Opinion: Page 2
The latest opinion pieces by industry thought leaders
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Sara Samora/Utility Dive
Why EPA can cut carbon pollution from power plants without sacrificing grid reliability
Entities that focus on reliability have a toolkit to manage the energy transition, and EPA has incorporated key flexibilities into its GHG pollution-reduction rules to support their efforts.
Dena Adler and Jennifer Danis • March 7, 2024 -
audioundwerbung via Getty Images
Let’s be realistic about green hydrogen
Like any new technology, green hydrogen must meet three related challenges: production, distribution and adoption. But it faces far higher-than-advertised hurdles at every stage.
Robin Gaster • March 6, 2024 -
Aranga87/iStock/Getty Images Plus via Getty Images
To expand EV charging, merge the gas station and electrify-everything models
The equity imbalance in residential charging and the public good associated with electrified long-haul trucking are situations ripe for policy intervention.
Will Sierzchula • March 5, 2024 -
FotoCuisinette via Getty Images
Gas utility planning processes should be more like their electric utility counterparts
It is not in the best interest of captive utility customers to let long-lived gas delivery infrastructure spending go unvetted, especially if that infrastructure may no longer be fully utilized in the near future.
Sarah Steinberg & Brad Cebulko • March 4, 2024 -
Permission granted by sonnen, Inc.
How utilities can unleash the power of orchestration through virtual power plants
VPPs offer utilities a powerful tool to grapple with the parallel challenges of enabling electrification and equitable decarbonization while maintaining grid reliability and resilience.
Patty Cook and Steve Fine • Feb. 29, 2024 -
Pump the brakes on big transmission
Our current policy enthusiasm for transmission has moved from a responsible cocktail before dinner to a bacchanalia of Roman proportions.
Vincent Duane • Feb. 28, 2024 -
Imaginima via Getty Images
Advancing energy justice: A new paradigm in grid equity and reliability analysis
The Michigan Public Service Commission’s decision ordering DTE Electric to run regression analyses and understand energy reliability in diverse communities sets a valuable precedent for other Midwestern states.
Will Kenworthy and Boratha Tan • Feb. 26, 2024 -
recep-bg via Getty Images
Smart electric panels are not a smart bet
A recent analysis of the product and commercial landscape, value proposition and alternatives to smart panels concluded that their long-term prospects are dim unless they are significantly stripped of cost and functionality.
Ben Hertz-Shargel • Feb. 23, 2024 -
EXTREME-PHOTOGRAPHER via Getty Images
Removing demand charge utility tariffs for EV charging will raise CO2 emissions
To reduce transportation emissions, and fully transition to EVs, the deployment of batteries and battery storage systems is an essential lever that must be incentivized at every level of governance.
Michael Spurr • Feb. 21, 2024 -
SweetBunFactory via Getty Images
Incentivizing domestic battery machines manufacturing for economic and national security
By concentrating on homegrown solutions, the U.S. can drive advancements in battery technology, setting new standards for efficiency, sustainability and reliability.
Bennett Resnik • Feb. 16, 2024 -
Fleem via Getty Images
The hidden costs of competition over new transmission infrastructure
A right of first refusal is not a reward for any utilities or builders at the expense of others. It merely recognizes the need for new infrastructure and provides a first opportunity to those already operating existing infrastructure.
Benjamin Dierker • Feb. 14, 2024 -
phleum via Getty Images
What utility commissioners should know about a flawed Western day-ahead market study
The study reads like an advertisement for a product that’s missing important context and comparisons — and as individual utility filings appear in dockets around the West, public utility commissioners should approach it as such.
Bob Jenks • Feb. 9, 2024 -
Permission granted by NuScale Power
Lessons from NuScale’s terminated project will help pave the way for advanced nuclear energy
The advanced nuclear innovation ecosystem remains strong, with a portfolio of public and private investments, multiple technology pathways and diverse business models.
Judi Greenwald, Jeremy Harrell and Jessica Lovering • Feb. 6, 2024 -
EXTREME-PHOTOGRAPHER via Getty Images
We’re utility commissioners for Georgia and Colorado. Here are key issues we see for an EV future.
Even back-of-the-envelope math shows that both states may have massive load growth in the future, even beyond individual car owners charging at home, where 80% of charging occurs.
Tim Echols and Eric Blank • Feb. 2, 2024 -
E+ via Getty Images
The collapse of NuScale’s project should spell the end for small modular nuclear reactors
Although there were problems specific to the Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems project, the financial challenges and cost trends witnessed in that case will afflict any small modular nuclear reactor.
M.V. Ramana • Jan. 31, 2024 -
Courtesy of Daimler Trucks North America
As trucking electrifies, how we prepare the grid must evolve
Fleets are often able to procure zero-emissions vehicles and chargers in less than a year. Grid upgrades can take upwards of five or more years.
Cole Jermyn • Jan. 25, 2024 -
Ed Lallo via Getty Images
America’s aging grid threatens national security. Here are some steps to fix it.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission should finalize a strong regional transmission planning and cost allocation rule, which has been under consideration since 2021.
Michelle J. Howard • Jan. 24, 2024 -
Wichien Tep via Getty Images
Enough with disinformation about community solar compensation
Whether for systems on single-family homes and multiunit buildings or in community settings, excessive compensation creates a significant economic burden for the very customers who can least afford it.
Michael Backstrom • Jan. 18, 2024 -
Permission granted by Esme Howland
Four key predictions for FERC’s 2024 electricity agenda
Looming over any predictions are the ever-increasing concerns about the reliability and stability of the nation’s electric grid. Any major reliability event in this election year could instantly reshape FERC’s agenda and priorities.
William Scherman, Jeffrey Jakubiak, John Decker, Damien Lyster, Jennifer Mansh, Jessica Rollinson and Jake Silver • Jan. 17, 2024 -
RoschetzkyIstockPhoto via Getty Images
Utilities’ misguided opposition to community solar in California
With billions on the line from the federal government, California’s three largest utilities are actively working to stop the California Public Utilities Commission from issuing an equitable community solar program.
Sachu Constantine • Jan. 10, 2024 -
Permission granted by Electric Era
To spur more EV chargers, regulators must get creative with demand charges
No matter what the incentives for installing an EV charger, very few businesses will enter this marketplace if selling the product leads to thousands of dollars in charges that aren’t made up for with revenue.
Chris Kaiser • Jan. 5, 2024 -
Adeline Kon/Utility Dive
3 keys to optimizing energy storage in 2024
Energy storage system deployments can be accelerated through a focus on transparency, risk and safety.
Ryan Franks • Jan. 2, 2024 -
Sean Gallup / Staff via Getty Images
How COP28 is shaping the energy transition
While decisions at the recent UN climate conference are a significant step forward, more action is needed to ensure a sustainable and resilient future.
Andrew Keen • Dec. 22, 2023 -
onurdongel via Getty Images
Good policy by grid operators can address reliability concerns with EPA’s power plant rule
There is an opportunity through the proposed rule to create more certainty around the timeline for the clean energy transition.
Michelle Solomon • Dec. 21, 2023 -
schwartstock via Getty Images
The solar PTC is the game-changer that hasn’t been
But as the market internalizes post-Inflation Reduction Act practices and procedures and adjusts to broader structural changes, optimism remains for the solar production tax credit.
Akshat Kasliwal and Jesse Gilbert • Dec. 20, 2023
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