As California customer choice expands, are reliability and affordability at risk?

Many say the disruption from multiplying power providers in California could also put the state's decarbonization achievements at risk.

By Herman K. Trabish • July 9, 2018

Future of Minnesota Power gas plant uncertain after ALJ ruling

Administrative Law Judge Jeanne Cochran found the utility did not give enough consideration to alternatives such as wind and solar power, energy efficiency or even a small gas-fired peaking plant.

By Peter Maloney • July 5, 2018

Explore the Trendline➔

Distributed Energy Resource Growth

Utilities' traditional reliance on large power plants is shifting to a model that includes distributed energy resources such as rooftop solar, battery storage and even electric vehicles.

By Utility Dive staff

Solar at New York brownfields, landfills could see boost from updated review process

The state's Department of Environmental Conservation adopted a package of rules allowing a few types of solar installations to forego further scrutiny.

By Iulia Gheorghiu • July 5, 2018

PG&E to replace 3 gas plants with world's biggest battery projects

The projects would eliminate the need to keep three Calpine plants running as reliability must-run resources and shore up congestion issues.

By Peter Maloney • July 3, 2018

As the power sector transforms, can utilities and customers find common ground on ratemaking?

Rates are based on rate case assumptions about a utility's revenue need, but different ways to calculate that can serve the utility or its customers.

By Herman K. Trabish • July 2, 2018

Powelson to leave FERC deadlocked on gas pipelines, grappling with resilience

Republican FERC Commissioner Robert Powelson said Thursday he will leave in mid-August, giving more weight to the two Democratic members' opposition of natural gas pipeline certifications.

By Iulia Gheorghiu • June 29, 2018

Can California avert new gas plants with distributed resources? SoCal Ed offers a test case

Regulators will soon decide between two paths regarding SCE's proposed pilot — one where DER remains secondary to natural gas and another where they move to transform the distribution system.

By Herman K. Trabish • June 28, 2018

Hawaii microgrid bill aims to keep the state a model for others

The legislation aims to remove several obstacles to microgrid development, including interconnection barriers and a lack of standard terms regarding the value of services exchanged between the microgrid operator and the utility.

By Robert Walton • June 27, 2018

Dynamic Grid Systems will rebuild a small Maine utility from the ground up

Isle au Haut, Maine, has less than 150 electric subscribers but faces the same challenges as larger utilities when it comes to integrating stable, renewable energy.

By Robert Walton • June 27, 2018

SoCal Edison files $760M plan to significantly expand EV charging infrastructure

The proposal would expand SCE's Charge Ready pilot to add 48,000 charging stations to the 1,000 that have already been installed across the utility's service territory.

By Robert Walton • June 27, 2018

GE streamlines focus on renewables, gas turbines and power services

The global conglomerate is searching for the sweet spot for its gas turbine business, intending to sell its distributed power unit and its interest in oil services.

By Robert Walton • June 26, 2018

New grid transparency tools improve distributed generation siting

Two tools can help customers and project developers more quickly and cheaply identify grid locations for distribution generation projects, according to Mari Hernandez, regulatory program manager at the Interstate Renewable Energy Council.

By Mari Hernandez • June 26, 2018

US solar industry gets boost with new IRS guidance

The much-anticipated clarification allows developers to qualify for a 30% tax credit if they can prove that they invested at least 5% of the total expected installation costs by the end of 2019.

By Iulia Gheorghiu • June 25, 2018

Sprint to test robotic, self-driving EV chargers in NYC

Getting the robots from the testing stage to reality depends on a confluence of new technologies, including 5G, IoT installation and autonomous vehicle tech.

By Jason Plautz • June 22, 2018

Microsoft has big power needs and wants to harness the ocean to satisfy them

Cloud vendors are already using wind and solar solutions to conserve energy consumed by their servers. The next frontier, however, is in the ocean's waves. 

By Samantha Schwartz • June 21, 2018

DOE: Puerto Rico has plenty of options for new generation

A new report on options for rebuilding the island's grid recommends considering a wide range of renewables and alternative fuels, an expansion of liquefied natural gas imports, microgrids and energy storage.

By Robert Walton • June 20, 2018

ZEV market entering 'new phase of development,' says 9-state coalition

A cross-section of industries is supporting the shift: Uber announced future incentives for emissions-free drivers.

By Robert Walton • June 20, 2018

In Massachusetts, capacity ownership of distributed resources could determine fate of storage

Current debates over ownership and control of capacity rights associated with solar and energy storage projects could have a big impact on the trajectory of the technologies in the state.

By Peter Maloney • June 20, 2018

Blink eyes significant EV charging expansion via smart streetlights

Blink Charging and Israel's Ya'acobi Brothers Group are working together to integrate controlled electric vehicle charging with smart city infrastructure.

By Robert Walton • June 20, 2018

5 things utilities should consider for energy storage

Utilities navigating energy storage integration should take into account the flexibility and speed of modular programs when comparing storage to gas peaker plants, Axiom Exergy's John Lerch writes.

By John Lerch • June 19, 2018

Protection & control personnel – Protecting the grid one element at a time…

What questions might a new entrant into the power systems industry have when it comes to the power grid? Field and engineering teams have proven to be quite resilient, eager to learn new skills that the modern power grid infrastructure is demanding.  

By Adrian Zvarych Power Grid Engineering, LLC • June 19, 2018

Is New Hampshire on the verge of battery energy storage history?

A Liberty Utilities-stakeholder settlement could put 1,000 behind-the-meter batteries in place and provide a model for the rest of the country.

By Herman K. Trabish • June 19, 2018

100% renewable energy omnibus clears Massachusetts Senate

The package of energy bills would also remove net metering caps, increase the storage mandate and void demand charges approved earlier this year for Eversource. 

By Iulia Gheorghiu • June 18, 2018

Should the regulatory two-step give way to a new, performance-based dance?

Critics say traditional cost-of-service ratemaking is behind the times, but newer models require a complex production from a variety of industry players. 

By Herman K. Trabish • June 18, 2018

As distributed solar expands, can utility system planning keep up?

New research shows only utilities with a lot of customer-sited solar need to pay the price of advanced forecasting, but all utilities need to plan for more solar.

By Herman K. Trabish • June 14, 2018