A community solar boom will test Xcel, other utility plans against developer, customer needs: analysts

New state and federal funding and initiatives for community solar can bring equity and system reliability to the emerging energy transition, analysts say.

By Herman K. Trabish • Aug. 10, 2023

FERC approves ITC Midwest transmission incentive despite uncertainty over Iowa’s ROFR law

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s decision affects a $594 million transmission project between Iowa and Illinois approved by the Midcontinent grid operator.

By Ethan Howland • Aug. 9, 2023

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

APS interconnection reforms should be rejected, RWE Clean Energy, trade groups tell FERC

Arizona Public Service’s proposal creates major burdens for renewable energy developers, including “impossible” commercial readiness requirements, the organizations told FERC.

By Ethan Howland • Aug. 7, 2023

The imperative of free, green and secure wires reform

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission must advance transmission planning reforms and bolster interconnection rules to improve grid reliability, lower consumer costs and cut power plant emissions.

By Devin Hartman and Jennie Chen • Aug. 7, 2023

Exelon utilities land $870M in PJM transmission projects as Q2 earnings slip

Exelon’s utilities are seeking $2.9 billion in rate increases, partly driven by state clean energy policies.

By Ethan Howland • Aug. 3, 2023

Interregional transmission: The US is the tortoise, China is the hare

A failure to dramatically scale up interregional transmission capacity ensures the U.S. will fall further behind in the economic race with China.

By James McCalley • Aug. 1, 2023

White House proposes environmental review reforms, in part to speed clean energy projects

“These reforms to federal environmental reviews will deliver better decisions, faster permitting, and more community input and local buy-in,” said Council on Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory.

By Ethan Howland • July 31, 2023

FERC issues rule to speed grid connections for storage, renewables, other generators amid 2-TW backlog

With generators facing years to complete interconnection reviews, the rule is a “significant” step in getting new power supplies online, but more work is needed, according to experts.

By Ethan Howland • July 28, 2023

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

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