Load Management, Efficiency & Demand Response

  • An aerial view of residential homes, many with solar panels.
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    VPP Convergence Project aims to educate states on virtual power plants

    Tesla, Sunrun, Leap, Voltus and the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners are involved in the effort.

    By • Oct. 15, 2025
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    Honeywell to supply new power solutions for data centers

    Working with industrial automation firm LS Electric, Honeywell will offer AI-driven power management solutions, including battery energy storage systems, to help meet the sector’s energy demand.

    By Joe Burns • Oct. 10, 2025
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    Nathan Howard/Getty Images via Getty Images
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    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
  • Two large outdoor HVAC units are installed on a concrete platform outside a building. Each unit has a visible circular fan and a rectangular vented casing. The building’s exterior includes gray walls, windows with closed blinds, and a strip of weathered wood paneling. Some grass and concrete blocks are in the foreground.
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    Opinion

    Why data center operators should pay for residential electrification upgrades

    Upgrading households is the fastest way for hyperscalers to obtain all the electricity they need, writes Ari Matusiak, founder and CEO of Rewiring America.

    By Ari Matusiak • Oct. 10, 2025
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    Provided by Tesla 

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    Xcel Minnesota proposes ‘first-of-its-kind’ distributed capacity procurement

    Xcel requested the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission approve the program with a budget range of $152 million, based on a minimum procurement of 50 MW, to $430 million if it deploys all 200 MW.

    By • Oct. 8, 2025
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    Energy efficiency is reducing Northeast peak demand, electricity bills: Acadia

    “It is more important than ever for policymakers, advocates, program administrators, and consumers to understand the value ... of energy efficiency resource acquisition,” said Acadia’s Jamie Dickerson.

    By • Oct. 7, 2025
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    Opinion

    Distributed energy resources can accelerate data center interconnection

    Solutions that help local utilities find or create spare grid capacity by harnessing distributed energy resources could help bring more AI compute capacity online faster.

    By Jen Downing • Oct. 6, 2025
  • California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a news conference
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    Newsom vetoes energy bills on virtual power plants, load management and interconnection

    Trade and environmental advocacy groups said adopting a virtual power plant deployment plan could have saved Californians $750 million a year. The governor vetoed it, citing financial strains on the state energy commission.

    By • Oct. 6, 2025
  • U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference
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    The week in 5 numbers: DOE slashes clean energy funding following coal ‘investment’

    Plus PJM’s data center woes, record storage deployment and new generation additions.

    By • Oct. 3, 2025
  • California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a news conference
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    Newsom vetoes bill to codify load flexibility in California grid planning

    The governor said the bill does not align with the state’s existing resource adequacy framework. Clean energy advocates called it a missed opportunity. 

    By • Oct. 3, 2025
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    Utility conferences to watch in 2026

    See our annual list of notable power-sector conferences where industry leaders will share knowledge in a rapidly-changing landscape. 

    By • Oct. 1, 2025
  • A data center under construction in Elk Grove, Illinois
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    Courtesy of Clune Construction
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    For data center contracts, it’s all about the fine print

    Regulation, tariffs, labor shortages, supply chain issues and “sophisticated power and utility needs” are complicating data center development, say contract attorneys.

    By Sebastian Obando • Oct. 1, 2025
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    Justin Sullivan/Getty Images via Getty Images
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    World’s carbon-neutral aspirations may hinge on appliance efficiency: CLASP

    “There is such a huge disconnect between what our research shows is needed ... and what the U.S. government is saying would be good for the world,” said Ari Reeves, CLASP senior director of research.

    By • Oct. 1, 2025
  • A technician installs a heat pump.
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    The image by Vernon Air Conditioning, Plumbing and Electrical Services is licensed under CC BY 2.0
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    Opinion

    Heat pumps could be affordable for most — if rates were fair

    Massachusetts is making a good start by offering seasonal discounts for heat pumps. But it could do more, write authors from Green Energy Consumers Alliance and the Acadia Center.

