Visual Primer: Weather-Induced Energy Crises Drive Resiliency Efforts Across U.S.

Visual Primer: Weather-Induced Energy Crises Drive Resiliency Efforts Across U.S.

The growing incidence of extreme weather events has triggered regulatory and legislative efforts across the U.S. to improve the reliability and resilience of the energy system. Winter Storm Uri, which caused widespread outages in the South Central U.S. in February, prompted a regulatory upheaval in Texas, which suffered the brunt of the storm, leaving more than 4.5 million people without power. California has adopted measures to ensure reliability in the event of extreme weather in the summers of 2022 and 2023. Federal regulators have approved new cold weather electric reliability standards.

Policy Primer: U.S. Offshore Wind Industry December 2021 Update

Policy Primer: U.S. Offshore Wind Industry December 2021 Update

Interest in offshore wind energy has reached new levels driven by supportive federal action, ambitious state procurement targets, and evolving technology. Recent developments include federal approval of the second commercial-scale project, and plans to hold up to seven new lease sales by 2025 in the East Coast, as well as the West and Gulf Coasts. Despite the progress, the industry faces opposition with recent lawsuits challenging the approval of the nation’s first major offshore project, the 800-megawatt (MW) Vineyard Wind I venture, over its potential impact to the fishing industry and endangered species.

Visual Primer: Grid Reliability Needs, Clean Energy Goals Spur Discussion Around Western RTO

Visual Primer: Grid Reliability Needs, Clean Energy Goals Spur Discussion Around Western RTO

Western U.S. states are evaluating options to join or form a regional transmission organization (RTO) as regional coordination would strengthen electric system resilience and reliability, enhance clean energy adoption, and address transmission challenges.

FERC Approves Kinder Morgan’s Gulf Coast Southbound Project Expansion

Enerknol Special Report: Berkshire Hathaway Subsidiary Draws Protests For Proposed Threefold Hike In Rates

Eastern Gas Transmission and Storage Inc. (EGTS), which provides natural gas transportation and storage services with one of the largest underground natural gas storage systems in the U.S., has requested a whopping 214 percent increase in cost of service rates in its first general rate case filed with federal regulators since 1998. The proposed changes have drawn protests from over two dozen companies that rely on the EGTS system for transportation and storage services.

Policy Primer: Carbon Pricing November 2021 Update

Policy Primer: Carbon Pricing November 2021 Update

Interest in carbon pricing mechanisms has deepened as lawmakers and regulators explore policy tools to address emissions reductions in order to reach ambitious clean energy and climate goals. Cap-and-trade is figuring more prominently as an efficient market-based means to achieve significant carbon reductions and create an incentive to invest in non-emitting technologies.

Visual Primer: Carbon Reduction Goals Prompt Lawmakers to Rethink Nuclear Power Policy

Visual Primer: Carbon Reduction Goals Prompt Lawmakers to Rethink Nuclear Power Policy

Carbon reduction goals are driving policy support to keep financially-struggling nuclear generation plants operating and encourage new reactors. The fuel diversity and zero-carbon attributes of the resource are fueling the policy debate over its role in meeting state and federal energy and environmental goals.

Visual Primer: Utilities Long-Term Resource Plans Reflect Growing Role of Battery Storage in Power Mix

Visual Primer: Utilities’ Long-Term Resource Plans Reflect Growing Role of Battery Storage in Power Mix

Energy storage is becoming an increasingly important part of the power mix to accommodate the exponential growth of intermittent renewables required to accomplish ambitious decarbonization targets set by U.S. states and utilities.

Visual Primer: Growing Push for Transportation Electrification Highlights Potential of EVs as Grid Resources

Visual Primer: Growing Push for Transportation Electrification Highlights Potential of EVs as Grid Resources

The growing adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) is driving interest in vehicle-grid integration technologies that enable EVs to inject power from their batteries onto the grid, thereby enhancing reliability benefits across the distribution system.

Policy Primer: Grid Modernization - October 2021 Update

Policy Primer: Grid Modernization – October 2021 Update

A growing number of states are turning to grid modernization initiatives aimed at creating a more flexible system that can accommodate the proliferation of distributed energy resources (DER) and other solutions that meet changing customer needs and climate goals.

Visual Primer: Hydrogen Technology Draws Interest as Federal, State Regulators Explore Pathways to Carbon-Free Economy

Visual Primer: Hydrogen Technology Draws Interest as Federal, State Regulators Explore Pathways to Carbon-Free Economy

As the power and transportation sectors shift toward decarbonization, federal and state regulators are examining hydrogen's untapped potential in lowering emissions across industries ranging from energy storage to heavy-duty vehicles.