The rapid shift toward renewable energy resources (RERs) has placed significant demands on traditional power systems. To address these challenges, modern energy infrastructure is evolving into smart grids, leveraging advanced technologies like Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) to enhance grid flexibility, reliability, and efficiency. A VPP is a collection of distributed energy resources (DERs), such as renewable energy sources, battery storage, controllable loads, and electric vehicles (EVs), that operate as a unified power plant through intelligent...
The recent launch of the Coalition for Green Capital's (CGC) first national green bank marks a significant milestone in the United States' climate strategy. This development, announced in a Utility Dive article, underscores a pivotal shift towards streamlined, scalable financing for green...
Protecting legacy SCADA systems from cyberattacks BY ERIC BYRES, Belden Over the past decade, the power industry has embraced network technologies such as Ethernet and transmission control protocol (TCP)/Internet protocol suite (IP) for supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) and...
Turning green generation into power BY THE EXPERTS AT THE WORLD WATCH INSTITUTE A grid system’s difficulty in absorbing variable generation can present an obstacle to the growth of renewable power, especially when continued improvements in infrastructure and market design are absent. There are...
Duke Energy has received approval from North Carolina regulators to deploy a significant amount of new power generation capacity in the state, including new natural gas plants, as part of its long-term energy transition strategy. The decision, which is expected to have a major impact on the...
The "Solar For All" program, which was designed to bring affordable solar energy to low-income communities across the United States, is now facing significant challenges after a pause in funding imposed by the Trump administration. This program, which was part of the Biden administration’s...
In a strategic move to tackle the growing electricity demand and bolster energy security, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), under Secretary Chris Wright, has announced plans to focus on expanding baseload and dispatchable power generation. This shift in priorities, outlined on January 5, 2025,...
Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), a major utility serving Northern and Central California, has secured a conditional $15 billion loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Loan Programs Office. This funding aims to enhance PG&E's hydropower generation, battery storage...
A coalition of large energy consumers and ratepayer advocates has filed a complaint with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), urging the agency to prohibit transmission owners from independently planning "local" transmission projects exceeding 100 kilovolts (kV). The coalition argues...
Novonix, an Australian battery materials and technology company, has secured a conditional commitment for a $754.8 million loan from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to construct a synthetic graphite manufacturing facility in Chattanooga, Tennessee. This facility is poised to become the first...
The Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) has unanimously decided to shelve the proposed $1 billion Performance Credit Mechanism (PCM) for power generators, concluding that it would not deliver the anticipated grid reliability benefits. The PCM was conceived as a means to incentivize power...
