After being rebuffed by regulators, utilities file slimmed-down spending plans March 18, 2024 State regulators are once again considering massive electric utility spending plans that would affect the state’s climate goals – and 5.4 million electric customers’ monthly bills – after rejecting previous versions late last year. The Illinois Commerce Commission forced the state’s two…
New solar installations set a record in 2023 with 32 gigawatts of new capacity Energize Weekly, March 13, 2024 New solar installations – spurred by federal grants and tax credits – reached a record 32.4 gigawatts (GW) of capacity in 2023, a 51 percent increase year-over-year, according to a Solar Energy Industries Association-Wood Mackenzie market…
A massive proposed Wisconsin solar farm could wreak havoc on threatened prairie chickens March 2, 2024 The plan for a massive solar energy development in Portage County has caused conservationists to sound the alarm over the project’s potential detrimental impacts to Wisconsin’s threatened population of greater prairie chickens. The Vista Sands Solar Farm would span…
Xcel says big reason it needs to spend millions on new projects is regional grid’s reliability risks MARCH 4, 2024 The growing risk of unreliability and potential expense of buying energy on the open market is a big reason why Xcel Energy wants to make significant investments in its infrastructure. The issue was underscored last…
Poor grid interconnection policies are causing project backups across the U.S., study says Energize Weekly, March 6, 2024 The grid interconnection process in the U.S. is so “dysfunctional” that more than two million megawatts of generation and storage are waiting to be hooked up, according to an analysis by Advanced Energy United (AEU). The study…
Vineyard Wind Starts Delivering Steady Power February 25, 2024 Five offshore wind turbines in the waters south of the Vineyard are now sending 68 megawatts of power to the regional grid, the first time such a project has ever delivered a steady flow of electricity in Massachusetts. The milestone was cheered by state officials, who…
US to add 36.4GW of new solar generation capacity in 2024, 58% of all capacity additions February 19, 2024 US power developers expect to add 36.4GW of new solar generation capacity in 2024, which would account for 58% of all new capacity additions in the US power sector, according to the US Energy Information Administration…
New method utilizes hydropower project signals to monitor grid stability 12 February 2024 Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK), have unveiled an algorithm designed to forecast electric grid stability by harnessing signals from pumped storage hydropower (PSH) projects. This innovation emerges as a crucial tool in navigating…
Arizona utility regulators vote to kill renewable standards February 8, 2024 Let the market dictate how utilities do business. That was the message from Arizona utility regulators on Tuesday after they voted to begin the process of repealing the state’s energy efficiency and renewable standards. Solar industry advocates expressed disbelief, saying while most states are…
Red tape closes power plants before replacements ready Feb 2, 2024 Despite the key positions states like Ohio and Pennsylvania hold to solve future energy problems, shifting the power grid from coal and natural gas to wind and solar isn’t as easy as flipping a switch. A cadre of Pennsylvania legislators trekked to Columbus for…
Global investment in clean tech and energy transition reached a record $1.8 trillion in 2023 Energize Weekly, February 7, 2024 Global investments in the energy transition from fossil fuels to clean tech climbed 17 percent in 2023 to a record $1.8 trillion, according to a study by the energy research group BloombergNEF. The largest investments…
Sunrun and PG&E Complete First Season of Innovative Residential Distributed Power Plant 29 Jan, 2024 Peaking at nearly 32 megawatts from 8,500 solar-plus-storage residential systems, Sunrun and Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) customers provided consistent, reliable clean energy to California’s power grid through the summer and fall of 2023 through an exclusive partnership between…