2020 has been a year of tremendous disruption for electric utilities, and for the world in general. But while the COVID-19 pandemic may have temporarily slowed some of the larger trends driving the power sector, the overall transition to a cleaner, more distributed future continues.

This can be seen in the continued expansion of renewables, storage and distributed energy resource options across the country, along with new state and federal policies to drive them.

2020 also saw continuing challenges for coal and gas, increasing sophistication of cyber threats, emerging trends in rate design, and the continued rise of electric vehicles. Increased electrification is also raising questions about the role of utilities and future impacts on the power grid.

The stories below provide a flavor of these and other major trends driving the power sector today.