WestTEC to develop West-wide ‘actionable’ transmission plan

The initiative aims to develop interregional and interstate transmission portfolios across the West on 10- and 20-year timeframes.

By Ethan Howland • Sept. 6, 2024

Ratepayer advocates urge PJM to include RMR power plants in capacity auctions

PJM should hold a stakeholder process to include reliability-must-run plants and, if needed, delay the next auction, set to take place in December, to avoid “unjust and unreasonable” prices, they said.

By Ethan Howland • Sept. 3, 2024

Explore the Trendline➔

Grid Resiliency

The risk from natural disasters like hurricanes, wildfires and heat waves is compounded by rising demand for power that threatens to put additional strain on the grid, as well as cyber and physical attacks on critical infrastructure.

By Utility Dive staff

Getting real about reliability in PJM

The July capacity auction for the 2025/26 delivery was the first auction in over five years that sent a message to power suppliers: We need you to stay, and we need you to bring some more friends.

By Glen Thomas • Aug. 29, 2024

Better grid edge visibility is key for load forecasting, cost control: Heatmap Labs panel

Advanced metering infrastructure is already enabling more effective distribution grid operation and planning, but regulatory support and proactive utility investment is needed now, panelists said.

By Brian Martucci • Aug. 28, 2024

How software and AI bolster grid resilience

Grid resilience has never been as critical or as challenging as it is today.

Aug. 26, 2024

New England may need ‘vast renewable build-out’ by 2050 to meet state decarbonization goals: ISO

By 2045, wind and solar resources are projected to meet just 10 GW of the 51 GW peak gross load during peak winter demand, according to the grid operator’s modeling.

By Robert Walton • Aug. 23, 2024

Data center vacancy rate hits record low in H1 2024 as power supply challenges persist: CBRE

Demand for high-power computing is driving a significant price gap between new data centers and legacy facilities, which lack the infrastructure to support workload demands, the firm says. 

By Joe Burns • Aug. 22, 2024

California pioneers new ways to ease interconnection of large DERs

Limited generation profiles in California will schedule limits to DERs during system constraints. New York, Illinois, Colorado and others are testing more flexible approaches.

By Herman K. Trabish • Aug. 21, 2024

With 10 new climate resilience centers, DOE aims to translate research into local action

Researchers will work on actionable science and tools to help local stakeholders combat extreme heat, flooding, drought and more, the U.S. Department of Energy announced last week.

By Ysabelle Kempe • Aug. 20, 2024

New York encourages electrification with new grid planning process, affordability pilot

“The rate at which consumers are electrifying buildings and vehicles has the potential to outpace the existing grid planning processes,” the New York Public Service Commission said.

By Robert Walton • Aug. 19, 2024

Artificial intelligence and workplace safety: A new era for the energy and utilities sector

AI’s potential to revolutionize safety standards in the energy and utilities workplace is significant, yet it presents its own set of challenges.

By Simar Grewal • Aug. 19, 2024

CenterPoint cannot cancel $800M lease for large mobile generators unused during Beryl

The utility should weigh its options, including subleasing the generators and renegotiating contracts, members of the Public Utility Commission of Texas said Thursday.

By Robert Walton • Aug. 16, 2024

Texas AG investigates CenterPoint storm response, possible ‘fraud, waste’

Hurricane Beryl left 2.3 million CenterPoint customers without power in July, spurring questions about the utility’s storm preparedness and restoration efforts.

By Robert Walton • Aug. 14, 2024

CrowdStrike snafu was a ‘dress rehearsal’ for critical infrastructure disruptions, CISA director says

Despite the disruption, Jen Easterly said the outage was a "useful exercise" to determine the resiliency of critical infrastructure organizations.

By Matt Kapko • Aug. 12, 2024

Electrifying the future: How landmark legislation and strategic collaboration are shaping the energy landscape

Recent years have seen the enactment of landmark legislation aimed at addressing the pressing issue of climate change.

Aug. 5, 2024

It’s time for a new approach to ensure utilities can get the data they need without driving up customer bills

A modern AMx framework can help utilities better balance meter infrastructure and affordability needs by enabling mixed-meter portfolios and improving cost-effectiveness.

By Essie Snell • Aug. 5, 2024

PJM capacity prices hit record highs, sending build signal to generators

Consumers across the PJM Interconnection footprint will pay $14.7 billion for capacity in the 2025-26 delivery year, up from $2.2 billion in the last auction.

By Ethan Howland • July 31, 2024

NREL tool lets utilities quantify potential monetary losses from cyberattacks

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory also published a report on runZero’s security platform, which can utilize active scanning techniques to reveal “hidden” risks in a utility system.

By Robert Walton • July 29, 2024

The crucial role of monitoring and testing solutions within power-dependent facilities

Explore the network of power assets charged with maintaining data center uptime.

July 29, 2024

Creating impactful workforce development programs in the energy industry

Since 2006, the Center for Energy Workforce Development (CEWD) has conducted bi-annual surveys to explore trends in the energy workforce and support companies in the industry with strategic workforce planning initiatives.

By Matt Shait, Director and Emma Park, Senior Associate, ScottMadden • July 29, 2024

NERC wary of 100 GW in possible plant retirements and other takeaways from CEO Jim Robb

Interconnection queues, filled with renewables projects, outstrip existing capacity by a 2-to-1 margin while increasing generator retirements complicate reliability issues, Robb said Thursday at the WIRES conference.

By Robert Walton • July 26, 2024

Data centers can drive revenues for Dominion, Pinnacle West, Southern, but there are risks: Moody’s

Electric utilities looking to benefit from data center growth could face credit risks in the event new power demand does not materialize as expected, according to Moody’s Ratings.

By Robert Walton • July 23, 2024

NERC should lead development of new approach to resource adequacy assessments: report

Grid planning criteria must “evolve to reflect a new reality,” said Mark Lauby, senior vice president and chief engineer for the North American Electric Reliability Corp.

By Robert Walton • July 23, 2024

Innovative solutions emerge to reduce 2.5-TW US clean energy interconnection backlog

California’s project scoring criteria, the Texas connect and manage option and SPP’s work to link system planning with the interconnection process across its multistate region could speed the clean energy expansion.

By Herman K. Trabish • July 22, 2024

Forecasting the unprecedented

For a risk manager at an electric utility, it's crucial to recognize that the threat of catastrophic wildfires is pervasive and exists almost everywhere.

By Pavel Grechanuk, Senior Data Scientist, Technosylva • July 22, 2024