Maine Governor Signs Bill Forming Post to Investigate Alternatives to Building Power Lines

Maine Governor Signs Bill Forming Post to Investigate Alternatives to Building Power Lines

Energy Efficiency, EnerKnol Impact-Misc Categories, EnerKnol Impacts, EnerKnol Pulse, Grid Modernization, REC Feed

Democratic Governor Janet Mills signed legislation on June 14 establishing the position of a “nonwires alternative coordinator” to investigate and identify alternatives to proposed transmission projects, and evaluate the costs and benefits of nonwire alternatives compared to utility capital investments in the transmission and distribution system. Nonwire alternatives refer to infrastructure, technology, or application that…

New Jersey Unveils Draft Plan for 100 Percent Clean Energy by 2050

New Jersey Unveils Draft Plan for 100 Percent Clean Energy by 2050

Climate Change and Emissions, Electric Vehicles, Energy Efficiency, Energy Storage, EnerKnol Impact-Misc Categories, EnerKnol Impacts, EnerKnol Pulse, Grid Modernization, Nuclear, REC Feed, Solar, Wind

The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities has released the draft version of the 2019 Energy Master Plan, which provides a blueprint made up of seven strategies for achieving the state’s goal of 100 percent clean energy by 2050, as well as reducing greenhouse gas emission by at least 80 percent compared to 2006 levels,…

California Wildfire Commission Recommends Liability Reform to Save Utilities, Protect Ratepayers

California Wildfire Commission Recommends Liability Reform to Save Utilities, Protect Ratepayers

Climate Change and Emissions, Electric Transmission, EnerKnol Impact-Misc Categories, EnerKnol Impacts, EnerKnol Pulse, Grid Modernization, Wholesale Power

The Commission on Catastrophic Wildfire Cost and Recovery published a draft report on May 29 with recommendations on equitable distribution of costs among affected parties of the catastrophic California wildfires. According to the report, the trend of growing fire activity related to increasing global temperatures coupled with population incursions into high fire risk areas means that…

Texas State Lawmakers Pass Legislation to Enhance Grid Protection Against Cyber Attacks

Texas State Lawmakers Pass Legislation to Enhance Grid Protection Against Cyber Attacks

EnerKnol Impacts, EnerKnol Pulse, Grid Modernization

The Texas legislature on May 21 approved a measure aimed at mitigating the risk of cyber and physical attacks that may affect the reliability of the state’s electric systems. The legislation would establish the electric grid security council as an advisory body to implement and disseminate best security practices for the power industry, including generation,…

States Lean on Utilities to Foster the Rise of Electric Vehicles

EnerKnol’s Visual Primer – States Lean on Utilities to Foster the Rise of Electric Vehicles

Electric Vehicles, Energy Storage, EnerKnol Impact-Misc Categories, EnerKnol Impacts, EnerKnol Research Reports, EnerKnol Visual Primer, Grid Modernization, Power & Utilities, PRODUCTS, Smart Grid

The unabating momentum of electric vehicle (EV) growth has prompted regulators and legislators to examine policies and standards of utilities regarding charging infrastructure. Utilities can assume a larger role in developing EV charging because of their ability to install and operate widely distributed electrical assets.

Washington Enacts Law Requiring Electric Utilities to Plan for Distributed Energy Future

Washington Enacts Law Requiring Electric Utilities to Plan for Distributed Energy Future

EnerKnol Impacts, EnerKnol Pulse, Grid Modernization, REC Feed, Solar

Democratic Governor Jay Inslee signed legislation on April 30 setting forth requirements that Washington’s electric utilities must accomplish in their distributed energy resources planning processes. The move comes on the heels of a measure approved by the legislature last month requiring the state’s electricity supply to be carbon-neutral by 2030 and 100 percent carbon-free by…

New York Regulator Ends Utilities’ Interconnection Incentive, Says More Effective Tools Available

New York Regulator Ends Utilities’ Interconnection Incentive, Says More Effective Tools Available

EnerKnol Impacts, EnerKnol Pulse, Grid Modernization, REC Feed, Solar

The New York Public Service Commission on April 24 directed the state’s electric utilities to terminate the use of outcome-based earning incentives tied to interconnection, finding that the metric no longer presents an opportunity to earn revenue that is connected to improved customer value. The agency found that more effective tools have been developed and…

Minnesota Regulator Issues Resource Plan Filing Requirements for Regulated Utilities

U.S. Agriculture Department Announces $485 Million to Revamp Rural Electric Infrastructure

EnerKnol Impacts, EnerKnol Pulse, Grid Modernization

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is providing financing through its electric loan program to upgrade rural electric systems, including smart grid technologies to enhance operations and monitor grid security across 13 states, according to an April 8 press release. The spending will help build or improve about 2,635 miles of power lines. These include almost…

How America's Sunny Isles Are Spearheading Grid Innovation in Pursuit of Resilience

How America’s Sunny Isles Are Spearheading Grid Innovation in Pursuit of Resilience

EnerKnol Impacts, EnerKnol Insights, EnerKnol Research Reports, Grid Modernization, Power & Utilities, PRODUCTS, REC Feed, Smart Grid

Hawaii and Puerto Rico are at the forefront of a trend just starting to sweep the nation as regulators look to overhaul a grid now growing more reliant on intermittent supplies. The experience of these islands could shed light on the need to consider the implications of future grid investments for both reliability and regional…...

Massachusetts Utilities Revise Performance Metrics to Track Grid Modernization Progress

Massachusetts Utilities Revise Performance Metrics to Track Grid Modernization Progress

EnerKnol Impacts, EnerKnol Pulse, Grid Modernization, Power & Utilities, REC Feed, Smart Grid

National Grid plc, Unitil Corp., and Eversource Energy put forth revised performance metrics that they propose to use for evaluating the progress under their individual grid modernization plans, as well as the statewide goals of the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities, according to an April 3 filing. Last May, the department approved the companies’ grid modernization plans,…...

Mid-Atlantic Operator Teams Up With DOE to Study Distributed Resource Integration

Mid-Atlantic Operator Teams Up With DOE to Study Distributed Resource Integration

Electric Transmission, Energy Storage, EnerKnol Impact-Misc Categories, EnerKnol Pulse, Grid Modernization, Solar, Wholesale Power

PJM Interconnection LLC is joining forces with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory to study the integration of distributed energy resources, such as rooftop solar, into the operator’s grid, according to an April 2 press release. The Argonne laboratory will be supporting PJM’s Distributed Energy Resource Ride-Through Task Force in developing guidelines for so-called “ride through” and…

Trump Signs Executive Order to Protect Nation's Infrastructure from Electromagnetic Pulses

Trump Signs Executive Order to Protect Nation’s Infrastructure from Electromagnetic Pulses

Cyber Security, EnerKnol Impact-Misc Categories, EnerKnol Impacts, EnerKnol Pulse, Grid Modernization

President Trump issued an executive order on March 26 directing federal agencies to assess and plan against the risks of an electromagnetic pulse, or EMP, implementing the core recommendations of the decommissioned Congressional EMP Commission on an accelerated basis. An electromagnetic pulse is a high-intensity surge of energy that can disrupt or destroy sensitive electronics and electrical infrastructure…