Opinion

The latest opinion pieces by industry thought leaders


If you are interested in having your voice heard on Utility Dive's Opinion page, please read our editorial guidelines and fill out the submission form here.

  • Oil Or Gas Transportation With Blue Gas Or Pipe Line Valves On Soil And Sunrise Background
    Image attribution tooltip
    Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    California approved a gas pipeline solution. Now comes the hard part.

    SB 1221 offers a rare opportunity to align climate action with lower bills and prudent spending of ratepayer dollars, writes Jalal Awan at The Utility Reform Network.

    Jalal Awan • April 2, 2026
  • A power plant emitting smoke from smokestacks surrounded by a neighborhood with a street in the foreground.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Jon Cherry via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Rebuttal: Coal plants are reliable and cost-competitive

    Michelle Bloodworth, president and CEO of America's Power, which represents the U.S. coal fleet and its supply chain, pushes back on assertions that coal power should be replaced by renewables.

    Michelle Bloodworth • April 1, 2026
  • Amazon Web Services data center in Ashburn, Va
    Image attribution tooltip
    Nathan Howard/Getty Images via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    AI data centers are stressing power infrastructure. Storage is the answer.

    No one wants to admit that a power system designed for normal data center behavior is struggling under AI behavior, writes TerraFlow Energy Chief Marketing Officer Amanda Simonian.

    Amanda Simonian • March 31, 2026
  • Four pipelines covered in snow.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Before we build more gas pipelines, we need better data

    Building energy infrastructure takes years, billions of dollars and massive political capital. Better data costs a fraction of that, write researchers at three universities.

    Burçin Ünel, Anamika Dubey and Chiara Lo Prete • March 30, 2026
  • A Volvo VNR Electric charges at the high-powered chargers available to fleets at TEC Equipment, Fontana.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Courtesy of Volvo Trucks
    Image attribution tooltip

    Fleet electrification is running into the grid. Planning and operations need to catch up.

    Thoughtfully planned, flexible load offers one answer to the grid’s present challenges, write experts from Synop and the Electric Power Research Institute.

    Shana Patadia and Britta Gross • March 27, 2026
  • Power lines in the Florida Everglades.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Southeast, lower-cost PJM states offer model for affordable grid expansion

    The vertically integrated utility model shows it is possible to build new generation and protect customers from steep rate increases, writes former FERC Commissioner Bernard McNamee.

    Bernard L. McNamee • March 26, 2026
  • In an aerial view, the IAD71 Amazon Web Services data center is shown on July 17, 2024 in Ashburn, Virginia.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Nathan Howard/Getty Images via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    PJM’s crisis has a simple solution: Copy what works in regulated states

    The competitive market was supposed to produce lower prices, but when faced with the first big demand shock in decades, it delivered chaos, writes Power for Tomorrow President Brad Viator.

    Brad Viator • March 25, 2026
  • Snow lies on the ground near power lines.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Emil Lippe via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Utilities must ask AI vendors these questions to meet critical infrastructure protection standards

    Utilities deploying AI tools may be creating a compliance gap that will become visible only when auditors start asking questions, writes Eric Swidey, founder of Thirty Seven Inc.

    Eric Swidey • March 24, 2026
  • A power plant turbine sits in a manufacturing plant.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Courtesy of GE Vernova
    Image attribution tooltip

    5-year waits and rising costs: How demand is redefining the gas turbine market

    Lengthy lead times are likely to continue for now, and reliability in that environment depends on early, informed decisions, writes Electric Power Research Institute Senior Program Manager Bobby Noble.

    Bobby Noble • March 23, 2026
  • Aerial view of data centers in Ashburn, Virginia.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Why data centers will need a ‘bring your own power’ strategy

    If the AI boom is not handled correctly, we will put grid stability and public trust at odds with tech-led growth, writes Ameresco CEO George Sakellaris.

    George Sakellaris • March 20, 2026
  • Power lines in the snow following Winter Storm Fern.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Brett Carlsen/Getty Images via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Winter storms underscore data center threats to grid reliability, affordability

    Demand from the data center boom, combined with worsening extreme weather events, put our electric system at heightened risk, writes Union of Concerned Scientists Senior Manager Mike Jacobs.

    Mike Jacobs • March 19, 2026
  • A utility worker in Puerto Rico works to reconstruct the power grid after Hurricane Maria.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Jose Jimenez Tirado/Getty Images via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    To strengthen power reliability in extreme weather, diversify grid resources

    More expensive, less reliable power need not be our unavoidable fate, writes NextGen Energy CEO Kimberly Johnston.

