Pecan Street Posts
A Fond Farewell to an Austin Legend
By Suzanne Russo - I’m not the first person to say this, but if you’ve lived in or moved to Austin in the last 30 years, you probably need to thank Pike Powers. More than any singular person, Pike is the symbol of Austin’s transition from a sleepy college town to a global technopolis.
We need energy data to combat climate change, and we need a data utility to make that happen.
Heading into COP26, how can leaders ensure energy data meets its full climate potential? Our experience with energy data has led us to the answer: support the development of a data utility staffed with data scientists, computers scientists, cybersecurity experts and domain experts that would prioritize customer privacy and protection, limit profiteering, require transparency, and advance the integration of data and computer science into our nation’s grid system.
Puerto Rico Voluntary Participation Agreement
Following is a participant agreement for Pecan Street’s current volunteer recruitment in Puerto Rico. By completing and submitting this form, you are agreeing to the terms outlined below. Please read this agreement carefully. It explains all of the roles and responsibilities for Pecan Street Inc. and the research participants. After reading the agreement, you will […]
Federal Clean Energy Stimulus Can Make or Break U.S. Clean Power Goals
There is no silver bullet in the fight to address climate change – we must consider all the tools at our disposal. Extending clean energy tax credits and passing a federal CES put us on the path to achieving our goal of 100 percent clean power by 2035. In concert, these policies would result in the most ambitious approach to reaching 100 percent clean power. However, without legislation enacting a CES, extending the PTC and ITC are still meaningful policies that would result in more clean energy deployment, better health and equity outcomes, and increased job growth and economic activity.
Digital Dirt: A toolkit to advance soil carbon measurement and verification solutions
Over the last year, Pecan Street has been working with some remarkable partners to apply our research and data expertise to some vexing challenges around carbon sequestration. Today, we posted some fruit of our labor, a Digital Dirt Toolkit that takes us several steps toward a data-driven solution
Introducing Over Our Heads – The Pecan Street Podcast
On Over Our Heads, we introduce you to several of the topics we work on and the experts we meet along the way and dive into some energy and tech issues that are sometimes over our heads… often more complicated or nuanced than what you’ll find in most press coverage about clean energy.
EVs and the Texas Grid (KXAN)
Pecan Street's Colin Rowan spoke with Eric Henrikson (KXAN-Austin) about whether the Texas grid can handle an influx of electric vehicles (yes!) and how these "rolling batteries" could (and should) be a solution for Texas leaders trying to increase the grid's resilience.
We support full residential electrification – addressing electric panel capacity is critical to that goal
Earlier this week, we released a new analysis on electric panel capacity and residential electrification. Our goal was to draw attention to the opportunities to clear the path for electrification by introducing policies and incentives for electric panel upgrades.
Course Correction: Residential Power Factor
To demonstrate the challenges and opportunities associated with total power factor, we used Pecan Street’s home energy use and PV data to explore the grid impacts of poor residential power factor and the system benefits of power factor correction. The analysis showed that by improving power factor of the homes in our sample, an additional current capacity of 12-16% to the distribution system can be achieved.
Turning Biden’s EV charging agenda into a game-changer for American transportation
By Colin Rowan, director of strategy & communication, Pecan Street – We outline the principles the Biden administration’s electric vehicle charging strategy should follow to maximize the impact its investment will have on EV adoption. Download our new paper here.
Equitable Infrastructure Will Take Time and Commitment
Making President Biden's infrastructure commitments translate to lasting economic and social change for communities of color, however, will require deliberate and long-term strategies.
National Science Foundation Awards Grant to Pecan Street for First-of-its-Kind Research on Regenerative Farming and Farming Communities
The National Science Foundation awarded its Smart and Connected Communities grant to Austin-based research organization Pecan Street Inc. The project team will explore opportunities and barriers for the adoption of regenerative farming practices, and seeks to better understand collective decision-making about land use management by regional farming communities.
Pecan Street’s V2G University Challenge is Underway!
In October, Pecan Street launched a global competition for university students to develop a robust Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) control algorithm that optimizes residential fleets of electric vehicles for grid decarbonization and increased resiliency.
Pecan Street Convenes Artificial Intelligence Working Group to Advance Soil Carbon Sequestration on Farms
Pecan Street Inc. and The Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) have launched a globally unique AI for Soil Carbon Sequestration Working Group to explore new methods for using artificial intelligence (AI) to overcome the barriers to widespread adoption of climate- beneficial farming practices.
