Dominion, in rare move, details data centers’ big electricity demands Sep 18, 2023 Data centers, some of the biggest electricity users of all, have signed agreements with Dominion Energy showing they expect to use the equivalent of 35% of the record flow of electricity the utility saw during last year’s…
California Legislature approves plan allowing the state to buy power
California Legislature approves plan allowing the state to buy power September 14, 2023 The California Legislature voted Thursday to give Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration permission to buy massive amounts of electricity, a move aimed at avoiding blackouts by shoring up the state’s power supply while jumpstarting the West Coast’s…
Losing member co-ops, Tri-State seeks to sell its electricity on the wholesale power market
Losing member co-ops, Tri-State seeks to sell its electricity on the wholesale power market Energize Weekly, September 13, 2023 Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, a wholesale power supplier for rural electric cooperatives, is seeking to sell excess power on the open market as it loses some of its biggest members.…
Eversource presents plans for electrical grid upgrades, without fossil fuels
Eversource presents plans for electrical grid upgrades, without fossil fuels Sep. 03, 2023 Eversource has announced its first draft of improvements it hopes to make to the state’s electrical grid, boosting clean energy production and reducing the use of fossil fuels. The final plan — which will meet company requirements…
TVA Plans to Invest $15 Billion Over the Next Three Years to Meet Region’s Growth
TVA Plans to Invest $15 Billion Over the Next Three Years to Meet Region’s Growth Aug. 28, 2023 During the decade before COVID, TVA’s seven-state region saw almost no electric load growth. Post-COVID, the region has experienced tremendous economic growth, fueled by several factors. The Tennessee Valley Authority Board of…
Data Centers in Oregon Strain Electricity Grid and Challenge Clean Energy Goals
Data Centers in Oregon Strain Electricity Grid and Challenge Clean Energy Goals AUG 12, 2023 Data centers in Oregon are expected to consume significantly more electricity than initially estimated, according to three recent forecasts. This unexpected increase in energy consumption is placing additional strain on the Northwest electrical grid and…
SRP and APS report record-breaking electricity demand during July heat wave
SRP and APS report record-breaking electricity demand during July heat wave Aug. 4, 2023 After July’s historic heat wave, both SRP and APS reported electricity demand skyrocketed, and the companies recorded the highest demand they have ever seen from customers. Both companies say it only takes one megawatt to power…
Michigan PSC approves DTE Energy’s Integrated Resource Plan, setting path to net zero emissions by 2050
Michigan PSC approves DTE Energy’s Integrated Resource Plan, setting path to net zero emissions by 2050 July 28, 2023 DTE Energy received approval for its CleanVision Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) this week from the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC), greenlighting a clean energy plan that will speed the end of…
Congestion on the U.S. electric grid added $20.8 billion in costs in 2022
Congestion on the U.S. electric grid added $20.8 billion in costs in 2022 Energize Weekly, July 26,2023 The increasingly choked U.S. electric grid – sometimes preventing the cheapest generation from getting online – cost consumers $20.8 billion in 2022, a 55 percent year-over-year increase, according to utility consultant Grid Strategies.…
PPL outlines first-of-its-kind technology
PPL outlines first-of-its-kind technology Jul 16, 2023 PPL Electric Utilities is bolstering the reliability of the power it delivers to its more than 1.4 million customers with the use of Dynamic Line Rating (DLR) technology, a first-of-its-kind technology that is garnering national recognition. In 2022, PPL Electric became the first…
How old coal plants could help fuel a renewable boom
How old coal plants could help fuel a renewable boom 06/30/2023 When Pennsylvania’s largest coal plant closes Saturday, it will leave behind more than towering smokestacks and mounds of coal waste. The Homer City Generating Station has a valuable asset: a connection to both the nation’s largest regional power grid…
Northern Maine power line project moves forward, slowly
Northern Maine power line project moves forward, slowly June 26, 2023 Plans for a major renewable energy project that would connect Aroostook County to New England’s electric power grid are inching forward. Last week, legislators and Gov. Janet Mills signed off on a bill for construction of a high-voltage transmission…
California unlikely to run short of electricity this summer thanks to winter storms, new power sources
