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The November wholesale exchange contract was slightly higher yesterday $0.021 on the day, settling at $3.638. It seems that there is still some cooling demand expected in the Northeast and Southeast for the rest of the week that might have been the catalyst for the slight move higher as well. A bank analyst quoted an interesting thought on the natural gas market yesterday, indicating, “One would think that a product that has the potential to become the main energy source for the largest economy in the world would be extremely active as it approaches that status. But the fact that so much Natural gas has been found so quickly is causing the opposite effect on its price and tradability”. Early EIA storage change estimates are builds in the high 90 bcf area versus last year’s build of 84 bcf. The 6 to 10 day forecast is now calling for much above average temperatures for the upper Mid West and New England as we stated its impact above on the natural gas markets. On the financial markets that opened over 220 points lower yesterday only to rally back on bargain hunters coming in and purchasing financial stocks which helped the DJIA rally higher 153 points yesterday. It seems that the financial markets couldn’t go down forever in a straight line and some bargain hunting occurs once in a while. Who knows what the longer term holds in the financial markets, but it seemed to have also assisted the natural gas markets higher yesterday as well.
In the world of who has ownership with utilities, the city of Beverly Massachusetts’s has expressed mounting frustration with National Grid and other utilities for digging up newly paved streets and failing to respond to complaints about burned-out street lights and low-hanging wires. Ward 5 City Councilor Don Martin, who said the complaints have been going on for years, voted against two routine requests for National Grid to move telephone poles, saying it's the only way to get the company's attention. The councilmen agreed they need to put the pressure on the utilities, and National Grid in particular, to respond to the city's needs. They said a lack of coordination has led to National Grid digging up streets to make repairs soon after the city has paved them. "If there's one thing worse than not paving someone's street it's paving that street and ripping it up four months later," Ward 3 Councilor Jim Latter said. Councilors will schedule a meeting with National Grid officials and the city's engineer and electrician to discuss the problems.
The current innovative thoughts for the future are putting together the equation that adds up to zero in home-energy use has its pluses and minuses. An efficient home will provide savings in energy bills for many years, but its construction will cost more and its effectiveness will demand discipline in use. But the concept of net-zero is "becoming the benchmark" that is driving energy-efficient housing plans in this area and the rest of the nation, says Michael Merck, owner of Western Pennsylvania Energy Solutions. That company has built one such home in East Liberty, is working on another next door and is involved in other projects. The term net-zero can get varying definitions, but it generally refers to a home that puts as much electricity back into the power grid as it uses. For a not entirely electric home, that return is pro-rated to include gas used. Taking a home to net-zero can involve many building techniques. Some of the most common are many forms of wall and ceiling insulation, well-sealed ductwork, energy-efficient windows, solar-energy systems that generate electricity and geothermal-heating systems that use heat from the ground. It would be more difficult to make an existing home net-zero because duct work, generally, is inefficient and walls are not insulated well enough, nor are they capable of being made that way.
On the futuristic efficiency front in the lone star state, Pecan Street Inc. announced the companies that will join it in creating a consumer-focused smart grid built around home applications and consumer electronics. The companies, Best Buy, Check-It, Chevrolet, Freescale, Intel, Landis+Gyr, Sony, SunEdison and Whirlpool will test consumer products on a smart grid platform and dedicate researchers to Pecan Street Inc.’s smart grid demonstration project in Austin. Chevrolet and Pecan Street Inc. will team up to provide 100 Chevrolet Volts for lease or purchase to participating residents. This will mark one of the nation’s highest residential concentrations of electric vehicles. To date, more than 130 residents within a one-square mile area have signed up to buy or lease a Volt. Best Buy with Check-It, as well as Intel, Sony and Whirlpool will deploy home services systems that serve as the operating platform for consumer smart grid products and services. These systems can provide consumers with a range of home security, energy management, health care monitoring, home improvement, entertainment and labor-saving services. In many of the participating homes, the systems will be capable of measuring and reporting near real-time usage of electricity or natural gas and water.
Best Buy and Whirlpool will test smart appliances and provide guidance and research collaboration on integrating smart appliances into home services systems to provide enhanced consumer services. SunEdison will lead the research team’s work to develop home solar panel charging for the Chevrolet Volts. A number of the SunEdison-led home solar vehicle charging systems will also have in-home batteries, and all systems will integrate into Best Buy/Check-It, Intel, Sony and Whirlpool home services systems. More than 150 participating residents will have rooftop solar PV, including nearly all of the residents who acquire Volts. Landis+Gyr will leverage its smart grid network platform and will install several hundred E350 FOCUS AX smart meters with Smart Energy Profile for smart consumer product connectivity. These meters and the associated communication networking platform will make it possible for the Best Buy/Check-It, Intel, Sony and Whirlpool home services systems to integrate pricing and demand management information from utility distribution systems.
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