The Maryland Public Service Commission will hold a hearing on Baltimore Gas and Electric Company’s proposed transmission line upgrades related to coal plant retirements. The proposed Brandon Shores Retirement Mitigation Project involves the construction of new overhead transmission line segments and upgrading other existing lines to a higher voltage, focusing on lines crossing Harford, Baltimore, and Anne Arundel counties. The company stated that the work is needed to resolve widespread, severe thermal and voltage violations that grid operator PJM Interconnection LLC has identified will result from the planned retirement of Talen Energy’s coal-fired Brandon Shores Generating Station Units 1 and 2. 9748

The Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission will hold a public hearing to discuss the impact of data centers and other large load customers on the state’s electric grid. The en banc hearing, unanimously approved by the commission, will explore ways to ensure a fair, transparent, and forward-looking process for interconnecting high-energy users while protecting existing utility customers. The hearing is part of the commission’s broader effort to evaluate the growing number of hyperscale data centers and other energy-intensive operations across the state. While these large customers can spur economic growth and innovation, they also raise concerns about grid reliability, cost allocation for infrastructure upgrades, interconnection procedures, and equitable treatment of current customers. M-2025-3054271

The New York Public Service Commission seeks comments to inform its review of the Make-Ready Program aimed to support increased adoption of electric vehicles in the state by providing incentives to developers of EV chargers throughout the state. The ratepayer-funded incentives are issued by the state’s investor- owned utilities, in compliance with an order that initiated the program in July 2020. In November 2023, the commission approved recommendations in a midpoint review whitepaper with modifications. While the initial order directed the program to sunset in 2025, the midpoint order authorized the program to continue until the utilities’ plug goals are met or budgets are depleted. The commission outlined areas for evaluation including the program’s effectiveness, progress towards plug goals, and ramping down of the incentive allocations. READ MORE

The Puerto Rico Energy Bureau seeks written comments on a compensation structure for grid support services discussed at a recent meeting of the Smart Inverter Working Group. The meeting included an overview of grid support services and how operators can ensure that the power quality of the delivered electricity is acceptable. The discussion also examined whether prosumers should be paid for inverter-based-resources grid support services. NEPR-MI-2019-0009

The California Energy Commission is due to receive comments on an assessment of IP Darden I LLC and Affiliates’ proposed Darden Clean Energy Project in Fresno County, including a draft environmental impact report. The project consists of a 1,150-megawatt solar photovoltaic facility and an up to 4,600 megawatt-hour battery energy storage system. The project, spanning about 9,500 acres, would be located in an agricultural area of unincorporated Fresno County south of the community of Cantua Creek. The solar PV facility would be located on about 9,100 acres of land currently owned by Westlands Water District that would be purchased by IP Darden. The project would interconnect to Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s Los Banos-Midway #2 500 kV transmission line. 23-OPT-02

The Hawaii Public Utilities Commission will hold public meetings to allow Hawaiian Electric to provide information about its wildfire mitigation plan. Hawaiian Electric developed an enhanced Wildfire Safety Strategy, or WSS, building on its immediate actions in response to the August 2023 windstorm and wildfires and establishing a three-year action plan for 2025-2027. The utility first began developing its WSS in 2019 and updated it in 2023. The enhanced WSS outlines short-, mid-, and long-term initiatives to lower the risk of wildfires igniting from equipment. Hawaiian Electric invested approximately $120 million to make wildfire safety improvements in 2024, including rolling out a public safety power shutoff program and upgrading miles of overhead power lines. 2025-0156