Xcel's record-low-price procurement highlights benefits of all-source competitive solicitations

The utility's Colorado division showed how competitive bidding benefits customers if regulators protect the quality of the process.

By Herman K. Trabish • June 1, 2021

Arizona regulators revive energy rules package, propose 100% clean energy by 2070

Regulators kept intact proposed standards for energy efficiency, storage, and all-source procurement, while setting a longer schedule to transition the electric sector.

By Iulia Gheorghiu • May 28, 2021

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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

Senate Finance Committee advances energy tax credit overhaul bill amid partisan deadlock

A committee vote on the Clean Energy for America Act, a bill to create resource-agnostic tax credits based on carbon reductions, ended in a 14-14 tie along party lines on Wednesday.

By Emma Penrod • May 27, 2021

Biden administration opens up California coast for 4.6 GW of offshore wind development

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management found no significant impact in its environmental assessment for an area that could be leased to develop 1.6 GW of offshore wind off the coast of Northern California.

By Iulia Gheorghiu • Updated May 6, 2022

PNM seeks 700 MW to support reliability, facing delays with planned solar-plus-storage project

The New Mexico utility issued two new RFPs on Monday, including one to replace the already-approved Rockmont solar-plus-storage project, which will not be completed on schedule.

By Emma Penrod • May 26, 2021

ClearGen, GreenStruxure announce $500M partnership on renewable microgrids

The microgrids serve industrial facilities, schools, hotels and other commercial facilities with a no-money-down offer, making on-site generation and storage a possibility for more businesses.

By Jason Plautz • May 25, 2021

National Grid, RWE join scramble to develop wind projects off New York, New Jersey coasts

National Grid Ventures, the non-regulated part of the utility, and the German energy giant are the latest bidders to build offshore wind projects in the new area opened for development by the Biden administration.

By Scott Van Voorhis • May 21, 2021

South Carolina to implement net metering settlement with time-of-use pricing

The new time-variable tariff, developed in collaboration with Duke Energy, solar industry representatives and environmental NGOs, is expected to more closely align utility costs with customer incentives.

By Emma Penrod • May 21, 2021

Where should batteries be put to manage wind and solar power?

Lawrence Berkeley National Lab researchers found that batteries sited separately from renewables, in a nearby high-value location, added greater value to a project than tandem siting, particularly in constrained areas.

By Will Gorman • May 19, 2021

Google, Microsoft, other companies pursue new certification to back 24/7 clean energy claims

Corporate consumers seek real-time information about their hourly energy use, and as decarbonization goals become more ambitious, EnergyTag is creating hourly certifications for clean energy.

By Iulia Gheorghiu • May 19, 2021

California coalition aims to make hydrogen power cost-competitive by 2030

A team of international partners plans to establish North America's first hydrogen hub in Los Angeles, hoping to achieve the scale necessary for the renewable fuel to compete against conventional energy sources.

By Emma Penrod • May 17, 2021

Bipartisan Maine lawmakers push to create first statewide, publicly owned utility in US

Proponents say a key goal of creating such a publicly owned utility would be to make Maine the first state to reach its goal of 100% renewable energy.

By Scott Van Voorhis • Updated June 18, 2021

'A terrible idea': Texas legislators fight over renewables' role in power crisis, aiming to avert a repeat

Texans may face future freezes if lawmakers blame renewables and fail to set winterization standards and create market-based reliability protections, analysts say.

By Herman K. Trabish • May 17, 2021

With solar sale, PSEG doubles down on offshore wind and nuclear

The sale of the fossil fuel plants, along with its solar facilities, is part of PSEG's larger plan to exit the business of operating merchant plants.

By Scott Van Voorhis • May 14, 2021

Generation and transformation: Bringing cooperative G&Ts into the clean energy future

Sierra Club proposes to ease the clean energy transition for cooperatives and coal communities by injecting $12.5 billion of federal money into rural economies, with another $2.5 billion for plant and coal mine communities.

By Jeremy Fisher • May 13, 2021

Vineyard 800 MW offshore wind farm first US utility-scale facility to get federal construction approval

A federal agency cleared Vineyard Wind to install up to 84 wind turbines 15 miles off the coast of Martha's Vineyard in a move the Interior Department says will open the door to 80,000 clean energy jobs in the country.

By Emma Penrod • May 12, 2021

Duke 'optimistic' on seeing broad North Carolina energy bill in 2021 amid Democratic, NGO exclusions

The utility's optimism is based on months of closed-door stakeholder negotiations with Republican leadership, industry groups and others, but ratepayer advocates and environmentalists have been excluded.

By Catherine Morehouse • May 11, 2021

Arizona regulators toss 3-year effort for 100% clean energy mandate

A proposal to create an energy storage target, a 100% clean energy by 2050 mandate and a slew of other decarbonization priorities was rejected 3-2 by the Arizona Corporation Commission, despite support from utilities and others.

By Iulia Gheorghiu • May 7, 2021

NYISO head eyes new technologies to reach zero emissions, saying renewables and storage not enough

The New York ISO is on track to distribute 70% renewable energy by 2030, its CEO says, but eliminating carbon emissions and replacing natural gas by 2040 will require the use of emerging technologies.

By Emma Penrod • May 6, 2021

SoCalGas to test new electrolysis technology said to significantly cut green hydrogen costs

Southern California Gas has agreed to finance a demonstration of new electrolysis technology out of Caltech in hope that a new catalyst design will dramatically cut hydrogen production costs.

By Emma Penrod • May 6, 2021

Exelon CEO: Replacing nuclear with renewables, storage to meet carbon goals could cost Illinois $80B

The company plans to shut down its Byron and Dresden nuclear plants in Illinois later this year and sees a state solution to avert the closures as more likely in the near term than a federal solution.

By Larry Pearl • May 6, 2021

States want federal cash, not rules, to propel clean energy, Colorado, other officials say

Four Western state officials say the Biden administration's infrastructure plan can offer much-needed funds for the energy transition. 

By Jason Plautz • May 5, 2021

HECO chafes at Hawaii PUC's conditions on new battery project, saying they could deter deployment

"[T]he order imposes such unprecedented conditions that the company and the developer may be prevented from moving forward with this innovative and cost-effective project,” a Hawaiian Electric spokesperson said. 

By Kavya Balaraman • May 5, 2021

WEC Energy Group expands carbon reduction goals, targeting net zero by 2050

The Wisconsin-based regional utility will spend more than $4 billion through 2025 on new solar, wind, battery storage and other clean energy projects.

By Scott Van Voorhis • May 4, 2021

Google to power Virginia data centers with 24/7 clean energy from AES

The partnership "lays a blueprint for other companies to decarbonize their own operations," Google said.

By Iulia Gheorghiu • May 4, 2021