Utility Dive

Utilities are spending billions to modernize the grid but the system responsible for billing customers is not keeping up, writes GridX CCO Scott Engstrom.

Constellation Energy expects Texas’ Batch Zero large load interconnection process will resume without “meaningful delay.”

The federal utility’s total operating revenue was $10 billion over the first nine months of the fiscal year, up 3% year-over-year, with a net income of $965 million.

 “Fractionalized” virtual power purchase agreements and renewable energy certificate transactions can help underwrite clean energy projects, particularly in volatile energy markets, an executive involved in the transaction told Utility Dive.

President and CEO Robert Gaudette said NRG’s approach to delivering customer-backed capacity would thrive in a more restrictive environment for data center development. 

The longer the moratorium stays in place, the greater the risk to Texas’ data center boom, analysts at Bloomberg NEF said.

President and CEO Harry Sideris said the company is deploying more than $1 billion per month to meet “record demand.” Advocates in North Carolina say the utility has exaggerated growth projections to justify its spending plan.

Behind-the-meter batteries and other aggregated DERs could get another lift from a related rulemaking at the California Public Utilities Commission, but a final ruling is unlikely before next year, a regulatory expert told Utility Dive.

A divided court rejected the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s attempt to reclaim Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund grants “based solely on a policy disagreement” with the Inflation Reduction Act. 

Also, Public Service Enterprise Group is “encouraged” by potential changes to the utility business model in New Jersey, CEO Ralph LaRossa said.

There appears to be broad support for strengthening the independence of the grid operator’s board, possibly by moving to an advisory stakeholder process, and giving states more influence. Some also called for codifying the public interest in PJM’s mission.

The UC Berkeley analysis should be welcome news for a manufacturing industry that is heavily reliant on natural gas, with its volatile prices, said Jose Dominguez, one of the report’s authors.

GE Vernova is taking reservations for 2031 deliveries now, said CEO Scott Strazik. He spoke of an increasingly diverse customer base, including data centers.

With so much riding on America's AI ambitions, utility workforce strategy must have a place alongside generation, transmission and capital planning, writes Stefan Hirniak, president of Specialist Staffing Group US.

“Any export of power ... necessarily makes that power unavailable to domestic customers,” potentially contributing to inadequate supplies for a region, Public Citizen said. 

Data centers, competition in the transmission sector and PJM Interconnection governance reform were other key topics at the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing.

More than 800 electric utilities have approved GPP’s GenerLink transfer switch, which provides backup power for outlets and hardwired appliances at significantly lower cost than a standby generator, Ford says.

Cutting utility returns won't lower electric bills and will leave us with a more fragile power grid, writes Scott Aaronson, former secretary of the Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council.

Integrated resource planning would give regulators a clearer long-term picture of electricity needs before major energy investments are approved, advocates say.

The Marigold Energy Center, about 45 miles south of Phoenix, would include 400 MW of battery storage, 600 MW of solar generation, up to 675 MW of gas generation and a new substation.