Minnesota county faces challenge in decarbonizing well-maintained district energy system

Hennepin County “has done too good of a job” maintaining its 15-building steam and chilled water loops, leaving little room for incremental improvements, the project’s engineering consultant said at an industry conference.

By Brian Martucci • July 1, 2025

Electrical manufacturers publish ‘digital substation’ standards

“There are interoperability questions and there's a need for technical guidance for utilities interested in installing these ... self healing grid technologies,” NEMA Senior Vice President Patrick Hughes said.

By Robert Walton • June 27, 2025

Explore the Trendline➔

Top 5 Stories from Utility Dive

Power demand is rising amid dramatic shifts in federal energy policy, but technology and markets continue to push the grid toward cleaner, more distributed resources. 

By Utility Dive staff

Behind-the-meter flexibility is the best response to investment uncertainty

Utilities investing in behind-the-meter flexibility are positioning themselves to continue delivering clean, affordable and reliable energy to ratepayers in the long run.

By Molly Podolefsky • June 23, 2025

Unpacking wildfire risk: A new imperative for every utility executive

As climate shifts transform safe regions into tinderboxes, utilities must replace outdated risk assessments with real-time monitoring before disaster strikes.

By Steve Vanderburg, Vice President - Weather & Risk Solutions, Technosylva • June 23, 2025

From backup to backbone: Why utility-led DERs must drive MISO’s resource adequacy plans

Jigar Shah says MISO states can use distributed energy resources to meet key goals: cost stabilization, faster time to power, community development and a reliable, resilient grid.

By Jigar Shah • June 20, 2025

‘Shoulder season’ reliability a growing concern in ERCOT, other ISOs: Aurora Energy Research

Batteries, gas peaker plants and data centers will provide critical system flexibility by 2030 as load growth, aging infrastructure and weather volatility increase planning uncertainty, Aurora said.

By Brian Martucci • June 17, 2025

Unleashing the demand-side revolution: The case for a unified VPP platform

Consumer low-carbon device spending is soaring, but utilities struggle with siloed management. Unified VPPs can unlock flexible capacity for a decarbonized grid.

By Jake Varsano, Senior Manager, Markets and Commercial • June 12, 2025

Using energy-as-a-service to lower costs, add predictability

The model can work on a per-therm basis as much as a per-kilowatt-hour basis for companies that generate a lot of waste heat, says Charlie Lord of Renew Energy Partners.  

By Robert Freedman • June 12, 2025

AI and microgrids: Moving toward seamless, resilient energy solutions

By continuously analyzing current and projected energy production and demand, AI can optimize energy flows to ensure that power is distributed efficiently and at the lowest possible cost.

By Brad Meissner • May 28, 2025

Newsom proposes steep cuts to California grid reliability programs

The changes could undermine progress that's been made to shore up the state’s energy resources during emergencies, advocates say.

By Meris Lutz • Updated May 19, 2025

Why we need to move to self-healing energy systems

Globally, energy infrastructure built for a different era remains too vulnerable to disruption. We need to shift towards self-healing energy systems now — here's how.

By Devrim Celal, Chief Marketing and Flexibility Officer • May 19, 2025

Virginia utility-scale VPP pilot mandate is first amid national push

The new law requires Dominion Energy to propose a virtual power plant pilot to state regulators by December. Similar bills have been introduced in other states.  

By Brian Martucci • May 12, 2025

Puerto Rico’s rooftop solar boom is strengthening grid resilience — why is a federal board trying to stop it?

With thousands of new smart-enabled solar homes joining the grid each month, Puerto Rico is building a distributed, responsive network that can help manage grid fluctuations in real time.

By PJ Wilson • May 1, 2025

Why customer engagement is the key to VPP success

What if one of the most powerful tools for strengthening the grid is already in customers’ garages, basements, driveways and businesses?

By Hannah Bascom • April 30, 2025

EPRI’s Open Power AI Consortium plans to fuel grid modernization with data sharing

Utilities, tech companies and regulators are facing a conundrum: Utilities want to use AI, but AI needs access to unavailable utility data to be effective.

By Herman K. Trabish • Updated April 29, 2025

As Trump targets clean energy, will utilities embrace DERs and VPPs?

Though early Trump policies have been broadly unfavorable to utility-scale wind, solar and energy storage, experts are bullish on distributed generation and flexible loads.

By Brian Martucci • April 21, 2025

Why microgrids are the key to grid resilience

Amid evolving domestic and geopolitical landscapes, microgrids offer a reliable, cost-effective energy solution — advancing the nation toward energy independence and security for years to come.

By Nicole Bulgarino • April 15, 2025

Utilities are shedding crocodile tears over community solar ‘cost-shift’

Regulators and utilities should compensate community solar fairly for the money-saving value those facilities and their subscribers bring to the grid system.

By Karl Rábago • April 14, 2025

ChargeScape and the future of energy management

ChargeScape is an automotive joint venture providing EV-grid integration software to power utilities.

April 7, 2025

PG&E announces microgrid awards for $43M as Sunrun joins its 2025 VPP

The nine microgrid projects will serve about 9,000 customers in disadvantaged or vulnerable Northern California communities, the utility said.

By Brian Martucci • April 2, 2025

White paper points to carbon capture as possible data center solution

Pairing carbon capture with natural gas-fired generation could prove cost-competitive with other baseload options, like nuclear and battery storage, according to a Carbon Direct white paper.

By Emma Penrod • March 31, 2025

Harnessing climatology to avert tomorrow’s black swan natural catastrophe

Is the electric utility industry truly equipped to anticipate and mitigate these increasingly frequent catastrophes, particularly when it comes to wildfire and extreme weather?

By Steve Vanderburg, Vice President of Weather & Risk Solutions, Technosylva • March 31, 2025

But first, eat your vegetables: A guide to smarter load management

Smarter load management optimizes grid performance and efficiency. Discover strategies for balanced growth.

By Kyle Kichura • March 18, 2025

Microgrids called a low-burden way to ensure backup power

Facilities managers can lower upfront costs and avoid disruptive maintenance checks by subscribing to a resiliency-as-a-service platform, a microgrid executive says.

By Robert Freedman • March 17, 2025

IRA funding freeze has put ‘many’ clean energy projects on pause

The uncertainty created by the funding freeze has affected projects at “various stages of development,” a clean energy executive said on a recent press call.

By Lamar Johnson • March 7, 2025