Southeast utilities lag national efficiency averages despite ‘low-hanging fruit’: SACE

In its latest regional efficiency report, the environmental group recommends targeted weatherization, stronger oversight and an end to broad industrial efficiency exemptions.

By Brian Martucci • Feb. 18, 2026

City’s adoption of efficiency metric signals less reliance on third-party building certifications

Developers could still use LEED or other certifications to meet green building goals in Alexandria, Virginia, but the energy use intensity metric gives them an option just focused on efficiency.

By Robert Freedman • Feb. 18, 2026

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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

Efficiency, demand flexibility can meet growing data center loads — and do so cheaply: ACEEE

Large utility programs provide energy efficiency for about $21/MWh, while new combined-cycle gas plants cost at least twice that, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy said.

By Robert Walton • Feb. 18, 2026

The rate case for grid resilience: Why climate change isn’t just about storms

Utilities that delay resilience investments hoping that global climate mitigation efforts will reduce the need for local hardening are taking a dangerous gamble, writes Kai Karlstrom, director of solutions engineering at Repath.

By Kai Karlstrom • Feb. 13, 2026

300-MW Ameren fast-track project hits snag on DOE transmission funding uncertainty

It’s unclear if the U.S. Department of Energy will help fund a set of 345-kV projects in the Great Plains region, leaving Ameren Missouri in doubt about potential interconnection costs for its project.

By Ethan Howland • Feb. 12, 2026

New Mexico VPP bill would allow third-party aggregators to participate

If the bill becomes law, the state’s three investor-owned utilities would need to offset 15% of peak demand and allow customers to lock in rates for five years.

By Brian Martucci • Updated Feb. 12, 2026

Electrification is outpacing investment. A federal trust fund could close the gap.

A federal trust fund for energy infrastructure could facilitate grid expansion and maintenance, writes Zane Kinsky, a Clean Energy Leadership Institute 2025 Fellow.

By Zane Kinsky • Feb. 11, 2026

FERC rejects AEP request to sell capacity in upcoming auction

Critics argued AEP utilities were trying to offload capacity they acquired to serve data centers that didn’t materialize. FERC appeared to echo that rationale, saying AEP’s “problem” is simply excess capacity resulting from “its own business decisions.”

By Ethan Howland • Updated Feb. 11, 2026

CAISO shifts transmission focus to reliability to meet peak demand growth

The California Independent System Operator detailed this shift in a report prepared for the governor and legislature as part of preparations for launching a new Western regional organization to oversee electricity markets.

By Diana DiGangi • Feb. 10, 2026

EPA extends coal ash landfill monitoring, cleanup deadlines

The Environmental Protection Agency’s action is part of a broad push by the Trump administration to support fossil-fueled power plants.

By Ethan Howland • Feb. 10, 2026

Congressional ‘grid reliability’ bill is like duct tape on a cracked dam

Propping up expensive, dirty power plants threatens consumers with higher prices while punting systemic solutions further into the future, write colleagues from Energy Innovation.

By Mike O’Boyle and Silvio Marcacci • Feb. 9, 2026

New Jersey utilities begin to develop virtual power plants

The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities asked for information from utilities on distributed energy resource hosting constraints and how new interconnections can be accelerated.

By Robert Walton • Feb. 9, 2026

EPA reconsiders Good Neighbor Plan that limited power plant emissions

The agency seeks to roll back the Biden-era program to cut ozone-forming emissions of nitrogen oxides from power plants and industrial facilities. This pollution often affects downwind states’s ability to meet Clean Air Act requirements.

By Jeffrey Kinney • Feb. 6, 2026

Manufacturers say AEP Ohio still inflating data center demand after halving forecast

AEP cut its large load forecast by more than 50% after regulators approved a new large load tariff. But the trade group said it does not reflect PJM’s load forecast methodology. 

By Ethan Howland • Feb. 6, 2026

Why regional manufacturing will power the next clean economy

If regions align around shared climate goals, fragmented progress can become a unified national movement, write Lara Croushore from SecondMuse and Stacey Weismiller of the American Manufacturing Futures Institute.

By Lara Croushore and Stacey Weismiller • Feb. 5, 2026

White House launches environmental review permitting tool pilot

The platform, CE Works, is intended to help agencies determine whether a project qualifies for a categorical exclusion under the National Environmental Policy Act.

By Matthew Thibault • Feb. 5, 2026

Utilities face cost-recovery risk as infrastructure costs, demand rise: Morningstar

With metal costs soaring, utilities will pay more for key grid parts such as transmission lines, distribution feeders and transformers, analysts with the ratings agency said.

By Ethan Howland • Feb. 5, 2026

Federal energy assistance programs survive budget gauntlet

Budget bills passed by Congress and signed by President Trump maintain funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program and the Weatherization Assistance Program.

By Brian Martucci • Feb. 4, 2026

AI, ICE protests and karaoke: DistribuTECH comes to San Diego

“As an industry, we’ve gone from ‘Keep the lights on and stay out of the news,’ to now being the lead story for energy independence, national security and AI development,” said Del Misenheimer, GE Vernova’s VP and CEO of grid automation and software.

By Robert Walton • Feb. 4, 2026

House lawmakers press FERC on affordability, reliability and gas

Commissioners cited inadequate transmission infrastructure as a major concern. A gas-fired project in the PJM Interconnection needs $1 billion in grid upgrades to come online, said Commissioner David Rosner.

By Ethan Howland • Feb. 4, 2026

Tariffs lifted nonresidential construction costs 3.2% in 2025

Trade policy will “continue to put upward pressure on certain materials” in 2026, said the chief economist for Associated Builders and Contractors. In December, copper wire and cable jumped 22% year over year. Iron and steel were up 12%.

By Sebastian Obando • Feb. 3, 2026

Quick fixes won’t solve high energy bills

As grid spending increases, policymakers should look beyond residential customers to cover costs, writes Arjun Krishnaswami, a senior fellow at the Federation of American Scientists.

By Arjun Krishnaswami • Feb. 3, 2026

Transmission planning, development improved since 2023 in most US regions: report

However, the grade for Texas slipped to a "D-” and the Southeast continues to get failing marks, according to a report released Tuesday by Americans for a Clean Energy Grid.

By Ethan Howland • Feb. 3, 2026

The AI boom needs power. Tariffs can make it fair.

Large load tariffs can be used to deliver community benefits, lock in clean, reliable power and strengthen energy resilience, writes Ava Community Energy’s Olivia Vasquez.

By Olivia Vasquez • Feb. 2, 2026

Coal plant owners say DOE ‘emergency’ order to run it violates Constitution

By mandating the generator’s availability to operate, the order “constitutes both a physical taking and a regulatory taking” of property by the government without just compensation or due process, they said in a request for rehearing. 

By Ethan Howland • Updated Feb. 2, 2026