Energy
Charging Data Shows How EVs Can Ease the Grid
By Cavan Merski, data analyst, Pecan Street – EV owners typically fall into one of three distinct time-of-day charging profiles: midday, evening, or overnight charging. Our data allows us to quantify this behavior and test how flexible it is.
Voltage & Current Waveform Data Ushers in New Era for Residential Electricity Research
By Scott Hinson, chief technology officer, Pecan Street – Now, we’re taking the next big step. Our latest advancement involves sampling waveform data, capturing direct high-resolution measurements of voltage and current at the waveform level.
Exploring the Power of High-Resolution HVAC Demand Data
By Cavan Merski, data analyst, Pecan Street – Pecan Street measures energy use every second from individual home circuits, such as HVAC condensers, fans, and auxiliary resistance heating. This granularity empowers energy researchers, utilities, building designers, and policymakers to make informed decisions in a number of areas.
The Future of Virtual Power Plants Rests on Device Interoperability
By Scott Hinson, chief technology officer, Pecan Street – Interoperability didn’t matter much when Edison’s centralized approach to electricity was deployed across the country. But as distributed energy resources (DERs) have proliferated, it has become more than important. It’s essential.
Your Thermostat Could Be a Power Plant
By Cavan Merski, data analyst, Pecan Street – Virtual power plants (VPPs) are a cost-effective, flexible solution to the challenges of balancing supply and demand on power grids. And they’re rapidly gaining traction in the energy industry.
Walking the Energy Efficiency Walk with Detroiter and Pecan Street Participant Ed Gies
By Colin Rowan, director of communication, Pecan Street – If you go through the list of technology and energy efficiency features in Ed Gies’ southwest Detroit home, it’s hard to believe it’s the same neighborhood his parents lived in after World War II.
Connecting Energy Data with Voices of Real Homeowners
Guest Blog by Hannah Danaë Goodman of CAPA Strategies – No one likes to spend on their energy bill, but for many families across the country, utilities aren’t just an inconvenience but a huge financial burden. For families living paycheck to paycheck, high energy bills can be a serious source of stress that forces them to do burdensome mental math about cutting costs in other areas, finagling payment plans, or reaching out to family members for assistance.
Achieving Affordability, Resilience and Abundance with Virtual Power Plants
By Cavan Merski, data analyst, Pecan Street – The transformative potential of virtual power plants (VPPs) is poorly understood. Your average electricity customer has no idea what VPPs are. Even in the legislative and regulatory universe, VPPs are considered tomorrow’s technology and have not yet been fully integrated into grid planning efforts. They should be.
A Plan for a 21st Century Grid – Part 4: A Strong, Resilient Grid Starts With a Plan
By Scott Hinson, chief technology officer, Pecan Street – In Texas and across the country, customers deserve a grid that will keep us warm during the next Uri, that will rebound quickly after the next tropical storm, and that will keep us cool during ever-hotter summers. One that’s stronger, cleaner, cheaper and smarter. And that will take a plan.
A Plan for a 21st Century Grid – Part 3: Fossil Fuel Thinking is Clouding Our Future
By Scott Hinson, chief technology officer, Pecan Street – Despite the catastrophic failure of natural gas power plants during Winter Storm Uri, fossil fuel electricity generators are still considered more reliable than other electricity solutions, be it solar, wind, batteries, demand response, etc. The state’s biggest solution to Uri was a multi-billion dollar investment in….more gas plants.
A Plan for a 21st Century Grid – Part 2: Can Texas’ Shaky Grid Handle the Exponential Growth Ahead?
By Scott Hinson, chief technology officer, Pecan Street – In its recent demand forecast, ERCOT predicted electricity demand could nearly double. Not in the next 50 years, but the next 5. And crypto and data center growth is an overwhelming culprit. What's Texas going to do about it?
A Plan for a 21st Century Grid – Part 1: Our Historic Hands-off Approach Isn’t a Plan.
By Scott Hinson, chief technology officer, Pecan Street – Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll look at some of the big grid challenges Texas has faced recently and how leaders have responded. Not to spoil the ending, but it should be a clarion call for the rest of the country to think strategically and urgently about the grid.
A Surprise R&D 100 Award for Pecan Street and Our Partners
Are we excited about winning an R&D 100 Award? Absolutely. Are we trying to humble brag? Maybe a little. In reality, this award is a recognition of a fantastic start. We’re excited to continue our research and to dive even deeper into the changing and challenging energy system research that we’ve done for 12 years.
Considering an EV? Here are Some Quick Shopping Tips.
I thought it would be fun to share some EV buying thoughts I’ve developed over my time with Pecan Street and several years with a fully electric car and a plug-in hybrid. I’ve been thinking a lot about these things lately, as my wife and I will be trading in our 2021 Mustang Mach-E early next year.