    Kimberly Johnston • March 18, 2026
  • aerial view of several data centers
    Image attribution tooltip
    Nathan Howard via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    As data centers go off-grid, utilities face new cost and planning risks

    Industry disclosures suggest that by the end of the decade, a meaningful share of new data center capacity could be partially or fully self-supplied, write Brandon Owens and Morgan Bazilian.

    Brandon Owens and Morgan Bazilian • March 17, 2026
  • In an aerial view, the Amazon Fort Powhatan Solar Farm is seen in Disputanta, Virginia.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Drew Angerer via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    What technology, policy and energy-finance leaders all agree on

    Risk, return and credible deployment pathways are key factors that infrastructure investors evaluate. Solar and storage meet these requirements, writes Brendan Bell of Aligned Climate Capital. 

    Brendan Bell • March 16, 2026
  • Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern locomotives sit side by side.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Courtesy of Union Pacific & Norfolk Southern
    Image attribution tooltip

    America’s power shortage is a market failure

    Early buildout of the U.S. rail system was fragmented, with local projects often failing to connect regions. Grid developers today should pay heed, writes Maria Martinez of the Clean Economy Project.

    Maria Martinez • March 12, 2026
  • Industrial power lines stretching across the Idaho desert
    Image attribution tooltip
    Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    4 affordability solutions states and utilities can implement now

    States can take steps to drive electricity cost savings more quickly as well as pursue long-term reform, write Allison Clements, a former member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and Lori Bird of the WRI Polsky Energy Center.

    Allison Clements and Lori Bird • March 11, 2026
  • An aerial view of fuel holding tanks.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Drew Angerer via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Build smarter: Energy demand growth can benefit everyone

    It is imperative that our governing bodies act quickly to untie the hands of the energy industry and allow America to build, writes Karen Harbert, president and CEO of the American Gas Association.

    Karen Harbert • March 9, 2026
  • People warm up by a barbecue grill.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Go Nakamura via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Reliability risk isn’t just about capacity anymore

    Winter Storm Fern showed that the integration of flexible resources paired with improved weatherization and better market structures can materially reduce risk during extreme weather, writes Tapas Peshin of PCI Energy Solutions.

    Tapas Peshin • March 6, 2026
  • Tilt shot of Two steaming cooling towers for nuclear power against blue sky.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    AI is outpacing America’s power grid. Nuclear must become a national priority.

    Nuclear power can scale with the needs of AI, writes Amentum’s Mark Whitney. Companies and communities relying on renewables will risk outages, higher costs and missed opportunities.

    Mark Whitney • March 5, 2026
  • Solar panels and wind turbines in a desert landscape.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Mario Tama via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Local control with reasonable county ordinances can support renewable energy deployment

    The right regulations and permitting processes can help facilitate renewable resources facing county-level opposition, writes Claire Burch, a Clean Energy Leadership Institute 2025 fellow.

    Claire Burch • March 4, 2026
  • Gas turbine electric power plant in blue hour.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    The physics of reliability: Why gas peakers alone can’t save the modern grid

    Most outages don’t start as a multihour energy shortage; they start as a frequency crisis. If you only have gas, you’re trying to stop a bullet with a shield that takes 10 minutes to lift, writes Arun Muthukrishnan from Arevon Energy.

    Arun Muthukrishnan • March 3, 2026
  • U.S. President Donald Trump (left) shakes hands with China President Xi Jinping in front of flags of their respective countries.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Andrew Harnik via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    From labor to components, America must bring grid modernization home

    If the U.S. does not reshore every layer of the grid, it will never be able to power the AI economy it intends to lead, writes Peak Nano CEO Jim Welsh.

    Jim Welsh • March 2, 2026
  • data center, tariffs,  development costs
    Image attribution tooltip
    Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Efficiency first: A fast track to capacity in the era of hyperscalers

    Prioritizing demand-side management before committing billions to new infrastructure mitigates risks for utilities and their customers, according to a pair of efficiency experts.

    Paige Knutsen and Erin Kempster • Feb. 27, 2026
  • Rooftop solar panels at the Soleil Lofts apartment complex in Herriman, Utah
    Image attribution tooltip
    Permission granted by sonnen, Inc.
    Image attribution tooltip

    Governors are promising lower power bills. Here’s the only credible path to deliver.

    If we treat every new megawatt like it must be served with new poles, wires, substations and peakers, we will lock in another decade of rate shock, write Jigar Shah and Arnab Pal from Deploy Action.

    Jigar Shah and Arnab Pal • Feb. 26, 2026
  • High voltage power lines in the winter.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    The New England grid passed one winter test, but market reforms are still needed

    Constructive collaboration across business and government should be celebrated while the region works to fine-tune its market to sustain existing investments and drive new ones, writes NEPGA President Dan Dolan.

    Dan Dolan • Feb. 25, 2026