California unlikely to run short of electricity this summer thanks to winter storms, new power sources May 25, 2023 California regulators say the state is unlikely to experience electricity shortages this summer after securing new power sources and a wet winter that filled the state’s reservoirs enough to restart hydroelectric…
Upcoming CPUC Rulemaking To Streamline Transmission Line Permitting
Upcoming CPUC Rulemaking To Streamline Transmission Line Permitting 22 May 2023 The California Public Utilities Commission (Commission) has uploaded a proposed Order Instituting Rulemaking (OIR) that would revamp the permitting process for siting of electric transmission infrastructure within the state of California. The OIR, which is expected to be adopted…
U.S. grid facing blackout risks this summer and next winter, reliability agency warns
U.S. grid facing blackout risks this summer and next winter, reliability agency warns Energize Weekly, May 24, 2023 U.S. power grids are facing a risky summer and an even riskier winter, according to analyses by the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC), the agency that oversees grid reliability and security.…
Utilities Seize Control of the Coming Boom in Transmission Lines
Utilities Seize Control of the Coming Boom in Transmission Lines April 26, 2023 Just about everyone involved agrees that the grid needs an upgrade, including a plan for a new transmission line that would run south of Chicago, across northern Indiana and into Michigan. What they don’t agree on is…
PNM joins WPP’s reliability planning and compliance program in western US
PNM joins WPP’s reliability planning and compliance program in western US 10 Apr 2023 The Public Service Company of New Mexico has joined the first region-wide reliability planning and compliance program in the Western US, known as the Western Resources Adequacy Program. Seattle City Light and Snohomish County Public Utility…
Southwest Power Pool takes a first step in creating a western wholesale electricity market
Southwest Power Pool takes a first step in creating a western wholesale electricity market Energize Weekly, April 12, 2023 A group of 26 utilities and organizations representing power producers – ranging from the Rockies to the Southwest to the Pacific Northwest – agreed to join the initial phase of the…
Grid Transmission Progress In The U.S.
Grid Transmission Progress In The U.S. March 31, 2023 As the U.S. continues to see the highest levels of renewable energy investment in its history, the investment required to expand and improve the energy transmission grid will need to keep pace. This is happening through a combination of private investment…
US Power Plant Firm Goes Bankrupt After Winter Storm Penalties
US Power Plant Firm Goes Bankrupt After Winter Storm Penalties March 31, 2023 Lincoln Power LLC, the owner of two Illinois power plants, filed for bankruptcy after its financial strain was exacerbated by nearly $39 million in penalties levied by the biggest US electric-grid operator. The Chapter 11 filing allows…
Deep freeze and data concerns test Southeast power market
Deep freeze and data concerns test Southeast power market 03/28/2023 When several large electric utilities launched a first-of-its-kind energy trading platform in the Southeast last fall, the pitch was simple: Lower energy bills and deliver more solar power to customers. Now, more than four months after the Southeast Energy Exchange…
DOE working with partners to accelerate long-duration energy storage
DOE working with partners to accelerate long-duration energy storage March 09, 2023 The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) took a step forward this week toward accelerating the commercialization of long-duration energy storage (LDES). While shorter-duration energy storage is currently being installed to support renewable energy generation, long-duration storage technologies are…
More than 43,000 miles of new transmission lines needed in the U.S. by 2040, DOE study says
More than 43,000 miles of new transmission lines needed in the U.S. by 2040, DOE study says Energize Weekly, March 15, 2023 The United States is projected to need more than 47,300 gigawatt-miles of new transmission lines by 2040 – in some cases they will be needed as soon as…
Northern Virginia data centers could strain power grid
Northern Virginia data centers could strain power grid February 27, 2023 Data centers in Northern Virginia starting to draw new environmental concerns. Monday, The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality will weigh whether the centers get a waiver on air pollution. Northern Virginia hosts the largest collection of data centers in…
FBI says Baltimore County woman plotted to ‘shoot up’ BGE electric substations
FBI says Baltimore County woman plotted to ‘shoot up’ BGE electric substations February 6, 2023 A Baltimore County woman has been arrested on charges for allegedly plotting to destroy electric substations in the Baltimore region, federal authorities said during a press conference on Monday. Sarah Beth Clendaniel was recorded detailing…
