Claire Mueller’s Post

Utilities and regulators have a lot of work ahead to enact new federal grid planning reforms — and to overcome political and financial interests. “Utilities are always going to want to do these local reliability projects that are in their control, but this plan is certainly trying to get us away from that.” Learn more: https://bit.ly/3yzxgIe #FERC #utilities #transmission #renewables #FERCorder1920

"FERC’s goal is to set rules for #utilities and #grid operators to plan for and fairly share the costs of expanding the nation’s overtaxed #transmission grids, which carry #electricity from where it’s produced to the substations where it’s distributed to where it’s consumed. The U.S. needs to build these new power lines at a rapid clip in order to shift the country from #fossil uels to clean, cheap, and reliable power, but right now the buildout is far too slow, due in large part to the cost-sharing issues #FERC aims to iron out next week. As the #regulator prepares to unveil its long-awaited reforms, FERC Chair Willie Phillips must navigate a key conflict, one that has split states — and Phillips’ two fellow FERC commissioners — along #policy and #partisan lines. That conflict is over #cleanenergy policies, and whether the states that don’t have them should have to pay for #powerlines that they see as primarily supporting the #climateobjectives of other #states..."

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has spent two years working on what could be the most important nationwide transmission grid reform in decades. Next week, it plans to finally announce its decision — and the implications for the clean energy transition are huge Learn more: https://bit.ly/4acSVmG #FERC #Transmission #energytransition #renewables

This is a huge vote of confidence for an undervalued asset to the #energytransition: #demandresponse. During #WinterStormElliott 13% of "firm" generation resources, i.e. #methane gas power & #coal, failed to provide [FERC, September 21, 2023]. Meanwhile demand response, #vpp, & #ders, contributions perform consistently and can scale immediately. #maryland is setting the stage for the rest of the country to let #evs perform an invaluable grid service. #electrifyeverything

In recent weeks, the governors of Pennsylvania, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey and Delaware expressed their concerns to PJM Interconnection – America’s largest grid operator – about record-high energy prices amid rising energy demand.   As we continue our clean energy transition, natural gas can and must play a pivotal role in driving down emissions while keeping energy prices affordable for consumers.    ✅ Natural Gas Reduces Emissions – Thanks to America’s abundance of clean, reliable and affordable natural gas, which has made the switch from coal to natural gas possible, the U.S. reduced CO2 emissions by 879 million metric tons, or 14%, from 2007 to 2022 – the largest decline of any country around the world.    ✅ Natural Gas Ensures Affordable Energy for All – The latest data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration shows that natural gas is the most affordable energy source for U.S. households – 3.5 times less expensive than electricity.

Stay tuned for the culmination of one of the biggest FERC proceedings of the Biden presidency. Next week the results / decision of FERC's transmission cost allocation proceeding are on the docket. Massive potential implications across the power sector for renewables, energy storage, DERs, data centers, electrification, etc. https://lnkd.in/e5jprjgb #renewables #transmission #storage #DERs #electrification

On May 13, 2024, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued the final rule of highly anticipated reforms to regional transmission planning processes. Order No. 1920 implements a number of key provisions to facilitate the buildout of new interstate transmission facilities. https://ow.ly/vXLU50RGLyS

For better or for worse -- some will always contend for worse -- the Biden Administration is taking a much more hands-on philosophy when it comes to regulating the private sector. I hope to do a lead story on that subject soon for my weekly business newsletter, The Rising Tide. The latest: A little-known but powerful regulator has finalized sweeping new rules designed to expand the construction of big power lines and bring more renewable energy to U.S. homes and businesses. The rules approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which oversees wholesale electricity markets, are expected to make it easier for big regional transmission projects to get approval. FERC approved two rules Monday, one that will require companies that produce and transmit electricity to weigh factors such as supply and demand over at least two decades and another that addresses permitting of critical projects in areas that lack adequate transmission capacity. The rule requiring long-term planning is “the biggest single action by the federal government to advance transmission,” said Rob Gramlich, president of Grid Strategies, a power consulting firm. The long-term plans will need to account for the impact of extreme weather tied to climate change along with the cost of projects. By expanding transmission capacity, regions hit by weather disasters will be more resilient because they can access power from other parts of the country. Most utilities already plan for future demand and other contingencies, but few do so decades in the future. What has resulted is a largely ad-hoc national grid that has at times left utilities behind the curve amid shifting power generation technologies, demand and destructive weather events fueled by climate change. In Georgia, the state’s main utility, Georgia Power, has increased demand projections sixteen-fold and plans to burn more natural gas to meet that demand. Virginia’s largest utility, Dominion Energy, which supplies electricity to most of the state’s data centers, expects their power use to quadruple over the next 15 years, representing 40% of the utility’s demand in the state. “Our country is facing an unprecedented surge in demand for affordable electricity while confronting extreme weather threats to the reliability of our grid and trying to stay one step ahead of the massive technological changes we are seeing in our society,” FERC Chairman Willie Phillips said Monday.   Republican Commissioner Mark Christie voted against the long-term planning rule, which he said is unfair to consumers and oversteps FERC’s authority. Across the U.S., plans for myriad new power projects, largely wind and solar, are languishing due to delays in their ability to connect to the grid. The backlog of new power projects, mostly solar, wind and battery storage, seeking to connect to the grid jumped by 30% in 2023 from the previous year, according to a recent report by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

☝️This Canary Media Inc. piece details the challenges around federal regulators’ efforts to enact effective nationwide transmission grid reform so that the tremendous bottleneck of renewables projects can be eased. 👀Take the dive on this important issue: https://lnkd.in/euvtTE_3 #Deliveringacleanenergyfuture #solarpv #commercialsolar #communitysolar

Effective transmission planning and expansion are essential for a robust energy economy. This report from the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) highlights the critical need for modernizing our infrastructure to support renewable energy integration and enhance grid reliability. https://ow.ly/oY2k50UkVpW