Winterize your grid with intelligent vegetation management and outage prediction

Utilities must factor winter weather into their year-round vegetation management plans.

Oct. 9, 2020

Ameren rejects Illinois regulators' request, ends retail net metering for new residential solar customers

Ameren said the Illinois Commerce Commission's Oct. 1 "request" that it continue full net metering would lead the utility to violate its approved tariff.

By John Funk • Oct. 6, 2020

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

Illinois regulators move to preserve retail net metering rate, order audit of Ameren's bid to end it

Ameren Illinois says customer solar generation is about to reach 5% of peak demand on its system, allowing it to end retail net metering under state law.

By John Funk • Updated Oct. 2, 2020

Demand response failed California 20 years ago; the state's recent outages may have redeemed it

The West's recent heatwaves put California power users in the dark but showed how flexible demand response, including distributed storage, can keep the lights on.

By Herman K. Trabish • Sept. 28, 2020

'This will change the nature of load': what California's zero emission vehicle order means for the power sector

"I strongly suspect that the grid planners of the world are already looking to an all-electric vehicle future," said Morten Lund, a partner at Stoel Rives.

By Kavya Balaraman • Sept. 23, 2020

Tesla unveils new EV battery design, but Musk downplays vehicle-to-grid application

"Very few people would actually use vehicle-to-grid" capabilities, said the company's CEO. "I think it's going to be better for people's freedom of action to have a Powerwall and a car separate."

By Robert Walton • Sept. 23, 2020

Politics disrupts San Diego's pursuit of an energy transition partner amid dissatisfaction with SDG&E

San Diego's 50-year-old franchise agreement with San Diego Gas and Electric expires in January, but city leaders can't agree on standards for the next provider, leaving bidders, including Berkshire Hathaway Energy, waiting.

By Herman K. Trabish • Sept. 18, 2020

FERC lowers barriers to DERs in wholesale markets in rare Chatterjee-Glick consensus

The commission passed its long-awaited rule on distributed energy resource aggregations in a 2-1 vote two weeks after the departure of Commissioner Bernard McNamee.

By Catherine Morehouse • Sept. 18, 2020

Solar market limits pandemic's ill effects, but states with strict restrictions see big installation drop

A solar market report for the second quarter of 2020 shows the sector's 'resilience' in the face of COVID-19 as it adapts to new realities, though challenges from the current pandemic remain.

By Thomas Gresham • Sept. 17, 2020

How to participate in the 2020 Utility Dive Awards

Industry Dive is gearing up for the 2020 Dive Awards. We want to hear your ideas on the executives, utilities and policymakers that stood out.

By Utility Dive Editors • Updated Sept. 28, 2020

Duke-solar industry breakthrough settlement aims to end rooftop solar cost shift debates

A collaboration among Vote Solar, Sunrun, Southeastern environmental advocates and Duke Energy has produced a rate design that could be a new paradigm for pairing and growing rooftop solar and demand response.

By Herman K. Trabish • Sept. 16, 2020

7 investment priorities for a green COVID-19 recovery: report

The Coalition for Urban Transitions analyzed how the allocation of stimulus funding across a number of environmental sectors can aid the international COVID-19 response.

By Kristin Musulin • Sept. 14, 2020

California proposes $41M Shell grant for hydrogen fuel cell EV infrastructure

Shell said it has partners in Toyota and Honda, which have agreed to expand fuel-cell electric vehicle sales in the state to support the stations.

By Jim Stinson • Sept. 14, 2020

Adding it all up: Counting the capacity contribution of variable and duration-limited resources

The failure to properly count the quantity of capacity available to meet load during extreme weather events, like wildfires, can lead to inadequate power supplies and rotating blackouts, the authors write.

By Nick Schlag, Zachary Ming and Arne Olson • Sept. 10, 2020

Alabama's increase of residential solar charges will slow installations, advocates say

Solar proponents say Alabama Power's monthly charge has stymied rooftop solar development, but commissioners argued for an increase in the fee.

By John Funk • Sept. 2, 2020

As utility collaboration with charging companies rises, emerging differences could impede EV growth

To accelerate EV charging infrastructure deployment, former competitors are working together, but new questions threaten to lead to dissension.

By Herman K. Trabish • Aug. 31, 2020

Wasatch Group, sonnen plan 24 MW, 60 MWh virtual power plants in California for $130M

The companies are beginning the first of seven retrofit projects in September in a Fresno apartment community, planning to add 3,000 batteries and solar power to homes.

By Iulia Gheorghiu • Aug. 27, 2020

Energy consulting groups value Southeast RTO potential at $384B savings by 2040

A seven-state RTO, including Florida, Tennessee and the Carolinas, would phase out coal generation and add more storage and renewables into the mix, according to analysis from Vibrant Clean Energy.

By Iulia Gheorghiu • Aug. 25, 2020

Ensuring DER inclusion in capacity markets may require a rethink of resource adequacy

The growth of customer-owned resources is forcing system operators and aggregators to see their value as reliability tools and rethink the concept of resource adequacy.

By Herman K. Trabish • Aug. 24, 2020

5 technologies propelling the energy transition

Utility Dive's latest series focused on electric sector innovations that could strengthen the grid, increase reliability and expand clean energy.

By Utility Dive Editors • Aug. 24, 2020

A pivotal moment for microgrid policy – What California is getting right and where it's heading from here

The California Public Utilities Commission's microgrid regulatory proceedings could be a bellwether for microgrid development across the country, the author writes.

By Jonathan Kevles • Aug. 20, 2020

Propelling the transition: Green hydrogen could be the final piece in a zero-emissions future

Green hydrogen beats renewables plus batteries at fueling heavy transport, serving industry and long duration storage — if it can be delivered affordably.

By Herman K. Trabish • Aug. 17, 2020

Xcel Energy unveils plan to serve 1.5M EVs by 2030

The utility is anticipating a 30-fold increase in the number of plug-in vehicles across its service territories, in hopes of saving customers billions in fuel costs.

By Robert Walton • Aug. 13, 2020

Sunrun posts Q2 loss but anticipates storage boost as battery prices fall, blackouts persist

Sunrun has developed a pipeline of deals to provide grid services, such as virtual power plants, in half of the regions it operates, CEO Lynn Jurich said during the company's second quarter earnings call.

By Iulia Gheorghiu • Aug. 12, 2020

Doubling down on energy efficiency in our fight against climate change

Energy saved today affords more climate value than energy saved later. So why make energy efficiency trade-offs?

By Marisa Uchin, Vice President, Global Regulatory Affairs, Oracle Utilities • Aug. 12, 2020