Duke, APS planning reforms show ways to work with stakeholders to meet emerging power system needs

Integrated planning with deeper modeling and greater stakeholder engagement may slow overburdened regulators and utilities now, but will lead to better long-term decision-making, planners and analysts agree.

By Herman K. Trabish • Feb. 28, 2023

Advanced Energy United warns frameworks needed for transmission buildout ‘don’t really exist’

Building out transmission in the U.S. will require strong federal leadership as well as interstate and interregional coordination, said AEU’s transmission campaign director, Verna Mandez. 

By Diana DiGangi • Feb. 27, 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

PJM launches fast-track capacity market reform process in face of shrinking reserve margins

The effort comes as the PJM Interconnection finds new resources aren’t keeping pace with power plant retirements and load growth.

By Ethan Howland • Feb. 27, 2023

DOE announces $48M to improve semiconductor technologies for better grid control and protection

The program will be managed by the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy and will focus on improving semiconductors, which are essential components in controlling power generation and transmission.

By Robert Walton • Feb. 27, 2023

State bills spur debate over who should build transmission: incumbent utilities or independent companies

Companies such as LS Power, NextEra, Evergy and ITC Great Plains are pressing lawmakers on bills that may determine who can build transmission projects costing in the billions of dollars across the central United States.

By Ethan Howland • Feb. 23, 2023

New power system cybersecurity architectures can be ‘vaults’ against insider attacks, analysts say

Utility operations facing hackers now, and a future of minimally-protected distributed energy resources, will need smarter, more complex defenses, from control rooms to customer-owned devices, analysts said.

By Herman K. Trabish • Feb. 17, 2023

NY PSC authorizes $4.4B in transmission upgrades planned by National Grid, other utilities

The projects will create 3,500 MW for clean energy that New York says will be enough for more than 2.8 million homes.

By Stephen Singer • Feb. 17, 2023

Proposed distribution transformer standards ‘could significantly impact’ grid reliability, utilities warn DOE

The sole domestic manufacturer of amorphous steel cores for distribution transformers says it could quickly scale up production to meet U.S. demand if new energy efficiency standards are adopted.

By Robert Walton • Updated Feb. 17, 2023

NextEra, renewable trade group urge FERC to keep competitively bid East Texas transmission project alive

Entergy supports the Midcontinent Independent System Operator’s plan to cancel the $115 million project, which has been delayed by a right-of-first-refusal law.

By Ethan Howland • Feb. 14, 2023

Falling out of love with AMI: Why we need a new approach to smart metering

Smart meters are failing to deliver promised benefits even after a decade of implementation. A new approach to collecting and using near-real-time meter data could help.

By Essie Snell • Feb. 13, 2023

Adapting T&D investments to climate projections is the strategic choice

The energy system is one of many critical infrastructure sectors impacted by these disasters—growing in importance as dependence on electricity increases.

By Andrew Phillips, EPRI vice president of T&D Infrastructure • Feb. 13, 2023

Utility regulators must make smart decisions about smart meters: delays could be costly to consumers

For the first time ever, energy consumers and the technology providers that serve them have access to real-time energy data.

By Colin Gibbs, VP Energy Services, Sense • Feb. 13, 2023

‘Modest’ transmission buildout would have yielded millions in benefits in December storm: ACORE

Storm events are more frequently challenging the nation’s bulk electric system, and the solution is “making the grid bigger than the weather,” said Michael Goggin, vice president of Grid Strategies.

By Robert Walton • Feb. 8, 2023

Value of new transmission jumps in 2022 on high power prices, extreme weather: Berkeley Lab report

“Most of the high value links … are interregional, showing the particular value of interregional links in helping to mitigate costs during extreme weather,” researchers said.

By Ethan Howland • Feb. 8, 2023

New York ISO warns NextEra, others against lobbying over transmission

NYISO’s CEO wrote to the chief executives of three energy companies and the New York Power Authority to “clarify” the process for selecting transmission projects.

By Stephen Singer • Feb. 6, 2023

Connecticut drafts a performance-based regulation system following utilities’ storm response

 A new regulatory system would provide “meaningful financial opportunities and penalties” for electric utilities with “guardrails” to protect customers, according to a staff proposal at the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority.

By Stephen Singer • Feb. 6, 2023

FERC grants Great River transmission incentives as commissioner decries consumer impacts

FERC Commissioner Mark Christie Tuesday called for revisiting the agency’s incentives for transmission projects, which he said shift costs and risks to consumers.

By Ethan Howland • Feb. 3, 2023

In win for Avangrid, FERC orders NextEra to install Seabrook circuit breaker, opening path for NECEC line

The agency’s decision clears another hurdle for Avangrid’s line that would deliver hydropower from Canada to Massachusetts.

By Ethan Howland • Feb. 3, 2023

Maine PUC OKs 1-GW Longroad wind farm, LS Power transmission line amid equity and cost concerns

A Maine regulator warned the cost of the energy transition may pose an unfair burden to low- and middle-income people.

By Ethan Howland • Feb. 1, 2023

‘No regrets’ approach to big batteries, green hydrogen and grid reliability urgently needed, analysts say

Advanced batteries and green hydrogen promise long-duration energy storage solutions for “net zero” system reliability, but only regulatory policy and market support can fulfill that promise, industry stakeholders say.

By Herman K. Trabish • Jan. 31, 2023

Allete, Grid United plan $2.5B transmission line linking Western, Eastern interconnections

The proposed North Plains Connector project would provide 3,000 MW of bi-directional capacity between North Dakota and Montana.

By Ethan Howland • Updated Jan. 31, 2023

‘We got lucky.’ A stronger 2022 storm season could have threatened grid recovery: EEI

The evolving power grid faces a host of challenges, speakers at the North American Electric Reliability Corp.’s 2023 Reliability Leadership Summit said Wednesday.

By Robert Walton • Jan. 26, 2023

Proactive transmission planning for offshore wind build-out could save up to $20B, experts say

A new report calls for building out the transmission grid for up to 100 GW of potential offshore wind procurement by 2050.

By Diana DiGangi • Jan. 25, 2023

2023 US Power Sector Outlook

2023 promises to be another busy year for the U.S. energy transition as stakeholders move to implement new clean energy measures while tackling growing security, reliability, equity and affordability challenges.

By The Utility Dive Team • Jan. 25, 2023

Generators, transmission utilities, others back ISO-NE storage-as-transmission plan, with conditions

Beginning in 2010, FERC “opened the door” in orders and policy statements for consideration of electric energy storage as a transmission asset, according to ISO New England.

By Stephen Singer • Jan. 24, 2023