Opinion
The latest opinion pieces by industry thought leaders
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Alamy
The hidden cost of ambiguous energy software terminology
Adapting the electric grid to load growth and DER adoption will require a mutual understanding of software requirements, capabilities and outcomes among stakeholders.
Sneha Vasudevan • Sept. 15, 2025 -
Permission granted by Consumers Energy
DOE’s emergency orders create a moral hazard
The U.S. Department of Energy’s use of Federal Power Act authority to keep retiring fossil fuel plants online could trigger a vicious cycle that ultimately jeopardizes grid reliability.
Jennifer Danis • Sept. 12, 2025 -
YinYang via Getty Images
As PJM prices rise, flexibility can’t be ignored
Rather than viewing rising capacity costs as simply a burden, energy users should understand them as incentives for more efficient and dynamic loads.
Steve Doremus • Sept. 11, 2025 -
Gerville via Getty Images
Blaming data centers for PJM supply challenges misses the bigger picture
Reliability will not be secured by focusing on a single industry. PJM and policymakers must take a comprehensive, solutions-oriented approach to grid management.
Todd Snitchler • Sept. 10, 2025 -
Bilanol via Getty Images
Smarter data for a smarter grid: AI-powered lidar is transforming utility infrastructure
With scalable, intelligent data classification, utilities can move beyond reactive maintenance and into predictive decision-making.
James Conlin • Sept. 9, 2025 -
Justin Sullivan via Getty Images
Alone we fail: The culture change needed to deliver the energy transition
What would it look like if electric utilities borrowed the digital best practices exemplified by the film, banking and telecom industries?
Alex Thornton • Sept. 8, 2025 -
"Beaver Valley Nuclear Power Plant". Retrieved from Wikipedia.
Nuclear power is failing, and AI can’t rescue it
Nuclear generation is expensive and slow to develop. Claims that past failures won’t recur have convinced politicians to socialize investments rejected by private capital markets.
Amory B. Lovins • Sept. 5, 2025 -
Robert Nickelsberg via Getty Images
Energy meets urgency: Solving the data center power problem with solar
For years, data center developers built with confidence that the grid would keep up. That’s no longer the case.
Jared Burden • Sept. 4, 2025 -
Ed Williams via Getty Images
It’s time for customer-oriented approaches to generator interconnection
The electric power system requires seminal reform. Open access should remain a vital principle of grid regulation.
Travis Kavulla and Eric Blank • Sept. 3, 2025 -
Justin Sullivan via Getty Images
Rethinking transmission policy for an energy emergency
While a bidding process is often presumed to deliver consumer benefits, bidding efforts for transmission have not followed that pattern.
Benjamin Dierker • Sept. 2, 2025 -
Douglas Rissing via Getty Images
Unconstitutional: Utilities are funding political speech with captive ratepayer funds
When ratepayers are forced to subsidize utility political activity through state-set rates, utilities and the state compel objecting ratepayers to fund a private company's political speech.
Eliza Martin • Aug. 28, 2025 -
Permission granted by Minnesota Power
Minnesota’s energy future deserves better than BlackRock’s empty promises
What happens in Minnesota will send a signal to other states about whether regulators are willing to put public interest ahead of Wall Street profit, writes Alissa Jean Schafer of the Private Equity Stakeholder Project.
Alissa Jean Schafer • Aug. 27, 2025 -
onurdongel via Getty Images
Southeast utilities are signing gas capacity contracts that will burden customers for decades
“Adding even one more dekatherm of gas commitment to the Southeast is senseless,” writes SACE senior decarbonization manager Shelley Hudson Robbins.
Shelley Hudson Robbins • Aug. 26, 2025 -
Brandon Bell via Getty Images
The cheapest power plant is in your home
Households can help prevent blackouts and lower energy bills if we plan smarter and reward people for using power at the right time.
Paul Hines • Aug. 25, 2025 -
Cavan Images via Getty Images
How grid-enhancing technologies are shaping New York’s planning and protecting ratepayers
New technologies and planning approaches can help speed the energy transition while ensuring power system reliability and affordability.
Schuyler Matteson • Aug. 22, 2025 -
Scott Olson via Getty Images
30 years after Chicago’s deadly heatwave, cooling should be recognized as a right
The 1995 heatwave that killed more than 700 people made clear that access to reliable, affordable energy is not a luxury, the authors write.
Qëndresa Krasniqi, Diana Hernández, Vivek Shastry and Rachel Scheu • Aug. 21, 2025 -
Petra Richli via Getty Images
Utilities: Don’t lose out on advanced metering infrastructure with a short-term vision
There is a revolution of grid-connected devices in the making, writes Laura Sherman, president of the Michigan Energy Innovation Business Council.
Laura Sherman • Aug. 20, 2025 -
To reduce electricity bills, repeal the complexity tax on energy savings
Energy waste can be cut and customer outcomes improved by consolidating and expanding efficiency and housing repair programs, writes L. Michelle Moore, the CEO of Groundswell.
Michelle Moore • Aug. 19, 2025 -
Brandon Bell via Getty Images
Gone with the Wind: Ordinances in Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi discourage renewable investments
When counties adopt smart, balanced rules, they protect property rights, attract investment and avoid costly legal fights. Blanket bans just stall economic growth and limit local control.
Simon Mahan and Jamie Moody • Aug. 18, 2025 -
Joe Raedle via Getty Images
FERC paved the way for smart grid solutions. States must take the next step.
Grid planners can quickly squeeze more out of existing assets using grid-enhancing technology. State regulators should evaluate these options for local upgrades and longer-term regional planning.
Rich Glick and Neil Chatterjee • Aug. 15, 2025 -
Permission granted by Rosendin
Why Texas’ backup plan is a warning sign for grid operations nationwide
We need new power lines and generators, but they won’t arrive in time to handle surging demand. What we can do now is operate smarter with software-based operational intelligence to reduce curtailment, ease congestion and lower consumer costs.
Georg Rute • Aug. 14, 2025 -
Courtesy of ISO New England
ISO-NE should make its governance transparent, accessible and accountable
With a leadership change coming in January, ISO New England has a chance to launch a new era of governance that engages with the communities it serves.
Mireille Bejjani and Steven Botkin • Aug. 13, 2025 -
Alena Mozhjer via Getty Images
Allete sale would help fund clean energy investment for Minnesota
The proposed sale would inject a massive infusion of private capital into Minnesota Power, capital guided by a long-term perspective rather than short-term market pressures.
Jigar Shah • Aug. 12, 2025 -
4kodiak via Getty Images
Managing new political risk for renewable energy projects
Clean energy developers face multiple risks from the Trump administration — but there are pathways for easing them.
Jason Kosek and Peja Breuler • Aug. 11, 2025 -
Mario Tama via Getty Images
Solutions to the energy talent gap are hiding in plain sight
To meet clean energy hiring challenges, employers will benefit from working toward a strategic, industrywide vision for attracting talent.
Janell Hills-Thomas and Courtney Haynes • Aug. 8, 2025
