Losing power, losing billions: How offshoring grid materials weakens America

Critical materials are the United States’ Achilles’ heel in the race to expand, modernize and intelligently manage the electric grid, writes Peak Nano CEO Jim Welsh.

By Jim Welsh • Oct. 14, 2025

Harris County, Texas, sues EPA over canceled Solar For All funds

County officials say the loss of $54 million in clean energy grants jeopardizes staffing, planning and partnerships built around the program, forcing major adjustments to local operations and budgets.

By Robyn Griggs Lawrence • Oct. 14, 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

FERC approves SPP ‘provisional load’ interconnection review process

With 26.4 GW in large load study requests since 2020, the Southwest Power Pool is developing options for data centers, manufacturing plants and other loads to connect to the grid.

By Ethan Howland • Oct. 14, 2025

California to invest $226M in offshore wind ports amid federal cuts

State and industry leaders argued that the funds are needed to establish California as a hub for floating offshore wind.

By Emma Penrod • Oct. 14, 2025

Grid planners and experts on why markets keep choosing renewables

“If natural gas was the cheapest option to meet the peak, the markets would select it,” said Sean Kelly, co-founder and CEO of forecast provider Amperon and a former energy analyst.

By Herman K. Trabish • Oct. 9, 2025

To keep energy affordable, Virginia must embrace power line innovation

Regulators should ensure electric utilities pursue transmission innovations rather than simply reinvesting in older technologies, writes Jeff Dennis, executive director of the Electricity Customers Alliance.

By Jeff Dennis • Oct. 9, 2025

Navigating the One Big Beautiful Bill era in US power markets

In today’s volatile climate, success will hinge less on predicting the future and more on preparing for it, say the authors from energy consulting firm E3 in this detailed original analysis of federal policy. 

By Kushal Patel, Gregory Gangelhoff, Tali Perelman and Amber Mahone • Oct. 8, 2025

Senate confirms FERC nominees, giving agency Republican majority

Laura Swett and David LaCerte join a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission working to maintain grid reliability amid rising electric demand driven by data center development.

By Ethan Howland • Oct. 8, 2025

Investor-owned utilities call for ending ‘overreliance’ on PJM capacity market

“Narrowly focusing on design changes to PJM markets has left customers exposed to reliability risks and cost uncertainty,” the Edison Electric Institute’s Drew Maloney said.

By Ethan Howland • Oct. 8, 2025

Groups challenge MISO cost allocation plan for coal power plant

Industrial, business and environmental groups say they should not have to pay to continue running a 1,560-MW, coal-fired power plant that doesn’t benefit them after the DOE ordered it to stay open. 

By Ethan Howland • Oct. 7, 2025

‘Not a good sign’: Weak manufacturing demand continues amid tariff uncertainty

Of the six biggest manufacturing industries, petroleum and coal products were the only sectors that saw growth in September, according to the Institute for Supply Management’s latest Purchasing Managers’ Index.

By Sara Samora • Oct. 7, 2025

Energy efficiency is reducing Northeast peak demand, electricity bills: Acadia

“It is more important than ever for policymakers, advocates, program administrators, and consumers to understand the value ... of energy efficiency resource acquisition,” said Acadia’s Jamie Dickerson.

By Robert Walton • Oct. 7, 2025

Bridging the skills gap and preparing tomorrow’s utility workforce

When veteran field techs understand how their data feeds analytics platforms or how remote inspections can save time, they don’t just adapt — they help optimize those systems, writes Dan Helman, CEO of Think Power Solutions.

By Dan Helman • Oct. 7, 2025

Minnesota PUC approves $6.2B Allete sale to private equity

The deal with Blackrock’s Global Infrastructure Partners and a Canadian pension fund will bring about $200 million in ratepayer benefits, according to Allete.

By Ethan Howland • Oct. 6, 2025

Modernizing with confidence: the secret to seamless tech migrations

Cut costs, boost CX and migrate without disruption.

Oct. 6, 2025

Government shutdown could delay clean energy guidance, permitting: report

Shutdown plans could become hard to implement as agency staffing levels “are significantly lower than at the beginning of the year," said sustainable finance company Crux.

By Lamar Johnson • Oct. 3, 2025

The week in 5 numbers: DOE slashes clean energy funding following coal ‘investment’

Plus PJM’s data center woes, record storage deployment and new generation additions.

By Meris Lutz • Oct. 3, 2025

Texas PUC approves Entergy’s 500-kV SETEX transmission project

The Public Utility Commission also selected six projects to receive $381 million from the Texas Energy Fund's Outside ERCOT Grant Program.

By Robert Walton • Oct. 3, 2025

Shutdown furloughing federal workers imperils business-critical data

Just hours before most U.S. federal agencies closed, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said it would not release highly anticipated jobs data on Friday.

By Jim Tyson • Oct. 2, 2025

State frameworks are critical to addressing PJM affordability

Affordability concerns have risen in the PJM sphere due to “tightening supply and demand,” writes Senior Vice President Asim Haque. Supply has left the system due primarily to state policy and federal rules, he says.

By Asim Haque • Oct. 2, 2025

Data centers ‘primary reason’ for high PJM capacity prices: market monitor

Load from data centers drove up revenue in the PJM Interconnection’s last capacity auction by $7.3 billion, said Monitoring Analytics. It said it is “misleading” to say market results simply reflect tightening supply and demand.

By Ethan Howland • Oct. 2, 2025

DOE cancels $7.6B in clean energy awards in states that voted against Trump

“Our democracy is badly broken when a president can illegally suspend projects for Blue states in order to punish his political enemies,” said Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.

By Robert Walton • Oct. 2, 2025

Utility conferences to watch in 2026

See our annual list of notable power-sector conferences where industry leaders will share knowledge in a rapidly-changing landscape. 

By Meris Lutz • Oct. 1, 2025

Fallout from shutdown could impact energy sector construction

Halting federal projects will likely have downstream effects on private-sector confidence and costs of materials and labor. “The construction supply chain is tightly interconnected,” one contractor said. 

By Sebastian Obando • Oct. 1, 2025

Customers in 7 PJM states paid $4.4B for data center transmission in 2024: report

Transmission lines built for data centers fall into a "regulatory gap,” with utility customers on the hook for the costs, the Union of Concerned Scientists said.

By Ethan Howland • Oct. 1, 2025