Puget Sound’s vehicle-to-home charging pilot combines demand response, peak shaving, resilience

The test will use electric vehicle batteries for demand response and residential peak shaving while also making their storage capacity available during power outages.

By Brian Martucci • March 24, 2026

DOE extends emergency operations at 2 Indiana coal plants

Since December the plants “have proven critical” to operations in the Midcontinent ISO region, DOE said. Sierra Club says they cost consumers almost $200,000 per day.

By Robert Walton • March 24, 2026

Explore the Trendline➔

Data Centers and the US Grid

A look at how data centers are affecting the U.S. grid today and how new technologies and rate structures could affect that trajectory in the years to come.

By Utility Dive staff

Maryland ratepayer advocate calls for greater transmission oversight as costs rise

Costs to customers in the state could reach $5.4 billion for transmission built from 2031 through 2035, compared with $7.1 billion spread over the previous 20 years, according to the advocate.

By Ethan Howland • March 24, 2026

5-year waits and rising costs: How demand is redefining the gas turbine market

Lengthy lead times are likely to continue for now, and reliability in that environment depends on early, informed decisions, writes Electric Power Research Institute Senior Program Manager Bobby Noble.

By Bobby Noble • March 23, 2026

‘Emergencies’ requiring coal plants to stay open need not be imminent, DOE tells court

States, environmental groups and others have sued the U.S. Department of Energy over its repeated emergency orders to run the J.H. Campbell plant in West Olive, Michigan, saying it failed to show the emergency need.

By Ethan Howland • March 23, 2026

DOE taps SoftBank arm to develop 9.2 GW of gas generation in Ohio

SB Energy, a subsidiary of Japan’s SoftBank Group, is also investing $4.2 billion with AEP Ohio to upgrade and build new transmission lines in Southern Ohio.

By Robert Walton • March 20, 2026

FERC rejects RWE complaint over PJM interconnection practices

The agency also slashed New England’s transmission return on equity and said it would allow two Indiana utilities to spread costs stemming from DOE emergency orders keeping coal plants online across MISO’s northern and central regions.

By Ethan Howland • March 20, 2026

Winter storms underscore data center threats to grid reliability, affordability

Demand from the data center boom, combined with worsening extreme weather events, put our electric system at heightened risk, writes Union of Concerned Scientists Senior Manager Mike Jacobs.

By Mike Jacobs • March 19, 2026

DOE emergency orders for fossil plants complicate utility planning, experts say

Lawyers and officials are divided on whether the “stay-open” orders threaten states’ ability to regulate their own energy systems. Environmental groups put the cost to ratepayers in the hundreds of millions, and growing.

By Brian Martucci • March 19, 2026

Battery developers, local officials ask New York to roll back Con Edison BESS methodology

“The grid has been built to serve customers, not to host battery storage anywhere, at any scale,” a Con Edison official told Utility Dive.

By Brian Martucci • March 18, 2026

Democratic House bill aims to overturn Trump electricity policies

The bill, backed by 122 House members, would reinstate clean energy tax credits and grants while aiming to speed grid interconnection to an expanded transmission system.

By Ethan Howland • March 18, 2026

Utilities weigh regional resource adequacy under new Western market

Kalia Savage, CAISO’s liaison to the energy imbalance market entities, warned the grid operator to “remain mindful of stakeholder bandwidth ... given the number of complex initiatives underway.”

By Diana DiGangi • March 18, 2026

13 DOE emergency orders have cost Americans $235M, Sierra Club says

The Energy Department's 90-day orders to keep six retiring fossil-fueled power plants online are adding millions to customer utility bills, according to the Sierra Club.

By Robert Walton • March 18, 2026

As data centers go off-grid, utilities face new cost and planning risks

Industry disclosures suggest that by the end of the decade, a meaningful share of new data center capacity could be partially or fully self-supplied, write Brandon Owens and Morgan Bazilian.

By Brandon Owens and Morgan Bazilian • March 17, 2026

Utilities have made $200B+ in profit since 2021, new report says

Investor-owned utilities criticized the Energy and Policy Institute report’s methodology, which shows utilities earning above the allowed returns on equity.

By Brian Martucci • March 17, 2026

FERC approves SPP merger of interconnection, transmission planning

“This proposal will get transmission built smarter and connect new generation faster,” said David Rosner, a member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

By Ethan Howland • March 17, 2026

Mass. governor orders state to pursue 15 GW of resources, including storage, VPPs

The executive order also calls for a review of existing gas and oil storage capacity and utilization, including how the Everett LNG import terminal helps meet the region’s energy needs.

By Robert Walton • March 17, 2026

PPL Electric reaches $275M rate case settlement, including data center tariff

Under the proposal, average residential customer bills would increase 4.9%. Data centers and other large loads would need to sign agreements of not less than 10 years with provisions intended to protect other customers.

By Ethan Howland • March 16, 2026

IOUs work to interconnect 39 GW of data center, manufacturing load: EEI

Duke Energy, Northern Indiana Public Service and Xcel Energy are among the utilities with major data center projects in their service territories, the Edison Electric Institute told federal regulators.

By Ethan Howland • March 13, 2026

DOE offers $1.9B for transmission reconductoring, advanced tech

The SPARK funding opportunity renames the Biden-era Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships program.

By Robert Walton • March 13, 2026

‘Clear warning signs’ as PJM wholesale power costs jump 54% in one year

Also, PJM’s last two base capacity auctions show a growing shortfall compared to its reserve margin targets, according to the grid operator’s market monitor. Prices will continue rising until large data center loads are addressed, it said.

By Ethan Howland • Updated March 14, 2026

PJM is now using ambient-adjusted transmission ratings. Other grid operators will soon follow.

While other grid operators are set to follow suit this year, the Midcontinent and New York grid operators don't plan to adopt the more precise line ratings until 2028.

By Ethan Howland • March 12, 2026

America’s power shortage is a market failure

Early buildout of the U.S. rail system was fragmented, with local projects often failing to connect regions. Grid developers today should pay heed, writes Maria Martinez of the Clean Economy Project.

By Maria Martinez • March 12, 2026

New York needs more time to meet climate goals, Gov. Hochul says

“We just need some breathing room,” said Gov. Kathy Hochul, noting high cost estimates for compliance with the 2030 goal. “My job is dealing in reality. This is the reality I have.”

By Diana DiGangi • March 12, 2026

Germany’s RWE plans nearly $20B US investment, including gas peakers

RWE had put U.S. investment decisions on hold, in part due to tariff uncertainty, but officials credit the One Big Beautiful Bill Act last year with jump-starting its plans to build fossil plants.

By Robert Walton • March 12, 2026