Pecan Street Joins Eaton Team to Improve Grid Reliability with Renewables
(October 2, 2020 — AUSTIN, TX) Eaton Corporation has convened a team of researchers, including Pecan Street Inc., to develop a next-generation grid services solution to improve the overall efficiency of the electric grid and to optimize renewable energy generation.
COVID Five Months in: A Sustained Increase in Residential Electricity
By Scott Hinson, chief technology officer, Pecan Street - Pecan Street has been monitoring electricity use and generation from hundreds of homes in our research network for nearly a decade. Many of these homes have rooftop solar and electric vehicles, and we’ve been measuring each home’s total energy use as well as use from individual circuits, like heating/cooling, EV charging, refrigerator, etc. With all this data at our fingertips, we decided to take a look at how our participants’ energy profiles have changed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Your Data in Action
Over the past several weeks, our work has been focused on the COVID-19 pandemic and the momentum behind the racial justice and equity movement. As always, our home energy database has been central to the work we've accomplished.
Pecan Street Launches First-of-its-Kind Soil Carbon Sequestration Research Project
Austin-based research organization, Pecan Street Inc. is drawing on its past success in advancing climate and conservation solutions to explore new methods to accelerate market development of carbon sequestration on farms.
Pecan Street Featured on CNN’s “The Global Energy Challenge”
Pecan Street's Chief Technology Officer, Scott Hinson, was interviewed for CNN's "The Global Energy Challenge" about shifting energy usage due to COVID-19.
Pecan Street CTO Speaks with The Weather Channel About Summer Peak Energy Use and COVID Pandemic
Pecan Street's Chief Technology Officer, Scott Hinson, was interviewed by the Weather Channel's Jim Cantore today about the coincidence of summer peak energy usage and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pecan Street Deepens COVID-19 Home Energy Analysis with Survey of Volunteer Network
We surveyed participants to learn what behavioral changes might be affecting their energy profile under shelter-in-place. Learn more here.
Austin Energy Leads Nation in Municipal Solar Capacity
Congratulations to Austin Energy for being named first in the nation for per capita municipal utility solar capacity. On Wednesday, Environment Texas released their Shining Cities 2020 report that names the top U.S. cities for solar energy.
COVID-19 is Changing Residential Electricity Demand
By Scott Hinson, chief technology officer, Pecan Street - As the patterns of our lives shift in response to COVID-19, we decided to take a look at how our research participants’ energy profiles have changed. Not surprisingly, they’re using more energy. But how much, and for what?
Webinar Announcement: AI for Decarbonization
Pecan Street is excited to announce our upcoming webinar, Artificial Intelligence for Grid Decarbonization. We’ll be joined by our partners at Cambridge Innovation Center and Beyond Limits to discuss near term opportunities and challenges for how to best leverage AI to accelerate grid decarbonization.
Concern Over High Residential Utility Bills Due to COVID Sparks Action from Utilities
By Clayton Johnson, Communications Coordinator - The overall decline in energy demand due to COVID-19 shelter in place (SIP) orders has been widely reported in recent weeks. However, Pecan Street’s recent analysis shows that in contrast with the overall trend in declining energy demand, residential demand is up.
New Pecan Street Annual Report
By Suzanne Russo, CEO, Pecan Street - Our special edition annual report shares highlights from our first 10 years and recaps activities from the past fiscal year (FY 2018-19). The Pecan Street team had a lot of fun thinking back on everything we’ve accomplished so far — I hope you enjoy reading about these projects as much as we enjoyed working on them.
Pecan Street Welcomes 9 Companies to PLATFORM Program
By Bart Bohn and Elisa Gilson, Pecan Street – Pecan Street has filled its second cohort of companies participating in its PLATFORM for Product Launch program. Let's meet them!
Pecan Street Launches Free AI Solar Monitoring Service for Research Participants
By Esha Choudhary, database administrator, Pecan Street – Whether you’re trying to reduce your home’s use of fossil fuel electricity or simply want to unplug from the grid, knowing how well your rooftop solar system is performing is an important part of maximizing your investment. Few people want to monitor their system every day, so Pecan Street is piloting a service we developed that alerts users when their PV systems “underperform.”
Pecan Street Releases Step-By-Step Toolkit for Foundations to Invest in Cleantech
By Bart Bohn and Elisa Gilson, Pecan Street – Pecan Street has released a step-by-step guide for foundation staff to implement a PRI strategy. The toolkit includes an overview of PRIs, the cleantech field, ways to convince your board of cleantech’s connection to your mission, and the best way to structure PRIs for your institution.
Upcoming Events and Conferences
Heading to a conference or industry event? See if a Pecan Street staff member is on the agenda. Each month, we will update the public events at which our staff will appear.