Transmission & Distribution


  • Rows of electric power lines run through a wooded area.
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    Alexander Farnsworth via Getty Images
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    Northeast states to seek transmission proposals between PJM, ISO-NE, New York

    “There are likely low-hanging fruit, no-regrets interregional transmission projects that current transmission planning approaches are failing to identify,” Katie Dykes, a Connecticut official, said.

    By April 30, 2025
  • Power lines in the Florida Everglades.
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    TexPhoto via Getty Images
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    Opinion

    Transmission at a crossroads: Policy must reflect today’s infrastructure needs

    State and federal “rights-of-first-refusal” would re-establish certainty by relying on local transmission owners to promptly move ahead with needed power line projects.

    By Devin McMackin • April 29, 2025
  • Utility maintenance trucks drive past downed power lines on their way to make repairs August 15, 2004 in Punta Gorda, Florida. Explore the Trendline
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    Mario Tama / Staff via Getty Images
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    Trendline

    Grid Resiliency

    Utilities and grid operators are facing increasing threats from climate change as well as cyber and physical attacks, and are deploying a variety of responses to meet the rising challenges.

    By Utility Dive staff
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    Peach_iStock via Getty Images
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    Deep Dive

    EPRI’s Open Power AI Consortium plans to fuel grid modernization with data sharing

    Utilities, tech companies and regulators are facing a conundrum: Utilities want to use AI, but AI needs access to unavailable utility data to be effective.

    By Updated 23 hours ago
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    Courtesy of Google
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    Smaller, public utilities see growth potential in data centers, but there are risks: APPA

    Utility leaders can take steps to attract potentially lucrative large loads while mitigating risks for existing customers, the American Public Power Association says.

    By Brian Martucci • April 24, 2025
  • An aerial photo of a coal-fired power station in the Midwest.
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    Kent Raney via Getty Images
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    Clean energy groups urge FERC to reject MISO interconnection plan for replacing retiring power plants

    However, Alliant Energy, other utilities and state utility regulators support the proposal to create a new pathway for connecting replacement generation to the grid.

    By April 21, 2025
  • Aerial View of Coal-Fired Power Station in Winter.
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    AerialPerspective Works via Getty Images
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    Cold-weather grid performance improves, plus 4 other FERC open meeting takeaways

    Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Mark Christie defended the PJM Interconnection amid an uproar over its capacity market.

    By April 18, 2025
  • Steam rises from a power plant with construction equipment in the foreground.
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    Gerville via Getty Images
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    Opinion

    The US is facing unprecedented load growth. Here’s how we ensure resource adequacy.

    Adding sufficient resources fast enough to reliably meet the growth will require an array of demand- and supply-side resources as well as stronger transmission interconnection planning.

    By Samuel Newell • April 17, 2025
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    Anna Moneymaker via Getty Images
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    Trump administration ordered to resume IRA funding

    The decision, which stated federal agencies lacked authority to pause funding, follows the president’s executive order to freeze the money on his first day in office. 

    By Kate Magill • April 17, 2025
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    JPDworld via Getty Images
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    NERC proposes cold weather reliability standard

    Quickly addressing generator freezing issues “will help ensure that the grid is better equipped to withstand and recover from extreme cold weather,” the North American Electric Reliability Corp. said.

    By April 14, 2025
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    Gerville via Getty Images
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    Opinion

    The AI infrastructure race hits a political reality check

    The AI-driven data center boom has created demand for land, electricity and water, a dynamic that has spawned growing opposition from communities, utility grid operators and regulators.

    By Joe Brettell and Jeff Berkowitz • April 10, 2025
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    Permission granted by Esme Howland
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    Trump directs FERC, other agencies to add 5-year sunsets to energy-related regulations

    The executive order is “impossible to implement [and] blatantly illegal,” according to Harvard Law School’s Ari Peskoe.

    By April 10, 2025
  • Electric power lines run next to a highway.
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    The image by versageek is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
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    FERC urged to reject proposed ROE, incentives for $3B Valley Link transmission project

    Transource Energy, Dominion Energy and FirstEnergy contend the incentives are needed to reduce the project’s risks.

