FERC gives PJM flexibility for handling member defaults as Winter Storm Elliott complaints pile up

At least six complaints are pending at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission from generators that are seeking to avoid penalties for failing to run during the late-December freeze.

By Ethan Howland • April 10, 2023

Beyond thermostats: Why behavioral load management will be essential for successful energy decarbonization

As the energy transition drives a need for greater load flexibility, behavioral strategies can be among the most scalable and equitable approaches to demand management.

By Essie Snell • April 10, 2023

Explore the Trendline➔

Cybersecurity of the Grid

In addition to presenting opportunities for growth, AI is exacerbating cyber threats with more sophisticated malware that is easier than ever to build and deploy. The rise of distributed energy resources also creates more opportunities for attack. 

By Utility Dive staff

How utilities can take the next step in being digital

Leverage approaches from mature digital utilities and other sectors to unlock significant value.  

By Eric Chung, Partner, Energy & Utilities, West Monroe • April 10, 2023

EPA proposes strengthening mercury and air toxics standards for coal-fired power plants

To meet the proposed standards, about 4,800 MW of coal-fired capacity would need to install pollution-control equipment and 500 MW would retire in 2028, EPA said.

By Ethan Howland • April 6, 2023

RGGI speeds declines in power plant emissions and spurs economic growth: Acadia report

Critics say RGGI’s model has led to higher costs, with Gov. Glenn Youngkin, R, seeking to pull Virginia out of the program and opponents in Pennsylvania mounting legal challenges.

By Stephen Singer • April 5, 2023

LS Power, other Illinois power plant owners ask FERC to nix $275M in PJM Winter Storm Elliott penalties

The federal agency should suspend the collection of up to $2 billion in penalties, set to begin April 14, while it reviews claims against the PJM Interconnection, the companies said Tuesday.

By Ethan Howland • April 5, 2023

Clean energy groups see ‘unprecedented’ victory in Dominion’s legislative losses in Virginia

The legislature gave significant power back to Virginia’s utility regulator, the State Corporation Commission, but it remains unable to agree on appointments to the body.

By Diana DiGangi • April 4, 2023

Arizona Public Service proposed interconnection process for replacing power plants stifles competition: SEIA

The solar energy trade group urged federal regulators to launch a broad investigation into interconnection rules for replacing retiring power plants.

By Ethan Howland • April 4, 2023

Bipartisan group of US senators proposes legislation to advance nuclear power

The industry and policymakers are working on several fronts to build out nuclear energy — particularly advanced reactors and small modular reactors, SMRs — to meet increasingly stringent zero-carbon goals.

By Stephen Singer • April 3, 2023

NY moves toward public ownership, operation of renewable power in budget negotiated by state leaders

Supporters say it’s the biggest climate bill in the U.S. that will lead to the construction of publicly owned, 100% renewable energy. Opponents say it would undermine a successful model that relies on renewable energy and energy storage companies to develop projects in New York.

By Stephen Singer • April 3, 2023

Lincoln Power files for bankruptcy after $38.9M PJM charge for failing to run during Winter Storm Elliott

Nautilus Power, another generator Cogentrix Energy manages, on Friday sought Federal Energy Regulatory Commission protection from nonperformance penalties.

By Ethan Howland • April 3, 2023

DOE study highlights America’s transmission needs, but how do we accelerate buildout?

By providing FERC the authority to allocate costs to states according to benefits, Congress can help transmission lines avoid one of the most significant sources of delay.

By Michelle Solomon • March 31, 2023

In the heated debate over clean hydrogen rules, additionality doesn’t add up

A handful of observers are trying to undermine congressional intent by asking the administration to prohibit American manufacturers from having equal access to clean hydrogen production.

By Joe Dominguez • March 31, 2023

FERC pressed for bigger public role, deeper environmental justice analysis in energy infrastructure reviews

“Environmental justice has always been and will be a part of my public interest determination,” FERC Acting Chairman Willie Phillips said about his reviews of gas and other infrastructure projects.

By Ethan Howland • March 31, 2023

AES, Exelon, others urge FERC to reject West Virginia PSC push to open confidential PJM committee

Public Citizen on Tuesday urged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to explore governance reforms for all regional transmission organizations.

By Ethan Howland • March 29, 2023

Avoiding a ‘clean power divide’  — creating national electrification co-ops for a just energy transition

If all Americans can participate, we can achieve the speed and scale required to decarbonize electricity and transportation and save the planet.

By Audrey Zibelman and Victoria Harmon • March 28, 2023

PJM plans capacity auction delays as it develops market reforms to bolster resource adequacy

“Despite the implications of auction delay, reforms are necessary to the capacity market design in order to conduct an effective Base Residual Auction,” the PJM Interconnection said Monday in an email to stakeholders.

By Ethan Howland • March 28, 2023

House panel eyes R&D directives for DOE on grid security, hydrogen, pipelines

Rep. Sean Casten, D-Ill., cast doubt on hydrogen’s usefulness for energy storage because of its low round-trip efficiency. “I don’t see how that math works,” he said at a Thursday hearing.

By Ethan Howland • March 24, 2023

DOE cyber chief gets bipartisan grilling as senators question US reliance on China for grid equipment

U.S. lawmakers on Thursday pressed the head of DOE’s Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response Preparedness for details about foreign-manufactured components but got few answers.

By Robert Walton • March 24, 2023

Not ‘sick or dying or dead’: The great benefit of RTOs

To argue that some regional transmission organizations have imperfections is somewhat akin to saying, “nobody is perfect.”

By Scott Miller • March 23, 2023

FERC approves incentives for NV Energy’s $2.5B Greenlink project despite ratepayer concerns

“If the commission determines it is appropriate to channel risks to consumers, those risks must be carefully weighed and considered,” FERC Commissioner Mark Christie said.

By Ethan Howland • March 23, 2023

The EPA’s hydrogen push is a federal endorsement of greenwashing

Burning hydrogen in power plants is no silver bullet for meeting decarbonization goals, in part because leaks could lead to higher levels of methane, a potent greenhouse gas.

By Abbe Ramanan • March 22, 2023

DOE charts commercialization paths for long-duration storage, advanced nuclear, clean hydrogen

With about $260 billion in spending needed this decade, the reports released Tuesday highlight possible solutions to the challenges facing the technologies and routes to commercializing them.

By Ethan Howland • March 22, 2023

FERC approves canceling NextEra transmission project blocked by Texas right-of-first-refusal law

The agency rejected NextEra Energy’s argument the $129 million project should be kept alive because litigation over the law is ongoing.

By Ethan Howland • March 21, 2023

Democrats press Interior secretary to direct more money to BOEM to reach US offshore wind goals

The rapid growth of the offshore wind industry will create a need for more staff at the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the legislators argued in a March 15 letter.

By Emma Penrod • March 21, 2023