If you are interested in having your voice heard on Utility Dive's Opinion page, please read our editorial guidelines and fill out the submission form here.

• 

  A market-based path to unlocking interconnection queues

  When a scarce resource like grid access is given away administratively rather than allocated based on economic value, the result is always the same: inefficiency, congestion and delays.

  Terry Harvill and August Ankum • April 2, 2025

• 

  We asked 100 utility program leaders for their top challenges and opportunities. Here’s what they said.

  Grid modernization, growing demand and artificial intelligence are among the top issues facing electric utility leaders, according to an ICF survey.

  Justin Mackovyak • March 31, 2025

• 

  Outsmarting outages: AI predicts disruptions before they happen

  As the energy landscape evolves with renewable resources and electric vehicles, the predictive outage model equips utilities with the agility needed to prioritize maintenance based on real-time data.

  Michael Juchno and Zaki Arifulla • March 27, 2025

• 

  Why rolling blackouts are a thing of the past — and why President Trump is wrong on green energy

  California and Texas show how energy storage can bridge the political divide to bolster grid reliability and lower costs.

  Tam Hunt • March 25, 2025

• 

  Labor-industry collaboration is key to US energy security, dominance and job growth

  The power grid requires a workforce equipped to design, install and maintain a system that integrates increased energy production, new energy sources, smart grid technologies and energy storage.

  Calvin Butler and Kenneth Cooper • March 20, 2025

• 

  ‘Purchaser-caused’ certificates are key to driving renewable energy growth

  Market leaders — clean energy buyers, sellers and standard-setters alike — must acknowledge which renewable energy procurement approaches directly cause new capacity.

  Jim Boyle • March 19, 2025

• 

  How thermal batteries unlock a more flexible, reliable and efficient grid

  In addition to providing clean energy for nearly every industrial sector, thermal batteries have the potential to serve as a linchpin for a reliable low-emissions grid.

  Noah Long • March 17, 2025

• 

  Growing demand for electricity requires new policy solutions

  We need forward-thinking policies that allow public power utilities to finance and build critical infrastructure projects faster without raising costs for the communities they serve.

  Tom Falcone • March 12, 2025

• 

  Beating China on AI requires all available grid solutions

  We will need all available transmission tools — including grid-enhancing technologies and high-performance conductors — to meet the growing demand for power from data centers.

  Neil Chatterjee • March 12, 2025

• 

  Proposed FERC price cap settlement will intensify looming electric capacity crisis

  Artificially deflating PJM's capacity prices by lowering the price cap does nothing to fix the grid operator’s power-supply problems and could lead to blackouts.

  Anthony “Tony” Campbell • March 10, 2025

• 

  For transmission planning, FERC Order 1920 is our dragon

  Instead of repealing the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s Order 100 to improve transmission planning, the focus should be on making Order 1920 as strong as possible.

  Claire Wayner • March 4, 2025

• 

  Striking true or overreaching? How a new executive order clouds FERC’s decisional authority

  The agency's independence and credibility depend on careful adherence to the law, not alignment with shifting executive priorities, according to Lyle Larson, a partner at Balch & Bingham.

  Lyle Larson • March 4, 2025

• 

  10 years of grid modernization: Major progress, stubborn challenges

  Improving energy affordability and grid reliability can guide the way on modernizing the grid for tomorrow’s challenges, according to Grid Forward’s Bryce Yonker.

  Bryce Yonker • Feb. 28, 2025

• 

  What if Bruce Lee had set federal transmission policy?

  The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission could help unlock transmission development in three steps, including by repealing its Order 1000 on transmission planning. Enter the Dragon!

  Vincent Duane and Caitlin Shields • Feb. 25, 2025

• 

  Trump’s National Energy Dominance Council should appoint a ‘hydropower czar’

  Federal hydropower can help meet load growth, onshore manufacturing of key defense components and help address burdensome regulations.

  Charles Yang • Feb. 25, 2025

• 

  Are utility demand response program costs outstripping their benefits in California?

  California Public Utilities Commission policy has been pushing customers to choose utility-run supply-side DR programs over third-party options that face pressure to keep costs low.

  Collin Smith • Feb. 24, 2025

• 

  Leveraging surplus interconnection could unleash 800 GW of energy the US needs today

  By using existing interconnection sites to plug in low-cost clean energy sources, energy planners can increase grid reliability and lower costs.

  Cassady Craighill • Feb. 21, 2025

• 

  The AI energy challenge is coming to a head

  There must be a seismic shift in how the industry defines and measures AI advancement, pivoting our idea of technological evolution from raw computing power to energy efficiency.

  Krishna Rangasayee • Feb. 20, 2025

• 

  How to reduce large load speculation? Standardize the interconnection process.

  We can haphazardly continue down the path of a fragmented and increasingly untenable approach to large load-side interconnection, or we can introduce rational standardization to the process.

  Peter Freed and Allison Clements • Feb. 19, 2025

• 

  Achieving energy dominance without leaving small customers behind

  Addressing load growth must be done in a way that ensures rate stability for all and avoids an energy system that houses haves and have nots.

  Ray Gifford and Matt Larson • Feb. 18, 2025

• 

  Using energy storage to bridge gaps in gas-electric coordination

  Energy storage offers a powerful solution for harmonizing gas and electric systems, providing flexibility and reliability for the grid.

  Carrie Zalewski • Feb. 10, 2025

• 

  Electricity is the next energy crisis

  Electricity demand and distribution technologies won't solve the entire problem, but they can provide immediate relief.

  Juan Macias • Feb. 6, 2025

• 

  Doing the most with the transmission we have now

  Western day-ahead markets will improve the status quo but should be seen as a “way station” to even more efficient RTO-like dispatch.

  Scott Miller • Feb. 3, 2025

• 

  Transmission is the key to American energy dominance

  To remain competitive and win the AI race with China, we will need all the energy we can generate while expanding our ability to transmit those electrons wherever they need to go.

  Christina Hayes • Jan. 31, 2025

• 

  Why utility leadership is necessary to scale up VPPs in the residential sector

  The most effective virtual power plants are embedded within utility operations, providing utilities with direct insight into and control of the distributed energy resources in their network.

  Neil Veilleux and Nick Papanastassiou • Jan. 29, 2025

Next