Winter rains lift California hydropower outlook, easing regional demand for natural gas Energize Weekly, May 17, 2023 Heavy rains have filled California reservoirs and boosted the prospect for hydropower – welcomed news to the rest of the West, which saw natural gas prices soar last winter as California utilities scrambled to fill a hydropower gap.…
Surge in clean generation and storage projects creating a backlog on U.S. electric grids Energize Weekly, April 26, 2023 A surge in clean energy projects – a 40 percent year-over-year increase in 2022 – is creating a traffic jam in getting onto the U.S. electric grid, according to a Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory study. There…
Construction nears on SRP large-scale battery energy storage project in Arizona APRIL 14, 2023 Officials from Salt River Project (SRP), Plus Power LLC, and the City of Avondale took part in a ceremonial groundbreaking to kick off construction at Sierra Estrella Energy Storage, what is expected to be the largest standalone battery facility in Arizona…
PacifiCorp eyes renewables as it plans to stop burning coal at most of its Wyoming plants April 5, 2023 Wyoming’s largest power company is shifting toward renewables and away from coal; however, the state is still planning a future that includes fossil fuels. PacifiCorp, also known as Rocky Mountain Power in Wyoming, released its Integrated…
The pace of U.S. coal-fired plant closures quickens, coal’s share of generation to plummet Energize Weekly, April 5, 2023 The pace of U.S. coal-fired plant closures continues to accelerate with half of all the capacity, which peaked in 2011, closed by 2026, according to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA). In 2010,…
U.S. EV and battery investments reached $120 billion in 2023 spurred by federal legislation Energize Weekly, March 29, 2023 Electric vehicle (EV) and battery manufacturing investments in the U.S. surged by $120 billion in the last eight years with federal legislation spurring activity, according to a study by the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF). EDF, a…
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 critical to help grid operators…
Global bank financing for low-carbon energy rose 15 percent to $550 billion in 2022 Energize Weekly, March 8, 2023 Investments in low-carbon energy supply rose by 15 percent in 2022 – the fastest growth rate in seven years – to $550 billion, according to BloombergNEF’s (BNEF) annual report on energy transition investment trends. Investments in…
Red states leading the US in solar and wind production, new report shows 26 Feb 2023 A new report by Climate Central shows how US capacity to generate renewable energy shot up last year – and surprisingly, red states lead the nation in solar and wind power production. National wind and solar capacity grew 16%…
Xcel Energy uses Inflation Reduction Act for customer savings Feb 19, 2023 Xcel Energy aims to save Minnesota customers over $1.4 billion in costs over the next 10 years and accelerate the transition to clean energy through provisions in the federal Inflation Reduction Act. Savings on projects in wind, solar, energy storage, electric vehicle chargers…
Electric Vehicles Loom Large in U.S. Power Grid Modernization February 9, 2023 Since its inception, the U.S. electric grid has mostly operated smoothly as one synchronous machine with a one-directional flow of electricity to meet the nation’s predictable power needs. However, as older centralized thermal resources are being replaced with more variable renewables and long-distance…
More than half of new U.S. electric-generating capacity in 2023 will be solar FEBRUARY 6, 2023 Developers plan to add 54.5 gigawatts (GW) of new utility-scale electric-generating capacity to the U.S. power grid in 2023, according to our Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory. More than half of this capacity will be solar power (54%), followed…