Although the concrete statistics for the final months of last year aren’t in yet, the EIA says it expects renewable generation capacity to have accounted for most of the 2016 capacity additions in the country.
US Power Grid
Renewable Energy Update – January 2017 #2
By William R. Devine, Barry Epstein, Emily L. Murray | Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLPSign up and get Breaking Energy news in your inbox.
We will never sell or share your information without your consent. See our privacy policy.
The suggestion that ISIS-related militants could team up with Mexican drug cartels to disable the US power grid for an extended period of time seems a bit alarmist, but worth noting, particularly in light of 2 recent substation attacks in California. US power grid vulnerability, be it from cyber attack or direct assault, has been… Keep reading →
Senate Should Demand Electric Grid Reliability and Security
By Thomas S. Popik and William R. Graham
With a Senate vote on two nominees for commissioners of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) pending, there is unprecedented attention on this obscure regulator of interstate pipelines and electricity transmission. In 2005, Congress granted FERC additional authority to regulate electric grid reliability and security, but too often FERC has accommodated industry rather than enforce… Keep reading →
Is Your Utility Prepared for Storm Season?
By Christopher Prince
As Americans brace for warmer weather – and the tornadoes, droughts and hurricanes that come with it – the question remains: are utilities prepared to handle the stress of ever increasing inclement weather? Like weather patterns, every utility requires unique ingredients to successfully navigate storm-related outage prevention and restoration strategy. However, at the foundation of… Keep reading →
A Concept for Optimizing Strategic Energy Infrastructure?
By Roman Kilisek
A timely new report published by the World Economic Forum in April 2014 titled “Strategic Infrastructure Steps to Operate and Maintain Infrastructure Efficiently and Effectively” addresses an important area for necessary investment globally: infrastructure. The current focus in the US is on energy infrastructure – whether this concerns the need to build out the petroleum… Keep reading →
Bill to Address Grid Threats and Vulnerabilities
By Energy Solutions Forum
The GRID Act, introduced in the House and Senate, would authorize FERC to effectively address electricity grid security issues. On March 26, 2014, Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-CA) introduced the Grid Reliability and Infrastructure Defense (GRID) Act (H.R. 4298) aimed to amend the Federal Power Act to protect the bulk-power system and defense-critical electric infrastructure… Keep reading →
Where Will the Next $400B in Grid Investment Come From?
By Greentech Media
$8 billion in smart grid stimulus projects is only a fraction of what’s needed to modernize the grid. The approximately $4 billion in Smart Grid Investment Grants that were issued as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 was parlayed into nearly $8 billion in grid modernization projects that are still ongoing.… Keep reading →
The changing utility business model in the face of distributed generation market acceptance is a major theme so far in 2014, and Google’s Nest acquisition is a clear signpost on this transitional landscape. It’s becoming increasingly clear that to lead the way in the new power generation and delivery space, utilities need to decide whether… Keep reading →
The Smart Grid 2014 and Beyond: A New Grid Model
By Steven Collier
The 2013 Chinese Year of the Snake (i.e., smart people who use others to achieve their goals) saw disappointing results from an industry smart grid strategy of convincing customers to change their behavior to mitigate inadequacies of the existing grid. Clearly, the demand response approach, while having some benefit, will not by itself ensure an… Keep reading →
Modernizing the US power grid while incorporating increasing volumes of intermittent renewable energy is the electrical engineering challenge of our time. And there’s a lot at stake from costly blackouts to highly profitable energy storage solutions. Fragmented and often outdated regulations enforced by competing government agencies from local to national levels compound the problem. These… Keep reading →
