How flexibility redefines utility battery investment strategies

With renewable penetration and electrification on the rise, flexible assets that can adapt and shift duty cycles are getting utilities’ – and the DOE’s – attention.

By Matt Harper, Chief Commercial Officer, Invinity Energy Systems • Sept. 5, 2023

Amid record heat, CAISO’s day-ahead market is proving the value of a regional grid

Establishing the Extended Day-Ahead Market is a significant milestone, but we need to get to a true regional grid, a Western Regional Transmission Organization, to achieve maximum benefits. 

By Mona Tierney-Lloyd and Jack Wadleigh • Aug. 30, 2023

Explore the Trendline➔

Grid Resiliency

Utilities and grid operators are facing increasing threats from climate change as well as cyber and physical attacks, and are deploying a variety of responses to meet the rising challenges.

By Utility Dive staff

American Clean Power asks FERC to hold conference on capacity accreditation

Improving the patchwork approach to measuring the reliability value of power plants, energy storage and other resources would bolster the grid, according to the trade group.

By Ethan Howland • Aug. 25, 2023

NARUC, NASEO issue microgrid policy framework to assist regulators

Microgrids’ ability to provide energy resilience raises policy questions “particularly with regard to cost allocation,” say state regulators and energy officials.

By Robert Walton • Aug. 23, 2023

NERC assessment identifies new risk to grid reliability: energy policy

Grid transformation, extreme weather events, security and critical infrastructure interdependencies are also areas of risk, according to the North American Electric Reliability Corp.

By Robert Walton • Aug. 23, 2023

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?

By Chris Watts • Aug. 21, 2023

Texas grid weathers steamy week, 2 calls for conservation, as experts urge more efficiency investment

Efficiency advocates say Texas continues to underinvest in demand-side solutions that could help to reduce grid stress and lower monthly power bills.

By Robert Walton • Aug. 21, 2023

The IT iceberg: Hidden challenges to realizing the energy transition lurking beneath the surface

Utilities have ambitious clean energy goals, but existing IT infrastructure threatens to curtail progress — here’s how they can make moves.

By Rajiv Shah, Head of US Policy and Markets, Octopus Energy Group • Aug. 21, 2023

DOE lab develops new models to address inverter faults, avoid grid disruptions

Electromagnetic transient domain analysis may be key to stopping inverter-based resources from tripping offline or reducing output in response to grid events, according to research from Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

By Robert Walton • Aug. 18, 2023

How utilities are improving residential customer satisfaction

Energy providers ranked highest in customer satisfaction share the best practices behind their success.

Aug. 14, 2023

A community solar boom will test Xcel, other utility plans against developer, customer needs: analysts

New state and federal funding and initiatives for community solar can bring equity and system reliability to the emerging energy transition, analysts say.

By Herman K. Trabish • Aug. 10, 2023

EPRI launches initiative to ready grid for increased EV loads, joined by Amazon, Xcel, ConEd

“Utilities are going to need, in some cases, two to four years of heads-up time to react and to do planning,” said EPRI Director of Transportation Britta Gross.

By Diana DiGangi • Aug. 8, 2023

Hurricane Ian outage insights help utilities prepare before a storm

Utility outage solution tested during Hurricane Ian shows positive results for confident storm impact decisions.

Aug. 7, 2023

Helical piles improve cost, schedule and durability of substantial industrial projects

Helical piles have secured their spot as one of the most resilient, cost-effective foundation choices.

Aug. 7, 2023

DOE makes $450M available for residential solar, battery systems in Puerto Rico

This summer, Puerto Rico experienced rolling blackouts 570 times more frequently than the North American average, according to the Department of Energy.

By Robert Walton • Aug. 1, 2023

Southern California Edison eyeing ‘substantial investments’ in grid resilience and reliability, CEO says

From 2025 through 2028, SCE projects annual capital deployment of around $8 billion — double what it was six years ago — with over 85% of its investments going into the distribution grid.

By Kavya Balaraman • July 31, 2023

Outage insights help utilities minimize financial impact before a storm hits

Machine learning data provides outage insights for more efficient real-time response planning.

July 31, 2023

TSA revises security directives for oil, gas pipelines to test resilience

The updated requirements come amid heightened threats and security incidents, including the recent attack against Suncor Energy in Canada.

By David Jones • July 27, 2023

Turning weather data into actionable information

Learn how DTN Storm Risk solutions optimize weather intelligence and machine learning to help utilities prepare for future weather impacts.

July 25, 2023

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.

By Don Tappan • July 25, 2023

3 ways executives can stay ahead of their company’s wildfire risk

As temperatures are rising, energy companies across the United States are challenged with reducing wildfire risk and increasing their reliability as part of their on-going operations.

By Bryan Spear, CEO, Technosylva • July 24, 2023

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.

By Michelle Solomon • July 20, 2023

House panel discusses grid threats: China, Russia, inverter-based resources, physical attacks

Hackers have never caused a U.S. blackout, but there are nation-states that “possess the capability to disrupt critical infrastructure,” warned the head of the Electricity Information Sharing and Analysis Center.

By Robert Walton • July 20, 2023

NYC could face up to 446 MW power deficit in 2025, due to electrification and peaker retirements: ISO

Completion of the Champlain Hudson Power Express transmission line, which will bring power to New York City from Quebec, is expected to improve reliability margins beginning in 2026.

By Robert Walton • July 19, 2023

With more big storms ahead, here’s how utilities can help close the resilience gap

Following multiple billion-dollar weather or climate disasters in the U.S. this year, electric utilities are bracing for further impact.

July 17, 2023