Generation
-
Clean, dispatchable generation is key to meeting state emissions goals: New York governor
NYSERDA’s Future Energy Economy Summit, held earlier this month, will inform state renewable energy deployments and action on advanced, dispatchable generation, Gov. Kathy Hochul said.
By Ethan Howland • Sept. 13, 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 -
Trendline
Top 5 Stories from Utility Dive
The U.S. energy transition is facing challenges around grid interconnections, project permitting and power system reliability, but state, federal and other solutions are emerging.
By Utility Dive staff -
Middle River Power reverses plan to shut 540-MW plant amid record PJM capacity prices
The company withdrew plans to shutter its gas-fired Elgin power plant in Illinois after capacity prices jumped to $270/MW-day in PJM's part of the state.
By Ethan Howland • Sept. 12, 2024 -
Opinion
Why many environmentalists are warming to nuclear power
They are revisiting their early concerns about nuclear power — primarily waste, safety and costs — in light of new information, and they are concluding that the benefits outweigh the risks.
By Judi Greenwald • Sept. 11, 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 Tuesday 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 -
The fallout from PJM’s record-setting capacity auction
Utilities, power plant owners, state lawmakers and regulators are responding to PJM's latest capacity auction, with an eye on the ones ahead.
By Ethan Howland • Sept. 6, 2024 -
Uprates, batteries and DR may offer near-term responses to record PJM capacity prices
With tight supply-demand conditions, upcoming capacity auctions could be volatile, according to ESAI Power’s Scott Niemann. “It just adds a lot more uncertainty to the auction outcomes," he said.
By Ethan Howland • Sept. 6, 2024 -
PJM considers fast-track review for shovel-ready generating projects
The grid operator expects generators will step in with new supplies in response to high prices in its recent capacity auction.
By Ethan Howland • Sept. 5, 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 -
Texas denies Aegle Power loan application for 1.3-GW gas plant after NextEra’s unauthorized inclusion
Lawmakers said they want to know how the Public Utility Commission of Texas and Deloitte “advanced a problematic and unqualified application by an energy executive who was publicly convicted of fraud.”
By Robert Walton • Sept. 5, 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 -
Sierra Club sues Arizona regulators over UNS Electric 200-MW gas expansion
A June decision “overturned the existing environmental review process ... setting a dangerous precedent,” said Sierra Club Grand Canyon Chapter Director Sandy Bahr.
By Robert Walton • Sept. 4, 2024 -
Ratepayer advocates urge PJM to include RMR power plants in capacity auctions
PJM should hold a stakeholder process to include reliability-must-run plants and, if needed, delay the next auction, set to take place in December, to avoid “unjust and unreasonable” prices, they said.
By Ethan Howland • Sept. 3, 2024 -
Texas PUC selects 17 gas-fired projects totaling almost 10 GW for possible loans
The Public Utility Commission of Texas also finalized a reliability standard and took other steps to strengthen the state’s electric system at Thursday’s open meeting.
By Robert Walton • Aug. 30, 2024 -
PJM capacity prices could jump 157% in next auction: Morgan Stanley
While prices could hit a $695/MW-day cap, relatively small changes in new supply in the December auction could produce large swings in the outcome, analysts said.
By Ethan Howland • Aug. 29, 2024 -
Pennsylvania state senator to propose loan fund to spur new power plants
The Pennsylvania Baseload Energy Development Fund would be modeled after a $5 billion loan fund in Texas.
By Ethan Howland • Aug. 29, 2024 -
US clean energy jobs grew 4.2% in 2023: DOE
The U.S. added clean energy jobs at more than twice the rate of the broader economy, according to the Department of Energy.
By Robert Walton • Aug. 28, 2024 -
Clean energy groups push for more interconnection reforms ahead of FERC workshop
They called for fast-track processes that would give construction-ready projects access to existing and planned interconnection capacity, among other things.
By Ethan Howland • Aug. 27, 2024 -
Southwest Power Pool seeks FERC OK to delay 2024 interconnection queue process
The delay would give SPP time to finish studying and restudying interconnection clusters going back to 2018, the grid operator told the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
By Ethan Howland • Aug. 26, 2024 -
CAISO interconnection reform plan draws support from SoCal Ed, PG&E, PUC
However, renewable energy developers and trade groups urged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to reject provisions they say would favor utility-backed projects.
By Ethan Howland • Aug. 23, 2024 -
New England may need ‘vast renewable build-out’ by 2050 to meet state decarbonization goals: ISO
By 2045, wind and solar resources are projected to meet just 10 GW of the 51 GW peak gross load during peak winter demand, according to the grid operator’s modeling.
By Robert Walton • Aug. 23, 2024 -
MISO, SPP advance ‘unprecedented’ transmission plan that could support up to 30 GW
The grid operators are seeking Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approvals that are needed to build $1.7 billion in transmission projects along their northern border.
By Ethan Howland • Aug. 22, 2024