PG&E Corp. CEO touts efforts to prevent fires, but some say it’s ignoring the most effective measure

PG&E’s wildfire prevention efforts “dramatically changed our risk exposure and the fundamental safety of our system,” CEO Patti Poppe said on the company’s earnings call Thursday. 

By Kavya Balaraman • Updated Aug. 1, 2023

Barrasso ties possible transmission reforms to ‘premature’ power plant retirements

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., continues to seek bipartisan permitting reforms, but a possible sticking point emerged at a Senate hearing Wednesday.

By Ethan Howland • July 27, 2023

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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

Allco asks FERC to void Hydro-Québec, Avangrid power contracts with Massachusetts utilities

The complaint comes as Eversource Energy, National Grid and Unitil are preparing to renegotiate the contracts to reflect increased costs for the $1.4 billion New England Clean Energy Connect power line.

By Ethan Howland • July 25, 2023

CAISO asks FERC to reject Starwood affilate’s request to blow past transmission cost cap

Allowing DCR Transmission to recover more than double its cost cap for the Ten West Link transmission project would undermine cost containment across the U.S., according to the grid operator.

By Ethan Howland • July 24, 2023

America faces another high-wire moment: This one around its energy future

The debt ceiling bill included some much-needed reforms to improve the efficiency of the permitting process for energy infrastructure. But they were step one. The question is, what comes next?

By Amy Andryszak and Jason Grumet • July 18, 2023

Gas-fired generation accounted for 70% of unplanned outages in Winter Storm Elliott: PJM

The PJM Interconnection on Monday offered 30 recommendations to improve winter-time operations, including possibly setting capacity values for gas-fired power plants at levels that match their performance.

By Ethan Howland • July 18, 2023

Federal appeals court strikes down FERC approval of Southeastern SEEM market

The market’s transmission rules may violate Federal Energy Regulatory Commission requirements that transmission owners provide open access to their systems, the court said.

By Ethan Howland • July 17, 2023

Transmission development pace ‘severely’ limits renewable energy, carbon reduction potential: report

Failing to speed up transmission expansion cuts possible greenhouse gas emissions reductions in half by 2035, the Princeton University-led REPEAT Project found.

By Ethan Howland • July 17, 2023

US grid congestion costs jumped 56% to $20.8B in 2022: report

In the near term, grid-enhancing technologies can increase transmission capacity on existing wires, relieving at least 40% of congestion in many cases, according to a Grid Strategies report.

By Ethan Howland • July 14, 2023

FERC reverses course, rejects SPP regional transmission cost allocation pathway for wind-heavy zones

After considering arguments from American Electric Power, OGE Energy and Xcel Energy utilities, FERC decided the Southwest Power Pool plan gave too much discretion to its board.

By Ethan Howland • July 14, 2023

The meaning of an ‘optimal’ clean energy investment is changing as prices rise, analysts report

Inflation Reduction Act incentives and supply-demand imbalances have developers and off-takers recalculating the value of clean energy.

By Herman K. Trabish • July 13, 2023

Alleviating the energy affordability crisis in America

People should not have to choose between paying for necessities or energy. With the right technology, utilities can help their customers lessen this burden.

By Matt O’Keefe, Opower Group Vice President, Oracle Energy and Water • July 11, 2023

Court orders Mountain Valley Pipeline construction to halt in national forest

The pipeline operator said it is considering an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to get a 3-mile section of the project in Virginia moving again.

By Julie Strupp • July 11, 2023

DOE rolls out $200M for grid investments; California will use $67.5M for storage, resilience

Billions must be spent to increase the capacity of the U.S. power grid in order to accommodate building electrification, plug-in vehicles and increasing amounts of renewables, according to Bank of America analysts.

By Robert Walton • July 11, 2023

Innovation with GIS mobility: Unraveling utility process issues

Mobile GIS is one of the technologies that can create positive change and ignite innovation while shredding the paper processes.

By Bill Meehan, Esri • July 10, 2023

ISO New England called energy emergency, turned to operating reserves after transmission failure

The region faced a brief capacity shortage beginning around 6 p.m. Wednesday, and the grid operator utilized its 30-minute reserves to meet demand that was higher than anticipated.

By Robert Walton • July 7, 2023

Roughly $7B federal loan could offer PG&E ‘cheap money’ to upgrade electric grid in California

If approved, the loan would fund projects related to resiliency, building and vehicle electrification and distributed energy resources, according to a utility spokesperson. 

By Kavya Balaraman • July 6, 2023

Training wheels for DERMS

Utilities—on the road to DERMS, start with a conservative approach.

July 3, 2023

As Texas sweats, its electric grid has remained stable, in part due to renewables

The Public Utility Commission of Texas continues to develop a new dispatchable reliability reserve service and approved an 83% pay raise for the board of the state’s grid operator on June 29.

By Robert Walton • June 30, 2023

Most US regions get D+ or below for transmission planning, development: benchmark report

The Southeast received a failing grade while the Mid-Atlantic, New England, Northwest, Southwest and Texas regions got D-range grades in a benchmark report from Americans for a Clean Energy Grid.

By Ethan Howland • June 29, 2023

When it comes to transmission, customers must come first

The key to grid planning is first to acknowledge the central role states play so that transmission is built according to customer need, not arbitrary mandates.

By Tony Clark • June 26, 2023

Arizona Public Service reaches settlement with ACC, will raise rates to recover Four Corners investment

The utility will also be allowed to earn a higher return on equity after a court determined regulators overstepped their authority in lowering the ROE to punish the utility for customer service issues. 

By Robert Walton • June 26, 2023

Gas-fired capacity surges this year, solar poised to boom: FERC report

About 113,700 MW of solar, wind and gas-fired generation is highly likely to start operating by April 2026 but could be offset by about 44,100 MW of power plant retirements, according to the report.

By Ethan Howland • June 23, 2023

Conventional generation outages set a record in 2022: NERC

The performance of wind and solar resources must also improve, NERC said, particularly as they place “increased operational demands on the now smaller fleet of conventional generation.”

By Robert Walton • June 23, 2023

Grassroots buy-in will be vital to transmission buildout, say clean energy experts

Though Congress left transmission reform out of the recent debt ceiling deal, constituent pressure could impact future legislation, says DSD Renewables Head of Policy Pari Kasotia.

By Diana DiGangi • June 22, 2023