News ~ Energy & Resource Management

9 December 2010  |  

PG&E's Peak Day Pricing to Impact Central Valley Growers

FRESNO, California--A new program from Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) will carry stiff surcharges along with a seasonal price break to encourage agriculture operations to shut down high-horsepower pumps and other large motors during critical peak power demand periods.

The Peak Day Pricing (PDP) program is another step toward what PG&E calls "time-of-use" pricing and "demand response load shedding." The PDP program is PG&E's response to a statewide initiative led by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) with five objectives:

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9 December 2010  |  

Growers to Receive Thousands in Peak Power Incentive Dollars

FRESNO, California – Understanding so-called "demand response" electricity incentive programs requires some backwards thinking. Here's an example: Central Valley growers will soon receive thousands in cash for NOT using electricity.

Why? Because electric utilities across the country have launched programs to reduce the stress on the electric grid during times of peak demand, normally hot summer afternoons. Power planners like the California Independent Service Operator broadcast a request for load reductions when usage and weather patterns spike.

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11 November 2010  |  

M2M Named to Inc. 5000...Again

BOISE, Idaho — M2M Communications (M2M) has been included on Inc. Magazine's 5000 list of fastest growing companies for the third year in a row within the publication's September 2010 issue.

“The leaders of the companies on this year’s Inc. 5000 have figured out how to grow their businesses during the longest recession since the Great Depression,” said Inc. president Bob LaPointe. “The 2010 Inc. 5000 showcases a particularly hardy group of entrepreneurs.”

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21 October 2010  |  

M2M Communications Joins 'CW 100' List of Tech Leaders

BOISE, Idaho — M2M Communications, one of Idaho's fastest growing companies, has been placed on a prestigious list of the most innovative providers of machine-to-machine communications (m2m) technology.

Assembled by the editors of Connected World magazine for the November issue, the list is a guide to the companies at the forefront of the marketplace for connected devices, which continues to flourish despite the downturn. According to the judges, the CW 100 represents "top companies demonstrating market traction and pursuing game-changing technologies in connectivity."

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29 July 2009  |  

Saving Energy by Managing Irrigation

By Kate Galbraith

Idaho has lately made a strong showing in energy efficiency: the state was rated “most improved” in a recent energy-efficiency survey, and also topped a Pew survey last month for fastest green job growth.

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2 July 2009  |  

M2M Communications & Rocky Mountain Power win 2009 Value Chain Gold Award from M2M Magazine

Chicago, IL – (June 16, 2009) – M2M Communications, a leading supplier of web-to-wireless monitoring and control solutions, has received the prestigious M2M Magazine Value Chain Gold Award (www.m2mmag.com) for its ongoing project with Rocky Mountain Power. The M2M industry has expanded from a niche technology to a far-reaching market with thousands of applications.

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10 April 2009  |  

M2M Communications Announces Agreement with Idaho Power for Irrigation Load Control Services

Boise, ID — April 07, 2009 — M2M Communications, a leading supplier of web-to-wireless monitoring and control solutions, signed a contract with Idaho Power to provide irrigation load control services utilizing M2M Communications’ Lodestar system technology. Idaho Power provides electricity for 487,000 residential, business and agricultural customers in a 24,000 square-mile service area in southern Idaho and eastern Oregon.

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7 January 2009  |  

Idaho's Agriculture and Technology Industries Could Help Lead Us Out of the Downturn

THE IDAHO STATESMAN — TOO OFTEN, IDAHOANS HEAR about the differences between rural and urban Idaho. These differences are regularly couched as the state's old economy versus its new economy, and specifically as agriculture vs. technology. In a time of declining state revenues and a tough federal economic situation, it is more important than ever for Idahoans to focus on our similarities and on how we can work together to weather the current economic crisis.

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24 August 2008  |  

Web-to-wireless system helps manage peak power demand

Idaho Business Review — Monday, August 25, 2008

During southeast Idaho’s hot, dry summers, as much as one-third of the region’s base-load power demand comes from the massive irrigation pumps that keep its agricultural industry alive.

But sharing the grid are tens of thousands of air conditioners and fans, all of which get cranked up at the same time, often outstripping a utility’s ability to provide enough power.

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1 May 2008  |  

Irrigation Load Control: A Program of Power

Potato Grower — The ins and outs of load control.

Nationwide there is a growing appetite for utility-sponsored irrigation load control. Following is a take on what growers and/or those in a position to advise growers need to know before leaping into utility-sponsored irrigation load control programs.

Irrigation Load Control: A Program of Power