Transmission & Distribution: Page 4
-
MISO advances $21.8B regional transmission portfolio, including 765-kV backbone
The Midcontinent Independent System Operator expects the draft Tranche 2 proposal would produce $23.1 billion in net benefits over 20 years, partly by reducing the need for new generation.
By Ethan Howland • Sept. 26, 2024 -
Opinion
C&I customer needs are rapidly changing. How can utilities maximize their relationship?
Utilities risk being blindsided by the capacity needs of commercial and industrial customers by not engaging them early and often to understand their electrification plans.
By Julia Hamm and Chase Weir • Sept. 26, 2024 -
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 -
DTE, Consumers Energy outage restoration times, reliability measures lagging: audit
Michigan regulators launched the review of DTE and Consumers’ operations in 2022 following a string of outages. Restoration times at both utilities are “worse than average,” the audit found.
By Robert Walton • Sept. 25, 2024 -
PJM market design flaws add billions to latest capacity auction costs: market monitor
A switch in how PJM measures power plant availability, one of several market issues flagged by Monitoring Analytics, increased capacity costs by $4.4 billion compared to its previous approach.
By Ethan Howland • Sept. 24, 2024 -
Opinion
Permitting reform’s false choice
Any benefits to green infrastructure that would be gained by undoing federal protections are likely to be more than offset by the proliferation of fossil fuels.
By David E. Adelman • Sept. 20, 2024 -
NAESB rolls out draft standardized distribution services contract
The contract will allow for “seamless participation” of distributed energy resource aggregators in wholesale markets, consistent with FERC Order 2222, the energy standards board said.
By Robert Walton • Sept. 18, 2024 -
Rising demand could drive US wholesale electricity prices 19% higher by 2028: ICF
Electricity demand is expected to rise in every region of the U.S., but “the largest increase by far” is projected in the mid-Atlantic region, where demand could grow 68% by 2050, ICF said.
By Robert Walton • Sept. 18, 2024 -
Opinion
The Energy Permitting Reform Act is our best shot at advancing critical climate goals
The bill would be a crucial step toward America realizing its potential as a 21st century clean energy superpower, but only if we can put our desires for a perfect policy aside and embrace practical compromise.
By Danielle Russo • Sept. 17, 2024 -
Clean energy groups urge FERC to reject Southeast Energy Exchange Market
The SEEM produced $3.7 million in benefits in 2023 but had $4.3 million in administrative costs, according to Advanced Energy United and other groups.
By Ethan Howland • Sept. 16, 2024 -
California PUC sets grid connection timelines for large investor-owned utilities
The decision could cut in half the time it takes PG&E, SDG&E and SoCal Edison to connect EV charging stations, homes and commercial buildings to the grid, according to the PUC.
By Ethan Howland • Sept. 16, 2024 -
Opinion
Detractors take note: Tri-State is meeting its reliability, affordability and clean energy obligations
A recent report from the Colorado Energy Office shows Tri-State, unlike some other power suppliers in our region, has ample resources in the years ahead, the general manager of K.C. Electric Association writes.
By David Churchwell • Sept. 16, 2024 -
ERCOT accelerates initiative to streamline energy procurement and dispatch
Texas is continuing its work to ensure batteries play a prominent role in stabilizing the electric grid.
By Robert Walton • Sept. 16, 2024 -
Sponsored by Kraken Technologies
The consumer’s key role in tomorrow’s energy system
To seize the opportunities posed by smart products, utilities must step up their consumer engagement.
By Katherine Lamb, Transformation Director for Product and Customer Experience Innovation, Kraken Technologies • Sept. 16, 2024 -
Opinion
Politicized energy policies aren’t working, but a better system is possible
Pairing partisanship with extraordinary demands on our power grid from load growth and energy evolution is a recipe for catastrophic failure.
By Christina Hayes and Todd Snitchler • Sept. 13, 2024 -
US should create ‘virtual’ electric transformer reserve amid shortage concerns: NIAC
Lead times to procure new transformers have “plateaued,” but rising electricity demand from data centers could stretch them, said Peter Ferrell, director of government relations for the National Electrical Manufacturers Association.
By Robert Walton • Sept. 13, 2024 -
Texas power outages cost consumers $35,685 per MWh of unserved load: Brattle
State regulators adopted a Value of Lost Load metric to weigh the benefits of future investments to improve grid reliability.
By Robert Walton • Sept. 12, 2024 -
National Grid, Constellation propose options to prioritize grid interconnection requests
However, “rationing” grid interconnection threatens open access to the power system, GridStor’s Jason Burwen said at a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission workshop.
By Ethan Howland • Sept. 11, 2024 -
BLM approves NV Energy’s Greenlink West transmission, Arevia’s $2.3B solar + storage project
NV Energy will buy power from Arevia’s 700-MW solar/2.8-GWh battery project in Nevada at a levelized cost of $93.69/MWh.
By Ethan Howland • Sept. 10, 2024 -
Flexible interconnection service for Duke solar could slash costs, speed grid connections: study
Providing energy-only interconnection service to a 1.9-GW Duke Energy solar cluster could reduce grid upgrade costs by 72%, according to a study being discussed at a FERC workshop Tuesday.
By Ethan Howland • Sept. 10, 2024 -
Utilities need ‘broad culture change’ to deploy emerging clean resources at scale: DOE’s Shah
“Failing to adopt new strategies and technologies is the higher-risk path for utilities today,” said Jigar Shah, director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office.
By Robert Walton • Sept. 9, 2024 -
WestTEC to develop West-wide ‘actionable’ transmission plan
The initiative aims to develop interregional and interstate transmission portfolios across the West on 10- and 20-year timeframes.
By Ethan Howland • Sept. 6, 2024 -
White House announces $7.3B clean energy financing for Dairyland Power, 15 other co-ops
The federal funding will support 10 GW in clean energy projects lowering electricity costs for cooperative utilities in 23 states, the White House said.
By Ethan Howland • Sept. 5, 2024 -
Opinion
LNG exports make both economic and environmental sense
Exports are not reducing domestic supply and squeezing American ratepayers or power plant operators; exports come from added production and have only a small impact on price.
By Kyle Isakower • Sept. 4, 2024 -
Reregulation? How utilities and states are responding to PJM’s record capacity prices
“Houston, we have a problem,” American Municipal Power’s Steve Lieberman said. “If we don’t see new capacity in the [2027/28] auction, we’re really running out of time.”
By Ethan Howland • Sept. 4, 2024 -
CenterPoint to propose $5B for Houston grid resilience, forego profits from mobile generation lease
CenterPoint apologized to state lawmakers about the mobile generators. We “should have communicated more clearly to our elected officials about the cost and the limitations of such large-scale units,” the utility said.
By Robert Walton • Sept. 4, 2024