Pecan Street Awarded $7.9 Million to Develop Solar Congestion Solution, Improve Solar Access for LMI Customers
The U.S. Department of Energy has granted a five-year, $7.9 million Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships Program (GRIP) grant to Pecan Street Inc. and its partners to develop and deploy technology that will allow utilities to manage solar supply and energy demand throughout the grid.
Restore OKC Brings Pecan Street’s Research Network to Oklahoma City
Restore OKC has teamed up with the University of Oklahoma and Pecan Street Inc. to help launch an energy efficiency and awareness program in northeast Oklahoma City. We’re already recruiting participants, conducting energy audits and installing equipment that will measure how these improvements affect participants’ energy use and costs.
Dr. Anissa Rodriguez Dickerman Named Pecan Street CEO
The Pecan Street Inc. board of directors has hired Anissa Rodriguez Dickerman, Ph.D. as chief executive officer. Dickerman’s tenure began September 1, 2023.
A Simple Solution to A/C Driven Energy Demand: Smarter Cooling
By Cavan Merski – Download our new analysis, which examines how behavioral tendencies (like manual thermostat adjustments) and home technology (like smart thermostats) can significantly reduce electricity demand for air conditioning during hot Texas summers.
Pecan Street Inc. and Local Partners to Expand Novel Energy Equity Research Network to Oklahoma, Georgia, Oregon and Pennsylvania
A 3-year, $2.5 million grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to Pecan Street Inc. and university and local community partners will expand Pecan Street’s household energy research network to four new regions.
Meet Some of the Groups Making Solar More Accessible
by Jill Harlow – The most common question I heard repeated over the three days: How did you do your community engagement? Learning to authentically center on community needs and goals takes time, hard work, and often comes with many false starts and missteps.
eGauge Tour: A Quick Tutorial for Pecan Street Participants
By Rachel Jenkins, Director of Operations, Pecan Street – If Pecan Street has installed an eGauge in your home and you’re looking for a quick guide for viewing your data, you’re in the right place. Below you’ll find everything you need to know to log in and nerd out.
Community, Local Experts and Showing Up Have Been Key to Pecan Street’s Expansion
By Rachel Jenkins, Director of Operations, Pecan Street – My recent trip to Culebra, Puerto Rico, where we’re recruiting about 50 families to participate, was further proof that community, local experts and simply “showing up” have been key to our efforts.
Pecan Street’s Expansion to Puerto Rico Promises Energy Data Goldmine for Researchers and Electricity Customers Everywhere
By Cavan Merski, data analyst, Pecan Street – Our expansion into Puerto Rico is unique; nowhere else on Earth can you find the island’s combination of energy challenges and energy ambition.
Energy Efficiency Does More Than Save Money and Reduce Emissions. It Can Strengthen the Grid.
By Cavan Merski – Energy-efficient homes provide a variety of benefits to customers and the grid. But energy efficiency can be leveraged to produce even more bang for its buck by enabling certain types of demand response.
Pecan Street Starts 2023 with Leadership Transitions
After nearly five years as Pecan Street’s CEO, Suzanne Russo has transitioned to the organization’s board of directors. Bart Bohn, a partner at venture capital firm ATP and a long-time collaborator with Pecan Street, will serve as interim CEO while the board of directors conducts a search for a permanent chief executive.
Heat Pumps 101: Understanding the Technology That Will Drive Residential Decarbonization
By Cavan Merski When you spend your day surrounded by co-workers, you can forget that not everyone knows the same stuff you do. That’s especially true in areas that intersect at Pecan Street, like energy and data. I was reminded of this recently when talking with friends about some of the incentives included in the […]
Your EV Webinar Questions Answered
By Scott Hinson – Thank you for joining Cavan Merski and me for our recent webinar about EV charging trends. We’re following up with answers to some great participant questions.
Want to Save the Planet? Call an Electrician First. Better Yet, Become an Electrician Yourself.
By Richard Smith – We’ve heard for years that “we all have a role to play” in creating a cleaner economy. As the electrification trend ramps up, we’re about to see just how critical electricians will be.
Inflation Reduction Act Sets United States on Path to Clean Energy Economy
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 sparks the country’s largest investment to address climate emissions and rapidly accelerate the transition to clean energy. Following is a statement from Suzanne Russo, CEO, Pecan Street Inc.
Help Save The Grid, Get Free Stuff: Our New Study Needs 50 More Participants in Austin
By Rachel Jenkins, director of operations, Pecan Street Inc. – Want to reduce your home’s grid impact without turning up your AC? You may be a perfect fit for a study we’re conducting with the University of Michigan that will test automatic, on-the-fly conservation events without adjusting your thermostat.