PNM: Carbon capture would raise San Juan transition cost to $6B, as PRC, legislator battle rages

A proposal to lengthen the coal plant's life through what would be the largest carbon capture project to date is deemed too expensive by its majority owner and raises environmental concerns.

By Catherine Morehouse • Nov. 25, 2019

Road to 100: How the shale boom broke Georgetown, Texas' renewables spell

In 2017, the city of about 50,000 became the largest in the U.S. able to claim it ran on 100% renewable energy. But after customer bills spiked last year, its utility department is facing an overhaul.

By Catherine Morehouse • Nov. 25, 2019

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

Nevada governor orders plans for economy-wide carbon reductions

Steve Sisolak, D, on Friday, signed an executive order that focuses on energy efficiency, transportation electrification and demand management, among other steps.

By Kavya Balaraman • Nov. 25, 2019

Democrats move to take 100% clean energy push national with new bill

The legislation would ​require all sectors of the economy to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, but gas and hydro groups stress the need for a diverse energy portfolio in any climate solution.

By Kavya Balaraman • Nov. 22, 2019

Road to 100: How one man's mission to power his hometown by wind created a Northwest Missouri boon

The town of 1,200 was the first in the country to be able to power all of its electricity from wind resources. Now, the county is booming in wind production.

By Catherine Morehouse • Nov. 21, 2019

Sanders, Warren join fellow senators in urging New England to speed clean energy transition

Lawmakers from Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Vermont want to see the New England grid operator incorporate market reforms that will accelerate the region's transition away from fossil fuels.

By Robert Walton • Nov. 20, 2019

New Jersey more than doubles offshore wind energy target to 7.5 GW

The Garden State has the second largest offshore wind goal in the nation, as New York set a 9 GW goal in January.

By Larry Pearl • Nov. 20, 2019

Maximizing the value of your green power programs

Well-designed green power programs provide many benefits to utilities. Be sure you extract the full value from your program.

By Amanda Mortlock, VP, Utility Partnerships, 3Degrees • Nov. 20, 2019

House clean energy tax bill sees broad industry support, but Senate path uncertain

The draft legislative package, introduced Nov. 19, adds energy storage and offshore wind, while extending solar and electric vehicle tax credits.

By Iulia Gheorghiu • Nov. 20, 2019

Can concentrated solar power act as energy storage? DOE wants to know more

DOE wants to make CSP work as solar energy that is available "on demand" and can store energy in the form of heat, as opposed to PV solar which is intermittent and depends upon separate systems to store energy for later use.

By Matthew Bandyk • Nov. 19, 2019

PURPA is undermining the clean energy transition. Colorado has a better way

The most abusive manipulation of PURPA is its use by Qualifying Facilities to force utilities into lengthy "must-take" contracts, with above-market rates that are locked in for years or decades, the former head of Colorado's PUC writes.

By Joshua Epel • Nov. 19, 2019

New money: Green banks and green bonds are bringing billions to utilities for the energy transition

The financial mechanisms are bringing investors to renewables and distributed energy as utilities, co-ops and munis move away from uneconomic legacy assets.

By Herman K. Trabish • Nov. 19, 2019

Don't minimize the resilience role of microgrids. They're key to mitigating wildfire and PSPS risk

Community Microgrids are stacked with local renewables and staged for resilience, providing communities a trifecta of economic, environmental and resilience benefits, writes Clean Coalition's Craig Lewis.

By Craig Lewis • Nov. 18, 2019

Salt River Project to install Arizona's largest battery system, helping to replace giant coal plant

The utility plans to develop two solar+storage facilities, with one featuring a 1 GWh battery system, which will help replace the lost power from the closure of the coal-fired Navajo Generating Station.

By Robert Walton • Nov. 15, 2019

Offshore wind will be a $1T industry by 2040, but our oceans and economy need it now

By 2030, the U.S. offshore wind industry will expend some $70 billion to build the wind farms to meet states’ clean energy commitments, providing good jobs for some 40,000 people, the author writes.

By Stephanie McClellan • Nov. 13, 2019

Lessons learned from Europe: What US cities must do to achieve a clean electric future

Cities are at the center of the battle against climate change, but they're also at the forefront of addressing the challenge — and European cities are outpacing the U.S. in their solutions.

By Rob Massoudi • Nov. 12, 2019

California proposes extending 4.8 GW gas capacity as bridge to 3.3 GW of new clean energy by 2023

The state's newly authorized procurement aims to have renewables-plus-storage and standalone storage compete well against other resources, along with energy efficiency and demand response resources.

By Iulia Gheorghiu • Nov. 11, 2019

Sacramento utility's plan could block addition of new community solar, storage to local grid

SMUD’s shared solar proposal misses the point and could set a damaging precedent for other utilities and energy providers throughout California, according to Vote Solar's Ed Smeloff.

By Ed Smeloff • Nov. 11, 2019

Renewables continue to get cheaper, just not as fast as before, Lazard analysis finds

The financial advisory firm released its latest levelized cost of energy report, showing the rate of cost declines for renewables is slowing as the industry matures.

By Robert Walton • Nov. 8, 2019

Incentives spur rapid storage growth in New York, outpacing distributed solar expansion: NYSERDA CEO

NYSERDA has been comparing the pace of its storage incentive program, aimed at bringing developers into the state, with the New York Sun program for distributed solar.

By Iulia Gheorghiu • Nov. 8, 2019

Dominion Virginia plan for 1.5 GW new peaking capacity will lead to more gas plants, NGOs fear

The utility released a request for proposals yesterday, saying it needs the new capacity beginning in 2022 to replace generation retirements and provide system balancing needs for its growing renewables fleet.

By Robert Walton • Nov. 7, 2019

Tesla, Walmart settle lawsuit over fires; solar panels to remain in place

Walmart and Tesla have settled a lawsuit in which the big box retailer alleged the company's solar panel installations caught fire and caused millions in damages.

By Robert Walton • Nov. 6, 2019

Congressional Policy Tracker: Everything you need to know from carbon capture to wind energy

Renewable energy developers are lobbying for tax credit extensions while Republican leaders seek bipartisan research-focused solutions to support advanced nuclear, carbon capture and energy storage.

By Iulia Gheorghiu • Updated Dec. 2, 2019

Canadian pension fund pays $6B for Pattern Energy's 4.4 GW renewables portfolio in latest yieldco deal

Remember yieldcos? Experts say large funds see opportunity in the renewable energy investment options whose shares have often languished.

By Robert Walton • Nov. 5, 2019

Tetra Tech pushes solar power on closed landfills as a clear winner for operators and owners

The firm argues that installing solar panels on inactive sites can help operators financially, in addition to garnering community support. 

By E.A. Crunden • Nov. 4, 2019