Dynamic pricing is superior to virtual power plants, says dynamic pricing pioneer
As California pursues dynamic pricing of electricity to help integrate renewable generation, industry pioneer Edward Cazalet says dynamic pricing can meet California’s demand flexibility needs better than virtual power plants can.
PJM could fast-track 102 GW solar, 24 GW storage at underused points of interconnection
The nation’s largest grid operator could enable deployment of much-needed renewable capacity in the next 1-2 years, researchers found.
New Jersey utilities must explain their votes on matters decided by grid operator PJM
When members of the nation’s largest grid operator PJM vote on matters affecting the speed of PJM’s interconnection studies and other issues, utilities in New Jersey and Maryland must now report on how they voted.
Data center firms could buy utilities and add renewables, says trade group executive
Simon Mahan, executive director of the Southern Renewable Energy Association, has talked about the possibility that data center firms could buy electric utilities and then add the fastest, least-cost generators, namely renewables. The association he leads represents the wind, solar, storage and transmission industries. We interviewed him to learn more; here are his condensed remarks.
100,000 residential batteries in California tested as one distributed power plant
A statewide test showed how California’s residential batteries could perform routinely when the sun is going down and the grid is challenged.
An ambitious proposal to quickly add 23 GW of renewables in California
California could move quickly to enable 23 GW of renewables near existing thermal generators, in time for the projects to qualify for tax credits before they expire, says a think tank policy director.
Transmission build last year was at one-fifth the pace needed, clean energy group finds
Reaching a low-cost high-renewables grid will require much more high-capacity transmission, but the pace of transmission development is not keeping up.
Clean energy could meet growing electricity demand, study suggests
While a government report suggests keeping coal units online and adding gas units to meet electricity demand, a GridLab and Telos Energy study suggests that building and connecting clean energy projects now awaiting interconnection could serve near-term demand growth.
Low-cost alternatives to solar-stalling “direct transfer trip” requirements
The solar trade group Coalition for Community Solar Access reports that a utility requirement to use “direct transfer trip” often makes solar projects uneconomical, while both CCSA and the renewable energy research group IREC find that the hazards targeted by direct transfer trip can be met effectively with far less costly options.
Grid operators plan billions for transmission to meet load and connect renewables
Industry experts discussed the forces driving regional transmission planning, the net benefits of transmission, and the impact of high-capacity transmission projects.
