikes. Michigan's decision to restart its nuclear power plants aligns with this trend. Stay updated on the changing energy market landscape. #EnergyMarket #ElectricGeneration #NuclearPower #PJMCapacityAuction

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Transmission is a critical piece of the power grid that impacts everything from the economy to the clean energy transition. Investment in transmission enables reliability and security of our nation’s energy supply and allows us to connect our communities to renewable energy sources like wind and solar.   To harness these benefits, we need policy changes that will promote transmission investment now and into the future, rather than pose a threat to it. The recent FERC Order No. 1920 is a positive step forward in enhancing the efficiency of our nation’s electric transmission infrastructure, but there’s still more to be done.   The time is now to build our brighter energy future. Read more: https://lnkd.in/e7iV-y8Q

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🚨🚨CBS News Chicago reporter Tara Molina brings news of a great program in Chicago that plans to train 1000 people for #cleanenergy jobs on the city’s South and West Sides, specifically #solar. For those of you not familiar with Chicago’s geography, the South and West Sides are working-class neighborhoods that are primarily populated by minorities. As Illinois Governor JB Pritzker says in the article, these neighborhoods often get overlooked when new economic development comes calling, so in partnership with 548 Enterprise and its founder AJ PATTON, the state of Illinois is trying to make up for lost time. I think Governor Pritzker and Illinois are providing a model that could easily be replicated in other big cities, bringing the #solar revolution to those who need it the most. Go read Tara’s article here.  https://lnkd.in/eQsn-C5h #Deliveringacleanenergyfuture #commercialsolar #communitysolar

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As a business, an industry and a nation, we must place the continued development of the electrical system at the forefront of U.S. energy and economic policy. This is part of the message American Electric Power Interim CEO Ben Fowke shared as he testified before the Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources. We're navigating a landscape where demand is increasing at historic levels. AEP has requests for more than 100,000 MW of energy in our development queue, and most of that comes from large-load customers looking to build manufacturing plants and data centers that will help strengthen our local economies. One of the challenges to greenlighting these investments is the need for permitting reform to remove bottlenecks and get projects into construction. But many projects spend more time in regulatory hang-ups than they would take to build. To continue providing safe, reliable, and affordable power, we must advocate for flexibility and quicker decision-making by regulators alongside decisive action from policymakers. You can see the webcast of Ben’s testimony along with representatives from the Electricity Consumers Resource Council, Micron Technology and the National Center for Energy Analytics here. ⬇️

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Very cool that President Biden and Ag Sec. Vilsack visited a WI co-op to announce that 16 electric cooperatives nationwide have been selected for more than $7.3 billion in grants and loans from the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture’s New ERA program to finance new and innovative clean energy systems. The funding will make it much faster and more affordable for electric co-ops to transition to a cleaner energy future. As electric co-ops transition to cleaner energy sources, they can keep consumer rates down while creating new job opportunities in their regions by attracting large manufacturers and data centers looking for affordable rates and sustainable power. This is a win-win-win situation for consumers, the environment, and rural economies. #nreca #newera #usda #cleanenergy #ruraldevelopment #ruralcommunities #goelectric

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Just about a week away, looking forward to the discussion. Check it out if you have the time. #assetmanagement #energy #dataanalytics

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Linzy Kurdziel (Pedersen), PMP and Consumers Energy just conducted a #masterclass in: 1. Clearly communicating the benefits of smart thermostats and demand response to customers with plain, easy to understand language. 2. Effectively promoting demand response programs by leveraging local media to drive broad awareness where customers are already at. 3. Keeping the consumer at the forefront by collaborating with Uplight and Google to develop an offering that provides Google Nest thermostats to customers at no cost (even taxes and shipping covered) via a streamlined redemption process. This is what flawless execution looks like - hats off!

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