Distributed Energy

High electricity rates impede crucial but costly technology investments to manage rising DER levels: utilities

Utilities want distribution system technologies for more DER visibility and control, but advocates want a new national stakeholder dialogue about the timing of spending for DER integration.

By Herman K. Trabish • Nov. 29, 2022

How to create utility scale microgrids

Distributed energy resources (DERs) have emerged as a financially viable and resilient alternative to traditional generation assets and distribution.

Nov. 28, 2022

Explore the Trendline➔

Distributed Energy Resource Growth

Distributed energy resources, including rooftop solar, battery storage and electric vehicles, are experiencing significant growth in the U.S. as the power sector evolves to a cleaner, less centralized future.

By Utility Dive staff

House lawmakers, advocates want $5B to help Puerto Rico install rooftop solar, storage systems

Dozens of Democratic lawmakers in the House have called for an emergency supplemental spending bill to provide clean energy for underserved Puerto Rican households. 

By Robert Walton • Nov. 22, 2022

Solar industry, utilities, ratepayer advocates clash over California net energy metering proposal

“Other states that have implemented a similar cliff in the export compensation rate have seen sharp declines in the pace of solar deployment,” a solar industry representative said. 

By Kavya Balaraman • Nov. 17, 2022

SDG&E partners with General Motors to study electric vehicle bidirectional charging potential

The collaboration will focus on three bidirectional capabilities: the ability for vehicles to support home energy needs, send energy back to the grid or participate in a virtual power plant.

By Robert Walton • Nov. 16, 2022

US can reach 100% clean power by 2035, DOE finds, but tough reliability and land use questions lie ahead

New aggressive planning is needed to identify the long-duration storage technologies and find the land to grow enough resources to reach the Biden administration’s net zero emissions goals, a DOE national lab reports.

By Herman K. Trabish • Nov. 15, 2022

The Inflation Reduction Act leaves low-income homeowners out of the clean energy transition. Or does it?

The IRA has a major flaw in one of its most popular provisions – the residential tax credit for solar and battery storage. Low-income homeowners often do not have a tax liability and cannot access this 30% tax credit.

By Shelley Robbins • Nov. 15, 2022

‘Needs more work’: Solar industry remains skeptical of California PUC’s new net energy metering proposal

One initial analysis suggests the proposal, if approved, would cut the average export rate in California from 30 cents per kilowatt to 8 cents per kilowatt effective April 2023. 

By Kavya Balaraman • Nov. 11, 2022

SMUD tests tool to accelerate rooftop solar interconnections

The Sacramento Municipal Utility District project “has worldwide potential,” according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and can “easily handle hundreds of applications daily.”

By Robert Walton • Nov. 10, 2022

Bringing equity to electricity service through home, power sector and regulatory innovation

Individual homes can be upgraded, community solar can help to lower bills and regulators can broaden the public engagement process to be more inclusive, consumer advocates say.

By Herman K. Trabish • Oct. 27, 2022

Battery capacity in the US more than tripled since the start of 2021: report

More battery projects are coming online, spurring a significant rise in storage capacity and drawing in growing levels of corporate funding.

By Stephen Singer • Oct. 21, 2022

GM takes on Tesla, others; launches unit focused on energy storage, solar and vehicle-to-grid charging

General Motors hopes the new services will spur EV adoption while improving grid resiliency, it said as part of a broader business announcement Tuesday.

By Dan Zukowski • Oct. 11, 2022

97% of smart meters fail to provide promised customer benefits. Can $3B in new funding change that?

Interoperability standards can deliver “non-discriminatory access” to real-time data from new smart meters to fulfill promises of customer savings and other system benefits, energy managers say.

By Herman K. Trabish • Oct. 5, 2022

Real-time pricing, new rates and enabling technologies target demand flexibility to ease California outages

Price signals linked to power market needs through smart technologies could make distributed energy resources that are aggregated and automated by third parties an answer to California reliability threats, industry observers said.

By Herman K. Trabish • Sept. 13, 2022

Why it might be simpler to address the challenge of managing DER with DERMS than you think

Integration of DER into planning, operations and markets presents massive challenges and opportunities but the DERMS journey for utilities is achievable and has clear starting points.

By Erik Felt, Smarter Grid Solutions • Aug. 29, 2022

Inflation Reduction Act has ‘direct impact’ on California net energy metering modeling, utilities say

The new law comes as California regulators consider reforming their existing net energy metering framework. A previous proposal received sharp criticism from the solar industry.

By Kavya Balaraman • Aug. 24, 2022

PG&E, Tesla virtual power plant delivers 16.5 MW to California grid amid calls for energy conservation

In a tweet, PG&E Corp. CEO Patti Poppe said that “the world’s largest distributed battery sure did put on a show!”

By Kavya Balaraman • Aug. 23, 2022

MISO can improve reliability before building transmission

Well before MISO builds out its recently approved $10 billion transmission portfolio, it can avoid blackouts by boosting its operating reserves rather than keeping a singular focus on planning reserves, the authors write.

By Rao Konidena and Allison Bates Wannop • Aug. 15, 2022

Texas regulators developing aggregated DER pilot project to boost reliability

The effort is part of the Public Utilities Commission of Texas’ larger work to ensure reliability in the wake of Winter Storm Uri.

By Robert Walton • Aug. 8, 2022

NextEra’s ‘game-changing’ Real Zero emissions goal spurs questions about hydrogen, demand-side management

NextEra, the world’s biggest IOU by market cap, wants a “real” reduction of all carbon emissions by FPL, its regulated subsidiary, with solar, batteries and green hydrogen, but it will go without much help from the demand side.

By Herman K. Trabish • Aug. 3, 2022

New Bloom Energy fuel cell factory expected to produce over 1 GW a year amid rising reliability threats

The $200 million facility will help Bloom meet the growing demand for its fuel cells to provide power during outages and periods of intense demand on the grid.

By Elizabeth McCarthy • July 26, 2022

ENGIE, clean energy groups press FERC to approve ISO-NE plan for state review of DER interconnections

The proposal would remove major barriers to distributed energy market participation in New England, the supporters said.

By Ethan Howland • July 22, 2022

New Mississippi rule requires utilities to pay low-income customers up front for solar installations

Mississippi Power Co. will offer up to $5 million a year in rebates and Entergy Mississippi will have a $10 million budget for rooftop solar rebates, of which 50% must go to low-income customers.

By Emma Penrod • July 14, 2022

High energy prices, Ukraine war and rising demand response potential spur energy efficiency efforts

New energy efficiency as demand response opportunities can meet customer and system needs as well as set the EU and the world free from both Russian energy and stopgap coal burning, International Energy Agency leaders said.

By Herman K. Trabish • July 11, 2022

Midcontinent ISO defends plan to wait until 2030 for distributed energy aggregations

Dismissing arguments by state regulators, the grid operator on Friday said it needs time to handle other priorities.

By Ethan Howland • July 11, 2022