Transmission & Distribution: Page 2
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Permission granted by Esme Howland
FERC affirms generator interconnection rule, but ‘it’s not a silver bullet,’ Christie says
Renewables and storage make up the majority of interconnection queue projects, but they are “not one-for-one replacements” for retiring dispatchable power plants, Commissioner Mark Christie warned.
By Robert Walton • March 22, 2024 -
National Grid announces $4B plan to upgrade upstate New York power grid
The money will go toward 70 projects, which will include building substations and rebuilding more than 1,000 miles of transmission lines connecting towns near Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse.
By Patrick Cooley • March 21, 2024 -
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 -
Retrieved from House of Representatives.
Granholm tells Congress ‘adjustments have been made’ to distribution transformer proposal
The U.S. Department of Energy’s plan to improve the efficiency of distribution transformers could exacerbate shortages of the critical devices, threatening electrification efforts, lawmakers said Wednesday.
By Robert Walton • March 21, 2024 -
LPETTET via Getty Images
Deep DiveCalifornia lawmakers backpedal on income-based utility charges as IOUs, others propose alternatives
State legislators ordered regulators in 2022 to implement an income-graduated fixed charge to protect low-income customers and shift the funding for various policy goals. A new bill would repeal that.
By Herman K. Trabish • March 19, 2024 -
Permission granted by ISO New England
New England could see resource adequacy troubles even with billions in investments: ISO-NE
Batteries make up 46% of ISO New England’s interconnection queue, but the grid operator said that as peak demand grows, they may “struggle to recharge during the winter months.”
By Robert Walton • March 19, 2024 -
AscentXmedia via Getty Images
PG&E aims to raise up to $1B for transmission through leases to Citizens Energy
The proposed funding for transmission projects comes a month after Pacific Gas & Electric increased its five-year capital spending plan by 20%, to $62 billion.
By Ethan Howland • March 15, 2024 -
3000ad via Getty Images
Bills aim to spur grid-enhancing technologies with shared-savings incentives from FERC
“The Advancing GETs Act will motivate grid operators and developers to bring new projects online that expand transmission capacity,” Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., said Wednesday.
By Ethan Howland • March 14, 2024 -
Andrei Ksenzhuk via Getty Images
OpinionPermitting reform budget request should push Congress to negotiate a bipartisan deal
Our domestic energy supply cannot be secured until the United States’ burdensome approval process is overhauled so that we can begin to get major energy infrastructure projects underway.
By Liam deClive-Lowe and Paolo Mastrangelo • March 14, 2024 -
SPmemory via Getty Images
Utilities, others lobby senators to block DOE’s distribution transformer efficiency rule
The U.S. Department of Energy plans to finalize new efficiency rules for distribution transformers in April, but a broad coalition of utilities is supporting legislation to block the effort.
By Robert Walton • Updated March 19, 2024 -
Maudib via Getty Images
US electricity prices outpace annual inflation
Analysts cited transmission costs and federal policies for the 3.6% increase the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday.
By Robert Walton • March 13, 2024 -
Fleem via Getty Images
OpinionSetting the record straight on Western market options: It’s not just about footprint
Instead of coercing the entire West into a single market, we should turn our attention to facilitating trade among multiple markets as a better use of our time and energy.
By Libby Calnon, Clay Fitchis, Mark Hayden, Bear Prairie, Chris Robinson and Jim Webb • March 11, 2024 -
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California regulators approve new program to expedite power line undergrounding
The program allows utilities with at least 250,000 customers to submit a 10-year undergrounding plan to the California Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety, which must approve or reject it within nine months.
By Robert Walton • March 11, 2024 -
Laser1987 via Getty Images
California PUC urges FERC to reject SCE’s early cost recovery request for $1.6B in projects
Southern California Edison contends that being allowed to recover its costs while two transmission projects are being built, instead of waiting until they’re in service, will ease financial strains and customer rate shock.
By Ethan Howland • March 11, 2024 -
Federal lawmakers urge FERC to adopt ‘shared savings’ incentive for grid-enhancing technologies
The push at the federal level comes as grid-enhancing technology bills and projects to relieve grid congestion advance in Minnesota.
By Ethan Howland • March 8, 2024 -
Chimperil59 via Getty Images
MISO proposes up to $23B transmission expansion with 765-kV ‘highway’
The Midcontinent Independent System Operator expects to refine its initial Tranche 2 proposal before it heads to a board vote, possibly by September.
By Ethan Howland • March 7, 2024 -
Trong Nguyen via Getty Images
Texas regulators explore how to attract advanced nuclear projects, structure SMR incentives
States could use 24/7 carbon-free energy credits to attract projects, potentially by stacking them with federal incentives, according to Nuclear Energy Institute officials.
By Robert Walton • March 5, 2024 -
MRaust via Getty Images
Colorado PUC proposes rules for Xcel, Tri-State, Black Hills to join RTO, day-ahead markets
The proposal requires any organized wholesale market to allow Colorado utilities to maintain priority rights to their grid interconnections for resources needed to meet their loads.
By Ethan Howland • March 5, 2024 -
jitendrajadhav via Getty Images
Deep Dive2024 PJM Outlook: Tough choices loom on capacity market, plant retirements, transmission planning
Ensuring that enough new generation comes online to replace retiring power plants is a key issue that threads through PJM’s expected focus this year, stakeholders and observers said.
By Ethan Howland • Feb. 29, 2024 -
OpinionPump the brakes on big transmission
Our current policy enthusiasm for transmission has moved from a responsible cocktail before dinner to a bacchanalia of Roman proportions.
By Vincent Duane • Feb. 28, 2024 -
Karl Weatherly via Getty Images
Deep DiveCongressional action on energy permitting remains stuck, but states, developers are finding solutions
States are resolving local objections to projects through community engagement while transmission developers are making innovative use of existing rights-of-way to bypass permitting logjams.
By Herman K. Trabish • Feb. 27, 2024 -
zhengzaishuru via Getty Images
ERCOT, CAISO offer best grid interconnection processes; PJM, ISO-NE the worst, report finds
The scorecard, which ranked PJM Interconnection last with a D-minus, can be used a baseline to measure interconnection reform efforts across the U.S., Advanced Energy United said.
By Ethan Howland • Updated Feb. 26, 2024 -
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Avangrid, other utilities urge FERC to reject ‘false’ claims of insufficient transmission cost reviews
But New England ratepayer advocates support a challenge to the utilities’ alleged failure to adequately share information about their “asset condition” projects.
By Ethan Howland • Feb. 23, 2024 -
wolv via Getty Images
PJM, 3 other RTOs propose steps to improve gas-electric sector coordination, boost reliability
Market enhancements, operational improvements and regulatory reforms are needed to improve gas-electric coordination, according to grid operators serving much of the U.S.
By Robert Walton • Feb. 22, 2024 -
rabbit75_ist/iStock/Getty Images Plus via Getty Images
5 takeaways from the investor-owned utility sector’s day on Wall Street
Utilities will likely issue equity this year to fund the energy transition’s record capital spending, Edison Electric Institute officials said.
By Robert Walton • Feb. 21, 2024 -
Courtesy of Xcel Energy
Colorado cities urge FERC to reject cost allocation for Xcel’s $2B Power Pathway transmission project
The Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska, which serves four states, along with three of its municipal utility members in Colorado, contend they won’t benefit from the project and shouldn’t pay for any of it.
By Ethan Howland • Updated Feb. 23, 2024
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