    By April 7, 2025
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    Courtesy of GE Vernova
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    US electricity demand will grow 50% by 2050, electrical manufacturer study finds

    Data centers and transportation electrification will drive U.S. electricity demand about 2% higher each year for the next quarter century, according to a new analysis completed for the National Electrical Manufacturers Association.

    By April 7, 2025
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    3alexd via Getty Images
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    Sponsored by ChargeScape

    ChargeScape and the future of energy management

    ChargeScape is an automotive joint venture providing EV-grid integration software to power utilities.

    April 7, 2025
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    Blackbeck via Getty Images
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    Opinion

    How FERC is working to boost power supplies while managing the price tag

    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has focused on reforms to transmission planning and grid interconnection rules while approving market expansions.

    By Amy Akers • April 4, 2025
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    milehightraveler via Getty Images
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    SPP to rely on demand response to help bridge shrinking power supplies: CEO Nickell

    “Excess generating capacity is dwindling, and it's dwindling to a point where it's becoming dangerous,” the Southwest Power Pool’s Lanny Nickell said Thursday.

    By April 4, 2025
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    halbergman via Getty Images
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    DOE offers 16 locations for possible data center, energy infrastructure development

    The federal government is seeking input on data center “power needs, timelines, and approaches to co-locating energy sources with data centers or sources for surplus interconnection capacity.”

    By April 4, 2025
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    NanoStockk via Getty Images
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    Opinion

    A market-based path to unlocking interconnection queues

    When a scarce resource like grid access is given away administratively rather than allocated based on economic value, the result is always the same: inefficiency, congestion and delays.

    By Terry Harvill and August Ankum • April 2, 2025
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    David Crane via Getty Images
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    PacifiCorp aims to add 4.7 GW renewables, 1.7 GW storage by 2031

    Given changing federal policies, the utility company may keep several coal-fired units operating longer than expected, according to its latest resource plan.

    By April 2, 2025
  • Aerial shot of New England countryside on an overcast day in fall.
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    halbergman via Getty Images
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    ISO New England issues transmission RFP to access new wind resources

    The grid operator wants to upgrade the transmission system between northern Maine, where wind generation is expected to be built, and demand centers in southern New England.

    By April 1, 2025
  • Electrician worker and electricity power lines over sunset sky.
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    imagedepotpro via Getty Images
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    Opinion

    We asked 100 utility program leaders for their top challenges and opportunities. Here’s what they said.

    Grid modernization, growing demand and artificial intelligence are among the top issues facing electric utility leaders, according to an ICF survey.

    By Justin Mackovyak • March 31, 2025
  • An aerial view of cloud data center facilities under construction in Northern Virginia.
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    Gerville via Getty Images
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    White paper points to carbon capture as possible data center solution

    Pairing carbon capture with natural gas-fired generation could prove cost-competitive with other baseload options, like nuclear and battery storage, according to a Carbon Direct white paper.

    By Emma Penrod • March 31, 2025
  • Rear aerial view of of a data center being constructed in Ashburn, VA
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    Gerville via Getty Images
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    Utilities should develop data center tariffs to protect consumers, decarbonize: SWEEP

    Rising data center electricity demands threaten utility decarbonization efforts, potentially requiring fossil fuel generation and pulling renewables away from other electrification efforts, per a Southwest Energy Efficiency Project report.

    By March 28, 2025
  • A forest fire burns under a high voltage transmission line in California.
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    My Photo Buddy via Getty Images
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    Moody’s upgrades PG&E on reduced credit risks from wildfires

    “In the backdrop of the recent LA wildfires, we expect any legislative and regulatory actions resulting from the state's continued wildfire risk will remain supportive for utilities,” Moody's said.

    By March 28, 2025
  • Schneider Electric, data centers, microgrid
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    Courtesy of Schneider Electric
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    Schneider Electric to invest $700M in US manufacturing

    The investment will help expand production of electric grid equipment and research into microgrids and AI-driven automation.

    By Kate Magill • March 27, 2025