How grid-enhancing technologies are shaping New York’s planning and protecting ratepayers

New technologies and planning approaches can help speed the energy transition while ensuring power system reliability and affordability.

By Schuyler Matteson • Aug. 22, 2025

Black Hills, Northwestern agree to merge, with eye on serving data centers

Data center development — and their need for major power infrastructure — may drive further consolidation among utilities, according to Jefferies analysts.

By Ethan Howland • Aug. 21, 2025

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

Win-wins are key to securing interregional transmission buy-in: experts

Projects like CapX2020 have found success because there was “something in it for each one of the utilities ... they all saw somewhat of a common vision,” said Beth Soholt, executive director of the Clean Grid Alliance.

By Diana DiGangi • Aug. 20, 2025

FERC paved the way for smart grid solutions. States must take the next step.

Grid planners can quickly squeeze more out of existing assets using grid-enhancing technology. State regulators should evaluate these options for local upgrades and longer-term regional planning.

By Rich Glick and Neil Chatterjee • Aug. 15, 2025

White House names Democrat Rosner to lead FERC

Agency observers expect the White House will replace Rosner once two pending Republican FERC nominees — Laura Swett and David LaCerte — are seated at the commission.

By Ethan Howland • Aug. 14, 2025

New Jersey delays JCP&L offshore wind transmission project by 30 months

The Trump administration has moved to slow or halt the development of renewables, including New Jersey's first offshore wind project, the 1.5-GW Atlantic Shores 1.

By Robert Walton • Aug. 14, 2025

ISO-NE should make its governance transparent, accessible and accountable

With a leadership change coming in January, ISO New England has a chance to launch a new era of governance that engages with the communities it serves.

By Mireille Bejjani and Steven Botkin • Aug. 13, 2025

Multidirectional flows of power and information are the grid’s future

In the frenzy to meet rising energy demand, utilities and others often overlook the value of power system innovations, industry participants say.

By Herman K. Trabish • Aug. 12, 2025

Allete sale would help fund clean energy investment for Minnesota

The proposed sale would inject a massive infusion of private capital into Minnesota Power, capital guided by a long-term perspective rather than short-term market pressures.

By Jigar Shah • Aug. 12, 2025

PJM launches fast-track push to set rules for adding data centers

Amid surging data center development, PJM stakeholders will explore options for adding large loads to the grid without threatening reliability. PJM aims to file a proposal at FERC by the end of the year.

By Ethan Howland • Aug. 12, 2025

3 Arizona utilities set peak demand records

After years of stagnant demand growth, rising electricity consumption is showing up on the U.S. power grid.

By Robert Walton • Aug. 12, 2025

Oncor has 200 GW of interconnection requests, company officials say

About 20% of the potential demand has signed contracts or is considered “high-confidence load,” CEO Allen Nye said.

By Emma Penrod • Aug. 11, 2025

FERC’s Christie steps down, leaving agency with three members

The White House plans to name Commissioner David Rosner, a Democrat, as interim chairman, according to reports. One former FERC official speculated that the administration wants a majority that will support colocating data centers at power plants.

By Ethan Howland • Aug. 11, 2025

We at PJM need realistic solutions, not politics, to take on energy challenges

Some public narratives have presented an inaccurate picture of the PJM Interconnection’s role in cost-effectively keeping the lights on. Here are the facts.

By Aftab Khan • Aug. 6, 2025

An FAA rule will revolutionize energy infrastructure inspections. It just got a big boost.

A new executive order accelerates the timeline for beyond visual line of sight regulations for commercial drone operations, which will give utilities improved inspection capabilities.

By Ulrich Amberg • Aug. 5, 2025

Independent power producers hit back at utility critics over PJM price surge

“I'm still hard-pressed to find an example where a vertically-integrated utility has delivered a new generating project on time and under budget and had any accountability in the way that wholesale power generators do,” said the Electric Power Supply Association’s CEO.

By Ethan Howland • Aug. 5, 2025

Designing transmission lines with construction safety in mind

Proactive integration of construction in transmission line design boosts safety and site efficiency.

By Jess Kurpius & Zach O'Toole • Aug. 4, 2025

AEP expects to add 24 GW of load by 2030, mainly from data centers

More than half of the pending load is in Texas, where AEP Texas is set to interconnect 5 GW of cryptocurrency operations, per William Fehrman, AEP president and CEO.

By Ethan Howland • Aug. 1, 2025

Xcel Energy ‘prepared to go to trial’ to fight Marshall Fire liability

The company contends that it did not start the late 2021 Colorado blaze, which caused an estimated $2 billion in damages.

By Emma Penrod • Aug. 1, 2025

PPL Electric ‘advanced-stage’ data center pipeline grows 32%, to 14 GW

PPL supports legislation in Pennsylvania that would allow utilities to own power plants, CEO Vince Sorgi said.

By Ethan Howland • Aug. 1, 2025

5 utility commissions ask FERC to undo MISO’s $22B multi-value transmission portfolio

The Midcontinent Independent System Operator overstated the benefits of transmission projects approved in December, according to a complaint at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

By Ethan Howland • July 31, 2025

Data center flexibility can save money but may come with higher emissions: MIT

In Texas, where renewable energy is booming, data center emissions fell by up to 40% in the MIT modeling of flexible data center workloads. In other regions, however, emissions rose.

By Robert Walton • July 30, 2025

Want abundant energy? Ask who benefits from scarcity.

Achieving energy abundance requires reforming electricity markets, refreshing electric utility regulation and rethinking the way we pay for grid infrastructure.

By Arjun Krishnaswami • July 30, 2025

Trump’s AI action plan calls for dispatchable resources and grid upgrades

The plan is in line with previous actions by the Trump administration to delay the shuttering of coal plants, but it also acknowledges the need for enhanced efficiency and transmission.   

By Meris Lutz • July 28, 2025

FERC orders changes to PJM’s grid interconnection process, plus 3 other open meeting takeaways

Required changes include cost allocation for network upgrades, consideration of grid-enhancing technologies and energy storage modeling.

By Ethan Howland • July 25, 2025