NiSource cites Commerce Department solar investigation in plans to delay coal plant retirements

The company's plans to retire its coal units by 2023 could be postponed, according to its quarterly earnings filing on Wednesday, as it foresees up to 18 months of delays in new solar deployments.

By Iulia Gheorghiu • May 5, 2022

Power shutoff study highlights need for transparency into investor-owned utility debts, groups say

An updated study of shutoffs during the pandemic highlights increases in shareholder dividends and executive compensation, but it oversimplifies the issue of accumulated debt, according to the Edison Electric Institute.

By Iulia Gheorghiu • May 4, 2022

Explore the Trendline➔

Sustainability

Companies are pursuing increasingly ambitous sustainability goals around clean energy, but integrating rising amounts of renewables, minimizing environmental impacts, and achieving carbon reduction targets can be challenging.

By Utility Dive staff

The fight for a national clean energy transmission system emerges on three fronts

DOE’s multi-part transmission study, FERC’s refocus on transmission planning, and macrogrid advocacy efforts could produce an interconnected nation ready for net zero electricity by 2035, industry, government and other experts say.

By Herman K. Trabish • May 3, 2022

Scaling hydrogen in North America will require policy support beyond infrastructure funding, panel says

The debate about how to ensure government funds will primarily support "green" hydrogen projects is growing comical as other technologies make advances, one analyst says.

By Emma Penrod • May 2, 2022

Can we solve the massive rate hikes for customers of California's largest utilities?

As we plunge into the third year of a global pandemic, the world is experiencing little relief from ever-increasing prices.

May 2, 2022

Becoming a data-driven utility

What does becoming a data-driven utility mean–and how do you get there?  

By Penny Wand, Partner, Technology, West Monroe • May 2, 2022

Gov. DeSantis vetoes rooftop solar bill, citing desire to not add to 'financial crunch' facing Floridians

Advocates logged over 15,000 phone calls, emails and postcards from residents asking the governor to veto the measure, which would have allowed utilities to increase customer bills.

By Iulia Gheorghiu • Updated April 28, 2022

Could NextEra's $55M winning bid for SPP's transmission project be among the last of its kind?

FERC's proposed transmission reforms would effectively kill the limited competition that exists, according to Ari Peskoe, a Harvard Law School professor.

By Ethan Howland • April 27, 2022

Biden restores stronger environmental review for federal projects

The updated National Environmental Policy Act could slow approvals for certain infrastructure projects but help them resist lawsuits later on.

By Julie Strupp • April 27, 2022

Pennsylvania reaches the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative starting line

How long the state will be able to run in this multi-state race to lower power plant carbon emissions may be decided this November.

By Elizabeth McCarthy • April 26, 2022

Let's get Western energy market governance right from the start

The time has come to consider what the West needs for governance in a regional energy market, and the conversation must be inclusive of all stakeholder views, the author writes.

By Nicole Hughes • April 25, 2022

As Congress returns, Google proposes legislative action to help it and others to achieve 24/7 clean energy

The internet giant is advocating for policies that can help new technologies scale rapidly, including long-duration storage, hydrogen, carbon capture and advanced nuclear.

By Robert Walton • April 25, 2022

FERC proposes expanded state role in effort to spur transmission development

"The proposal aims to facilitate states' influence and buy-in to regional planning and cost allocation," FERC Commissioner Allison Clements said.

By Ethan Howland • April 22, 2022

Lawmakers, some renewable advocates urge FERC to reject ISO-NE plan to delay MOPR elimination

Delaying the end of New England's minimum offer price rule will hurt offshore wind efforts, advocates say.

By Ethan Howland • April 22, 2022

Arizona legislature advances bill restricting retail competition in effort to promote reliability

Clean energy advocates opposed the bill for restricting customer choice, lacking reliability initiatives and further challenging the legal precedent for distributed solar within a public utility's territory.

By Iulia Gheorghiu • April 21, 2022

Maryland takes the lead on near-term state carbon reduction targets

The state's 2031 greenhouse gas emissions reduction goal is larger than that of any other state, at a 60% cut over less than a decade.

By Elizabeth McCarthy • April 21, 2022

Global decarbonization is a more than $50 trillion opportunity for private capital: Blackstone

Public budgets, tax policy and private capital will all be necessary for the world to muster a $100 trillion clean energy investment, the climate counselor to the U.S. Department of the Treasury said Wednesday.

By Robert Walton • April 21, 2022

FERC must stand strong against industry pressure to weaken climate and environmental justice policies

Federal regulators must quickly finalize the strongest possible policies to ensure a clear process that accounts for the true costs of fossil fuel projects, according to Earthjustice.

By Moneen Nasmith • April 20, 2022

California unveils proposed pathway to reach 100% ZEVs by 2035

The proposal recommends an annual zero-emissions vehicles requirement that begins at 35% in 2026 before ramping up to 68% in 2030.

By Kavya Balaraman • April 13, 2022

NorthWestern Energy sues to overturn FERC PURPA ruling in dispute over solar-battery project

The spike in natural gas prices could spark a PURPA revival in the Northwest, according to a PURPA attorney.

By Ethan Howland • April 13, 2022

Virginia SCC staff questions Dominion Energy's offshore wind cost assumptions

The regulatory commission's staff testimony addresses whether the cost estimates were based on accurate assumptions by Dominion, the first utility to build large-scale offshore wind in the United States.

By Iulia Gheorghiu • April 12, 2022

Nuclear energy should not be part of the global solution to climate change

Neither existing nor proposed reactors have a business case, so they have no climate case either. In energy as in financial portfolios, backing losers — diversifying into poor investments — only hurts performance, the author writes.

By Amory B. Lovins • April 12, 2022

Reliability concerns drive need for energy market design reforms, but regions diverge in FERC proceeding

Filings from FERC proceedings show a one-size-fits-all reform can't sufficiently address regional market diversity, but federal guidelines can target growing uncertainties and costs from rising variable and distributed resource penetrations.

By Herman K. Trabish • April 11, 2022

Clean energy sector eyes window for passing federal tax breaks amid challenge of high energy prices

Now that the Senate has confirmed Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, clean energy groups are hoping to see movement in Congress on long-term tax incentives, but multiple obstacles remain.

By Larry Pearl • April 8, 2022

Senators press for quicker solar anti-dumping investigation amid reports of sector's 'rapid degeneration'

U.S. solar developers reported 318 projects totaling 51 GW of solar capacity and 6 GWh of attached battery storage are being canceled or delayed in the wake of the Department of Commerce investigation.

By Iulia Gheorghiu • Updated May 3, 2022