Deep Dive

Industry insights from our journalists

  • transmission regions
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    Wikipedia. (2024). "2024 RTO Map" [jpg]. Retrieved from WikiCommons.
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    Will ERCOT’s streamlined connect-and-manage approach work for other markets?

    ERCOT’s single-state, energy-only interconnection process doesn’t include other markets’ deliverability requirements and generator cost certainty needs.

    Herman K. Trabish • June 16, 2025
  • The Cunningham battery energy storage facility in Texas seen from above
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    Courtesy of Acciona Energia
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    Will tariffs help or hurt the US energy storage industry? It’s complicated, experts say

    Battery system costs have already soared past 2023 levels, one analyst says, but insiders are cautiously optimistic for a more resilient supply chain in the longer run.

    Brian Martucci • May 1, 2025
  • H&R Block, TaxSlayer, pixels, data privacy disclosure, DOJ
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    Peach_iStock via Getty Images
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    EPRI’s Open Power AI Consortium plans to fuel grid modernization with data sharing

    Utilities, tech companies and regulators are facing a conundrum: Utilities want to use AI, but AI needs access to unavailable utility data to be effective.

    Herman K. Trabish • Updated April 29, 2025
  • Power line towers crossing a scrubby field.
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    Cavan Images via Getty Images
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    Trump executive order threatens transmission, interconnection initiatives: former FERC commissioners

    President Trump’s executive order compromises FERC’s independence, is “unhealthy, unwarranted, and unprecedented,” threatens power system reliability and is “plainly illegal,” the former commissioners say.

    Herman K. Trabish • March 26, 2025
  • Unit 1 reactor containment and a steam turbine building at the V.C. Summer Nuclear Generating Station in Jenkinsville, South Carolina.
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    The image by DJSlawSlaw is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
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    Santee Cooper wants to sell its unfinished reactors. What happens next?

    Completing V.C. Summer Units 2 and 3 could spark a “nuclear renaissance,” South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster says, but questions remain on the project’s scope, timeline and cost.

    Brian Martucci • March 17, 2025
  • Artificial intelligence and machine learning concept
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    amgun via Getty Images
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    Avista, PG&E, Ameren AI demonstrations show great potential – but are other utilities ready?

    New artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms can optimize complexities across the power system if utilities and regulators can make data more accessible — and protect it, experts say.

    Herman K. Trabish • March 7, 2025
  • Transformers and power transmission lines at a power distribution yard August 18, 2003 in Des Plaines, Illinois.
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    (Photo by Tim Boyle/Getty Images) via Getty Images
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    Transformer supply bottleneck threatens power system stability as load grows

    Electric transformers are critical to managing power system reliability. Solutions to the bottleneck are emerging, but long wait times remain.

    Herman K. Trabish • Feb. 12, 2025
  • technician man working inside big data center room
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    DisobeyArt via Getty Images
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    The 2025 outlook for data center cooling

    Rapidly increasing server rack densities and 24/7 uptime requirements will increase demand for liquid and hybrid cooling systems, including retrofits, these data center cooling experts say.

    Brian Martucci • Jan. 22, 2025
  • Wind turbines operate at a wind farm near solar panels on March 06, 2024 near Palm Springs, California.
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    Mario Tama via Getty Images
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    2025 Renewable Energy Outlook: Full speed ahead as second Trump administration begins

    Load growth and Inflation Reduction Act spending are driving the industry forward despite the threat of federal policy reversals.

    Diana DiGangi • Jan. 21, 2025
  • An aerial view of cloud data center facilities under construction in Northern Virginia.
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    Gerville via Getty Images
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    Surging electricity demand drives power-sector agenda

    Demand growth projections are “candidly freaking out a lot of people,” including lawmakers, regulators and industry leaders, one expert said.

    Ethan Howland • Jan. 16, 2025
  • aces delta power plant
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    Emma Penrod/Utility Dive
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    Hydrogen is transforming a tiny Utah coal town. Could its success hold lessons for similar communities?

    The Intermountain Power Project, which aims to be the first gas power plant to use 100% hydrogen, represents a rare success story in the nation’s quest to transition former coal-producing communities to renewable energy.

    Emma Penrod • Jan. 15, 2025
  • The Black Desert Resort behind a lake in the foreground and mountains in the background.
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    Retrieved from Black Desert Resort on January 09, 2025
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    C-PACE financing can make energy efficiency upgrades more affordable – if it’s available

    Interest rates as low as 7% make C-PACE attractive for building improvement projects, some experts say. But conditions for accessing it vary widely by state.

    Nish Amarnath • Jan. 13, 2025
  • Aerial shot of a city with intermixed buildings, houses, roads and trees.
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    halbergman via Getty Images
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    A Michigan city’s ‘sustainable energy utility’ got the green light from voters. What now?

