The energy system is ‘inherently racist,’ advocates say. How are utilities responding to calls for greater equity?

Utility commitments to customer equity, energy affordability and equitable access to clean energy resources are becoming more common, but energy justice advocates say companies need to do more. 

By Robert Walton • Oct. 26, 2022

American Clean Power, other groups urge FERC to reject SPP utility self-funding plan for network upgrades

The Southwest Power Pool failed to provide evidence to back up its proposal, which could increase interconnection costs by up to 50%, the groups told the agency Friday.

By Ethan Howland • Oct. 24, 2022

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 to meet the rising challenges.

By Utility Dive staff

The value hiding in plain sight: Why it’s critical to gain visibility into behind-the-meter DERs

With the right visibility, utilities can better plan distribution system support, capture high-value customer systems more efficiently and create pathways to increase the number of approved DERs in their territories.

Oct. 24, 2022

How utilities can ensure everyone benefits from electrification

Calculating the impacts of technology adoption is critical to decarbonizing and enabling an equitable energy transition.

By Matt Ross, Senior Product Manager. • Oct. 24, 2022

ISO-NE, ERCOT, MISO face possible capacity shortfalls in extreme winter weather: FERC

Reviving retired coal plants to address reliability and gas concerns is “fantasyland,” Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Richard Glick said. “It's not going to happen.”

By Ethan Howland • Oct. 21, 2022

MISO intends to exclude Invenergy’s 5-GW Grain Belt Express Line from upcoming transmission process

The proposed merchant transmission line between Kansas and Indiana fails to meet the eligibility criteria, the midcontinent grid operator told federal regulators Wednesday.

By Ethan Howland • Oct. 20, 2022

New California load management standards, including retail rates that change hourly, are a ‘huge leap’: CEC

The new standards could reduce annual peak hour electricity use by 120 GWh, according to the California Energy Commission.

By Robert Walton • Oct. 19, 2022

Sen. Warren leads probe of Bitcoin impact on Texas power grid, ERCOT use of demand response ‘subsidies’

Payments to cryptocurrency miners for reducing electricity demand, known as demand response, “feed back into the worsening climate crisis,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren and others said.

By Robert Walton • Oct. 19, 2022

More interregional transmission could prevent East Coast blackouts, lower costs: NRDC report

“This study shows the powerful value of interregional transmission in reducing costs and providing reliability in extreme events,” Ric O’Connell, GridLab executive director and a reviewer of the report, said Monday.

By Ethan Howland • Oct. 18, 2022

NextEra, Invenergy, other developers, clean energy groups take issue with FERC’s interconnection reform plan

NextEra Energy sees the plan as "a mixed bag of proposals of differing value that collectively fall short of remedying the significant issues currently facing renewable generation developers seeking grid interconnections."

By Ethan Howland • Oct. 17, 2022

Tesla, Google, other corporate power buyers back FERC interconnection reform plan but see pitfalls

Google urged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to make sure any final interconnection rules don’t give utilities an advantage over independent power producers.

By Ethan Howland • Oct. 17, 2022

Duke Energy, 3 other utilities to join Southeast Energy Exchange Market ahead of next month’s launch

Federal regulators approved the new market in November, and a lawsuit challenging that decision is still pending.

By Robert Walton • Oct. 13, 2022

EIA raises retail electricity price forecast for this year and next, signaling more pain for consumers

Millions of lower-income families will face unaffordable energy prices this winter, and those relying on Social Security may be particularly vulnerable, warn customer advocates.

By Robert Walton • Oct. 13, 2022

Maine opposes Versant Power, CMP rate increases as New England wrestles with higher power prices

Consumer advocates say that gas exports are driving energy prices higher. “Domestic energy markets simply cannot handle this insane volume of exports,” said Tyson Slocum, director of Public Citizen’s energy and climate program.

By Robert Walton • Oct. 12, 2022

FERC isn’t acting fast enough to strengthen the grid. Here’s one thing Congress can do.

Congress can and should shore up energy resilience by establishing a clear standard for inter-regional transmission support, the authors write.

By Liza Reed and Andrew Xu • Oct. 11, 2022

Evergy, Avista, Portland General Electric earnings poised to jump on hotter Q3, says Bank of America

Black Hills, Idacorp, Oklahoma Gas & Electric and CenterPoint could also benefit financially from the summer’s sizzling temperatures, BofA Global Research said Monday.

By Robert Walton • Oct. 11, 2022

Generators navigating MISO interconnection queue have seen costs triple in 4 years: Berkeley Lab

The increase is being driven by the need for broader network upgrades outside of the interconnection substation, researchers concluded.

By Robert Walton • Oct. 10, 2022

States press FERC for independent monitors on transmission planning, spending as Southern Co. balks

“We simply do not have the expertise on staff ... We desperately need something like an independent transmission monitor,” James McLawhorn, North Carolina Utilities Commission energy division director, said.

By Ethan Howland • Oct. 7, 2022

Texas designing 80 MW virtual power plant pilot spurred by Tesla desire to aggregate Powerwall batteries

The project will initially qualify participating customers as aggregated load resources, meaning “it will look like demand response,” said Commissioner Will McAdams.

By Robert Walton • Oct. 7, 2022

A transmission boom is needed to realize the Inflation Reduction Act’s benefits, and it will pay for itself

Transmission is the key enabling technology for a clean electricity system because it allows higher-quality energy resources and better utilization of those resources, the author writes.

By Barbara Tyran • Oct. 6, 2022

97% of smart meters fail to provide promised customer benefits. Can $3B in new funding change that?

Interoperability standards can deliver “non-discriminatory access” to real-time data from new smart meters to fulfill promises of customer savings and other system benefits, energy managers say.

By Herman K. Trabish • Oct. 5, 2022

Biden pledges to transform Puerto Rico’s power system as thousands remain without power

In the two weeks since Hurricane Fiona devastated the island, LUMA Energy says it has restored service to 93% of customers. 

By Robert Walton • Oct. 4, 2022

PNM proposes 6-year, $344M grid modernization plan including smart meters for all customers

Low-income areas will receive prioritization for distribution system upgrades and smart meter installation, the utility said.

By Robert Walton • Oct. 4, 2022

More than 600,000 customers still without power in Florida; FPL has restored power to almost 80%

Tens of thousands of utility workers are engaged in restoration efforts, according to utility trade groups, but in southwest Florida, the hardest-hit areas could be without power until Sunday, one utility reported.

By Robert Walton • Oct. 3, 2022

Battery energy storage: the importance of energy management software

Today, the power industry is going through a renaissance driven by new cost-effective power solutions.

Oct. 3, 2022