The Latest
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Retail electric rate increases outpace inflation with prices set to rise higher
Regulators approved 64% of the dollar value of revenue increase requests over the past five years, suggesting today’s rate cases will continue to raise bills, according to a recent report from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
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OpinionWhat data center developers need to know about FERC’s large load directives
The June 18 show cause orders finally take aim at the load interconnection mess. But the customers who get power faster will be the ones who show up ready to flex, writes Shalin Savalia, a senior electrical engineer.
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Google inks deal for massive Arkansas solar and storage project
With a target completion date of 2029, the project is expected to deliver 2.5 GW of generation and 2.9 GWh of battery storage to the regional grid, the tech giant said.
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Sunrun ‘distributed data center’ pilot taps its home solar and battery network
The announcement comes as ratepayer and clean energy advocates push capacity-hungry hyperscalers to subsidize residential solar, batteries and energy efficiency.
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Virginia SCC weighs Dominion data center transmission cost allocation
“Regardless of the cost allocation methodology that is chosen, there remains a glaring cross-class subsidization occurring to the benefit of new [large load] customers,” said State Corporation Commission attorney Andrew Major.
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PJM capacity prices hit price cap, reserve shortfall grows
“The outcome demonstrates that the current system doesn’t work to bring online new capacity or stimulate demand response, the two things we need the most,” Aurora Energy’s Julia Hoos told Utility Dive, warning of “an intervention doom loop.”
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OpinionThe grid’s fastest-growing resource isn’t generation. It’s flexibility.
The technology is there. The institutions are not. FERC’s July 23 technical conference on the PJM Interconnection’s governance is where that gap gets addressed — or doesn’t, writes Jeanine Johnson, a former member of the grid operator’s board.
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Courtesy of ESS
ESS Tech launches 1.2-MWh sodium-ion battery ‘building block’ system
The announcement marks the latest in a string of sodium battery developments as utilities and customers look for new sources of grid-tied and behind-the-meter capacity.
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Pennsylvania data centers face increased oversight under new law
Data centers will now have to provide annual energy usage reports to the state, and the PJM Interconnection will need to give state regulators additional insight into its demand forecasting.
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Illinois governor signs laws on utility bill transparency, financial assistance
Alignment between the state’s progressive governor and Republican state lawmakers underscores a bipartisan consensus on the urgency of addressing public anger over electricity bills.
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Utilities requested $9.2B in rate hikes in Q2: PowerLines
Dominion Energy in Virginia is seeking about $1.5 billion in increases across three rate requests, the report said. Oncor in Texas requested the largest single increase in Q2 at $1.2 billion, driven largely by transmission and distribution investments.
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Courtesy of NineDot Energy
OpinionThe distribution grid can be the unlikely hero of affordability
Distributed capacity has turned the distribution grid into a platform for capacity growth and increased grid utilization, not a cost center driving up rates, writes Sparkfund’s Pier LaFarge.
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DHS proposes new critical infrastructure security framework
The Trump administration eliminated the previous framework in 2025, sparking backlash from experts and infrastructure operators.
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Texas PUC approves ‘ride-through’ rules for data centers
“There is no debate that voltage and frequency excursions on the transmission network create reliability concerns, which increase with the interconnection of each new large computational load,” wrote a PUC staffer.
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PG&E faces $22M penalty for Mosquito Fire under proposed agreement
The 2022 fire burned more than 75,000 acres and dozens of structures. A subsequent investigation of PG&E’s infrastructure found violations of state rules for the design, construction and maintenance of overhead electrical lines.
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Courtesy of ChargePoint
ChargePoint, Optimus Energy plan to expand EV charging network in Southeast US
The new chargers, with 200 additional charging ports, will primarily be installed in high-demand markets, with many of the sites planned for locations near restaurants and busy shopping centers, the companies said.
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Former FERC officials concerned about Supreme Court Slaughter decision impacts
“Stripping those agencies of their independence will leave consumers exposed to the worst aspects of competitive markets without the protections of informed regulatory review,” said former FERC Chair Jon Wellinghoff.
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What can best ease transmission bottlenecks? More transfer capacity, DOE says.
Transmission congestion added $12 billion in wholesale power costs in 2024, the U.S. Department of Energy said in a draft report on U.S. transmission needs.
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Retrieved from WIRES Group.
PJM status quo ‘untenable’: FERC Commissioner LaCerte
“Looking at things differently is hard, especially in entrenched utilities that have been doing this for a long time,” the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission member said.
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Duke reduces rate hike request, still faces regulator pushback
The utility dropped its proposed residential rate increase to 11.6% from 18% after pushback, but hearings this week highlighted continued unease. “I don't see how you can say that we're benefiting customers,” one utility commissioner said.
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New York reaches 8 GW of distributed solar capacity
Tony Smith, chair of the Virginia Distributed Solar Alliance, told Utility Dive that other states can learn from New York’s policies that “reduce soft costs, provide investment certainty, and remove utility-specific interconnection barriers.”
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Illinois regulators approve ComEd VPP under new clean energy law
The program will discharge power from small batteries during events like the early-July heatwave that pushed PJM Interconnection demand to near-record levels.
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DOE closes up to $3.26B loan to AEP Texas
The money is intended to go toward upgrading and building transmission lines spanning roughly 2,800 miles. The utility has agreements supporting up to 41 GW of potential new load.
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KKR to buy EDF power solutions’ North American operations for $4.2B
EDF power solutions owns and runs a portfolio of solar, wind and battery storage assets across multiple regions. The company said its U.S. and Canada operations serve a wide range of utilities, companies and institutional customers.
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New Jersey increases transmission oversight in ‘affordability’ push
New Jersey’s governor signed bills that aim to cut transmission owners’ return on equity, establish data center tariffs and require state approval for “supplementary” transmission projects.
