Utilities need ‘broad culture change’ to deploy emerging clean resources at scale: DOE’s Shah

“Failing to adopt new strategies and technologies is the higher-risk path for utilities today,” said Jigar Shah, director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office.

By Robert Walton • Sept. 9, 2024

WestTEC to develop West-wide ‘actionable’ transmission plan

The initiative aims to develop interregional and interstate transmission portfolios across the West on 10- and 20-year timeframes.

By Ethan Howland • Sept. 6, 2024

Explore the Trendline➔

Grid Resiliency

Utilities and grid operators are facing increasing threats from climate change as well as cyber and physical attacks, and are deploying a variety of responses to meet the rising challenges.

By Utility Dive staff

White House announces $7.3B clean energy financing for Dairyland Power, 15 other co-ops

The federal funding will support 10 GW in clean energy projects lowering electricity costs for cooperative utilities in 23 states, the White House said.

By Ethan Howland • Sept. 5, 2024

LNG exports make both economic and environmental sense

Exports are not reducing domestic supply and squeezing American ratepayers or power plant operators; exports come from added production and have only a small impact on price.

By Kyle Isakower • Sept. 4, 2024

Reregulation? How utilities and states are responding to PJM’s record capacity prices

“Houston, we have a problem,” American Municipal Power’s Steve Lieberman said. “If we don’t see new capacity in the [2027/28] auction, we’re really running out of time.”

By Ethan Howland • Sept. 4, 2024

CenterPoint to propose $5B for Houston grid resilience, forego profits from mobile generation lease

CenterPoint apologized to state lawmakers about the mobile generators. We “should have communicated more clearly to our elected officials about the cost and the limitations of such large-scale units,” the utility said.

By Robert Walton • Sept. 4, 2024

Generator interconnection hurdles throttle economic development. An entry fee model can help.

The current interconnection process puts project developers in the untenable position of sinking years of effort and millions of dollars into projects with virtually no insight into the ultimate cost or timeline to connect to the grid.

By Ted Thomas • Sept. 3, 2024

FERC’s Christie offers ‘compromise’ on transmission financial incentives

Instead of opposing incentives outright, FERC Commissioner Mark Christie said they should be awarded for state-approved projects.

By Ethan Howland • Aug. 30, 2024

US clean energy jobs grew 4.2% in 2023: DOE

The U.S. added clean energy jobs at more than twice the rate of the broader economy, according to the Department of Energy.

By Robert Walton • Aug. 28, 2024

Interregional power transfer capability ranges from 1% to 92% across North America: NERC

Total import capabilities between transmission planning regions also vary depending on the season, the North American Electric Reliability Corp. said Tuesday.

By Robert Walton • Aug. 28, 2024

Clean energy groups push for more interconnection reforms ahead of FERC workshop

They called for fast-track processes that would give construction-ready projects access to existing and planned interconnection capacity, among other things.

By Ethan Howland • Aug. 27, 2024

Southwest Power Pool seeks FERC OK to delay 2024 interconnection queue process

The delay would give SPP time to finish studying and restudying interconnection clusters going back to 2018, the grid operator told the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

By Ethan Howland • Aug. 26, 2024

ERCOT successfully navigates heat wave, new peak demand record

Thousands of megawatts of new solar, wind and battery storage have helped keep the grid reliable this summer, said Electric Reliability Council of Texas officials.

By Robert Walton • Aug. 26, 2024

CAISO interconnection reform plan draws support from SoCal Ed, PG&E, PUC

However, renewable energy developers and trade groups urged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to reject provisions they say would favor utility-backed projects.

By Ethan Howland • Aug. 23, 2024

MISO, SPP advance ‘unprecedented’ transmission plan that could support up to 30 GW

The grid operators are seeking Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approvals that are needed to build $1.7 billion in transmission projects along their northern border.

By Ethan Howland • Aug. 22, 2024

California pioneers new ways to ease interconnection of large DERs

Limited generation profiles in California will schedule limits to DERs during system constraints. New York, Illinois, Colorado and others are testing more flexible approaches.

By Herman K. Trabish • Aug. 21, 2024

FERC rejects Basin Electric’s cryptocurrency mining rate proposal

Basin Electric failed to show it was fair to treat cryptocurrency loads differently from other similar-sized loads, the agency said in a potentially precedent-setting decision.

By Ethan Howland • Aug. 21, 2024

New York encourages electrification with new grid planning process, affordability pilot

“The rate at which consumers are electrifying buildings and vehicles has the potential to outpace the existing grid planning processes,” the New York Public Service Commission said.

By Robert Walton • Aug. 19, 2024

Navigating FERC orders: Strategies for successful transmission development

How FERC orders impact utilities on their journey to high clean energy growth.

By Kevin Hade, Senior Manager, West Monroe and Cecilia Fung, Manager, West Monroe • Aug. 19, 2024

CenterPoint cannot cancel $800M lease for large mobile generators unused during Beryl

The utility should weigh its options, including subleasing the generators and renegotiating contracts, members of the Public Utility Commission of Texas said Thursday.

By Robert Walton • Aug. 16, 2024

To get more transmission, we need a bottom-up approach

A bottom-up process to build support for transmission development can deliver more line miles faster at lower cost with broad popular support.

By Joshua Rogers • Aug. 15, 2024

Maryland electric customers face up to 24% bill hikes from PJM capacity auction: report

Reliability-must-run contracts for two Talen Energy power plants added about $5 billion to PJM’s capacity costs in its last auction, Synapse Energy Economics found.

By Ethan Howland • Aug. 15, 2024

The high stakes of extra high voltage: engineering effective EHV transmission lines

To realize visions of integrated renewable energy systems delivering reliable, efficient power over long distances, we need transmission lines with high-voltage capacity.

By Wil Michalski, Overhead Transmission Solution Lead, Black & Veatch • Aug. 14, 2024

Texas AG investigates CenterPoint storm response, possible ‘fraud, waste’

Hurricane Beryl left 2.3 million CenterPoint customers without power in July, spurring questions about the utility’s storm preparedness and restoration efforts.

By Robert Walton • Aug. 14, 2024

New York ISO reforms interconnection queue, launches cluster study reviews

The changes, which comply with FERC Order 2023, “deliver greater efficiencies and transparency in our interconnection process,” New York ISO President and CEO Rich Dewey said.

By Robert Walton • Aug. 13, 2024