Colorado regulators want to move quickly on Xcel virtual power plant

The utility, however, has cautioned that a proposed timeline may be too aggressive for the complicated project.

By Robert Walton • Nov. 22, 2023

7 lessons for Rocky Mountain Power and its partners from virtual power plant pioneer Soleil Lofts

The apartment complex in Herriman, Utah — a collaboration among Rocky Mountain Power, sonnen and the Wasatch Energy Group — is powered by 5 MW of solar panels and has a battery in each of its 600 units.

By Patrick Cooley • Nov. 15, 2023

Explore the Trendline➔

Decarbonization

Companies and governments are pushing to reduce carbon emissions, prompting questions about how to best increase the use of zero-emitting resources amid interconnection, transmission and other challenges.

By Utility Dive staff

Texas voters approve $10B energy fund, with most going to build gas-fired power plants

The fund will be administered by the Public Utility Commission of Texas, with $7.2 billion allocated for new construction or upgrades of dispatchable power generation. 

By Robert Walton • Nov. 8, 2023

Duke, others leverage new IRA rules to finance clean energy, but cost, complexity are hurdles

New tax credit provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act could more than triple the $20 billion annual tax equity market that today finances clean energy in the U.S., if various challenges can be overcome.

By Herman K. Trabish • Nov. 6, 2023

IRA-driven electrification, other steps could cut building GHG emissions up to 70%: EPA

Inflation Reduction Act incentives could reduce building greenhouse gas emissions through 2035 more than emissions in any other end-use sector, according to a recent EPA report.

By Nish Amarnath • Oct. 31, 2023

AI is enhancing electric grids, but surging energy use and security risks are key concerns

The power demands of artificial intelligence could grow almost fivefold by 2028, said Sreedhar Sistu, vice president of artificial intelligence offers for Schneider Electric.

By Robert Walton • Oct. 23, 2023

Failing to expand the grid may be biggest threat to US energy transition: National Academies

A panel of experts urged FERC to “expeditiously” issue its pending transmission planning and cost allocation reforms and to make sure wholesale power markets can support a shift to 100% clean energy.

By Ethan Howland • Oct. 19, 2023

DOE announces ‘largest-ever investment in America’s grid,’ giving $3.5B across 44 states

The first round of funding under the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships program will boost U.S. renewable capacity by more than 10% within this decade, said DOE officials.

By Robert Walton • Oct. 19, 2023

Utilities, charging companies battle over EV fast chargers, slowing deployment amid massive needs

State and federal policies are driving utilities and EV charger providers to transform U.S. transportation. They have found common ground in some areas but cannot agree on the utility role in fast charging deployment.

By Herman K. Trabish • Oct. 18, 2023

Uneven pace of FERC Order 2222 implementation continues as grid operators face challenges

In 2020, FERC directed RTOs and ISOs to remove barriers that prevent aggregations of distributed energy resources, such as energy storage and rooftop solar, from participating in wholesale power markets.

By Robert Walton • Oct. 12, 2023

2024 US power sector conferences to watch

Start planning for next year’s events, which will cover the clean energy transition, state and federal energy policy and more.

By Larry Pearl • Oct. 12, 2023

Battery storage failures highlight reliability challenges of inverter-based resources: report

The analysis is the latest data point in the North American Electric Reliability Corp.’s investigation of IBRs tripping offline or reducing output in response to grid disturbances.

By Robert Walton • Oct. 4, 2023

Community solar is hot. Why not community wind?

Perhaps the biggest difference between yesterday’s community wind and today’s community solar markets is in their business models, which reflect their respective market and policy environments. 

By Mark Bolinger and Bentham Paulos • Sept. 27, 2023

Residential DER surges 63% in MISO, pushing distributed resources to 12.5 GW: report

Most utilities expect DER capacity will keep growing, in part driven by corporate clean energy goals, falling costs for distributed resources and access to MISO’s wholesale markets, according to a report released Monday.

By Ethan Howland • Sept. 26, 2023

PJM plan for distributed energy aggregations would block virtual power plants: Tesla

Tesla on Friday urged federal regulators to approve measures so residential aggregations in VPPs in PJM can be “achieved at scale and provide transformative reliability value and reduce consumer energy costs.”

By Ethan Howland • Sept. 25, 2023

The future of work in the energy and utilities industry: Embracing automation and digital transformation

In the energy and utilities sector specifically, automation has led to a dual effect – the elimination of certain job roles and the creation of new ones.

Sept. 25, 2023

Rising electrification requires a dramatic shift to integrated planning of DER, bulk resources: Xcel VP

Effective distribution system planning and merging analytic insights into comprehensive electricity planning both face barriers, analysts and stakeholders said.

By Herman K. Trabish • Sept. 20, 2023

Tripling virtual power plant capacity by 2030 could save $10B, meet 20% peak demand: DOE

With electric vehicles and other distributed resources surging, virtual power plants may be at an inflection point, the Department of Energy said Tuesday.

By Ethan Howland • Sept. 13, 2023

As grids struggle, is it time to revisit our approach to residential demand response?

With a warming climate and an evolving energy system, energy grids are facing new challenges to reliability. A more dynamic and performance-based approach to load flexibility could help.

Sept. 11, 2023

NARUC, NASEO issue microgrid policy framework to assist regulators

Microgrids’ ability to provide energy resilience raises policy questions “particularly with regard to cost allocation,” say state regulators and energy officials.

By Robert Walton • Aug. 23, 2023

DOE lab develops new models to address inverter faults, avoid grid disruptions

Electromagnetic transient domain analysis may be key to stopping inverter-based resources from tripping offline or reducing output in response to grid events, according to research from Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

By Robert Walton • Aug. 18, 2023

Virtual power plants: Resource adequacy without interconnection delays

VPPs can be implemented today, but much more needs to happen to accelerate this transition at scale.

By Ryan Hledik, Kala Viswanathan and Kate Peters • Aug. 17, 2023

US virtual power plants expected to proliferate as reliability needs rise with increasing renewables

Battery storage and smart appliances make virtual power plants a viable option to address the intermittency of renewable energy.

By Patrick Cooley • Aug. 14, 2023

A community solar boom will test Xcel, other utility plans against developer, customer needs: analysts

New state and federal funding and initiatives for community solar can bring equity and system reliability to the emerging energy transition, analysts say.

By Herman K. Trabish • Aug. 10, 2023

Cities can better afford renewable energy, EV and other climate projects with new tax incentives: report

Tax credits made available to cities through the Inflation Reduction Act are so significant “that they may warrant a re-evaluation of some previously assessed investment opportunities,” the Alliance for a Sustainable Future report says.

By Ysabelle Kempe • July 26, 2023