Puerto Rico’s rooftop solar boom is strengthening grid resilience — why is a federal board trying to stop it?

With thousands of new smart-enabled solar homes joining the grid each month, Puerto Rico is building a distributed, responsive network that can help manage grid fluctuations in real time.

By PJ Wilson • May 1, 2025

Why customer engagement is the key to VPP success

What if one of the most powerful tools for strengthening the grid is already in customers’ garages, basements, driveways and businesses?

By Hannah Bascom • April 30, 2025

Explore the Trendline➔

Distributed Energy Resource Growth

Distributed energy resources, including rooftop solar, battery storage and electric vehicles, are experiencing significant growth in the U.S. as the power sector evolves to a cleaner, less centralized future.

By Utility Dive staff

EPRI’s Open Power AI Consortium plans to fuel grid modernization with data sharing

Utilities, tech companies and regulators are facing a conundrum: Utilities want to use AI, but AI needs access to unavailable utility data to be effective.

By Herman K. Trabish • Updated April 29, 2025

As Trump targets clean energy, will utilities embrace DERs and VPPs?

Though early Trump policies have been broadly unfavorable to utility-scale wind, solar and energy storage, experts are bullish on distributed generation and flexible loads.

By Brian Martucci • April 21, 2025

Why microgrids are the key to grid resilience

Amid evolving domestic and geopolitical landscapes, microgrids offer a reliable, cost-effective energy solution — advancing the nation toward energy independence and security for years to come.

By Nicole Bulgarino • April 15, 2025

Utilities are shedding crocodile tears over community solar ‘cost-shift’

Regulators and utilities should compensate community solar fairly for the money-saving value those facilities and their subscribers bring to the grid system.

By Karl Rábago • April 14, 2025

ChargeScape and the future of energy management

ChargeScape is an automotive joint venture providing EV-grid integration software to power utilities.

April 7, 2025

PG&E announces microgrid awards for $43M as Sunrun joins its 2025 VPP

The nine microgrid projects will serve about 9,000 customers in disadvantaged or vulnerable Northern California communities, the utility said.

By Brian Martucci • April 2, 2025

White paper points to carbon capture as possible data center solution

Pairing carbon capture with natural gas-fired generation could prove cost-competitive with other baseload options, like nuclear and battery storage, according to a Carbon Direct white paper.

By Emma Penrod • March 31, 2025

Harnessing climatology to avert tomorrow’s black swan natural catastrophe

Is the electric utility industry truly equipped to anticipate and mitigate these increasingly frequent catastrophes, particularly when it comes to wildfire and extreme weather?

By Steve Vanderburg, Vice President of Weather & Risk Solutions, Technosylva • March 31, 2025

But first, eat your vegetables: A guide to smarter load management

Smarter load management optimizes grid performance and efficiency. Discover strategies for balanced growth.

By Kyle Kichura • March 18, 2025

Microgrids called a low-burden way to ensure backup power

Facilities managers can lower upfront costs and avoid disruptive maintenance checks by subscribing to a resiliency-as-a-service platform, a microgrid executive says.

By Robert Freedman • March 17, 2025

IRA funding freeze has put ‘many’ clean energy projects on pause

The uncertainty created by the funding freeze has affected projects at “various stages of development,” a clean energy executive said on a recent press call.

By Lamar Johnson • March 7, 2025

Avista, PG&E, Ameren AI demonstrations show great potential – but are other utilities ready?

New artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms can optimize complexities across the power system if utilities and regulators can make data more accessible — and protect it, experts say.

By Herman K. Trabish • March 7, 2025

10 years of grid modernization: Major progress, stubborn challenges

Improving energy affordability and grid reliability can guide the way on modernizing the grid for tomorrow’s challenges, according to Grid Forward’s Bryce Yonker.

By Bryce Yonker • Feb. 28, 2025

Are utility demand response program costs outstripping their benefits in California?

California Public Utilities Commission policy has been pushing customers to choose utility-run supply-side DR programs over third-party options that face pressure to keep costs low.

By Collin Smith • Feb. 24, 2025

AEP expects electric sales to jump 8.6% annually over 3 years

American Electric Power is in the early permitting phase for small modular reactors in Indiana and Virginia as data centers and industrial facilities drive demand for power.

By Ethan Howland • Feb. 18, 2025

2024 ‘a pivotal year’ for virtual power plant policy: report

Following 105 policy actions nationwide last year, 2025 could see continued momentum as load begins to grow, the NC Clean Energy Technology Center and the Smart Electric Power Alliance say.

By Brian Martucci • Feb. 12, 2025

Transformer supply bottleneck threatens power system stability as load grows

Electric transformers are critical to managing power system reliability. Solutions to the bottleneck are emerging, but long wait times remain.

By Herman K. Trabish • Feb. 12, 2025

EPA funding freeze endangers $7B Solar For All program

“We don't know how much money got out the door, we don't know how much money the administration can seek to claw back,” said Vote Solar’s executive director, Sachu Constantine.

By Diana DiGangi • Feb. 6, 2025

Electricity is the next energy crisis

Electricity demand and distribution technologies won't solve the entire problem, but they can provide immediate relief.

By Juan Macias • Feb. 6, 2025

2025 US power sector outlook

The second Trump administration has ramped up energy transition uncertainty. Meanwhile, electricity demand from data centers and electrification continues to grow, and the resource mix is changing.

By Utility Dive staff • Jan. 31, 2025

‘Interconnection processes must evolve’ to handle DER influx: DOE

The DER interconnection roadmap issued in the last days of the Biden administration envisions interconnection wait times under one day for <50-kW systems and 25% shorter power outage durations by 2030.

By Brian Martucci • Jan. 24, 2025

Trump freezes IRA funding

The White House issued a memo to clarify the funding pause, specifying that it pertains only to aspects of the law mentioned in Section 2 of the executive order.

By Kate Magill • Updated Jan. 23, 2025

Sonnen, SOLRITE Energy launch grid-optimizing virtual power plant in Texas

The program aims to relieve congestion and improve renewable power economics on the Electric Reliability Council of Texas grid, sonnen USA CEO Blake Richetta said.

By Brian Martucci • Jan. 17, 2025