Markets

Consumers today want their utilities to provide an experience like any other service provider, offering the same control and transparency. User-friendly smart meter technology has allowed consumers to play a bigger role in managing their energy usage and cost. But to give customers true command of their energy consumption, the industry needs distributed intelligence technology. […]

Ten years ago, the energy market was based around the conventional, centralized generation of oil and coal plants. It was predictable and formulaic. These staples of yesterday’s energy market are no longer the future of energy generation. Instead, we see a global push toward clean energy with wind and solar power, and companies are accelerating […]

The Energy Information Administration’s (EIA’s) June 2021 electric generator inventory suggests 260 battery energy storage systems (BESSs) are now operational in the U.S., representing a total nameplate capacity of 2,673 MW. Another 12,914 MW from 212 BESS projects are in various stages of planning or construction, with more than 10 GW readying to begin operations […]

China’s tightening coal supplies, more stringent energy intensity and environmental restrictions, and soaring industrial power demand have triggered another widespread power crisis. Blackouts and brownouts have reportedly afflicted numerous provincial jurisdictions across the economic powerhouse this week, most prominently in Guangdong in the south, and Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning in the northeast, according to state-run […]

Pennsylvania, a major power producer that relied on fossil fuels for 66% of its net power generation in June, plans to maintain its nuclear generation at current levels until it can ramp up other carbon-free supplies to 100% by 2050, the state’s Sept. 22–released 2021 Climate Action Plan suggests.  The measures are part of a […]

Partners developing the 800-MW Vineyard Wind 1 offshore wind farm have announced they will swap assets jointly owned by their 50/50 Vineyard Wind joint venture to allow each party to focus on its separate expansion within the burgeoning U.S. offshore wind industry once the 800-MW Vineyard Wind 1 offshore wind farm is operational. The Vineyard […]

America’s energy system has entered a new era where companies are competing against one another to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Customers—large and small—are concerned about climate change, forcing business models to adapt beyond keeping the lights on. Today, 75% of households in the U.S. are served by a utility with a carbon or emissions reduction goal—to […]

After more than a decade of development, Minesto’s novel underwater “kite” technology kicked off commercial operation with a 100-kW project in the Faroe Islands. Despite some hiccups, the pioneering

Soon after COVID-19 first broke into the public consciousness in early 2020, panic filled the streets. I’ll be honest, I was nervous. The U.S. stock market plummeted roughly 35% over the course of about a

Market forces and government policy are driving clean energy deployment across the U.S. at a level that could impact reliability if not carefully implemented. State regulators, independent system operators

Large-scale battery power capacity in the U.S. surged 35% over 2020 to reach 1,650 MW, and according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), utilities are planning to ramp up that capacity by 10 GW over the next two years. In a newly released report, Battery Storage in the United States: An Update on Market Trends, […]

The costs for wind and solar power generating systems have decreased dramatically over the past decade. According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the global weighted-average levelized

The U.S. electric grid is a complex web of interconnected power lines. It functions remarkably well, considering that it is a constant work in progress. Yet, what has served adequately in the past may not be

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) has unveiled a roadmap outlining crucial improvements designed to enhance grid reliability, taking into account recent legislation, regulatory mandates, and a recent push by the state’s governor for market incentives that will help the grid bulk up on “adequate and reliable” resources, like natural gas, coal, and nuclear […]

The rapidly spreading Bootleg Fire tripped off transmission lines that transport power from the Pacific Northwest to California and other states over the weekend, prompting the California Independent System Operator (ISO) to issue another Flex Alert—the sixth such conservation notification this summer. According to the state’s Incident Information System, the intense fire in Southern-Central Oregon […]

Stricken by repeated extreme heat events, the prospect of a worsening drought, incremental resource delays, and the “unforeseen” loss of 300 MW in thermal resources, California has set out to secure additional energy resources to ensure reliability this summer. Responding to a June 29 letter from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and the California […]

Brazil is blessed with a wealth of natural resources. It gets almost two-thirds of its electricity from hydropower facilities, and it also has enormous potential for wind, solar, and natural gas-fired power. Yet, the country is saddled with higher than average electricity prices compared to most developed nations. A study conducted by McKinsey & Company […]

If you’ve seen the musical “Cabaret,” you know that “money makes the world go ‘round” in a variety of ways. While it may not indeed make the power and energy sectors “go ‘round,” money does

The way we generate and distribute electricity has become a Rubik’s cube for power companies, regulators, and consumers. The need to reduce carbon emissions linked to climate change by investing in renewables is acknowledged by most experts. At the same time, recent unusual weather events have demonstrated that there is also an urgent need to […]

Michigan’s largest energy provider Consumers Energy will stop using coal as a fuel source for power generation within the next four years—15 years earlier than previously planned. In an updated integrated resource plan (IRP) filed with the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) on June 23, the CMS Energy subsidiary said the effort would lead Michigan’s […]

The term “open source” is well-recognized in the technology world, but may not be as widely understood in other sectors. What open source means is that the software code is publicly available so that anyone can contribute to the code base and create add-on extensions. This enables the growth of a market of providers that […]

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has signed into law sweeping bills approved by Texas legislators that will require power generators in the state to weatherize against extreme events and revamp organizational oversight of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). Hours before the state’s regular 140-day legislative session dwindled to its end on May 30—and amid […]

Leadership provided event analysis and discussed implications for the Reliability Imperative CARMEL, Ind. — The Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) recently published The February Arctic Event providing event details, lessons learned and implications for the Reliability Imperative. The RTO hosted a today and shared detailed information about how MISO managed the particularly challenging conditions of […]

The past year and a half has been, to put it mildly, a weird time. Americans have grappled with the COVID-19 crisis, as well as with the associated economic fallout that revealed cracks in a number of our nation’s workforce and social systems. But recent years have also exposed the significant flaws in parts of […]

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) on April 13 urged Texans to conserve power as grid conditions tightened owing to a “a combination of high generation outages typical in April and higher-than-forecasted demand from a stalled cold front over Texas.” The Texas grid operator, which in February narrowly avoided system collapse as Winter Storm […]

Flexible plant operations are highly desirable in today’s power generation industry. Every plant owner desires increased ramp rates and the ability to operate at lower loads so their plants will remain “in the money” longer in today’s competitive power markets. This goal, while laudable, remains elusive. The ADEX self-tuning artificial intelligence (AI) system allows plants […]

On Feb. 24, 2021, the Biden administration unveiled a sweeping plan to review the U.S. supply chain. The 100-day review will include categories such as computer chips, rare earth minerals, and lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles (EVs). China is a key supplier of many of these items. There is an increasing realization that the lack […]

The severe winter storm that knocked out Texas’ electricity grid in February, plunging millions of people into a cold, dark ordeal, has led to a number of takes about what went wrong. The state’s deregulated energy market has been frequently singled out as the root cause. But, while a contributing factor, it wasn’t the only […]

Although you’d be hard-pressed to find an expert who believes oil and gas companies will abandon exploration and production operations anytime soon, several oil and gas majors are expanding their businesses