Grid modernization efforts are increasingly focused on resilience and reliability to protect the system against extreme weather and cyberattacks. Lawmakers and regulators are pursuing reforms to ensure that policies keep pace with the rapidly changing resource mix to facilitate the transformation to a future grid capable of integrating the increasing number of intermittent resources and electric vehicles.
The California Public Utilities Commission on Aug. 5 approved a plug-in electric vehicle submetering protocol for Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison, San Diego Gas & Electric, PacifiCorp and two smaller utilities. The commission demands the stated utilities implement the submetering protocol for all customers with plug in electric vehicles and customer owned submeters…....
The growth in power generation from small-scale, customer-sited solar installations is altering the hourly pattern of metered electricity demand in New England during spring – March to May, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Since 2016, New England has added 3.8 gigawatts to its grid, with small-scale solar accounting for 60 percent of that…...
Performance-based regulation (PBR) is gaining momentum across U.S. states driven by policy and technology changes to meet decarbonization goals and changing customer expectations.
The U.S. Energy Department’s Loan Programs Office has closed a $102.1 million loan to Syrah Technologies LLC for the development of its Syrah Vidalia Facility. This marks the first loan from the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing, or ATVM, Loan program in over a decade, and the first such loan entirely for a supply chain manufacturing…...
The Midcontinent Independent System Operator’s (MISO) board of directors on July 25 approved the largest portfolio of transmission projects in the grid operator’s footprint, authorizing $10.3 billion worth of long-range transmission plan, or LRTP, projects to ensure grid reliability during the clean energy transition. The LRTP transmission projects are expected to enhance system performance to…...
The Oregon Public Utility Commission has announced that the state’s electric utilities have filed plans to mitigate and prevent wildfire risk in the region. The plans are the first to be filed in response to legislation enacted in August 2021 requiring utilities to identify high-risk areas within their service territory and reduce those risks. The…
The U.S. Energy Department on July 21 released a notice of intent to offer $225 million for states and local governments to advance the application of latest building energy standards to aid in the development of buildings that consume less energy. The Building Energy Codes: Resilient and Efficient Codes Implementation Program, which is funded by…...
The U.S. Energy Department’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management on July 21 announced a funding of US $96 million allocated for projects aimed at developing clean automotive technologies that can reduce carbon dioxide emissions from the domestic transportation industry. The investment complements the $5 billion National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program, or NEVI,…...
The California Air Resources Board on July 18 launched the second round of its Clean Off-Road Equipment Voucher Incentive Project, with $125 million in funding, which is over double the amount earmarked for the project when it was launched in 2020. The voucher-based incentive plan motivates consumers to buy or rent zero-emission off-road equipment by…...
A massive investment in transmission infrastructure is necessary to move renewable energy over long distances from where it is produced to where it is needed. These transmission lines, which are so necessary to combat climate change present an inherent wildfire risk exacerbated by drought conditions in the western United States and Canada.