The United States Is Facing Electricity Famine
The United States Is Facing Electricity Famine Feb. 7, 2023 There are signs that we are heading towards an electricity famine; a life-threatening energy Holodomor throughout many areas of the United States caused by political decisions. The system is being set up to fail. This problem this time is not…
Judge dismisses lawsuit over TVA’s long-term deals
Judge dismisses lawsuit over TVA’s long-term deals Feb. 7, 2023 A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit by environmental groups that challenged how the nation’s largest public utility signs up local power providers for two-decade contracts. A ruling by U.S. District Judge Thomas L. Parker in Memphis last week sided…
FERC Directs NERC to Tighten Bulk Electric System Cybersecurity
FERC Directs NERC to Tighten Bulk Electric System Cybersecurity January 26, 2023 On January 19, 2023, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a Final Rule directing the North American Electric Reliability Corporation to file for FERC review new or modified Reliability Standards that require internal network security monitoring (INSM) within…
State lawmakers propose power grid protections after attacks
State lawmakers propose power grid protections after attacks January 22, 2023 When gunshots at two electrical substations cut power to thousands of central North Carolina homes for several days in early December, Republican state Rep. Ben Moss watched his vibrant district full of family farms, small businesses and sprawling golf…
PUC approves electric market redesign in ‘big step for ERCOT’
PUC approves electric market redesign in ‘big step for ERCOT’ Jan 19, 2023 The Public Utility Commission of Texas on Thursday approved a redesign of the state’s electric market, recommending a new model they said will improve grid reliability, but critics said could pass more costs onto the consumer. The…
Winter Storm Elliott stressed regional electric grids across the U.S. in different ways
Winter Storm Elliott stressed regional electric grids across the U.S. in different ways Energize Weekly, January 18, 2023 Winter Storm Elliott, the bomb cyclone with freezing temperatures and blizzard conditions that swept across the U.S. east of the Rockies, sparked a wave of outages with its impacts varying from regional…
Biden declares emergency in California as more winter storms advance
Biden declares emergency in California as more winter storms advance JAN 9 2023 President Joe Biden on Monday declared an emergency in California after a barrage of deadly winter storms has prompted widespread power outages and flooding since last week. Extreme downpours, high winds and flash floods have caused at…
AEP Ohio asking for rate increase to boost system reliability after last summer’s storms
AEP Ohio asking for rate increase to boost system reliability after last summer’s storms Jan. 6, 2023 Several months after powerful storms whacked AEP Ohio’s transmission system and forced the power company to turn off electricity to some Columbus-area neighborhoods to avoid a larger power loss, AEP is now asking…
Two Puyallup men charged in Pierce County power substation attacks
Two Puyallup men charged in Pierce County power substation attacks January 3, 2023 Two Puyallup men alleged to have attacked four Pierce County power substations over Christmas weekend will appear in U.S. District Court Tuesday. Matthew Greenwood, 32, and Jeremy Crahan, 40, were arrested Dec. 31, and face charges of…
Pleasants Power Purchase Under Consideration in West Virginia PSC Order
Pleasants Power Purchase Under Consideration in West Virginia PSC Order JAN 3, 2023 An order from the West Virginia Public Service Commission last week approving rate increases for two power companies also included a provision for those companies to evaluate the possible purchase of the Pleasants Power plant. In an…
Entergy Louisiana files proposed 10-year Entergy Future Ready resilience plan
Entergy Louisiana files proposed 10-year Entergy Future Ready resilience plan 12/19/2022 Today, Entergy Louisiana filed its proposed Phase I Entergy Future Ready resilience plan with the Louisiana Public Service Commission. Phase I seeks approval of the first five years of a 10-year resilience plan that would aim to accelerate the…
Boise State prof receives grant to develop power grid security that thinks like a human
Boise State prof receives grant to develop power grid security that thinks like a human DECEMBER 08, 2022 A Boise State associate professor is researching ways to improve the power grid’s reliability by creating electronics to make it think like a human brain. The United States Department of Energy is…
US FERC to act on backstop transmission siting, long-running gas pipeline disputes
US FERC to act on backstop transmission siting, long-running gas pipeline disputes 12 Dec 2022 The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is poised to act on transmission siting, key pipeline rate disputes, and two important natural gas pipeline certificates at its last meeting of the year Dec. 15, potentially Democrat…
