Congress presses DOE’s Wright on Energy Star, permitting reform

Energy Secretary Chris Wright didn’t offer plans for DOE’s full takeover of the Energy Star program. He agreed to work with Congress on methane rules and permitting reform.

By Diana DiGangi • April 17, 2026

Wright defends actions on coal plants, funding cuts in testy House hearing

When pressed, the energy secretary said that money for home energy efficiency rebate programs, which has been frozen since last year, would “probably” be released in a “few weeks.”

By Diana DiGangi • April 16, 2026

Explore the Trendline➔

Top 5 Stories from Utility Dive

Power demand is rising amid dramatic shifts in federal energy policy, but technology and markets continue to push the grid toward cleaner, more distributed resources. 

By Utility Dive staff

FERC orders American Efficient to pay $1.1B for ‘brazen fraud’

“American Efficient’s years-long fraud profoundly disrupted the organized capacity markets and ultimately increased costs for ordinary Americans,” FERC Chairman Laura Swett said.

By Ethan Howland • Updated April 17, 2026

Maryland regulators weigh investor-owned utilities’ flexible load proposals

Public Service Commission staff characterized the proposals as a good start but said they needed “additional clarity” to ensure reliable, measurable and well-located grid benefits.

By Brian Martucci • April 15, 2026

As EV load grows, utilities use managed charging to harness flexibility, lower costs

Active managed charging can delay costly system upgrades while saving individual customers money on their bills, utilities, automakers and aggregators say, but a lack of standardized data-sharing is slowing adoption.

By Herman K. Trabish • Updated April 10, 2026

Virginia grid utilization bill set to become law

A growing body of research suggests increased grid utilization has broad benefits for utilities and customers, but experts say advanced metering technology is needed to unlock its full potential.

By Brian Martucci • April 8, 2026

Turning the AC-DC switch: A legacy technology has reached its limits.

AC is no longer the preferred current for many applications. A transition is underway, but it calls for new technology to be deliberately deployed, writes Shaun Walsh at Peak Nano.

By Shaun Walsh • April 7, 2026

Minnesota approves Xcel’s utility-owned battery program

Xcel will own up to 200 MW of energy storage under the second phase of its Capacity*Connect program. Solar industry groups and others called it a missed opportunity to include independent developers. 

By Robert Walton • April 6, 2026

Low customer trust is quietly undermining utility digital payment programs

Utilities that fail to address consumers' biggest areas of distrust are seeing measurable drops in online payment adoption — and the operational costs are adding up.

April 6, 2026

National Grid, GridCARE partnership could cut ‘time to power’ for large loads in New York

The initiative aims to boost grid utilization and keep bills in check in a region that has drawn high-profile data center and advanced manufacturing projects.

By Brian Martucci • April 1, 2026

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.

By Shana Patadia and Britta Gross • March 27, 2026

Michigan, New York lawmakers consider virtual power plant bills

The proposals would prohibit utility ownership of participating distributed energy resources and require reasonable access for third-party aggregators.

By Brian Martucci • March 25, 2026

Data center buildouts slowed late last year

“Power and electrical equipment is still the main driver of construction delays,” said Gordon Dolven, CBRE data center research director.

By Matt Ashare • March 25, 2026

Puget Sound’s vehicle-to-home charging pilot combines demand response, peak shaving, resilience

The test will use electric vehicle batteries for demand response and residential peak shaving while also making their storage capacity available during power outages.

By Brian Martucci • March 24, 2026

Better grid utilization could save customers $170B: Brattle report

However, the report’s lead author said that “we need regulatory models that reward utilities for pursuing this opportunity.”

By Brian Martucci • March 23, 2026

Battery developers, local officials ask New York to roll back Con Edison BESS methodology

“The grid has been built to serve customers, not to host battery storage anywhere, at any scale,” a Con Edison official told Utility Dive.

By Brian Martucci • March 18, 2026

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.

By Kimberly Johnston • March 18, 2026

Mass. governor orders state to pursue 15 GW of resources, including storage, VPPs

The executive order also calls for a review of existing gas and oil storage capacity and utilization, including how the Everett LNG import terminal helps meet the region’s energy needs.

By Robert Walton • March 17, 2026

Lowering peak energy demand can provide outsized benefit, executive tells facilities managers

Building owners, tenants or operators are “paying a huge premium” on peak demand charges that could be based on a single, 15-minute period in the billing cycle, said Richard Fox of Sanalife Energy.

By Joe Burns • March 16, 2026

EPB of Chattanooga deploys battery-based microgrids for savings, resilience

Within three years, the Tennessee distribution utility could have as much as 150 MW of energy storage on its system, representing more than 10% of peak load, an executive told Utility Dive.

By Brian Martucci • March 11, 2026

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.

By Allison Clements and Lori Bird • March 11, 2026

Power and capital constraints may drive shift to modular cooling, smaller data centers

The wait for new large-scale data centers to connect to the power grid is approaching five years in major data center markets, according to a Feb. 26 report from JLL.

By Brian Martucci • March 10, 2026

Energy Star is moving to DOE. Industry groups are hopeful.

Both the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency, which currently runs the program, had big staff cuts last year. At least one group has questions about DOE’s plans.

By Robert Freedman • March 10, 2026

EPA properly awarded $1.5B of now-terminated grants, inspector general says

Among the 80 impacted awardees were dozens of energy projects, including energy efficient housing retrofits and weatherization, solar, storage, microgrid and workforce development programs. 

By Jacob Wallace • March 9, 2026

Utilities are spending billions on the data center boom. What are the risks?

“Data center demand is hard to project over the next few years,” said Advait Arun of the Center for Public Enterprise. “In a market correction, it's very possible that data centers ... will end up crashing out of their tariff arrangements.”

By Diana DiGangi • March 6, 2026