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  4 fixes utilities can make to boost energy equity

  If only throwing money at the problem of energy affordability and equity could solve it, we’d be in much better shape today than we are. Money is important, and required, but insufficient on its own.

  Ben Nathan • Aug. 28, 2023

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  The Airbnb of power: Why the electricity sector is ripe for platformization

  With the rise of rooftop solar, electric vehicles and home storage, more and more consumers now own their own generation assets — a resource potential that platform business models can tap into.

  By Tobias Menzel, Timm Teubner, Eric Gervet and Hanjo Arms • Aug. 22, 2023

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  Buried treasure: Building the business case for undergrounding

  Given the costs associated with storm-related outages, the question isn’t can we afford to underground more power lines but rather, can we afford not to?

  Chris Watts • Aug. 21, 2023

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  Virtual power plants: Resource adequacy without interconnection delays

  VPPs can be implemented today, but much more needs to happen to accelerate this transition at scale.

  Ryan Hledik, Kala Viswanathan and Kate Peters • Aug. 17, 2023

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  California’s facing climate and electric rates crises. Here’s how to solve them.

  To be successful, in addition to better communications, the transition to clean energy in California will need solutions that are less familiar to customers and policymakers.

  Matt Baker • Aug. 15, 2023

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  With a unique alignment of interests, now is the time to address methane emissions

  Given the public focus on sustainability as well as corporate commitments, it is in electric utilities’ best interest to ensure that their primary fuel source is as low emission and cost effective as possible.

  Jeffrey Kupfer • Aug. 14, 2023

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  Affordable energy in West Virginia starts with economic dispatch

  West Virginia’s utilities have been operating their coal plants while incurring large losses and could have saved their ratepayers money by taking advantage of cheaper available power sources in the PJM market.  

  Ashtin Massie, Maria Castillo, Joe Daniel • Aug. 9, 2023

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  California must act quickly or risk losing billions in federal community solar incentives

  The clock is ticking because a federal program to support community solar requires that states receiving a portion of the $7 billion start providing subsidies within 18 months of it being awarded.

  Aaron Halimi • Aug. 8, 2023

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  The imperative of free, green and secure wires reform

  The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission must advance transmission planning reforms and bolster interconnection rules to improve grid reliability, lower consumer costs and cut power plant emissions.

  Devin Hartman and Jennie Chen • Aug. 7, 2023

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  Industry cries wolf yet again over EPA’s power plant carbon rules

  In case after case, industry has complained that EPA rules would be more costly than predicted. But, in fact, the costs are typically much, much less than the agency anticipated.

  Sophia Ahmed • Aug. 4, 2023

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  Despite headwinds, US offshore wind is poised for a breakout

  U.S. offshore wind ambition should be far higher — billions in investment and hundreds of thousands of new jobs, along with a stable and clean grid, are at stake.

  Taylor McNair • Aug. 3, 2023

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  Fast charging, high costs: Eliminating demand charges won’t solve the problem

  Demand charges are essential for a utility to recover the cost of maintaining, upgrading, and building the electric grid, according to the author.

  Chip Silverman • Aug. 2, 2023

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  Interregional transmission: The US is the tortoise, China is the hare

  A failure to dramatically scale up interregional transmission capacity ensures the U.S. will fall further behind in the economic race with China.

  James McCalley • Aug. 1, 2023

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  Everything talks to everything: Building resilience into the power grid

  In the face of unprecedented distributed energy growth, building a dynamic and resilient grid will require key elements such as data management and a transmission buildout.

  Don Tappan • July 25, 2023

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  Hydrogen can fill a critical gap in decarbonizing, but can utilities make the business case?

  As electric and gas utilities seek approval from regulators, they will need to address concerns about hydrogen economics, sustainability and safety.

  Leah Kunkel, Wesley Miller and Jessica Wright • July 24, 2023

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  I claimed energy independence for my co-op last summer — Here’s what happened next

  No community should be dictated what source of power generation they have to consume — and no group should be beholden to another group charging them ever-escalating and opaque pricing.

  Luis A. Reyes, Jr. • July 21, 2023

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  It’s time to rethink grid reliability

  While the grid shifts from a fossil fuel-heavy system to one that is powered by clean, carbon-free electricity generation, there are three questions we need to answer.

  Michelle Solomon • July 20, 2023

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  Digging deep: Why oil and gas should take a closer look at geothermal

  Rather than equivocating in their commitments to clean energy, oil and gas companies should draw on their strengths in innovation and cost reduction to bring energy solutions to market.

  Andrew Howell and Karine Kleinhaus • July 19, 2023

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  America faces another high-wire moment: This one around its energy future

  The debt ceiling bill included some much-needed reforms to improve the efficiency of the permitting process for energy infrastructure. But they were step one. The question is, what comes next?

  Amy Andryszak and Jason Grumet • July 18, 2023

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  Bigger meals require better receipts: A call for coordinated greenhouse gas emissions tracking

  States need to work together to create a consistent, transparent and ironclad greenhouse gas accounting system, writes Abigail Anthony, a commissioner with the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission.

  Abigail Anthony • July 12, 2023

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  How years of mismanagement and regulatory failures broke California’s utilities

  There is a chronic misperception that Herculean efforts are required to overhaul utility infrastructure and set California back on the path of improvement. In fact, the solutions are much more basic than that.

  Jeffrey Conklin and Andrew Heath • July 11, 2023

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  How hourly tracking can prevent a ‘clean’ hydrogen boondoggle

  Hourly matching is feasible, in use today and absolutely necessary for deploying clean hydrogen and building a clean grid.

  Ben Gerber and Killian Daly • July 10, 2023

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  From power to pharma, companies need better carbon emissions reporting

  The key to progress is interoperability, or the ability to compare, share and use information across greenhouse gas accounting and reporting systems.

  Liv Watson and Marian Van Pelt • July 7, 2023

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  Tapping into DOE’s $250B of loan authority for projects that reinvest in US clean energy infrastructure

  Potential projects include replacing retired infrastructure with nuclear energy or renewables with or without storage, retrofitting power plants, reconductoring transmission lines and more.

  Jigar Shah • July 6, 2023

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  Local solar and storage are essential to the electrification movement

  The key to lowering the cost of electrification is energy management and demand response, starting with local solar and storage.

  Robin Dutta • June 28, 2023

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