Making the case for billion-dollar investments in grid modernization by answering 3 key questions

Boston Consulting Group’s framework prioritizes the business case for grid mod investments to win stakeholder and regulator backing for billion-dollar spending.

By Herman K. Trabish • Jan. 6, 2020

Tax credit, net metering declines strike distributed solar, but falling costs, storage offer new hope

With tax credits and net metering threatened, previous withdrawals of financial support mechanisms show what the distributed solar industry may soon face.

By Herman K. Trabish • Dec. 19, 2019

Explore the Trendline➔

Top 5 Stories from Utility Dive

Power demand is rising amid dramatic shifts in federal energy policy, but technology and markets continue to push the grid toward cleaner, more distributed resources. 

By Utility Dive staff

First US long-duration liquid air storage project planned in Vermont

The technology faces the challenge of competing with lithium-ion batteries and establishing itself in the storage market.

By Kavya Balaraman • Dec. 18, 2019

House foregoes new tax credits for storage, offshore wind as it approves $1.4T spending bill

The Senate passed the spending bills on Thursday, which included a one-year tax credit extension for onshore wind, and incentives for geothermal, biodiesel and Native American-owned coal plants.

By Iulia Gheorghiu • Updated Dec. 20, 2019

California moves to boost storage to combat safety-driven power shutoffs

A proposed decision by the Public Utilities Commission would expand the state's Self-Generation Incentive Program to benefit customers in high fire-threat areas.

By Kavya Balaraman • Updated Jan. 16, 2020

Nevada regulators approve NV Energy plan for 1,190 MW solar, 590 MW storage

The utility received approval for three projects, including what it says will be one of the largest solar+storage facilities in the world.

By Robert Walton • Dec. 9, 2019

Project of the Year: Soleil Lofts solar+storage development

The virtual power plant outside of Salt Lake City underscores the role of utility involvement in emerging grid products.

By Robert Walton • Dec. 9, 2019

Executive of the Year: Mary Powell, Green Mountain Power

Powell is leaving her post at the end of the year, but created a new playbook for the investor-owned utility to continue to prioritize customer choice.

By Iulia Gheorghiu • Dec. 9, 2019

Disruptor of the Year: Sunrun

The solar and storage developer has been pioneering new business models to increase aggregation of distributed resources.

By Iulia Gheorghiu • Dec. 9, 2019

The Utility Dive Awards for 2019

The annual awards highlight the biggest trends in innovation in the electric utility sector: from penciling out electrification efforts to pioneering new revenue streams for distributed resources.

Dec. 9, 2019

Stalled storage revenue streams call for greater investment: CAISO

The California ISO partnered with European grid operators and found storage is more economic when performing multiple applications at once, such as providing ancillary services and selling power.

By Matthew Bandyk • Dec. 5, 2019

US storage market value to surge 737% by 2024, driven mostly by utility projects: Woodmac

While blackouts drive home storage sales, large-scale projects are expected to increasingly dominate U.S. energy storage, Wood Mackenzie reported in its latest Energy Storage Monitor.

By Matthew Bandyk • Dec. 4, 2019

Battery prices fall nearly 50% in 3 years, spurring more electrification: BNEF

Bloomberg New Energy Finance projects that battery prices will soon hit levels that were unthinkable a decade ago.

By Matthew Bandyk • Dec. 3, 2019

Nevada PUC floats proposal for 1,000 MW storage target by 2030

The proposal comes more than two years after the state legislature passed a bill requiring the commission to look into adopting storage targets.

By Kavya Balaraman • Dec. 3, 2019

Despite changes, commissioners see traditional utility system dominating over next decade: NARUC

U.S. utility commissioners agree that traditional fossil fuel generation will be an important aspect of grid reliability over the next decade, according to a NARUC survey.

By Iulia Gheorghiu • Nov. 26, 2019

How alternative storage solutions are breaking into the lithium-ion-dominated market

While lithium-ion batteries dominate as an energy storage option for supporting intermittent wind and solar, analysts are unsure about their ability to support large scale renewables growth.

By Tom Armistead • Nov. 26, 2019

Utility-scale storage critical to achieving Massachusetts carbon goals: UMass study

Building out storage infrastructure is expensive without policy incentives, researchers said.

By Kavya Balaraman • Nov. 20, 2019

House clean energy tax bill sees broad industry support, but Senate path uncertain

The draft legislative package, introduced Nov. 19, adds energy storage and offshore wind, while extending solar and electric vehicle tax credits.

By Iulia Gheorghiu • Nov. 20, 2019

Can concentrated solar power act as energy storage? DOE wants to know more

DOE wants to make CSP work as solar energy that is available "on demand" and can store energy in the form of heat, as opposed to PV solar which is intermittent and depends upon separate systems to store energy for later use.

By Matthew Bandyk • Nov. 19, 2019

Salt River Project to install Arizona's largest battery system, helping to replace giant coal plant

The utility plans to develop two solar+storage facilities, with one featuring a 1 GWh battery system, which will help replace the lost power from the closure of the coal-fired Navajo Generating Station.

By Robert Walton • Nov. 15, 2019

How does AI improve grid performance? No one fully understands and that's limiting its use

Machine learning's greatest impact will be helping algorithms understand "how the voltage here affects the voltage there," which will enable "optimizing grid operations like dispatching battery storage," one industry executive said.

By Herman K. Trabish • Nov. 14, 2019

New battery storage on shaky ground in ancillary service markets

New battery storage systems will quickly overwhelm relatively finite ancillary service demand in regulated and deregulated markets across North America.

By Derek Sackler • Nov. 14, 2019

In search for cheaper, longer energy storage, mountain gravity could eventually top lithium-ion

Using mountains for storage could be combined with hydropower and prove to be economically attractive for microgrids, islands and areas with high electricity costs, a new study finds.

By Matthew Bandyk • Nov. 12, 2019

California proposes extending 4.8 GW gas capacity as bridge to 3.3 GW of new clean energy by 2023

The state's newly authorized procurement aims to have renewables-plus-storage and standalone storage compete well against other resources, along with energy efficiency and demand response resources.

By Iulia Gheorghiu • Nov. 11, 2019

Renewables continue to get cheaper, just not as fast as before, Lazard analysis finds

The financial advisory firm released its latest levelized cost of energy report, showing the rate of cost declines for renewables is slowing as the industry matures.

By Robert Walton • Nov. 8, 2019