Transmission & Distribution: Page 2

As California's solar net metering battle goes to regulators, a focus on reliability may be the best answer

The reliability value of solar plus storage in ensuring resource adequacy might be the key to solar's future, according to Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies Executive Director V. John White.

By Herman K. Trabish • Oct. 01, 2021

PSEG plans $900M in upgrades to 'last-mile' reliability, EV infrastructure

The work-from-home shift in society and an expected transition to electric transportation has added almost a billion dollars to PSEG's capital spending plan for 2021-2025.

By Scott Van Voorhis • Sept. 28, 2021

Explore the 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, with some adjustments in the age of COVID-19.

By Utility Dive staff

State, federal actions show growing push for a nuclear role in reaching net zero emissions

Former critics of nuclear power agree, financial support may be justified for firm power options to tackle climate change and get over the net zero emissions finish line.

By Herman K. Trabish • Sept. 28, 2021

PPL makes 'small' investment to gain insight into 'innovative' $2.5B SOO Green transmission project

The 350-mile proposed line would connect the MISO and PJM grids, bringing wind power from Iowa to Illinois. PPL has bought in for an undisclosed amount, looking to study new ways of developing transmission.

By Robert Walton • Sept. 27, 2021

Landmark infrastructure spending must address climate change crisis to prevent further damage

Local policymakers and project developers must be educated on the global nature of the climate challenge and will increasingly require the right tools to guide project selection and development, the authors write.

By Tim Lieuwen, Adam Cohen and Rich Simmons • Sept. 27, 2021

FERC Chair Glick wants mandatory winterization standards for power plants following Texas grid failure

Chairman Richard Glick said FERC would not permit the weakening of the recent recommendations, which one expert said could lead to $1 million per-day penalties for power plants that fail to prepare for climate change.

By Robert Walton • Sept. 24, 2021

AEP has most to gain among US utilities from transmission reforms, incentives: Morgan Stanley

A handful of utilities stand to benefit from a suite of policies and investments the federal government is considering, according to a Sept. 21 research note.

By Robert Walton • UPDATED: Sept. 24, 2021 at 9:26 a.m.

New Orleans City Council votes to investigate Entergy's Ida-related failures

City leaders have also asked state regulators and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to investigate the company, with a particular focus on transmission failures.

By Robert Walton • UPDATED: Sept. 24, 2021 at 9:27 a.m.

US can meet Paris climate commitments but will need to rely heavily on electric utilities: report

A new analysis outlines approaches for the United States to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 52% below 2005 levels by 2030. Meeting that target depends on the power sector contributing more than half the total reductions.

By Robert Walton • Sept. 21, 2021

Advancing the energy transition requires an honest discussion of costs, outages and land, analysts say

Customers will tolerate the power system transformation's problems and challenges if they understand stakeholders will be "careful about the transition," one analyst said.

By Herman K. Trabish • Sept. 20, 2021

Operations management – an oxymoron?

Learn how you can use GIS to add structure to your operational processes to help make chaotic events more manageable.

By Bill Meehan • Sept. 20, 2021

New Orleans council chief calls for investigation into Entergy's Hurricane Ida response

Councilmember Helena Moreno plans to introduce a resolution calling for an investigation into Entergy’s storm response and related issues at the City Council’s Sept. 22 meeting.

By Scott Van Voorhis • Sept. 17, 2021

New York authorizes National Grid to serve retail, bid into wholesale market with upstate battery project

A utility-owned 3 MWh battery will bid into the New York ISO wholesale market as well as serve retail customers to demonstrate storage's role and potential.

By Jason Plautz • Sept. 17, 2021

'We're obviously in the middle of a dramatic transformation,' FERC's Glick says amid market reform talks

A series of technical conferences is examining how the changing electricity resource mix requires wholesale market operators to reconsider the products and services being offered, and how they are valued.

By Robert Walton • Sept. 16, 2021

Landmark Illinois climate bill resolves standoff over Exelon nuclear plants

The legislation also provides a road map for sunsetting the state’s coal-fired plants while setting a target of 40% renewable power for the state’s power sector by 2030.

By Scott Van Voorhis • Sept. 15, 2021

House committee to vote on expanded EV and clean energy tax credits, including storage, hydrogen

The funding plan for Democrats' $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation would extend clean energy tax credits and create new incentives for domestic production and union labor.  

By Jason Plautz • Sept. 14, 2021

Shared-savings approach to transmission incentives finds support, concern at FERC conference

Some customer advocates worry additional transmission incentives may create a "slippery slope" that leads to customers paying more for batteries, electric vehicle infrastructure and other distributed resources.

By Robert Walton • Sept. 14, 2021

FERC wants state help on transmission policy. It should also ask about wholesale market reforms.

States will struggle to reach meaningful levels of decarbonization — let alone a net-zero outcome — without regional scale that really is only possible through the FERC wholesale markets, the author writes.

By David Boyd • Sept. 14, 2021

House committee approves $150B Clean Electricity Performance Program

The program is the centerpiece of Democrats' climate platform and is included in a $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package now being crafted.

By Jason Plautz • UPDATED: Sept. 15, 2021 at 10:26 a.m.

New York directs utilities to submit transmission proposals as decarbonization deadline looms

State utility regulators are looking for more transmission projects to handle a planned increase in renewable power as the state pushes to decarbonize its grid.

By Scott Van Voorhis • Sept. 13, 2021

Our approach to expanding electricity infrastructure isn't working. It's time for a different conversation.

We do not have the necessary mechanisms to identify, prioritize and build the network of interstate, high-capacity transmission lines needed in the next 30 years, the authors write.

By Armond Cohen and Liza Reed • Sept. 10, 2021

5 things I learned from exiting my G&T power provider, and the 300 things I've gained

Kit Carson Electric Cooperative CEO Luis A. Reyes Jr. offers lessons and advice based on KCEC's G&T cooperative exit, one of the first in the country.

By Luis A. Reyes Jr. • Sept. 09, 2021

More than 300,000 Entergy customers still without power after Ida; some parts of system are 'truly a rebuild'

Entergy has restored power to nearly 70% of its 948,000 customers who lost power in Louisiana and Mississippi. But in the hardest hit areas, customers could be waiting up to three weeks for service.

By Robert Walton • Sept. 08, 2021

Utility provider shows why effective training is key to the energy transition

Utilities everywhere face challenges and demands that extend well beyond integrating and managing new technologies.  

Demand for interactive content is rising. Can utilities catch up?

In today's digital world of mobile video games and viral TikTok videos, interactive content is now an expectation for utility customers of all ages.