The Latest

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    Top electric power sector and utility conferences in 2027

    Utility Dive’s curated list of notable events where energy professionals will gather to exchange ideas, demonstrate novel approaches and network for a new era of grid modernization.

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    Gil Hidalgo, Hidalgo Photography

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    Sponsored by JST Power Equipment

    More capability, less equipment: the future of capacitor bank control

    Utilities can now gain capacity and reliability without adding equipment or substation space.

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    David McNew via Getty Images
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    California utilities, aggregators and customers to benefit from new DER laws: advocates

    One aggregator called device-level telemetry the “keystone” to extract value from multiple distributed energy resources behind the same meter.

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    Bill Pugliano via Getty Images
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    CMS Energy CEO predicts data center ‘progress’ after midterms

    Garrick Rochow blamed political “spin” for permitting setbacks in an earnings call. He did not address the more than $300 million the utility says it has spent to keep an aging coal plant running under DOE ‘emergency’ orders.

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    Permission granted by Midcontinent Independent System Operator
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    FERC approves tougher MISO penalties for nonperforming demand-side resources

    Two Federal Energy Regulatory Commission members urged parties to monitor the rules in case they drive well-performing demand response and behind-the-meter resources out of the Midcontinent grid operator’s market.

  • A nuclear power plant with steam billowing from two cooling towers.
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    The image by Christopher Peterson is licensed under CC BY 2.0
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    DOE announces $10.1B in loans to Constellation, Alliant, for 3.7 GW

    Both loan packages could be used to finance uprates at existing generation facilities, which Energy Secretary Chris Wright called “commonsense” energy policy.

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    Permission granted by Sanjay Suchak/Lightshift Energy
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    BNEF ups US energy storage deployment forecast by 30%

    Hyperscalers’ interest in on-site and nearby energy storage has converted into firm orders this year, the global energy consultancy said last week in its latest industry outlook.

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    Brandon Bell via Getty Images
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    CenterPoint expands 10-year capital plan by $4B to handle load growth

    The Houston-based utility’s investment plan through 2035 stands at almost $71 billion, and the company is accelerating some investments to support growing customer demand.

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    The image by Quintin Soloviev is licensed under CC BY 4.0
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    PJM urges FERC to dismiss Mon Power ‘fishing expedition’ seeking to recoup $145M

    FirstEnergy’s Monongahela Power contends that the PJM Interconnection’s advanced scheduling of gas-fired power plants during Winter Storm Fern may have violated the grid operator’s rules.

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    Reliability standards for AI data centers, crypto miners move closer to adoption

    NERC’s Board of Trustees on Monday voted to adopt reliability standards for AI data centers and other computational loads. The proposed rules now go to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for approval.

    Updated Oct. 27, 2026
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    Opinion

    Capacity, clarity, cash and compliance: the 4 C’s of electric co-op funding success

    Compliance is where cooperative utilities tend to struggle the most, and the latest federal funding programs have introduced even tougher terms, writes Fedsprout CEO Aalap Shah.

  • An American flag and a flag bearing the seal of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (which features an eagle holding a shield with elements of a skyline on it) flank a large upright square panel bearing the same CISA seal. On the wall to the right of the panel and the flags, a row of digital clocks shows the time in the four major U.S. time zones.
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    Eric Geller/Utility Dive
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    CISA promises proactive critical infrastructure defense in new strategic plan

    Supply-chain security receives special attention in the plan, with CISA promising to “develop data-driven guidance and best practices” related to third-party dependencies. AI is mentioned only briefly.

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    Kathleen Flynn via Getty Images
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    Clean energy groups, states oppose MISO’s large load-generation study plan

    The grid operator’s proposed fast-track study process for large loads with generation lacks ratepayer protections and favors vertically integrated utilities over independent power producers, critics said.

    Updated Oct. 26, 2026
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    Anna Moneymaker via Getty Images
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    NextEra Energy secures $5.7B to support federal energy ‘hub’ projects

    The company remains on track to close a merger with Dominion Energy in the second half of 2027, despite political opposition in Virginia, NextEra officials said Wednesday.

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    Kena Betancur via Getty Images
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    Utilities turn to AI to manage rising power demand — from AI

    Applications include maintenance prioritization and demand forecasting, but AI outputs that are uneven, or those that can’t be audited, constrain broader deployment. “Most utilities could not reconstruct what an AI system read, what it did and why,” one expert told Utility Dive.

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    Spencer Platt via Getty Images
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    Wind turbine orders hit 2.8 GW in Q2 ahead of tax credit deadline: WoodMac

    Overall, “the U.S. wind industry remains on course to add 39 GW of onshore new-build capacity by 2030,” the report said.

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    Getty Images
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    DOJ moves to revoke offshore wind permits, potentially threatening Senate permitting bill

    Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., one of the senators sponsoring the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, said in a statement, “This is how you blow up a permitting deal.”

  • A firefighter sprays water on a burning home after the Norte Fire moved through the area on October 16, 2026 in San Juan Capistrano, California.
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    Justin Sullivan via Getty Images
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    PG&E needs wildfire policy reform to manage tail risk, CEO says

    CEO Patti Poppe said the company’s credit rating “is a major issue that must be solved ... [legislative] inaction will continue to get increasingly expensive for our customers.”

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    Joe Raedle via Getty Images
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    Trump eschews tariffs for trade talks on wind turbine imports

    Following a Section 232 probe, the president tasked cabinet officials to engage in negotiations and report on their progress within 180 days.

  • An aerial view of a large building covered in solar panels.
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    Getty Images
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    Google supersizes PJM virtual power plant to more than 1 GW

    Such contracts signal a turning point for distributed resources in energy markets, industry sources say. Demand response revenue in PJM jumped 240% from 2024 to 2025, reaching $523.6 million; emergency demand response accounted for 88% of that.

  • A wind farm on rolling hills in Pennsylvania, which is part of the PJM Interconnection.
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    Getty Images
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    Opinion

    Jigar Shah blames the wrong target for rising electricity bills

    With utility returns trending downward, the data does not support a national “utility greed” narrative, writes Guy Caruso, former administrator for the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

  • McGinness Hills geothermal energy plant in Nevada.
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    Courtesy of U.S. Bureau of Land Management
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    Geothermal lease sale on federal land in Nevada nets $4.8M

    An Interior Department auction for roughly 187,000 acres generated less per acre than a similar sale in the same state in 2025. Leases for two parcels that sold overlap with the site of a proposed NextEra solar farm.

  • A man in a red uniform repairing a heat pump.
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    Getty Images
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    Summer-peaking states could save big with heat pumps, report says

    From 1980 to 2000, electricity demand rose while prices dropped. Heat pumps could help do that again, according to a report from RMI that estimates full deployment could reduce U.S. residential electric rates by 13% in summer-peaking states.

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    Chris McGrath via Getty Images
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    Solar PPA prices jump 5% in Q3, mainly on new trade tariffs: LevelTen

    Wind power purchase agreements held relatively steady in Q3 but could begin to rise again as the latest round of tariffs takes effect later this year.

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    Permission granted by Base Power
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    Georgia electric cooperative plans 50-MW home battery deployment

    Central Georgia Electric Membership Corp. plans to use the batteries to reduce system peaks and energy costs as hyperscale data centers seek to connect to its grid.

  • Power lines leading into the city of Cleveland Ohio at sunset time.
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    Opinion

    The capacity market crisis is a design problem, not a verdict on competition

    PJM's capacity price spikes are a symptom of a market that drifted too far toward spot-price dependence, not an indication that competition itself does not work, write Atlantic Council experts.