Wind energy industry struggles to find qualified workers: NREL

The wind industry is struggling to find experienced workers to fill open roles, while applicants report barriers to entry-level jobs that would provide that experience.

By Diana DiGangi • Dec. 1, 2022

Meta tops list of US corporate solar adopters with 3.6 GW, more than Amazon and Apple combined: SEIA

Companies in the U.S. have ratcheted up their adoption of solar, while more than 75 multinational companies have committed to work with 14 countries in what could represent more than $100 billion in clean energy investments.

By Diana DiGangi • Nov. 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

High electricity rates impede crucial but costly technology investments to manage rising DER levels: utilities

Utilities want distribution system technologies for more DER visibility and control. But advocates want a new national stakeholder dialogue about the timing of spending for DER integration.

By Herman K. Trabish • Nov. 29, 2022

DOE to test rapidly deployable, portable wind turbines for military use, disaster relief

Researchers will ship wind turbines in 20-foot containers to remote locations to see if they can provide “fast, reliable” and renewable power in emergency and military scenarios.

By Diana DiGangi • Nov. 28, 2022

DOE awards $100M for innovative floating wind, pumped storage and other emerging clean energy tech

Energy officials look to scale up and bring to market innovative energy technologies that would reduce costs for pumped storage and offshore wind farms.

By Diana DiGangi • Nov. 23, 2022

Tampa tries sidewalk solar panels as backup power for traffic lights

The Florida city started using solar sidewalks for backup power after 2017’s Hurricane Irma created lengthy power outages at intersections. It assessed the technology's performance this fall during Hurricane Ian.

By Maria Rachal • Nov. 22, 2022

California moves to accelerate fossil-free energy and vehicles to further cut climate gases and other pollution

An updated greenhouse gas reduction plan from the state’s Air Resources Board incorporates new clean energy laws and directives and includes the potential use of carbon capture to curb emissions at fossil-fueled power plants.

By Elizabeth McCarthy • Nov. 21, 2022

Second-life EV batteries can bolster the energy storage market — if major challenges can be overcome

With 80% of a battery’s capacity left at the end of its useful life in a vehicle and current constraints on supply chains for new batteries, repurposing electric vehicle batteries seems like a no-brainer. 

By Emily Goldfield • Nov. 21, 2022

New York OKs major transmission line for Eversource and Ørsted’s Sunrise offshore wind project

State regulators on Thursday also advanced four onshore wind farms, which, along with the Sunrise project, will provide New York with 1.48 GW of renewable energy.

By Diana DiGangi • Nov. 18, 2022

FERC orders reliability standards, registration requirements for wind, solar, storage to protect the grid

The agency is acting partly in response to reliability risks of inverter-based resources unexpectedly tripping offline.

By Ethan Howland • Nov. 18, 2022

Sunrun among 240+ companies pressing Commerce Department to reject Auxin solar tariff petition

The department’s preliminary determination, due Dec. 1, could destabilize the solar industry “with the ink barely dry on the historic IRA,” SEIA and the companies said Wednesday.

By Emma Penrod • Nov. 17, 2022

Cross-border power trade can help leaders at COP27 facilitate emissions reductions

Enhancing cross-border power trade can help achieve global greenhouse gas reduction goals by efficiently integrating low-cost renewable resources while improving electricity affordability and security.

By Jennifer Chen, Edmund Downie and Noah Kittner • Nov. 16, 2022

US can reach 100% clean power by 2035, DOE finds, but tough reliability and land use questions lie ahead

New aggressive planning is needed to identify the long-duration storage technologies and find the land to grow enough resources to reach the Biden administration’s net zero emissions goals, a DOE national lab reports.

By Herman K. Trabish • Nov. 15, 2022

The Inflation Reduction Act leaves low-income homeowners out of the clean energy transition. Or does it?

The IRA has a major flaw in one of its most popular provisions – the residential tax credit for solar and battery storage. Low-income homeowners often do not have a tax liability and cannot access this 30% tax credit.

By Shelley Robbins • Nov. 15, 2022

DOE offers nearly $350M for pilot projects advancing long-duration energy storage

Up to 11 demonstration projects would enable energy storage over long durations as more renewable sources become available.

By Stephen Singer • Nov. 15, 2022

US renewables, storage sectors set to avoid tougher building standards that industry said could kill projects

Solar Energy Industries Association-proposed code changes that are less stringent than those a FEMA advisory panel proposed for solar and storage projects won initial International Code Council approval.

By Ethan Howland • Nov. 14, 2022

The clock is ticking: Urgent steps New York must take to achieve its climate targets

New York needs to act now to improve climate resilience, electrify the transportation system, decarbonize the gas system, and identify equitable economy-wide solutions to cut carbon emissions.

By Mary Barber • Nov. 11, 2022

SMUD tests tool to accelerate rooftop solar interconnections

The Sacramento Municipal Utility District project “has worldwide potential,” according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and can “easily handle hundreds of applications daily.”

By Robert Walton • Nov. 10, 2022

As FERC’s transmission proposal sparks clashes, potential solutions emerge from MISO, elsewhere

Federal transmission planning reforms must decide who builds and where, who benefits and pays, who balances state and national interests, and who enforces the rules, stakeholders said.

By Herman K. Trabish • Nov. 7, 2022

Duke Energy greenlights sale of $4B commercial renewable energy unit amid ‘robust’ interest

Proceeds from the sale will help the company reduce debt and lower costs associated with decarbonization amid rising interest rates, CEO Lynn Good told investors on Friday.

By Emma Penrod • Nov. 7, 2022

DTE Electric proposes $9B spend on 5.4 GW renewables, 760 MW storage, coal-to-gas power plant switch

The Detroit-based utility aims to exit coal in 2035, with carbon capture and small nuclear reactors as replacement options.

By Ethan Howland • Nov. 4, 2022

Low-income households’ residential solar adoption is rising, but a stark income gap remains the U.S. norm

More residential solar adoption in middle- and lower-income states like Texas and Florida has helped close the national income gap, according to the report from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

By Emma Penrod • Nov. 3, 2022

Clean energy deployments tumble 22% in Q3 to 3-year low as delayed projects rise to 36 GW: report

However, while installations of solar and onshore wind capacity fell, battery storage installations grew significantly.

By Robert Walton • Nov. 3, 2022

As Memphis Light, Gas and Water weighs an exit, is TVA headed for a renewable energy sea change?

TVA could soon be facing a widespread defection of other local power companies, opening the field to an increasingly renewable future for its customers, the author writes.

By Gaby Sarri-Tobar • Nov. 3, 2022

AES Indiana says converting 1,052 MW of coal to gas will be $381M cheaper than renewables and storage

The utility’s resource plan includes little near-term solar and fails to take advantage of Inflation Reduction Act tax credits for “energy communities,” said Ben Inskeep, Citizens Action Coalition program director.

By Ethan Howland • Nov. 2, 2022