    By creating a supplemental utility that will focus on scaling up rooftop solar, battery storage and microgrids, Ann Arbor, Michigan, is taking its clean energy future into its own hands, stakeholders say.

    Ysabelle Kempe • Jan. 2, 2025
  • Power line towers crossing a scrubby field.
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    Cavan Images via Getty Images
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    Texas task force aims to ‘tear down barriers’ to virtual power plant pilot as participation lags

    The aggregated DER pilot, which includes Tesla and Bandera Electric as participants, aims to harness 80 MW of flexible resources on the Texas grid, but it has not reached that goal due to various limitations.

    Robert Walton • Dec. 11, 2024
  • A rendering of a 2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV in a residential garage with GM's vehicle-to-home charging equipment mounted on the wall.
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    Courtesy of General Motors
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    When TOU rates aren’t enough: BGE, other utilities expand active managed charging for rising EV load

    With over 3 million electric vehicles on U.S. roads, managed charging pilots need to be scaled before infrastructure upgrade costs start rising, analysts and utility executives agree.

    Herman K. Trabish • Dec. 4, 2024
  • Wind power generator in green landscape with distributed energy icons.
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    Sakorn Sukkasemsakorn via Getty Images
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    EPRI, Kraken advance DER interoperability standards to boost virtual power plant deployment

    “Without interoperability standards, VPPs cannot reach scalability, affordability, and reliability as soon or as efficiently as they will be needed,” said Arshad Mansoor, CEO of the Electric Power Research Institute.

    Herman K. Trabish • Nov. 27, 2024
  • People in a bar watch a TV screen with former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harrris debating.
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    Alex Wong via Getty Images
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    Harris, Trump present ‘diametrically opposed’ impacts on ESG

    “A Harris administration would be more favorable for the interests of ESG investors whereas a Trump administration would be antagonistic,” according to Morningstar Indexes’ head of strategy.

    Lamar Johnson and Zoya Mirza • Nov. 5, 2024
  • A blue car drives through a flooded street, spraying up water.
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    The image by Chesapeake Bay Program is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
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    APS, Duke, other utilities pursue new climate resilience strategies as some await upcoming tools

    APS and Duke, along with Central Hudson Gas & Electric, PacifiCorp and Puget Sound Energy, see different paths to reach resilience planning’s potential while awaiting EPRI metrics to address uncertainties.

    Herman K. Trabish • Oct. 28, 2024
  • Three Mile Island nuclear power plant
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    eff Fusco / Stringer via Getty Images
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    With Palisades and Three Mile Island units set to restart, could more retired reactors follow?

    Much depends on the retired plants’ condition, decommissioning status and reactor technology, experts say.

    Brian Martucci • Oct. 22, 2024
  • Wind turbines spin behind a solar energy park
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    Sean Gallup via Getty Images
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    Carrots, sticks or both: State efforts to combat anti-renewables NIMBYs

    In pursuit of zero-emissions electricity goals and tax windfalls from utility-scale renewables, states are taking a range of approaches to disarm opponents.

    Brian Martucci • Aug. 22, 2024
  • A rooftop solar installation against the backdrop of the Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building in midtown Manhattan.
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    FernandoAH via Getty Images
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    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.

    Herman K. Trabish • Aug. 21, 2024
  • Solar panels and wind turbines in the desert producing renewable energy.
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    narvikk via Getty Images
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    Innovative solutions emerge to reduce 2.5-TW US clean energy interconnection backlog

    California’s project scoring criteria, the Texas connect and manage option and SPP’s work to link system planning with the interconnection process across its multistate region could speed the clean energy expansion.

    Herman K. Trabish • July 22, 2024
  • AI Artificial Intelligence and conversational chatbots businesses digital technology interact with applications, including customer service, sales and marketing and big data virtual screen.
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    hirun via Getty Images
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    As NVIDIA, IBM and others apply AI to boost utilities, regulatory and data privacy obstacles abound

    The “move fast and break things” business model of the technology sector is meeting the regulated spending and reliability imperatives of the utility sector.

    Herman K. Trabish • June 11, 2024
  • Demonstrators prepare to be arrested during a rally outside the White House as part of the 'Climate Chaos Is Happening Now' protest on October 13, 2021 in Washington, DC
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    Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images
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    Drive for energy permitting reform fuels tensions between climate, environmental justice advocates

    A simplified permitting process would speed the deployment of clean energy, but some EJ advocates are concerned about unintended consequences.

    Diana DiGangi • June 6, 2024
  • Rooftop solar panels at the Soleil Lofts apartment complex in Herriman, Utah
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    Permission granted by sonnen, Inc.
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    Tackling 3 key issues can help scale virtual power plants and spur a wave of benefits, analysts say

    Advanced operational software, communications standards and customer compensation are needed to scale VPP size and services, cut system and customer costs and enhance reliability, key VPP players agree.

    Herman K. Trabish • April 17, 2024