Customer advocates say the new rules make the city a national leader in efforts to increase emissions-free vehicles, and called for similar policies to be adopted across Illinois.
Distributed energy advocates want a speedier interconnection process and warn the March and April uptick is likely not reflective of the pandemic's full impact on the sector.
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.
A new study by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory shows the value of resilience depends on too many factors to easily quantify and moves regulators back to human judgment.
Venture capital funding in these sectors totaled $252 million, according to a report from Mercom Capital Group — a 20% increase over the first quarter of last year.
By
Kavya Balaraman
•April 22, 2020
Photo illustration by Brian Tucker/Utility Dive; photograph by thinkreaction via Getty Images
Resource adequacy's planning reserve margin worked when supply and load were stable, but new system realities demand a more dynamic approach to protect reliability, emerging power providers and DER advocacy groups say.
Industry observers, however, note that all car sales are expected to be hit hard — not just electric vehicles. And the long-term outlook remains robust.
Clean energy advocates say there are still avenues for power sector relief from the federal government, including critical project deadline extensions.
Regulators penalized the company for failing to justify costs to deploy advanced metering infrastructure, after Dominion failed to submit a broad time-of-use rate plan.
The circumstances of the outbreak and the raft of restrictions that states have implemented to prevent its spread could spur interest in resources that provide resilience and self-reliance, analysts say.
Regulators' push to implement a law requiring microgrid rollouts is being frustrated by the costs of traditional generation and clean energy complexities.
Washington lawmakers passed a bill to adopt California's zero emission vehicle mandate while Utah and Florida legislators approved bills to bolster charging infrastructure in their states.
Peer-to-peer energy transactions could meet policy goals and system needs, if software platforms resolve the complexities of value and reliable operation.
Last year, solar installments slowed and jobs disappeared in Massachusetts. Now, developers are trying to overcome regulatory barriers and local opposition to land development.
Renewables and sustainability are top priorities for utilities, but there is room for improvement on cybersecurity, climate resilience and more, Utility Dive's seventh annual report finds.
There's room for utilities to co-exist, and even thrive, with added distributed generation, panelists at the Solar Power and Energy Storage Mountain West conference said Monday.
Utilities believe they are best positioned to manage the grid if they own and control the data directly, without intermediaries, but Tesla, SunRun and others want to collect and manage the data for their own platform benefits.
Regulators have approved billions for utilities to roll out advanced metering infrastructure, but they expected new customer and system benefits, not just lower utility operation costs.
The utility expects up to 1 million electric vehicles in its service territory by 2050, and now has a broad strategy focused on limiting costs to meet the associated demand.
Dozens of chargers will allow drivers to charge their electric vehicle while parked in the utility's New York City service territory — though they will likely pay more than equivalent gasoline costs.
The utility will work with Advanced Energy Economy and 13 companies to develop clean energy solutions that include electrifying transportation, grid flexibility and expanding low-carbon generation capacity.
Some 50% of utility respondents to Utility Dive's State of the Electric Utility Survey expect their organization to significantly increase the amount of grid-scale solar by 2030, a stronger forecast than for any other resource.
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