Deep Dive: Page 2
Industry insights from our journalists
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Adeline Kon/Utility Dive
The energy storage space is heating up. Here are some of the technologies making a dent.
Utility Dive took a look at four technologies, and spoke to some of the companies spearheading them, to get a better picture of the emerging energy storage landscape.
Kavya Balaraman • Dec. 5, 2023 -
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Can ERCOT show the way to faster and cheaper grid interconnection?
With the "connect and manage" process, which doesn’t require network upgrades, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas brought 14.2 GW online in the last two years, more than any other grid operator.
Ethan Howland • Nov. 27, 2023 -
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More powerful, resilient and versatile: The next generation of solar tech is emerging
“This is a great time to be involved with solar technology,” said Chris Deline, head of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s photovoltaic field performance group.
Diana DiGangi • Nov. 16, 2023 -
Justin Sullivan/Staff/Getty Images North America via Getty Images
EV sales are rising. So why are automakers nervous?
Slower sales growth, lower prices and growing inventories have spooked carmakers, leading some to reconsider their electric vehicle plans to bolster their finances.
Michael Brady • Nov. 13, 2023 -
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Duke, others leverage new IRA rules to finance clean energy, but cost, complexity are hurdles
New tax credit provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act could more than triple the $20 billion annual tax equity market that today finances clean energy in the U.S., if various challenges can be overcome.
Herman K. Trabish • Nov. 6, 2023 -
Leon Neal via Getty Images
Heat pumps are hot, but commercial retrofits face cold realities
Government decarbonization strategies call for widespread deployment of heat pumps for building heating and cooling, but experts warn of retrofit costs, disruption and other concerns.
Nish Amarnath • Nov. 1, 2023 -
Mario Tama via Getty Images
Utilities, charging companies battle over EV fast chargers, slowing deployment amid massive needs
State and federal policies are driving utilities and EV charger providers to transform U.S. transportation. They have found common ground in some areas but cannot agree on the utility role in fast charging deployment.
Herman K. Trabish • Oct. 18, 2023 -
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Rising electrification requires a dramatic shift to integrated planning of DER, bulk resources: Xcel VP
Effective distribution system planning and merging analytic insights into comprehensive electricity planning both face barriers, analysts and stakeholders said.
Herman K. Trabish • Sept. 20, 2023 -
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How utilities are partnering with GM, BMW, Lyft and others in the auto sector to accelerate EV adoption
Automakers and utilities “are now partners until the end of time, whether they like it or not,” said Joel Levin, executive director of Plug In America.
Robert Walton • Sept. 6, 2023 -
aydinmutlu via Getty Images
The American power system is changing. How can electricity rates keep up?
As the industry prepares for the electrification of different sectors of the economy, experts are looking at new ways to make electricity rates more equitable.
Kavya Balaraman • Aug. 24, 2023 -
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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.
Herman K. Trabish • Aug. 10, 2023 -
imacoconut via Getty Images
Cautious investors and fast cash: Why AEP, Duke and other utilities have sold their renewable assets
Conditions following the COVID-19 pandemic have led a swath of utility companies to put their competitive renewable energy assets up for sale. Analysts are unsure how long the trend will last.
Emma Penrod • July 27, 2023 -
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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.
Herman K. Trabish • July 13, 2023 -
imaginima via Getty Images
Four non-transmission solutions for clean energy with new power lines in the permitting ‘Valley of Death’
Smart technologies, storage, overbuilding and distributed resources can move the energy transition ahead until workable reforms bring new transmission online, stakeholders agreed
Herman K. Trabish • June 21, 2023 -
Dan Kitwood via Getty Images
As states differ on the benefits of Bitcoin, is there a solution to its climate and power-system impacts?
Bitcoin miners’ 24/7 electricity need and financial focus raise red flags for climate activists about increased fossil fuel use, but some miners are starting to see a new solution in clean energy.
Herman K. Trabish • June 8, 2023 -
Gunther Fraulob via Getty Images
California energy players fear isolation, reliability impacts as SPP eyes Western market expansion
Experts in California worry that as the Southwest Power Pool's energy market proposals move forward, California could lose access to renewable energy resources that are critical to the state’s grid.
Kavya Balaraman • May 30, 2023 -
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Hawai’i leads the way on advanced rate design with default time-of-use rates, fixed charge innovations
Hawai’i’s planned granular cost study still must prove to other states that the new TOU rates, fixed charge framework and new way of defining costs will allocate costs accurately, analysts said.
Herman K. Trabish • May 9, 2023 -
lapandr via Getty Images
Coming EPA power plant rules will put carbon capture to the test, but better oversight is needed, critics say
New CCUS has the policy, private sector and regulatory support to end claims it underperforms, but only if new EPA rules require verification through strong federal oversight, advocates and opponents agreed.
Herman K. Trabish • May 2, 2023 -
Aranga87 via Getty Images
With looming EV load spikes, PG&E, Duke, other utilities adopt new rate design and cost recovery strategies
New dynamic time-varying rates and demand charge adjustments from California to the Carolinas could align customer usage with utility costs to make EVs a system benefit, rate design experts said
Herman K. Trabish • April 18, 2023 -
Gunther Fraulob via Getty Images
As California grid interconnection requests triple, analysts assess CAISO’s moves to handle the influx
The state’s current interconnection processes were designed around a cadence that won’t work as it moves towards much larger volumes of clean energy generation, experts say.
Kavya Balaraman • March 30, 2023 -
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Biden ‘EV revolution’ delayed as utilities, carmakers await critical IRS guidance on Inflation Reduction Act
A domestic EV industry and a national charging network buildout await federal agency interpretations of complex IRA tax credit and supply chain requirements.
Herman K. Trabish • March 17, 2023 -
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Treasury Department guidance urgently needed to tap IRA’s clean energy ‘gold mine,’ analysts say
Clarifications defining Inflation Reduction Act provisions on labor, domestic content, energy community, and clean hydrogen are urgently needed to put the “boldest action” by Congress to work, they say.
Herman K. Trabish • March 16, 2023 -
Bilanol via Getty Images
Duke, APS planning reforms show ways to work with stakeholders to meet emerging power system needs
Integrated planning with deeper modeling and greater stakeholder engagement may slow overburdened regulators and utilities now, but will lead to better long-term decision-making, planners and analysts agree.
Herman K. Trabish • Feb. 28, 2023 -
Techa Tungateja via Getty Images
New power system cybersecurity architectures can be ‘vaults’ against insider attacks, analysts say
Utility operations facing hackers now, and a future of minimally-protected distributed energy resources, will need smarter, more complex defenses, from control rooms to customer-owned devices, analysts said.
Herman K. Trabish • Feb. 17, 2023 -
Adeline Kon/Utility Dive
‘No regrets’ approach to big batteries, green hydrogen and grid reliability urgently needed, analysts say
Advanced batteries and green hydrogen promise long-duration energy storage solutions for “net zero” system reliability, but only regulatory policy and market support can fulfill that promise, industry stakeholders say.
Herman K. Trabish • Jan. 31, 2023
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