Power supply groups urge FERC to reform Western offer cap to avoid market uncertainty

Recent Federal Energy Regulatory Commission offer cap decisions threaten power suppliers’ willingness to sell electricity in tight conditions, industry groups said.

By Ethan Howland • June 30, 2022

California regulators contemplate standardized rules for gas projects exceeding $100M

The state’s Public Utilities Commission is considering a general order, which is “the highest level document that the commission can adopt,” and represents a higher threshold than a normal regulatory decision, one expert said.

By Kavya Balaraman • June 29, 2022

Explore the Trendline➔

The Energy Transition to Renewables

Rising demand for power is continuing to drive demand for renewables, but policy uncertainty and mixed signals from the Trump administration add to existing challenges.

By Utility Dive staff

EPA regional ozone proposal threatens electric reliability: RTOs, state utility regulators

Grid operators are asking for a “reliability safety valve,” while a cooperative utility trade group warns the proposal could force up to 42 GW of coal generation to retire in 2026.

By Ethan Howland • June 28, 2022

California moves to simplify interconnection rules for distributed energy resources

The new approach will potentially allow more projects to pass through the fast-track process, which means they could get interconnected in a matter of months versus many months to a year or more.

By Kavya Balaraman • June 27, 2022

CAISO's proposed 'emergency' interconnection process could hurt pending projects: Vistra

The state’s grid operator proposed a fast-track interconnection review process as the California governor calls for 5 GW of emergency supplies.

By Ethan Howland • June 27, 2022

White House unveils 11-state partnership to boost offshore wind development, domestic supply chain

The offshore wind industry sees an opportunity for regional collaboration with the partnership, which includes East Coast states and the Biden administration, and could expand to include the West Coast and Gulf of Mexico.

By Emma Penrod • June 27, 2022

Appeals court partly strikes down FERC approval of ISO New England winter reliability program

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Friday rejected ISO New England payments to coal, hydroelectric, biomass and nuclear generators under the program.

By Ethan Howland • June 21, 2022

Energy utilities create roadmap for improving customer experience

Changing customer expectations, new technology and more competition are prompting energy utilities to make the customer experience a priority. 

June 21, 2022

California needs to triple historical decarbonization rates to meet 2030 carbon target, report finds

“The key takeaway is that California is leaving beneficial, earlier action on the table,” said Chris Busch, research director with Energy Innovation and primary author of the report. 

By Kavya Balaraman • June 17, 2022

FERC proposes ‘first-ready, first-served’ interconnection rules to help spur new generation, storage

The federal agency at its monthly meeting also proposed extreme weather grid reliability requirements and one-time reports from transmission providers on how they assess extreme weather.

By Ethan Howland • June 17, 2022

A third of Texas energy efficiency budgets could go to pay utility performance bonuses: Sierra Club

Efficiency goals mandated by the Texas legislature have not been updated in more than a decade and are too easy to meet, say conservation advocates.

By Robert Walton • June 17, 2022

West Virginia may boycott 6 finance firms over fossil-fuel lending stance

The state’s treasury is set to place BlackRock, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and U.S. Bank on a list blocking them from state contracts within 45 days, according to letters seen by Politico.

By Robin Bradley • June 16, 2022

President Biden's commitment to energy security needs certainty on natural gas

The Biden administration can keep its pledge to fund renewable energy development while also addressing the need for more natural gas today, the author writes.

By Richard D. Kauzlarich • June 16, 2022

Gensler sees limit to SEC rule on carbon emissions disclosure

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission would only require disclosure on carbon emissions across a supply chain from companies that have publicly committed to revealing such information, Chair Gary Gensler said.

By Jim Tyson • June 15, 2022

PJM proposes 'first-ready, first-served' interconnection review process, steps to clear backlog

PJM wouldn’t begin reviewing interconnection requests filed after Oct. 1, 2021, until 2026 under the proposal it filed Tuesday at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

By Ethan Howland • June 15, 2022

Arizona utility regulator proposes confidential infrastructure meetings with state's businesses community

Consumer advocates, however, say work done by the Arizona Corporation Commission should be open to the public “with very few exceptions.”

By Robert Walton • June 15, 2022

'Not backsliding on clean energy': Officials say California's proposed 5 GW reserve could be heavy on gas

The electricity reserve is a $5.2 billion proposal from state officials to ensure electric reliability at times when the grid is especially stressed.

By Kavya Balaraman • June 13, 2022

Washington regulatory staff pushes to fine PacifiCorp for omitting social cost of carbon in energy planning

“This shows that commission staff is taking utility implementation of this policy seriously,” said Lauren McCloy, policy director of the NW Energy Coalition.

By Kavya Balaraman • June 9, 2022

New York lawmakers abandon bill to grow renewables as state's grid operator warns margins tightening

Reliability margins on New York’s grid are shrinking, the Independent System Operator said, just days after state lawmakers halted work on a bill designed to grow renewables.

By Robert Walton • June 9, 2022

Massachusetts lawmakers consider ending retail electric choice for residential customers

Retail energy providers argue that an investigation of market competition by state regulators would be a better approach than rolling back customer choice through a broad clean energy bill.

By Iulia Gheorghiu • Updated June 13, 2022

State utility regulators urge FERC to move up MISO's proposed 2030 start date for aggregated DERs

MISO may miss out on reliability and cost benefits by waiting to integrate groups of distributed resources, according to the Organization of MISO States.

By Ethan Howland • June 8, 2022

Biden invokes Defense Production Act to boost domestic manufacturing in clean energy, grid sectors

The White House also aims to spur up to 100 GW in solar purchases via federal, state and local joint procurement.

By Ethan Howland • June 7, 2022

Rethinking California distribution system operations and grid services markets for a high-DER future

California wants a cost-effective, reliable and equitable power system with well-compensated distributed resources to balance the bulk power system and meet local needs.

By Herman K. Trabish • June 7, 2022

Biden to pause solar tariffs for 2 years amid supply chain disruption from Commerce investigation

The legal standing of the recent executive order will depend on the administration establishing that the solar market was in an “emergency” situation, analysts said.

By Iulia Gheorghiu • Updated June 29, 2022

FERC's acceptance of 2 capacity accreditation methods will complicate renewables development

The stakes are high: As more intermittent resources enter markets, the quantity procured and capacity payments will depend on each market’s specific capacity accreditation rules, the authors write.

By Joseph Cavicchi and Charles Wu • June 6, 2022