SCE turns to 400 MWh AES storage facility, facing summer reliability concerns

Southern California Edison entered into a 20-year power purchase agreement for the project in 2014.

By Kavya Balaraman • Feb. 18, 2021

SEPA/ESA report details multiple ways utilities can make battery storage financially viable

Some of the options, like creating various revenue streams from batteries, hinge on whether or not a state decides if they qualify as "generators," a report author said.

By Leslie Nemo • Feb. 16, 2021

Explore the Trendline➔

Virtual Power Plants

Virtual power plants and their ability to balance energy supply and demand are increasingly sought by utilities as electricity demand increases, but their lack of standardization remains a barrier.

By Utility Dive staff

Grid operators to request extension on FERC Order 2222 compliance, regulator cites 'short' timeline

"FERC, when issuing Order 2222, left many of the most difficult challenges to be dealt with by the RTOs in their stakeholder process," said Ted Thomas, chair of the Arkansas Public Service Commission.

By Catherine Morehouse • Feb. 10, 2021

DOE lab aims to answer the 'big questions' about storage and help dramatically increase deployment

A new National Renewable Energy Laboratory paper outlines four “phases of battery deployment and will be followed by four more studies examining other factors influencing future storage conditions.

By Leslie Nemo • Feb. 9, 2021

Building domestic supply chain for battery storage could be a priority for lawmakers, Senate aides say

"I’m not a betting woman, but I would bet that we would have at least a hearing — if not five or six — this Congress, very soon, on this topic," said an aide to Senate Energy Committee Chairman Joe Manchin.

By Kavya Balaraman • Feb. 5, 2021

Groups fear California blackout prevention plan could increase gas use, threaten climate goals

Regulators proposed three kinds of resources utilities could consider for additional capacity: energy storage, generation at risk of retirement, and efficiency upgrades as well as revised PPAs at current plants.

By Kavya Balaraman • Feb. 1, 2021

New York approves utility revenue sharing for battery storage systems

Although utility companies have to share revenue from battery systems with customers, ratepayers will only see money return once contracts with battery operators are satisfied.

By Leslie Nemo • Jan. 29, 2021

Want a more distributed and lower cost power system? Try this new planning tool

Vibrant Clean Energy offers system modeling to match today's granularity and breaks the barrier between bulk system and distribution system planning.

By Herman K. Trabish • Jan. 28, 2021

National Grid petitions NY PSC to approve small battery project's dispatch, wholesale market roles

If approved, the small system will let the company learn how much larger battery projects will cope with the New York Independent System Operator's requirements for both processes.

By Leslie Nemo • Jan. 26, 2021

California approves PG&E, SDG&E, SCE microgrid tariffs with eye to upcoming fire season

As battery storage capacity is added in California, developers are preparing to meet the summer peak demand through new projects, including microgrids.

By Iulia Gheorghiu • Jan. 19, 2021

Hawaii finalizes utility regulation considered potential template for US power system transformation

Stakeholders agree the state's final performance-based regulation order includes opportunities and safeguards that can lead to a new regulatory paradigm.

By Herman K. Trabish • Jan. 19, 2021

2021 Outlook: Greening natural gas while planning for service reliability

Natural gas remains essential to the U.S. energy grid despite deep decarbonization targets, experts say, as utilities and generators pilot lower emission projects, while also looking to energy storage and other options.

By Iulia Gheorghiu • Jan. 15, 2021

California releases final root cause analysis of August rolling blackouts

Renewables and storage advocates said the report shows California should invest more aggressively in long-term energy storage, to ensure power from intermittent resources, such as solar, can be available during peak hours.

By Catherine Morehouse • Jan. 15, 2021

Wind, solar to make up 70% of new US generating capacity in 2021 while batteries gain momentum: EIA

The U.S. is on track to set a new record for solar deployment this year, according to a federal report, while increased interest in solar-plus-storage projects will quadruple the nation's storage capacity.

By Emma Penrod • Jan. 13, 2021

2021 Outlook: 10 power sector trends to watch

A new administration under a new party is one of many signs that 2021 will look different for policymakers, regulators, utilities and other stakeholders, but the continuation of some older trends is expected as well.

By Catherine Morehouse • Jan. 13, 2021

Kauai Island Utility Cooperative, AES pursue nation's first solar-powered pumped hydro project

The pairing is unique in the energy sector, according to the utility, and will help it surpass 80% renewables.

By Robert Walton • Jan. 12, 2021

2021 Outlook: The DER boom continues, driving a ‘reimagining’ of the distribution system

The rise of distributed resources will require a renewed distribution system that gives utilities more visibility of what's going on at the customer level to cut costs and protect reliability. 

By Herman K. Trabish • Jan. 12, 2021

Two barriers to utility and customer savings with flexible loads and how regulators can help

Utilities, regulators and load flexibility authorities say better distribution system control technologies and compensation are needed to increase the use of flexible customer-sited resources.

By Herman K. Trabish • Jan. 6, 2021

Top Utility Trends of 2020

Amid significant disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the power sector's transition to a cleaner, more distributed future continues.

By Larry Pearl • Jan. 5, 2021

The search for the next net metering policy takes center stage in California

California’s utilities and solar advocates agree a forward-looking successor tariff must use the state’s nation-leading rooftop solar penetration to address its increasingly dynamic system needs with storage.

By Herman K. Trabish • Dec. 23, 2020

APS's plan for closing coal plants could be a gamechanger, analysts say, but who will pay?

The company's current rate case includes $144.45 million for communities impacted by its proposed coal closures, the biggest-ever such U.S. utility commitment, but customers would pay over 80% of the plan.

By Herman K. Trabish • Dec. 18, 2020

LevelTen Energy eyes C&I sector interest in contracting energy storage resources

Following the facilitation of a deal to power 550 Starbucks stores in California through virtual solar and energy storage agreements, the company began offering a new storage contract to reduce risk in larger project investments.

By Iulia Gheorghiu • Dec. 17, 2020

Pacific Northwest poised to test 100% renewables as utilities weigh gas vs. storage

The Northwest has perhaps the best starting point of any region in the country to go to 100% renewable energy, but a delicate balance between the costs of storage and the costs of natural gas may determine the feasibility of that goal.

By Matthew Bandyk • Dec. 17, 2020

CAISO adopts summer reliability measures to avoid repeat of 2020 blackouts

The market and operational steps, if approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, will remain in effect until May 31, 2022.

By Kavya Balaraman • Updated April 23, 2021

The Utility Dive Awards for 2020

The winners exemplified leadership in a time of crisis by working toward economic means of transitioning the power sector.

By Utility Dive Team • Dec. 9, 2020