Develop a resilient utility supply chain program

Manage evolving threat vectors across your diverse vendor ecosystem by iterating and supporting your team and vendors.

By David Chaddock, Director, Cybersecurity, West Monroe & Sean Murphy, Manager, Energy & Utilities, West Monroe • Nov. 1, 2021

APS vows legal action after Arizona regulators deny cost recovery for $215.5M coal plant upgrades

Regulators approved the utility’s first rate decrease since 1996, while voting against full cost recovery for APS' investment in upgrades to a coal plant being closed earlier than initially planned.

By Scott Van Voorhis • Updated Nov. 3, 2021

Explore the Trendline➔

Cybersecurity of the Grid

While cyberthreats to the power sector are expanding, so are the tools to address them. But a key question remains — are companies doing what's needed to reduce the risk?

By Utility Dive staff

Sophisticated hackers could crash the US power grid, but money, not sabotage, is their focus

For now, the capability remains in the hands of nation-state actors. But "sophistication can ultimately be bought," Edison Electric Institute Vice President for Security and Preparedness Scott Aaronson said.

By Robert Walton • Oct. 28, 2021

FERC's Glick urges power plant owners to line up fuel supplies as gas prices soar

Rising liquefied natural gas exports are helping drive up natural gas prices, posing a risk in New England markets, FERC said Thursday in a report.

By Ethan Howland • Oct. 22, 2021

To secure the energy supply chain, feds want to reimagine the power sector as defense

Department of Energy officials say vulnerable software and data supply chains expose the U.S. power grid to attack.

By Robert Walton • Oct. 21, 2021

Texas regulators tee up market changes, weatherization standards in response to February crisis

The Public Utilities Commission of Texas on Thursday could vote to adopt weatherization requirements for generators and transmission owners that were originally contained in a pair of decade-old reports.

By Robert Walton • Oct. 20, 2021

Entergy failures threaten New Orleans' future

Entergy's way of doing business is unaffordable to ratepayers and it is unable to provide the kind of reliability and resilience that are more necessary in the face of climate disaster, the author writes.

By Jesse George • Oct. 15, 2021

California ISO, utilities weigh in on more aggressive emissions goal, reliability needs

A portfolio of resources that would enable the electric sector to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to 38 million metric tons by 2030 will leave only 500 MW of effective capacity above what is needed to meet reliability targets in 2026, according to the California Independent System Operator. 

By Kavya Balaraman • Oct. 12, 2021

House lawmakers demand answers from LUMA Energy regarding Puerto Rico's failing electric grid

Legislators wrote to the company's CEO seeking details on staffing levels and efforts to bolster the workforce throughout a stretch of power outages that have occurred since the company took over grid operations.

By Robert Walton • Oct. 12, 2021

Utilities and the decarbonization portfolio

Can a multi-faceted portfolio approach enhance utility decarbonization efforts?

By Andrew Dillon, Innovation Fellow, Energy & Utilities, West Monroe & Carolyn Weiner, Senior Manager, Energy & Utilities, West Monroe • Oct. 11, 2021

DOE teams with Xcel, Berkshire Hathaway Energy on cybersecurity program to protect clean energy

The challenge hackers present to the U.S. electric grid "is bigger than any one utility," according to the head of Xcel Energy's security efforts.

By Robert Walton • Oct. 7, 2021

California considers increasing Aliso Canyon's gas storage to boost reliability, despite calls to shut it down

The state Public Utilities Commission has released two proposals aimed at ensuring there is sufficient natural gas supply in the Los Angeles Basin this winter.

By Kavya Balaraman • Oct. 5, 2021

'Maybe it's not the right approach anymore' — FERC Chair Glick mulls new security paradigm for power sector

The electric industry is considering a new approach to securing "low-impact" grid assets, which have typically had fewer protections in place but are increasingly seen as vulnerable to cyberattacks.

By Robert Walton • Oct. 4, 2021

MISO, ISO-NE execs stress need for new power supply planning framework at FERC reliability meeting

Increasing wildfires, heat domes and deep freezes require a new paradigm for resource adequacy planning, experts from grid operators told FERC.

By Ethan Howland • Oct. 1, 2021

As California's solar net metering battle goes to regulators, a focus on reliability may be the best answer

The reliability value of solar plus storage in ensuring resource adequacy might be the key to solar's future, according to Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies Executive Director V. John White.

By Herman K. Trabish • Oct. 1, 2021

State, federal actions show growing push for a nuclear role in reaching net zero emissions

Former critics of nuclear power agree, financial support may be justified for firm power options to tackle climate change and get over the net zero emissions finish line.

By Herman K. Trabish • Sept. 28, 2021

How CISA's head wants to reform federal cybersecurity

Without a federal incident reporting law, CISA and the private sector lack efficient information-sharing capabilites, Director Jen Easterly said.

By Samantha Schwartz • Sept. 27, 2021

FERC Chair Glick wants mandatory winterization standards for power plants following Texas grid failure

Chairman Richard Glick said FERC would not permit the weakening of the recent recommendations, which one expert said could lead to $1 million per-day penalties for power plants that fail to prepare for climate change.

By Robert Walton • Sept. 24, 2021

What utility companies need to know about software bill of materials

The Biden administration wants more transparency in the software supply chain. It's an area where utility companies have already been collaborating with the federal government.

By Samantha Schwartz • Sept. 22, 2021

New Orleans City Council votes to investigate Entergy's Ida-related failures

City leaders have also asked state regulators and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to investigate the company, with a particular focus on transmission failures.

By Robert Walton • Updated Sept. 24, 2021

Energy, utility sectors feel 'most exposed' to cybersecurity threats, survey finds

However, the report also found energy and utility executives feel more resilient to technology risks as their "businesses have become adept at dealing with disruption more generally."

By Samantha Schwartz • Sept. 20, 2021

Operations management – an oxymoron?

Learn how you can use GIS to add structure to your operational processes to help make chaotic events more manageable.

By Bill Meehan • Sept. 20, 2021

New Orleans council chief calls for investigation into Entergy's Hurricane Ida response

Councilmember Helena Moreno plans to introduce a resolution calling for an investigation into Entergy’s storm response and related issues at the City Council’s Sept. 22 meeting.

By Scott Van Voorhis • Sept. 17, 2021

Vendor role in NERC's upcoming cyberattack exercise unclear despite growing power sector threat

About a quarter of electric power utilities were vulnerable to hackers via the SolarWinds attack, but the organization overseeing grid security does not invite software vendors to its biennial security exercise.

By Robert Walton • Sept. 17, 2021

Boards rethink response playbook as ransomware surges

Corporate boards are no longer rubber-stamping assurances from CIOs or CISOs but are bringing in outside experts, asking more questions and preparing for the risk of personal liability.

By David Jones • Sept. 15, 2021