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

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

Explore the Trendline➔

Electricity Supply and Demand

After nearly two decades of flat demand, U.S. electricity consumption reached an all-time high in 2024 and is expected to continue rising. This trendline brings together the best of Utility Dive’s coverage of emerging trends in supply and demand and the decisions being made today that will impact the power system for years to come. 

By Utility Dive staff

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

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. 9, 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. 8, 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.  

Sept. 7, 2021

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.

Sept. 7, 2021

Full and open transmission competition is key to boosting grid reliability and renewables in California

We need to put all options on the table to keep the lights on for California while we break new ground in the energy transition, writes Stanford University's Michael Wara.

By Michael Wara • Sept. 3, 2021

With FERC now split 2-2, clean energy advocates call for caution and urgency to fill vacant seat

It is "critical" that President Joe Biden nominates the right person to break ties at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, according to Rep. Sean Casten, D-Ill.

By Robert Walton • Sept. 3, 2021

LA approves 100% clean energy by 2035 target, a decade ahead of prior goal

The goal puts the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power on track for an aggressive transition that backers said would present a model for the nation.

By Jason Plautz • Sept. 2, 2021

Duke explores shutting coal-fired plants by 2030 in South Carolina plans

The revised plans come after South Carolina regulators voted in late June to reject the utility's previous proposals and send the company back to the drawing board.

By Scott Van Voorhis • Sept. 1, 2021

Transmission tower destroyed by Ida likely to complicate power restoration in New Orleans, experts say

As Entergy scrambles to restore power in the Gulf region, the collapse of a major transmission tower could complicate matters, experts say.

By Scott Van Voorhis • Aug. 31, 2021

Residential electric panels represent a nearly $100B 'roadblock' to full electrification, report finds

Up to 48 million U.S. homes may require electric panel upgrades in order to charge electric vehicles or switch away from appliances now running on natural gas or other fossil fuels, according to research from Pecan Street.

By Robert Walton • Aug. 31, 2021