    By Larry Chretien and Kyle Murray • Sept. 25, 2025
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    Leon Neal via Getty Images
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    Heat pump, solar and storage deployment could offset AI load through 2029: report

    Subsidies of 50% for heat pumps and 30% for solar and storage would free up well over 100 GW of grid capacity at a cost comparable to new gas generation, Rewiring America said last week.

    By Brian Martucci • Sept. 24, 2025
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    The image by Analogue Kid is licensed under CC BY 2.0
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    Utilities are backtracking on climate commitments: Sierra Club

    The report named six utility companies reversing course on emissions reductions: Entergy, Duke Energy, Evergy, Cleco, American Electric Power and Arizona Public Service.

    By • Updated Sept. 23, 2025
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    Data center demand drives 33% jump in VPP deployments: Wood Mackenzie

    But virtual power plant capacity rose more slowly than deployments last year, highlighting barriers to broader adoption, WoodMac said.

    By Brian Martucci • Sept. 22, 2025
  • Drone aerial view of Microsoft datacenters along highway A7 in the province Noordholland near Wieringerwe.
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    Opinion

    AI’s electricity demand is a challenge utilities can’t ignore, but subsidies aren’t the solution

    Utilities need portfolios that balance renewables and natural gas with long-duration storage, writes Stefan Pastine, CEO of semiconductor materials company Thintronics.

    By Stefan Pastine • Sept. 22, 2025
  • 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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    Opinion

    The future of virtual power plants is technology agnostic

    Interoperability is crucial for deploying certain consumer technologies efficiently at scale, writes Molly Podolefsky, a managing director at Clarum Advisors.

    By Molly Podolefsky • Sept. 19, 2025
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    Spencer Platt via Getty Images
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    AI can aid building energy retrofit decisions but faces limitations: study

    Large language models can deliver results in technical optimization tasks but struggle with payback optimization, researchers at Michigan State University say.

    By Joe Burns • Sept. 17, 2025
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    Southwest Power Pool approves accelerated large load interconnection policy

    The process aims to help the operator address a near-doubling of peak load expected in the next 10 years.

    By • Sept. 17, 2025
  • In an aerial view, solar panels are seen on the roof of a home on June 03, 2025 in San Anselmo, California.
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    Justin Sullivan via Getty Images
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    California zeroes out funding for world’s ‘largest virtual power plant’

    Advocates say gutting grid reliability programs threatens to undermine the state’s progress.

    By • Sept. 16, 2025
  • Rooftop solar panels installed on a suburban home, with a neighborhood full of houses and mountains in the background under a sunny sky.
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    Alamy
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    Opinion

    The hidden cost of ambiguous energy software terminology

    Adapting the electric grid to load growth and DER adoption will require a mutual understanding of software requirements, capabilities and outcomes among stakeholders.

    By Sneha Vasudevan • Sept. 15, 2025
  • The government’s appliance and equipment standards program “has strayed far from its original intent and now yields the minimum energy efficiency benefits while imposing ... costs on consumers and manufacturers,” Rep. Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., said at a hearing Sept. 9, 2025.
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    Retrieved from House Energy and Commerce Committee.
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    Republicans take aim at DOE’s appliance efficiency program

    The federal appliance and equipment standards program “has strayed far from its original intent and now yields the minimum energy efficiency benefits,” said Rep. Brett Guthrie, R-Ky.

    By • Sept. 11, 2025
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    Provided by ChargePoint 

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    ChargePoint, Eaton launch new ultrafast bidirectional EV chargers

    When deployed at scale with participating utilities, the joint architecture can help balance the electric grid, the companies said in a statement. 

    By Kalena Thomhave • Sept. 11, 2025
  • Workers install solar panels on the rooftop of a house
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    Mario Tama via Getty Images
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    With tax credits expiring, a home electrification nonprofit is racing against the clock

    Rewiring America has launched a national campaign to help homeowners take advantage of clean energy and efficiency incentives that will expire soon.

    By • Sept. 3, 2025