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.

• 

  Inflation Reduction Act adds fuel to RTO reform imperative, generator interconnection backlog

  The new law also puts transmission planning and permitting on center stage while increasing the need for on-demand generation.

  Tony Clark • Nov. 8, 2022

• 

  New York’s building decarbonization goals may be unachievable without a new technology boost

  Building developers and government mandates should consider newly developed solar PV windows to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from buildings, the author writes.

  Arnold R. Wallenstein • Nov. 4, 2022

• 

  As Memphis Light, Gas and Water weighs an exit, is TVA headed for a renewable energy sea change?

  TVA could soon be facing a widespread defection of other local power companies, opening the field to an increasingly renewable future for its customers, the author writes.

  Gaby Sarri-Tobar • Nov. 3, 2022

• 

  Storage, demand-side innovation, neighbors and a bit of luck — reliability lessons from summer 2022

  Examining how the U.S. avoided major power shortages this summer can help grid operators, utilities and regulators improve reliability and avoid resource adequacy challenges without disrupting the transition to low-carbon resources.

  Eric Gimon and Mike O’Boyle • Nov. 2, 2022

• 

  Clean energy expertise for the PJM board should be the easiest vote members ever cast

  At a time when some 95% of the energy projects waiting to connect to the PJM grid are solar, wind, hybrid or battery storage, how could the grid’s board of directors not include someone with expertise in these energy sources? 

  Albert Pollard • Oct. 24, 2022

• 

  How two Minnesota cooperatives agreed to a new relationship to prepare for the future grid

  An agreement last month between Great River Energy and Connexus is a novel way for generation and transmission cooperatives and local co-ops to develop new relationships during the energy transition.

  Gabriel Chan and Matthew Grimley • Oct. 21, 2022

• 

  As the electric truck transition shifts into high gear, utilities must lead the charge

  Utilities can support truck and bus electrification with streamlined infrastructure processes, proactive planning and active outreach.

  Pamela MacDougall and Katie M. Sloan • Oct. 18, 2022

• 

  California’s far-reaching climate law will usher in a zero-carbon economy. Now the state needs a follow-up plan.

  Our clean energy deployment plan calls for a single agency to lead state efforts while ensuring transparency, accountability, equity and environmental justice.

  Armond Cohen and Michael Colvin • Oct. 17, 2022

• 

  FERC isn’t acting fast enough to strengthen the grid. Here’s one thing Congress can do.

  Congress can and should shore up energy resilience by establishing a clear standard for inter-regional transmission support, the authors write.

  Liza Reed and Andrew Xu • Oct. 11, 2022

• 

  How an unlikely trio helped secure billions for rural electric cooperatives

  As rural communities watch wind and solar farms begin to dot their landscape, many want to ensure rural America can own, not just host, the clean energy transition, the authors write.

  Duane Highley, Ramón Cruz and Erik Hatlestad • Oct. 10, 2022

• 

  A transmission boom is needed to realize the Inflation Reduction Act’s benefits, and it will pay for itself

  Transmission is the key enabling technology for a clean electricity system because it allows higher-quality energy resources and better utilization of those resources, the author writes.

  Barbara Tyran • Oct. 6, 2022

• 

  Broken markets: Slick Rick, Doug E. Fresh, and the global strain on the single clearing price

  A single clearing price auction is no longer a viable or desirable way to sell power because the power market is now segmented into differentiated products, the authors write.

  Ray Gifford and Matt Larson • Oct. 4, 2022

• 

  FERC, state utility regulators, and the arsonist’s dilemma

  State and federal officials have saturated power markets with unworkable policies and are now openly lamenting the inability of those markets to deliver the results they expect, the author writes.

  Todd Snitchler • Oct. 3, 2022

• 

  The Inflation Reduction Act upends hydrogen economics with opportunities, pitfalls

  Regulators and policymakers must resist the temptation to overcommit to hydrogen for end uses where electrification will ultimately win out, the authors write.

  Dan Esposito and Hadley Tallackson • Sept. 30, 2022

• 

  The California energy problem is structural, not political

  The deregulation experiment in California that created energy markets isn't working for reliability or for customers. Unless it is addressed, things will only get worse, the author writes.

  Brad Viator • Sept. 29, 2022

• 

  Moving beyond California’s one-sided view of reliability

  We need a path to quickly scale the complete set of energy resources needed to match renewable generation with statewide load at all times, the author writes.

  Sam Maslin • Sept. 27, 2022

• 

  Is the Inflation Reduction Act the end of the wholesale clean attribute market?

  The IRA may reduce any real or perceived tension between wholesale markets and state policies and the need for other mechanisms to harmonize wholesale markets and state policies, the authors write.

  Sarah Ladin & Burçin Ünel • Sept. 23, 2022

• 

  The maxim of the SEC’s climate rule: What you don’t know can hurt you

  The standardized disclosures of climate risks will effectively lay bare companies’ readiness to transition to low-carbon operating models and the mounting physical hazards they face, the authors write.

  Bob Hinkle and Lisa Jacobson • Sept. 22, 2022

• 

  Secretive committee of utility insiders could undermine Texas energy leadership and affordability

  The Texas Legislature needs to ensure that self-interested electric generation actors are not sacrificing Texas families and businesses to protect their market share, the author writes.

  Landon Stevens • Sept. 20, 2022

• 

  Taking the utility monopoly door down to put more solar up

  A proposal by Sunnova would end nearly a century of guaranteed monopoly for California utilities by letting other companies not just sell power but use an alternative delivery system to the utility's platform, the author writes.

  John Farrell • Sept. 15, 2022

• 

  Fixing California’s resource adequacy woes

  The real questions are what level of bulk reliability we want and whether we are willing to invest in the institutional change needed to support it, the author writes.

  Fredrich Kahrl • Sept. 14, 2022

• 

  FERC’s duty of candor expansion would pose tough challenges for energy industry communication

  The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s proposed duty of candor expansion is not ready for prime time, the authors write.

  Zach Terwilliger, John Decker and Ryan Hoeffner • Sept. 9, 2022

• 

  To boost clean energy, incentivize innovation in existing natural gas infrastructure

  Eliminating access to affordable energy options like the direct use of natural gas — particularly at a time when solar and wind are not able to meet energy demand — is not a wise path forward, the author writes.

  Dave Schryver • Sept. 8, 2022

• 

  How states and utilities can capitalize on the biggest clean energy legislation in US history

  Utilities should use the IRA’s tax credits and reinvestment financing to accelerate their clean power ambitions, replacing risky fossil plants with renewables to boost profits and cut consumer costs, the authors write.

  Dan Esposito and Kimani Jeffrey • Aug. 31, 2022

• 

  Wind and solar power aren’t enough to combat climate change. We need to incentivize firm renewables, too.

  For too long, federal U.S. policy has taken a siloed perspective and focused almost exclusively on developing popular intermittent renewable solutions, like wind and solar — and it’s not enough, the author writes. 

  George Sakellaris • Aug. 26, 2022

Previous Next