US renewables, storage sectors set to avoid tougher building standards that industry said could kill projects

Solar Energy Industries Association-proposed code changes that are less stringent than those a FEMA advisory panel proposed for solar and storage projects won initial International Code Council approval.

By Ethan Howland • Nov. 14, 2022

The clock is ticking: Urgent steps New York must take to achieve its climate targets

New York needs to act now to improve climate resilience, electrify the transportation system, decarbonize the gas system, and identify equitable economy-wide solutions to cut carbon emissions.

By Mary Barber • Nov. 11, 2022

Explore the Trendline➔

Sustainability

Companies are pursuing increasingly ambitous sustainability goals around clean energy, but integrating rising amounts of renewables, minimizing environmental impacts, and achieving carbon reduction targets can be challenging.

By Utility Dive staff

SMUD tests tool to accelerate rooftop solar interconnections

The Sacramento Municipal Utility District project “has worldwide potential,” according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and can “easily handle hundreds of applications daily.”

By Robert Walton • Nov. 10, 2022

As FERC’s transmission proposal sparks clashes, potential solutions emerge from MISO, elsewhere

Federal transmission planning reforms must decide who builds and where, who benefits and pays, who balances state and national interests, and who enforces the rules, stakeholders said.

By Herman K. Trabish • Nov. 7, 2022

Duke Energy greenlights sale of $4B commercial renewable energy unit amid ‘robust’ interest

Proceeds from the sale will help the company reduce debt and lower costs associated with decarbonization amid rising interest rates, CEO Lynn Good told investors on Friday.

By Emma Penrod • Nov. 7, 2022

DTE Electric proposes $9B spend on 5.4 GW renewables, 760 MW storage, coal-to-gas power plant switch

The Detroit-based utility aims to exit coal in 2035, with carbon capture and small nuclear reactors as replacement options.

By Ethan Howland • Nov. 4, 2022

Low-income households’ residential solar adoption is rising, but a stark income gap remains the U.S. norm

More residential solar adoption in middle- and lower-income states like Texas and Florida has helped close the national income gap, according to the report from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

By Emma Penrod • Nov. 3, 2022

Clean energy deployments tumble 22% in Q3 to 3-year low as delayed projects rise to 36 GW: report

However, while installations of solar and onshore wind capacity fell, battery storage installations grew significantly.

By Robert Walton • Nov. 3, 2022

As Memphis Light, Gas and Water weighs an exit, is TVA headed for a renewable energy sea change?

TVA could soon be facing a widespread defection of other local power companies, opening the field to an increasingly renewable future for its customers, the author writes.

By Gaby Sarri-Tobar • Nov. 3, 2022

AES Indiana says converting 1,052 MW of coal to gas will be $381M cheaper than renewables and storage

The utility’s resource plan includes little near-term solar and fails to take advantage of Inflation Reduction Act tax credits for “energy communities,” said Ben Inskeep, Citizens Action Coalition program director.

By Ethan Howland • Nov. 2, 2022

Xcel to retire Texas coal-fired power plant early, speeding up companywide exit from coal to 2030

The Minneapolis-based utility plans to add 11,700 MW of wind and solar across its eight-state system.

By Ethan Howland • Nov. 1, 2022

How the US plans to transform its lithium supply chain

With just 3.6% of global reserves, U.S. access to the critical mineral is vital to the country’s sustainable energy plans.

By Deborah Abrams Kaplan • Nov. 1, 2022

Dominion settles with Walmart, others on potential cost overruns for $9.8B offshore wind project

“Today’s settlement strikes a much better balance between shareholders and ratepayers that enables the project to move forward,” said Will Cleveland, a Southern Environmental Law Center senior attorney.

By Ethan Howland • Oct. 31, 2022

Electric utilities aren’t doing enough to address inequities in today’s power system, advocates say

How are companies, regulators, NGOs and others ensuring that the energy transition is equitable?

By Robert Walton • Oct. 28, 2022

Engie buys 6-GW solar and storage development portfolio from Belltown Power

The deal for projects in PJM, ERCOT and other markets comes as Consolidated Edison, American Electric Power and Duke Energy move to sell their unregulated renewable energy businesses.

By Ethan Howland • Oct. 28, 2022

Bringing equity to electricity service through home, power sector and regulatory innovation

Individual homes can be upgraded, community solar can help to lower bills and regulators can broaden the public engagement process to be more inclusive, consumer advocates say.

By Herman K. Trabish • Oct. 27, 2022

National Grid, VEIR collaborating on superconductivity in transmission

Technology that can increase capacity on transmission rights-of-way is highly sought after as electrification increases.

By Stephen Singer • Oct. 26, 2022

The energy system is ‘inherently racist,’ advocates say. How are utilities responding to calls for greater equity?

Utility commitments to customer equity, energy affordability and equitable access to clean energy resources are becoming more common, but energy justice advocates say companies need to do more. 

By Robert Walton • Oct. 26, 2022

5 Walmart suppliers team up on renewable energy buy

Levi Strauss, J.M. Smucker and three others completed the first aggregated power purchase agreement under the retailer’s Project Gigaton, which encourages vendors to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. 

By Sarah Zimmerman • Oct. 25, 2022

Georgia Power has overcharged customers nearly $1.9B since 2011, solar groups allege

Georgia Power’s complaint that net metering costs customers too much money is nonsensical in the face of the utility’s excessive profits, the Solar Energy Industries Association and other groups say.

By Emma Penrod • Oct. 25, 2022

Texas solar and wind resources saved consumers nearly $28 billion over 12 years: report

Intermittent fossil-free generation reduces Texans’ exposure to volatile natural gas and coal costs as well as emissions, according to the report from energy system analysis firm IdeaSmiths.

By Elizabeth McCarthy • Oct. 25, 2022

Sunnova urges California PUC to dismiss PG&E, SCE ‘sky is falling’ concerns, review microgrid proposal

“This is a real opportunity to examine what's going to be a fairly prevalent use case,” said Robert Perry, a consultant for World Business Academy, one of 16 organizations supporting a commission review of the plan.

By Ethan Howland • Oct. 25, 2022

Duke Energy to pass first $56 million wave of Inflation Reduction Act tax credits to customers

The company owns several solar projects in Florida that qualify for retroactive tax credits now available under the Inflation Reduction Act, a company spokesperson said.

By Emma Penrod • Oct. 21, 2022

BOEM to hold California offshore wind lease sale with 4.5 GW potential in December

How much revenue the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s unprecedented sale of leases off the Golden State’s central and northern coast can generate is an open question given the developing wind turbine technology at issue.

By Elizabeth McCarthy • Oct. 20, 2022

Venture capital interest in solar, energy storage is soaring in the first months post-Inflation Reduction Act

Solar and energy storage remain hot commodities among investors, but high interest rates have slowed the flow of capital into solar companies, according to new data on renewable energy finance.

By Emma Penrod • Oct. 18, 2022