Grid Security & Reliability
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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 -
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Deep DiveThe 2025 outlook for data center cooling
Rapidly increasing server rack densities and 24/7 uptime requirements will increase demand for liquid and hybrid cooling systems, including retrofits, these data center cooling experts say.
By Brian Martucci • Jan. 22, 2025 -
Explore the Trendline➔
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TrendlineReliability
Rising peak demand, extreme weather and other factors are raising power outage risks in the U.S., but FERC and other stakeholders are pursuing multiple actions to address reliability concerns.
By Utility Dive staff -
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AI improvements, DERs and new generation needed to meet power demand: USEA panel
“Serving data center load is absolutely a national security challenge,” said NERC President and CEO Jim Robb.
By Robert Walton • Jan. 22, 2025 -
Moss Landing battery fire sparks calls to improve safety, ‘accountability’ for industry
The site’s fourth blaze in five years destroyed most of a 300-MW battery array owned by Vistra Energy and should serve as a “wake-up call” for the industry, local officials said.
By Brian Martucci • Updated Jan. 21, 2025 -
Courtesy of DC Grid
Liberty Energy, DC Grid partner on off-grid power for data centers and EV hubs
The alliance aims to “provide site-specific power solutions” with higher power conversion efficiency and lower emissions than current solutions, the companies said.
By Brian Martucci • Jan. 21, 2025 -
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Texas PUCT approves Entergy’s $137M system resiliency plan
However, regulators declined to give conditional approval to $198 million in system hardening and fire mitigation projects Entergy wants to fund through the Texas Energy Fund.
By Robert Walton • Jan. 17, 2025 -
Retrieved from Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
DOE nominee Wright aims to boost power supplies to lower costs
“I'm 100% committed to growing our electricity grid and our energy production and removing those barriers that are standing in the way,” said Chris Wright, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Energy.
By Ethan Howland • Jan. 16, 2025 -
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Deep Dive2025 FERC, DOE Outlook: Surging demand growth to drive power-sector agenda
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the departments of Energy and Interior will play key roles in the Trump administration’s efforts to spur new power supplies and cut energy costs.
By Ethan Howland • Jan. 16, 2025 -
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Biden orders Energy, Defense departments to lease sites for AI data centers, clean energy generation
The executive order calls for using “categorical exclusions” to rapidly site data centers and power generation.
By Robert Walton • Jan. 14, 2025 -
Permission granted by Torus
Sponsored by TorusFrom vacant to vital: How commercial buildings could solve the power grid crisis
Turning empty offices into energy assets offers a win-win for real estate and the grid.
By Nate Walkingshaw • Jan. 13, 2025 -
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OpinionAI applications in the energy sector — are you missing out on sustainable impact?
Despite the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence across the power and utility sector, its potential remains underutilized in many areas.
By Mike Duffy • Jan. 10, 2025 -
Retrieved from Marque1313.
PJM ‘shovel-ready’ interconnection plan draws mixed reviews at FERC
State utility regulators and power plant owners told the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission they support PJM’s Reliability Resource Initiative, but renewable developers and others oppose it.
By Ethan Howland • Jan. 9, 2025 -
Andrey Semenov via Getty Images
Data centers drive growth, risk for PG&E, Constellation, NorthWestern: BofA
Electric utilities that can increase earnings related to data center energy demand should see their share prices rise in 2025, according to Bank of America Global Research.
By Robert Walton • Jan. 8, 2025 -
9 US electric power sector issues to watch in 2025
From rising electricity prices and demand to emerging opportunities and challenges around nuclear energy, virtual power plants, renewables and more, we’ve highlighted nine of the most important issues for the year ahead.
By Robert Walton, Ethan Howland, Diana DiGangi, Larry Pearl, Brian Martucci • Jan. 8, 2025 -
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‘Take all appropriate actions’: NERC rings in 2025 with winter storm warning
Forecasts call for Arctic air to challenge the eastern half of the U.S. starting this weekend. Storms “could result in the lowest January temperatures in more than a decade in some places,” said meteorologists.
By Robert Walton • Jan. 2, 2025 -
Retrieved from Public Utilities Commission of Texas.
Texas scraps $1B performance credit mechanism proposal as reliability benefits questioned
"We’ve spent countless hours evaluating the PCM — up until, literally, my last open meeting,” Commissioner Lori Cobos said Thursday. She announced her retirement in December.
By Robert Walton • Dec. 20, 2024 -
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FERC floats ‘ride-through’ reliability standards for wind, solar, batteries, plus 5 other open meeting takeaways
The standards are the first in what is expected to be a suite of NERC rules for inverter-based resources, which can trip offline during grid disturbances.
By Ethan Howland • Dec. 20, 2024 -
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‘Explosive’ demand growth puts more than half of North America at risk of blackouts: NERC
“Simply put, our infrastructure is not being built fast enough to keep up with the rising demand,” said John Moura, NERC’s director of reliability assessments and planning analysis.
By Robert Walton • Dec. 18, 2024 -
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NERC adopts 2 new standards to boost extreme weather reliability
The board also adopted three standards modifications to bolster critical infrastructure protection and energy assurance.
By Robert Walton • Dec. 16, 2024 -
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Deep DiveTexas task force aims to ‘tear down barriers’ to virtual power plant pilot as participation lags
The aggregated DER pilot, which includes Tesla and Bandera Electric as participants, aims to harness 80 MW of flexible resources on the Texas grid, but it has not reached that goal due to various limitations.
By Robert Walton • Dec. 11, 2024 -
YinYang via Getty Images
Five-year US load growth forecast surges 456%, to 128 GW: Grid Strategies
U.S. electricity demand is forecast to increase 15.8% by 2029, according to a new report from Grid Strategies, which called the findings “shocking.” Six regions of the country are driving the growth.
By Robert Walton • Dec. 6, 2024 -
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OpinionClean firm generation is an important piece of the energy transition, but it’s no silver bullet
Due to the high cost of clean firm energy, it may be best considered as part of a broader generation portfolio that relies on much lower cost wind and solar most of the time.
By Michelle Solomon • Dec. 5, 2024 -
Courtesy of General Motors
Deep DiveWhen TOU rates aren’t enough: BGE, other utilities expand active managed charging for rising EV load
With over 3 million electric vehicles on U.S. roads, managed charging pilots need to be scaled before infrastructure upgrade costs start rising, analysts and utility executives agree.
By Herman K. Trabish • Dec. 4, 2024 -
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OpinionA costly lesson in supply and demand: How to address PJM’s capacity shortages
The first law of holes says that you should stop digging when you’re in one. It’s time to stop retiring dispatchable resources if we don’t want the hole we’re in to get any deeper.
By Michelle Bloodworth • Dec. 3, 2024 -
iStock / gorodenkoff
Sponsored by TorusCritical infrastructure at a crossroads: Securing our distributed energy future
A resilient, secure energy grid requires a strong foundation and unified collaboration.
By Nate Walkingshaw, CEO & Co-Founder of Torus • Dec. 2, 2024
