Utilities' failure to plan for DER surge promises missed opportunities, increased costs, analysts say

Utilities can use skyrocketing customer-owned DER to balance rising penetrations of variable renewables on their systems, if they take on the big work of distribution system planning.

By Herman K. Trabish • Oct. 24, 2019

Inefficient coal plant scheduling cost ratepayers $3.5B from 2015 to 2017, report says

Coal-powered generation would have dropped 10% across the Midcontinent Independent System Operator region if utilities were dispatching their units based on market signals rather than self-scheduling, according to a Sierra Club report.

By Catherine Morehouse • Oct. 23, 2019

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

Unpaid debts and lost grants: Co-ops struggle with 2017 tax law as Congress moves to address impacts

The "unintended consequences" from the 2017 tax law have become the "biggest policy priority" for rural electric cooperatives trying to maintain their nonprofit status.

By Iulia Gheorghiu • Oct. 23, 2019

New York climate law to drive $115B in utility-scale resource investment by 2040, report finds

As the state transitions from gas-dominated generation, solar and wind would make up 39% of New York’s energy capacity by 2030, and 83% by 2040, according to Energy Ventures Analysis. 

By Lynn Freehill-Maye • Oct. 23, 2019

DTE, Consumers Energy push back on Michigan legislators' plan to rewrite 2016 energy law

The 2016 statute "created needless challenges and roadblocks for the solar industry," according to one lawmaker, but Consumers says newly proposed legislation would unfairly create subsidies for private solar ownership.

By Robert Walton • Oct. 23, 2019

A formula to fail? Separating fact from fiction in DTE's latest IRP

A singular focus on environmental issues for utility resource plans, without concern for the impact on affordability and reliability, is a recipe for failure, a former Michigan public service commissioner writes.

By Steven Transeth • Oct. 21, 2019

EV charging promises a demand response bonanza for utilities, if they can handle it

Aggregated flexible load of high EV penetrations will be lucrative in demand response markets, but for now smaller EV demand gives utilities management practice.

By Herman K. Trabish • Oct. 18, 2019

Energy Secretary Perry announces resignation after previous denials

Trump nominated Deputy Secretary Dan Brouillette as DOE Secretary following Perry's departure, expected "later this year."

By Catherine Morehouse • Updated Nov. 8, 2019

FERC OKs PJM, SPP storage plans, sets separate proceedings for minimum run-time requirements

PJM must implement Order 841 by Dec. 3 while SPP has nine months, although FERC opened separate dockets with the grid operators relating to their storage duration requirements.

By Iulia Gheorghiu • Oct. 18, 2019

Despite 'political tug-of-war,' the US 'still needs fossil fuels': DOE General Counsel

"Fossil fuels are not some kind of snake oil being sold by somebody who doesn't believe in it, to a public who doesn't want it," DOE head lawyer Bill Cooper told an audience of energy lawyers in Washington, D.C.

By Catherine Morehouse • Oct. 17, 2019

Regulators grant first federal permits for offshore wind to Dominion, Ørsted pilot

The 12 MW demo has "essentially" all the permits needed to build, and developers can double down on a lot of the stakeholder research and surveying efforts to propose plans for a 2,600 MW commercial project.

By Iulia Gheorghiu • Oct. 16, 2019

Electric revolution: As EV demand increases, can utilities and cities keep up?

Utilities are increasingly helping cities prepare for transportation electrification, while confronting increased power generation and delivery needs — often to areas already experiencing high demand.

By Robert Walton • Oct. 16, 2019

US wind, solar finance alternatives rise as sector rushes against looming tax credit expiration

Resources are being rapidly deployed ahead of the post-2020 phase-out, but political uncertainty makes turmoil unavoidable.

By Herman K. Trabish • Oct. 15, 2019

Clean Peaks & Polar Vortexes: Aligning climate and reliability goals in an extreme weather world

If states do not align digitization, decentralization and decarbonization policies with a fourth dimension of diversification, industry may need to take unprecedented action, the authors write.

By Brian Evans-Mongeon, Dan Kopin and Lon Huber • Oct. 14, 2019

2019 credit balance refund report, part 1: The benefits of a refund done right

Can the refund experience really set service providers apart from the crowd in sectors that have undergone deregulation?

Oct. 14, 2019

Mayors announce Global Green New Deal at C40 Summit

A coalition of 94 mayors showed support of the deal, intended to encourage emissions reduction in the transportation, buildings, industry and waste sectors.

By Cailin Crowe • Oct. 10, 2019

California, New England will miss 2050 carbon targets at current pace, reports find

California won't hit its emission reduction goals until 2157, while New England renewable additions will need to at least quadruple  from current plans.

By Catherine Morehouse • Oct. 10, 2019

PJM presses FERC to act by Nov. 3 on Order 841 filing detailing market participation for energy storage

The notice said the grid operator and its stakeholders need at least one month's notice to go live with a storage market participation model.

By Iulia Gheorghiu • Oct. 9, 2019

NIPSCO to replace coal with 2.3 GW of solar, storage in latest RFP

The investor-owned utility is leading a rapid transition away from its aging coal assets through bids for more economic resources.

By Iulia Gheorghiu • Oct. 9, 2019

As CCAs take over utility customers, local renewable generation emerges as the next big growth driver

The demand for customer choice has the potential to quicken the power system's transition toward cheaper, cleaner electricity, and is moving beyond California.

By Herman K. Trabish • Oct. 8, 2019

Supreme Court to take on Atlantic Coast Pipeline appeal

The Trump administration disputed a lower court's ruling to reject a Forest Service permit for the pipeline, and the appeal could have implications for other pipelines crossing the federally-protected Appalachian Trail.

By Iulia Gheorghiu • Oct. 7, 2019

Carbon price could allay 'astounding' cost to attain New York's zero carbon target: Report

The state's power grid operator concluded that a price on carbon in wholesale markets could lower the cost to implement the state's electric sector goal for zero emissions by 2040 by $850 million.

By Robert Walton • Oct. 4, 2019

Coal-heavy Pennsylvania to join Northeast's carbon cap and trade program

Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf committed the state to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. Pennsylvania had the fourth largest CO2 emissions in the power sector in 2016.

By Catherine Morehouse • Oct. 4, 2019

As EPA preps coal ash rollback, study finds heightened risks of water, soil contamination

Industry and environmental groups have been anticipating changes to the federal rule, but a Duke University study presented to the EPA suggests health risks of the toxins may be greater than previously thought.

By Catherine Morehouse • Oct. 3, 2019

Trump bucks bipartisan tradition with plan to nominate Republican FERC commissioner

The administration is avoiding the pattern of nominating a pair of Republican and Democratic nominees when two seats are open on the commission, despite having a pre-cleared Democratic candidate.

By Iulia Gheorghiu • Oct. 2, 2019