North Carolina approves Duke's renewable microgrid project in the Smoky Mountains

The solar and battery microgrid will power a remote communications tower in the national park currently served by an overhead transmission line.  

By Peter Maloney • April 10, 2017

How New York is incentivizing utilities to interconnect DERs under REV

Regulators want to reward utilities for better performance on key tasks like DER interconnection — the question is how.

By Herman K. Trabish • April 6, 2017

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

Battery, tech companies urge Congress to include storage in infrastructure plans

The Energy Storage Association joined more than 50 other companies and groups in signing the letter to lawmakers. 

By Peter Maloney • April 6, 2017

Michigan regulators plan EV conference after utility withdraws 800-charger plan

Consumers Energy, car companies and charging station developers will work together this summer to devise a charging plan that works for both the utility and the private market. 

By Robert Walton • April 6, 2017

Greensmith software updates AEP storage facility to sell frequency regulation

A 14 MWh battery previously only used for backup power was reconfigured to sell into PJM markets. 

By Peter Maloney • April 5, 2017

New NREL report provides missing metric for valuing solar+storage facilities

The report uses NREL's solar cost methodology to identify a single benchmark for paired resources.

By Peter Maloney • April 4, 2017

Tesla patent application outlines design to scale battery systems to 1 GWh

By isolating small blocks of cells, the company says it could build battery systems that use cells of different types, ages, voltages or chemistries.

By Peter Maloney • April 4, 2017

Primer: Technology, consumer sentiment push utilities to new business models

The move to a cleaner, more distributed energy system is pushing wholesale changes to how utilities make money and plan their power grids. 

By Robert Walton • April 3, 2017

The top 5 states for utility grid modernization and business model reform

From expansive sector redesigns to step-by-step DER dockets, states across the nation are rethinking the grid and how utilities make money off it. 

By Krysti Shallenberger • April 3, 2017

Pushed by REV, ConEd tests new utility business models in New York

The nation's largest city is the proving ground for a slate of REV pilot projects aimed at modernizing operations and diversifying revenue.

By Robert Walton • April 3, 2017

How Connecticut's nuclear bill could open a new front in the plant subsidy debate

A bill to support the Millstone plant would include nuclear facilities in renewable energy solicitations in an attempt to skirt legal challenges facing similar efforts in New York and Illinois. 

By Peter Maloney • April 3, 2017

Lyon Group plans to build the world's biggest solar+storage project in South Australia

The developer said the 330 MW solar storage facility will be paired with a 400 MWh battery system. 

By Peter Maloney • March 31, 2017

How California lawmakers plan to align renewable generation with power demand

Two new bills present distinct approaches to align wind and solar output with the state's electricity load.  

By Herman K. Trabish • March 30, 2017

Macquarie, CIT close project financing for AMS' 50 MW energy storage fleet

Macquarie bought the projects in August 2016 from Advanced Microgrid Solutions, which will serve as the projects’ asset manager.

By Peter Maloney • March 30, 2017

GTM: More than 21 states pack energy storage pipelines with over 20 MW

There are more than 10 GW of projects in the U.S.'s energy storage pipeline, according to GTM Research.

By Peter Maloney • March 29, 2017

Why utilities don't think Trump will stop the clean energy transition

The next generation utility business model will rely on a cleaner, more distributed energy system regardless of what happens in Washington, according to our new 2017 State of the Electric Utility Survey.

By Gavin Bade • March 28, 2017

Mercedes eyes North American market to get ahead of energy storage curve

The CEO of Mercedes' new North American energy storage unit lays out his strategy in an interview with Utility Dive. 

By Peter Maloney • March 28, 2017

CAISO notches record, serving 56.7% of demand with renewable energy in one day

Solar and wind power combined also hit a peak on the same day by serving 49.2% of demand.

By Peter Maloney • March 28, 2017

IHS: More global storage could save industry hundreds of billions of dollars

Increasing energy storage in the global electric grid could save hundreds of billions of dollars, according to a new report from IHS Markit.

By Peter Maloney • March 28, 2017

Old German coal mine will be converted into a hydro storage plant

The 200 MW hydro pumped storage project would store renewable energy by using wind and solar power to pump water into a storage reservoir that could be released when the wind isn’t blowing or the sun shining.

By Peter Maloney • March 27, 2017

German company to transform aluminium smelters into 'virtual battery'

The virtual battery would be able to provide 1.12 GWh of energy capacity.

By Peter Maloney • March 27, 2017

In search of a quorum: 3 potential FERC nominees bring deep business and energy backgrounds

The potential candidates for three open spots at FERC would restore a quorum and possibly align the agency more closely with big business interests. 

By Peter Maloney • March 27, 2017

'Million rate bases': TFC makes the case for a new IOU business model in Hawaii

A fledgling holding company wants utilities to connect their customers with distributed resources — and earn a rate of return for doing so.

By Gavin Bade • March 24, 2017

11 New York microgrid projects snap up $11M in state funds

Eleven projects advanced to the second stage of New York's microgrid competition to conduct more detailed engineering and business analysis. 

By Peter Maloney • March 24, 2017

Hawaii PUC chair lifts lid on NextEra rejection, ongoing DER dockets

Chairman Randy Iwase says he has "no regrets" over his decision to reject NextEra's proposed merger with Hawaiian Electric Co. 

By Gavin Bade • March 23, 2017