Groups blast fossil fuel focus of DOE hydrogen hub selections

The DOE said Monday that two-thirds of the hydrogen produced in the hubs will come from renewable resources, but environmental groups are skeptical.

By Emma Penrod • Oct. 17, 2023

New York rejects Ørsted, Equinor and BP bids to adjust offshore wind contracts

The developers say increased costs have left the projects financially unviable, but the state said granting their petitions would pass billions in costs to ratepayers.

By Diana DiGangi • Oct. 13, 2023

Explore the Trendline➔

The Energy Transition to Renewables

New policy and business actions are giving a significant boost to renewable energy in the U.S., but opposition is growing and grid interconnection, permitting, labor and other challenges remain.

By Utility Dive staff

DOE selects 7 hydrogen hubs for $7B funding opportunity

The selection of several hubs focused on hydrogen production from fossil fuels and carbon capture drew the ire of environmental groups.

By Emma Penrod • Oct. 13, 2023

Reworking the grid to accommodate offshore wind is a matter of ‘extreme urgency’: Ørsted exec

The limited points of interconnection on the Atlantic coast make collaborative and creative planning a necessity, said Ørsted’s Head of Electricity Policy Lopa Parikh.

By Diana DiGangi • Oct. 12, 2023

Clean energy could create up to 4.7 jobs for every commercial building

Solar PV, heat pumps and battery storage installation and maintenance could generate more than 2 million new jobs in the U.S. and Europe, according to a study by Schneider Electric and Boston University.

By Nish Amarnath • Oct. 12, 2023

2024 US power sector conferences to watch

Start planning for this year’s events, which will cover the clean energy transition, state and federal energy policy and more.

By Larry Pearl • Updated Feb. 16, 2024

Rooftop solar system median size up 200%, with storage pairings rising: DOE lab

In 2022, around 10% of all new residential solar installations included paired storage, and median system size was 7.2 kW, rising from 2.4 kW in 2000.

By Diana DiGangi • Oct. 10, 2023

NiSource hydrogen, gas blending project to test specialty skid to optimize mix

The pilot will help NiSource test the safety and viability of using hydrogen blends in natural gas infrastructure and in commercial and industrial settings.

By Emma Penrod • Oct. 10, 2023

Bank of America upgrades Xcel Energy to ‘buy’ on strength of Colorado resource plan

Xcel’s plan to double its renewable resources in Colorado lays the foundation “for an upward inflection in rate base growth to the end of the decade,” said analysts at Bank of America.

By Robert Walton • Oct. 10, 2023

No more delays or excuses: California must build clean energy now to replace fossil fuels

We need Gov. Newsom to sign SB 619 so that 2023 is the last year state agencies can point to insufficient clean energy generation as a reason for delaying the closure of outdated fossil fuel plants.

By Ed Smeloff • Oct. 6, 2023

US solar farms are aging. Is it time to begin repowering?

Some 23 GW of U.S. solar farms contain inverters that will need to be replaced over the next five years. But repowering might not unfold in the solar industry the same way it did for wind.

By Emma Penrod • Oct. 6, 2023

PNNL projects up to $6B annual benefit from West Coast offshore wind transmission planning

A new study from DOE’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory aims to guide state policy in Oregon and California and "stand as a rubric for future grid integration studies."

By Diana DiGangi • Oct. 5, 2023

Skepticism persists around clean energy and grid reliability. Here’s how to fix that.

The imminent retirement of dozens of coal plants is prompting new questions about the ability of renewables and storage to provide essential reliability services.

By Sara Baldwin • Oct. 5, 2023

Avangrid moves to cancel Park City offshore wind contracts on heels of SouthCoast termination

Canceling the project's existing power purchase agreements and rebidding the project is Park City Wind's “best path forward,” the company said on Monday.

By Emma Penrod • Oct. 4, 2023

3 states sign first-ever agreement to coordinate offshore wind procurement

As the offshore wind market faces economic challenges, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts aim to cooperate to make projects cheaper and more viable.

By Diana DiGangi • Oct. 4, 2023

Battery storage failures highlight reliability challenges of inverter-based resources: report

The analysis is the latest data point in the North American Electric Reliability Corp.’s investigation of IBRs tripping offline or reducing output in response to grid disturbances.

By Robert Walton • Oct. 4, 2023

An optimal clean energy procurement strategy? Google and others are working on it.

Carbon-matching, 24/7 hourly purchases and standardized power purchase agreements are emerging approaches as the corporate green energy market evolves.

By Ethan Howland • Oct. 3, 2023

NREL adds geothermal hybrid system to energy project cost analysis tool

The tool can help facilities owners and operators identify the optimal mix of geothermal heat pump technologies, renewable energy, conventional generation and energy storage, the lab says.

By Joe Burns • Oct. 2, 2023

Climate models underestimate storage, renewables progress, overstate net-zero costs: study

Modeling has failed to account for cost decreases and efficiency increases for clean energy resources, said the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change.

By Diana DiGangi • Sept. 28, 2023

DOE closes $3B partial loan guarantee with Sunnova in agency’s largest single commitment to solar

Sunnova expects to provide loans to between 75,000 and 115,000 homeowners for rooftop solar installations, residential battery systems and smart software.

By Diana DiGangi • Sept. 28, 2023

Community solar is hot. Why not community wind?

Perhaps the biggest difference between yesterday’s community wind and today’s community solar markets is in their business models, which reflect their respective market and policy environments. 

By Mark Bolinger and Bentham Paulos • Sept. 27, 2023

Xcel Colorado proposes $15B plan to double renewables, add gas and energy storage capacity

The plan includes about 5,400 MW of solar and wind resources, more than 1,000 MW of energy storage and almost 630 MW of new gas-fired capacity.

By Robert Walton • Sept. 26, 2023

US won’t reach net zero emissions without transmission buildout: DNV

A cumulative $12 trillion will be spent on clean energy in North America by 2050, but neither the U.S. or Canada are on track to hit net zero by then, says consulting firm DNV.

By Diana DiGangi • Sept. 25, 2023

Customer-driven clean energy procurement, not regulation, is driving decarbonization

In 2022, voluntary renewable energy procurement deals by corporate and institutional customers were equivalent to 70% of the carbon-free energy capacity added to the grid.

By Kevin Hagen • Sept. 25, 2023

Dominion Energy turns to lithium-ion battery alternatives as it builds out offshore wind, solar fleet

A proposed project would test two storage technologies: Form Energy’s iron-air batteries and Eos Energy’s zinc-hybrid batteries.

By Kavya Balaraman • Sept. 22, 2023