Wholesale on-peak electricity rates set to jump this winter by as much as 60 percent, EIA says
Wholesale on-peak electricity rates set to jump this winter by as much as 60 percent, EIA says Energize Weekly, December 14, 2022 On-peak wholesale and retail electricity prices are set to rise across the country this winter, with some regional wholesale rates jumping as much as 60 percent compared to…
Tens of thousands still in the dark after ‘targeted’ attacks on North Carolina power substations
Tens of thousands still in the dark after ‘targeted’ attacks on North Carolina power substations December 5, 2022 With no suspects or motive announced, the FBI is joining the investigation into power outages in a North Carolina county believed to have been caused by “intentional” and “targeted” attacks on substations…
NYISO reports sufficient electricity supplies expected to meet winter demands
NYISO reports sufficient electricity supplies expected to meet winter demands 11/28/22 The New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) reported Monday, that they expect sufficient electricity supplies in the state are expected to meet demands this winter. “The New York State bulk electric system is well positioned to meet this winter’s…
Highway charging stations for EVs may need as much electricity as a small town
Highway charging stations for EVs may need as much electricity as a small town Energize Weekly, November 30, 2022 A growing number of electric cars and trucks on highways will by 2035 require charging stations demanding the same power as an outdoor sports arena or even a small town, according…
Biden-Harris Administration Announces $13 Billion To Modernize And Expand America’s Power Grid
Biden-Harris Administration Announces $13 Billion To Modernize And Expand America’s Power Grid NOVEMBER 18, 2022 The Biden-Harris Administration, through the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced $13 billion in new financing opportunities for the expansion and modernization of the nation’s electric grid. Funded by the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law,…
U.S. grid faces “unprecedented” risk of electricity shortfalls this winter, NERC warns
U.S. grid faces “unprecedented” risk of electricity shortfalls this winter, NERC warns Energize Weekly, November 23, 2022 A large swatch of the U.S. electricity grid – in Texas, the Midwest, Southeast and New England – is at risk of being unable to provide adequate power in the face of extreme…
AEP to spend millions improving electrical grid to prevent another massive outage
AEP to spend millions improving electrical grid to prevent another massive outage November 14, 2022 Winter is right around the corner and those who lost power during this summer’s large storm, coupled with a heatwave, are wondering if another massive outage could happen again when the temperatures dip below freezing.…
ComEd to file multi-year grid plan, rate plan
ComEd to file multi-year grid plan, rate plan November 07, 2022 ComEd, a Chicago-based energy company, will file a multi-year grid plan along with a four-year rate plan in line with the requirements of the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA). The plan will align closely with the state of…
Puerto Rico’s Fragile Grid to Get Boost from Networked Batteries
Puerto Rico’s Fragile Grid to Get Boost from Networked Batteries November 1, 2022 Sunrun Inc was selected to develop a 17-megawatt electricity generation project in Puerto Rico that harnesses excess battery power from its residential solar customers. The California-based company will begin enrolling households into what is known as a…
Southern California Edison to spend $50M in pole drone inspection services
Southern California Edison to spend $50M in pole drone inspection services Oct. 20th 2022 Southern California Edison says it plans to spend an estimated $50 million in drone inspection services over the next three years to ensure that nearly 160,000 of its electricity poles are adequately maintained. The news comes…
ComEd cites major reliability improvements in 2022 compared to pre-smart grid efforts
ComEd cites major reliability improvements in 2022 compared to pre-smart grid efforts October 17, 2022 According to new metrics released by ComEd last week, efforts to improve the power grid in northern Illinois through smart grid technology yielded an 82 percent improvement in overall reliability compared to when improvements began…
Xcel Energy-Colorado positioned to lead clean energy transition, new president says
Xcel Energy-Colorado positioned to lead clean energy transition, new president says October 16, 2022 Robert Kenney took over as President of Xcel Energy-Colorado as the utility sought approval from state regulators for rate increases, a new clean energy plan and a proposal to reduce emissions from its natural gas system.…
