The week in 5 numbers: Power outages stretch, data center load overstated

Winter peak demand is rising faster than resource additions, and a bribery scandal ends with a massive payout.

By Meris Lutz • Nov. 21, 2025

New FERC commissioners say connecting data centers is key priority

The agency also will look at how to streamline permitting for certain liquefied natural gas and hydroelectric projects, per its open meeting on Thursday.

By Ethan Howland • Nov. 21, 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

Ohio PUC orders FirstEnergy utilities to pay $250.7M over HB 6 bribery scandal

The decision “closes a chapter tied to activities that do not represent the company we are today,” according to FirstEnergy, which has paid $390 million in other fines related to the scandal.

By Ethan Howland • Nov. 20, 2025

PJM stakeholders fail to agree on data center interconnection rules

The PJM Interconnection’s board may develop a proposal for new rules to interconnect large loads to the grid, but the timing is unclear.

By Ethan Howland • Nov. 20, 2025

Federal appeals court halts implementation of California’s climate disclosure law

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has temporarily stopped enforcement of a law that requires large businesses operating in California to publicly disclose their climate-related financial risks.

By Zoya Mirza • Nov. 19, 2025

How renewable energy producers can navigate FERC’s new interconnection rules

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission reforms aim to accelerate interconnection, but regional differences can affect project timelines, write energy attorneys at Balch & Bingham.

By Kevin McNamee, Abby Fox and Ricky Cox • Nov. 19, 2025

Groups sue FERC over MISO, SPP fast-track interconnection programs

The groups contend the Midcontinent Independent System Operator and Southwest Power Pool’s processes give undue advantage to fast-tracked projects and will lead to higher residential ratepayer costs.

By Ethan Howland • Nov. 19, 2025

Consumers Energy to invest more than $13B in renewables, distribution by 2029

Executives said they expect the U.S. Energy Department to renew the emergency order to keep a coal plant online, emphasizing that the costs will be spread across the region.

By Brian Martucci • Nov. 18, 2025

Groups sue FERC over its approval of SPP’s capacity accreditation plan

The Natural Resources Defense Council and the Sierra Club contend the Southwest Power Pool’s accreditation methodologies improperly favor fossil-fueled power plants.

By Ethan Howland • Nov. 18, 2025

America’s EVs are a $30B grid asset. Let’s not lock it away.

We have the potential for a 7 million-vehicle-strong virtual power plant at our disposal in the U.S. today, with 78.5 million on the way by 2035, writes ev.energy CEO Nick Woolley.

By Nick Woolley • Nov. 17, 2025

Former FERC commissioners urge Supreme Court to uphold agency independence

“Overturning Humphrey’s Executor would bulldoze the structural supports that Congress built into ratemaking commissions to protect its price-setting power from abuse,” former FERC commissioners said.

By Ethan Howland • Nov. 14, 2025

The week in 5 numbers: Electricity prices extend rise, regulators rein in data centers

Meanwhile, new renewable generation projects continue to face delays and cancellations.

By Meris Lutz • Nov. 14, 2025

A new kind of self-service: empowering utilities to shape their own tech

Utilities are taking control of their own tech. Discover how configurable platforms like Kraken let teams build, test, and innovate without coding bottlenecks.  

Nov. 13, 2025

Tribes, conservation groups urge FERC to uphold veto policy on preliminary hydro permits

The U.S. Department of Energy wants the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to stop giving tribes and federal agencies veto power over preliminary permit applications for projects on their land.

By Ethan Howland • Nov. 13, 2025

Data centers can stack sustainability, energy innovations

Data center developers should seize opportunities to benefit communities and the environment, write a former Ohio member of Congress and a sixth-generation farmer.

By Tim Ryan and Shawn Cutter • Nov. 12, 2025

St. Paul, Minnesota, and environmental groups sue over canceled DOE clean energy grants

The lawsuit claims the Trump administration’s cancellation of $7.56 billion in grants for projects in 16 states was politically motivated.

By Robyn Griggs Lawrence • Nov. 12, 2025

Xcel, Colorado agencies propose extending life of Comanche 2 coal unit

Xcel’s 750-MW, coal-fired Comanche 3 is offline until at least June, and Colorado peak demand forecasts are rising quickly.

By Robert Walton • Nov. 12, 2025

FERC dismisses cost allocation complaint over ‘self-planned’ AEP transmission projects

Kentucky Power is part of a broader transmission network of American Electric Power utilities and therefore benefits from those utilities’ local transmission projects, FERC said.

By Ethan Howland • Nov. 12, 2025

Kansas, Michigan regulators approve large load rules for Evergy, Consumers Energy

The new rules, plus proposed legislation in Delaware, aim to ensure that existing utility customers don’t pay costs related to interconnecting data centers and manufacturers.

By Ethan Howland • Nov. 10, 2025

Our laws must catch up to data centers’ rising power

Data center power demand could bring about a transformation in the U.S. energy system, or it could spike prices as polluting emissions rise, write energy scholars Alexandra Klass and Dave Owen.

By Alexandra Klass and Dave Owen • Nov. 7, 2025

Making flexibility work: A concrete framework for the DOE large load proposal

The proposal for interconnecting data centers to the grid calls for load flexibility but gives few details. Former FERC Commissioner Allison Clements and Miles Farmer and Sam Walsh of Roselle LLP fill in the blanks.

By Allison Clements, Miles Farmer and Sam Walsh • Nov. 6, 2025

PSEG could offer lower rates to New Jersey’s incoming governor: equity analysts

Public Service Enterprise Group is ready to work with the new administration to keep rates down and find ways to add power supplies in the state, PSEG CEO Ralph LaRossa said.

By Ethan Howland • Nov. 6, 2025

Exelon’s advanced data center pipeline grows to 18 GW

The PJM Interconnection’s market monitor continues to call for a review of how a PECO Energy-Amazon data center agreement would affect power costs and reliability.

By Ethan Howland • Nov. 5, 2025

SPP proposes landmark merger of transmission planning, interconnection processes

The “consolidated planning process” it proposed at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will make it easier to bring new power supplies online, the Southwest Power Pool said.

By Ethan Howland • Nov. 4, 2025

Data centers as engines of economic growth

Regulators should create pathways for utilities to test, scale and recover costs for forward-looking solutions that meet new economic demands, writes Jeff Jakubiak, a partner at Vinson & Elkins.

By Jeff Jakubiak • Oct. 31, 2025