The Latest
-
OpinionWhat happened to agricultural demand response?
Agricultural loads, with their potential flexibility, can help improve grid stability and reduce costs for utilities and ratepayers as energy markets move into a future of increasingly distributed, 100% renewable energy generation.
-
SponsoredModernizing regulation for the fourth Industrial Revolution
Utility regulations need to meet customer needs while continuing to ensure clean, affordable, safe and reliable electric service. For that to happen, traditional regulatory structures and processes need to adapt.
-
Deep DiveA utility regulatory process for the 21st century gets a test run in Hawaii
A set of regulatory workshops advanced a more collaborative process among stakeholders and a reduced utility role to more quickly facilitate the power sector's transformation.
-
Trio of federal energy storage bills avoid tax credits
The legislation comes amid rising interest in the technology, with an increasing number of state targets, a new House bipartisan storage caucus and increased funding in the President's latest budget request.
-
Podcast
EPS Ep. 9: DOE renewables chief vows support for office amid proposed budget cuts
Assistant Secretary Dan Simmons used to work for an organization that advocated the elimination of the office he currently heads. Now he says he supports DOE's renewable energy mission.
-
Can modern, high-tech warehouses rely solely on the power grid?
As warehouses add automation, facilities managers explore alternative energy and smart sensors to reduce reliance on the grid.
-
Deep DiveAs first US utility-scale offshore wind project nears approval, supply chain, permitting come into focus
Despite a lack of domestic components and a complex permitting process, Vineyard Wind is confident in its ability to move forward this summer with construction of its 800 MW project off the coast of Massachusetts.
-
Kansas regulators reject mandating smart meter opt-out programs
The State Corporation Commission also determined the use of smart meters "cannot pose a threat to a customer's personally identifiable information," and would not create health risks or fire hazards.
-
OpinionState of the states: 4 reasons that red plus blue makes green economics
While the Green New Deal proposal has sparked an important national conversation, the next wave of innovative energy legislation will likely come from red and blue state capitols.
-
Maine renews net metering as lawmakers prep new clean energy, utility reform bills
Policymakers are mulling aggressive actions to change the state's energy landscape, including purchasing Maine's two investor-owned utilities and converting them to a customer-owned model.
-
Dominion strikes deadline day utility deal to keep Millstone nuke operating
The company warned that New England's sole nuclear generator could retire if a contract for its output was not signed by March 15.
-
Kentucky rolls back net metering, bucking recent pro-solar trend elsewhere
Legislation approved Thursday contrasts with two recent wins for solar deployment in Maine and Arkansas, where both business and ratepayer advocates favored eliminating market barriers.
-
OpinionSteel-for-fuel, data-for-fuel, and other good ideas for asset retirement
Balanced, collaborative and innovative stakeholder processes can help regulators align securitization of obsolete power plants with the public interest.
-
Chatterjee: Transmission could be resilience docket solution
The FERC chairman's remarks at CERAWeek represent a shift from past emphasis on generator fuel supplies in the resilience debate.
-
How Arkansas eliminated third-party solar barriers in a red state
Third-party finance limitations and project size caps impeded solar growth in Arkansas, but lowering market barriers drew support from bipartisan lawmakers and business interests, pushing utilities to compromise.
-
Market Monitor: 3 GW nukes, 12 GW coal uneconomic in PJM
The only nuclear plants receiving market signals to retire are one-unit generators, Monitoring Analytics said, and the only one to recieve a state subsidy "did not need" it.
-
Deep DiveAs US solar expands, states increasingly tackle compensation and community project complexities
Years of debate by "nerds in beige rooms" has led to today's booming solar market, but solar policy is becoming even more complicated.
-
OpinionIt's time to change our approach to grid security
Relying on physical defensive techniques — software patching, anti-malware tools, creating strong perimeters and air-gapped networks — will not be enough to ward off future cyberattacks.
-
PG&E cleared of criminal charges in 8 2017 blazes as fire officials say SCE sparked Thomas Fire
As California utilities reckon with the devastating wildfires from 2017, PG&E still faces civil lawsuits regarding the incidents, although most proceedings have been paused by their declaration of Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
UPDATED: March 14, 2019 at 2:22 p.m. -
Perry says federal coal and nuke bailout not dead, but encourages states to act
The Secretary of Energy supports "thoughtful" state subsidy programs, but said he was not aware of discussions in Pennsylvania, where a lawmaker says DOE staff told him a federal bailout was not forthcoming.
-
FPL proposes country's largest community solar project at 1,490 MW
If approved by Florida regulators, the project would more than double U.S. community solar capacity, currently at 1,387 MW.
-
OpinionThe devil's in the details: Policy implications of 'clean' vs. 'renewable' energy
In the U.S., researchers who analyzed 40 different decarbonization pathways found that a system inclusive of clean energy will be much cheaper than a system based entirely on renewables.
-
McNamee still mulling resilience docket recusal
In his first comments to the press since his confirmation, the Republican regulator said he is working with ethics officials to determine if the resilience docket too closely resembles a plant bailout plan he crafted in 2017.
-
Three's company: New Mexico joins California, Hawaii in approving 100% clean energy mandate
The bill requires the state to phase out all natural gas and coal-fired plants by 2045, signifying a major shift in energy priorities since a new governor and a new crop of legislators took office in January.
-
Independent developer proposes $2.5B underground transmission line, to bring Iowa wind to PJM, MISO
The project seeks to connect two of the largest electricity markets in the country to an Iowa wind farm and achieve greater cost reductions by experimenting with new forms of construction for the first-of-its-kind project.
