ISO-NE implements 'pay-for-performance' capacity market incentives

The new scheme will provide incentives to reward resources for investments that boost performance during periods of system stress.

By Robert Walton • June 13, 2018

FERC regulators: No security emergency to justify DOE coal, nuke bailout

All five commissioners stayed silent when a senator asked if they believe security threats mean DOE should subsidize struggling coal and nuclear generators. 

By Gavin Bade • June 12, 2018

Explore the Trendline➔

Electricity Supply and Demand

After nearly two decades of flat demand, U.S. electricity consumption reached an all-time high in 2024 and is expected to continue rising. This trendline brings together the best of Utility Dive’s coverage of emerging trends in supply and demand and the decisions being made today that will impact the power system for years to come. 

By Utility Dive staff

EIA: Southern California could face gas constraints this summer

The region is still struggling to deal with reduced capacity at the Aliso Canyon storage facility, almost three years after a massive leak was detected.

By Robert Walton • June 12, 2018

Activist investors push Sempra to sell renewable assets, focus on utilities and LNG

Elliott Management and Bluescape Resources, 5% owners of Sempra, say their plan could create $11 billion-$16 billion in value.

By Robert Walton • June 11, 2018

NuScale 'breakthrough' could allow 20% uprate of small nukes

The company says advances in optimization to its small modular reactor design can make them more cost-effective.

By Robert Walton • June 11, 2018

End of the 'gas rush?' Renewables, storage reaching cost parity, report finds

Portfolios of clean energy and batteries will soon be cost effective, according to a new RMI study, but $110 billion in planned natural gas investments could slow adoption.

By Herman K. Trabish • June 11, 2018

NRG: Interconnection costs may sink Dunkirk repowering project

NRG Energy wants to repower the Dunkirk coal-fired power plant in New York to burn natural gas, but unexpected costs have put the project at risk.

By Robert Walton • June 8, 2018

Navajo coal plant nears 2019 closure with Arizona water agency decision

The agency found cheaper sources of energy and did not renew its power purchase agreement, raising the bar for a potential buyer to rescue the Navajo Generation Station.

By Peter Maloney • June 8, 2018

Gas pipeline group slams DOE memo to save coal, nuclear plants

The Interstate Natural Gas Association of America called DOE's depiction of energy security threats "fundamentally flawed, particularly as it relates to natural gas pipelines." 

By Gavin Bade • June 8, 2018

New England fully integrates demand response into wholesale markets

The grid operator for the region says it is the first to incorporate active demand resources into the energy dispatch and reserve-designation process.

By Robert Walton • June 7, 2018

Xcel details plans to shut 660 MW coal, build 1.8 GW renewables in Colorado

The plan would raise the renewable share of the company's Colorado generating portfolio to 55% and reduce the coal share from 44% to 24%, all by 2026.

By Robert Walton • June 7, 2018

NRC Chair: Nuclear safety regulatory process not to blame for plant retirements

The process has constantly adapted for efficiencies, although it has not significantly impacted the economic basis of early plant retirement, said Kristine Svinicki at a joint FERC-NRC hearing.  

By Iulia Gheorghiu • June 7, 2018

Palo Verde nuke can remain open with 50% Arizona RPS, NRDC report finds

Arizona voters in November could consider a proposal to raise the state's renewable portfolio standard to 50%. Arizona Public Service says that would force the closure of the nation's largest nuclear power plant.

By Robert Walton • June 6, 2018

Exelon CEO endorses nuke bailout, punts on leaked DOE memo

Chris Crane said there is "not enough information to pass judgment" on the DOE plan — a day after he told Utility Dive that grid conditions do not justify it. 

By Gavin Bade • June 6, 2018

California shift from annual to hourly GHG emissions tracking to focus reductions

Environmental groups cheered the updated methodology, but one NGO fears demand response programs will not be properly credited.

By Robert Walton • June 6, 2018

Exelon CEO: No grid emergency to justify DOE coal, nuke bailout

The head of the nation's largest nuclear generator says he would rather work with FERC and the nation's grid operators to devise long-term solutions to grid resilience.

By Gavin Bade • June 5, 2018

McIntyre says FERC could be kept out of DOE effort to save at-risk generators

FERC Chairman Kevin McIntyre said he trusts Energy Secretary Rick Perry to decide whether or not to invoke emergency powers to save coal and nuclear plants from retirement.

By Iulia Gheorghiu • June 5, 2018

FERC splits again on affiliates, climate in Florida pipeline approval

Both the owner and offtaker of the Florida Lateral Project are owned by NextEra Energy, raising questions from one regulator about whether the pipeline is needed. 

By Gavin Bade • June 5, 2018

Zinke presses to keep Navajo Generating Station online

The largest coal plant in the Western U.S. is slated to close at the end of 2019. But stakeholders are fighting to keep it online, and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is looking to a 1968 law for help.

By Robert Walton • June 5, 2018

How Trump's 'Soviet-style' coal directive would upend power markets

A federal order to keep coal and nuclear plants from retiring could reshape the government's relationship with the power sector, regulators and analysts say.

By Gavin Bade • June 4, 2018

Will FERC uphold state support for clean energy?

Some are celebrating FERC's apparent defense of state environmental policies, but that reaction is premature, write Danny Cullenward and Shelley Welton.

By Danny Cullenward and Shelley Welton • June 4, 2018

Trump orders Perry to stop coal, nuclear retirements

The president’s directive to the Department of Energy comes the same day as the release of a memo advocating DOE use its emergency powers and a Cold War-era law to bail out at-risk plants.

By Gavin Bade • June 1, 2018

Trump administration preparing 2-year coal, nuke bailout

The federal government would purchase power from at-risk plants using its emergency authority and a Cold War-era nationalization law, according to a memo released Friday.

By Gavin Bade • June 1, 2018

DOE cybersecurity report reveals 7 'gaps' in power sector defense capabilities

The assessment warns restoration following a cyberattack "could be more challenging than previously experienced," in part due to the unprecedented nature of such an incident.

By Robert Walton • June 1, 2018

NET Power demo plant takes key step toward emissions-free gas generation

The company says it is the only industrial-scale supercritical carbon dioxide-based power plant and CO2 cycle test facility. It's aiming to deploy a 300 MWe commercial-scale version by 2021.

By Robert Walton • June 1, 2018