EnerKnol

EnerKnol’s power and utilities research covers all aspects of U.S. energy generation, transmission, markets, and regulations. Detailed coverage includes, but is not limited to, U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs), Independent System Operators (ISOs), and state Public Utility Commissions (PUCs). EnerKnol Research analyses filings, orders, notices, and agreements that affect day-to-day power markets and operations.

Mar22021

Visual Primer: Texas Power Outages Draw Scrutiny into Grid Operator’s Market Design and Reliability

March 2, 2021

The widespread power outages across Texas during the extreme winter weather conditions brought about by a polar vortex in mid-February has raised questions about the reliability of the power grid operated by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas Inc. (ERCOT). The grid operator, which manages about 90 percent of the state’s electric load, reported that 48.6 percent of generation was forced out at the highest point due to the winter storm.

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Feb242021

EnerKnol Special Report Part II: ERCOT Forecast Risks

February 24, 2021

EnerKnol is committed to providing real-time transparency of the fragmented and highly technical landscape of energy regulation. With this as our guiding principle we are examining our database of over 35,000,000 regulatory records for insights into last week's Texas outages.

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Feb232021

Visual Primer: State Decarbonization Goals Spur Innovative Resource Planning Measures

February 23, 2021

Innovations in energy planning continue to emerge as state regulators devise programs and explore solutions that effectively meet customer needs and support policy goals. Recent state initiatives range from New York’s efforts to align gas planning with climate goals, to Maine’s investigation into the future design of the grid to accommodate growing renewables, and California’s transmission planning guidance to achieve ambitious decarbonization goals.

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Feb222021

Enerknol Special Report: Texas Outages Raise Questions About ERCOT’s Reliability

February 22, 2021

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Feb162021

Policy Primer: Net Metering Reforms

February 16, 2021

Net metering policies continue to evolve as state regulators seek to make rate structures more equitable to address cross-subsidy issues arising from the growing penetration of distributed solar generation. Net energy metering (NEM), which credits customer generators for grid-exported power, has been a key component of the policy framework to spur investment in customer-sited renewable energy facilities, including solar and energy storage systems. Successors to original tariffs are considering a range of factors including avoided utility costs, value to the grid, cost-shifting, and energy demand.

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Feb92021

Policy Primer: Competitive Retail Electricity Markets

February 9, 2021

Interest in retail electric competition has been growing as innovative sources of energy production emerge, giving consumers an active role in managing their power supply. This has led to increased oversight as policymakers and regulators explore reforms to enhance customer protections while encouraging the development of a competitive market.

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Jan262021

Policy Primer: Energy Storage Gains Prominence to Foster Grid Reliability

January 26, 2021

Energy storage initiatives are moving forward at a swift pace to complement clean energy policies as batteries can facilitate the integration of diverse generation technologies and address grid stability. With improving economics, there is a growing discussion on the role of energy storage as a grid asset to foster reliability and optimize renewables to meet ambitious clean energy goals.

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Jan192021

Policy Primer: States Rethink Resource Adequacy Constructs

January 19, 2021

Several states are rethinking the resource adequacy paradigm as the electric resource mix changes through the addition of more intermittent resources to replace retiring coal-fired capacity and meet state decarbonization goals. Resource adequacy initiatives are intended to ensure that the planned resource mix is sufficient to meet the future system capacity needs and maintain grid reliability.

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Jan122021

Policy Primer: Distribution System Planning Evolves With Growing DER Deployment

January 12, 2021

Distribution system planning is occurring across various states as utilities and regulators assess the growing need for grid integration of distributed energy resources (DER) and investments that have long-term implications for the power system.

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Jan52021

Year Ahead: Five Must-Watch Power Sector Trends for 2021

January 5, 2021

The shift in policy priorities of the incoming administration is expected to accelerate the transformation of the power sector towards clean energy and distributed grid, continuing its trajectory driven by market dynamics, technology, and customer preferences. The strong growth of renewable energy is expected to speed up, particularly with the extension of the federal tax…...

Dec152020

Policy Primer: Utilities Are Reshaping Rate Design Strategies

December 15, 2020

The growing adoption of clean energy standards, energy efficiency, and customer-sited resources is driving the need for innovative ratemaking principles. Utilities are exploring rate structures that facilitate the integration of variable and distributed generation, and align customer behavior with grid needs. Smart meters are paving the way for time-based and dynamic rate options to balance the grid under the increased penetration of renewable and distributed energy resources, as well as electric vehicles.

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Dec22020

EnerKnol Battery Storage Tracking Table

December 2, 2020

Declining costs, evolving technology, and changing grid needs are accelerating the pace of deployment of battery storage projects. Regulators seek to spur investments to leverage the multiple benefits of batteries, including the ability to add large amounts of intermittent renewable generation to the system, and to defer or eliminate the need to build new transmission…...

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