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Rising electricity demand, aging equipment and the push for greater reliability are colliding with sharper scrutiny in state rate cases over a familiar question. Download our FREE Electrical Training Catalog and explore a full range of expert-led electrical training courses. Iowa, a leading state in wind energy production, is making significant strides in addressing the environmental challenge posed by decommissioned wind turbine blades. A large interconnection inquiry on its own does not prove the full requested load will ever http://www.911fsa.org/biogas.html get built.

It explains why a reduced rate request should be read as negotiation, not a halt to grid investment. S&P Global Market Intelligence tracks the coming five years of grid investment across dozens of major utilities, and the number keeps climbing. Whether you would prefer Live Online or In-Person instruction, our electrical training courses can be tailored to meet your company’s specific requirements and delivered to your employees in one location or at various locations. The Electricity Forum Training Institute provides expert-led electrical training for professionals across North America. Battery fires in large-scale energy storage systems (BESS) have raised concerns, but a recent review… New England is setting ambitious goals to enhance its offshore wind energy capacity with the…

Texas is at a pivotal crossroads in its energy policy, with legislative actions that could significantly reshape the state’s electricity landscape. According to a PIRG report on vape waste, fires in waste facilities caused by disposable vape devices cost at least $95 million each year in the United States alone. Preparing an entry helps your team document what changed, how you know, and why it matters beyond the award itself. Gain visibility into energy and sustainability performance with technology and advisory solutions that support your business goals. A proposed capital budget is an early signal, not a locked-in price. For facilities teams, the stakes go beyond future rates.

• A Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory review found that commissions approved, on average, 64% of the revenue increase dollar amounts utilities requested between 2021 and 2025.
• That figure does not measure how many individual capital projects survived review.
• For large electricity customers planning their own capital projects, the answer increasingly determines both what it costs to keep an existing facility running and how fast the next one can get connected.
• Texas is at a pivotal crossroads in its energy policy, with legislative actions that could significantly reshape the state’s electricity landscape.
• We deliver live online and in-person courses year-round, taught by certified instructors.

That pace of spending is exactly what is drawing regulators into closer review of individual projects, on top of the usual question of whether utilities need grid investment at all. When a utility ties spending to fewer outages or faster restoration, the promised service improvement matters as much as the dollar total, and it can shape decisions about backup power, demand flexibility and the timing of a facility’s own upgrades. A Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory review found that commissions approved, on average, 64% of the revenue increase dollar amounts utilities requested between 2021 and 2025. For large electricity customers planning their own capital projects, the answer increasingly determines both what it costs to keep an existing facility running and how fast the next one can get connected. If a project changes scale or never materializes, regulators and customers are left arguing over who absorbs the cost of infrastructure built around a forecast that missed. The real fight is over evidence, the forecast that makes a project necessary, its cost, its timing and which customers actually benefit.

FERC approves ISO-NE ‘asset condition’ transmission review process

Large prospective loads add a harder layer of uncertainty to these cases. Commissioners still backed spending on legacy equipment upgrades, tree trimming and other reliability https://fahzaenterprise.com/top-strategies-to-scale-your-business/ work central to DTE’s case. It just subjected each piece of that investment to closer questions about affordability and effectiveness first. The Illinois Commerce Commission rejected Ameren Illinois’ initial four-year grid plan, sending the utility back to revise its proposal after months of stakeholder workshops. Which investments have actually been justified well enough for customers to pay for them.

• The Electricity Forum Training Institute provides expert-led electrical training for professionals across North America.
• A large interconnection inquiry on its own does not prove the full requested load will ever get built.
• For facilities teams, the stakes go beyond future rates.
• Michigan’s Public Service Commission approved a $217.4 million annual revenue increase for DTE Electric in January 2025, 52% below the $456.4 million the utility had originally requested.

Affordability concerns drive momentum for performance-based ratemaking

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FERC proposes easing regulatory pathway for gas pipeline, LNG projects

In both the United States and Canada, students are at the forefront of the climate crisis, confronting not only the real-world impacts of environmental degradation… Public Service Electric & Gas Co. (PSE&G), New Jersey’s largest utility provider, has agreed to pay $6.6 million following an investigation into its inaccurate reporting… The energy transition is an evolving process that is reshaping the utility sector, bringing both opportunities and challenges.

A data center or industrial project can require a new substation or line upgrade well before it ever draws power, and utilities have historically built ahead of firm commitments to avoid delaying service. Michigan’s Public Service Commission approved a $217.4 million annual revenue increase for DTE Electric in January 2025, 52% below the $456.4 million the utility had originally requested. That figure does not measure how many individual capital projects survived review.

• Download our FREE Electrical Training Catalog and explore a full range of expert-led electrical training courses.
• That pace of spending is exactly what is drawing regulators into closer review of individual projects, on top of the usual question of whether utilities need grid investment at all.
• Let Utility Dive’s free newsletter keep you informed, straight from your inbox.
• That makes the quality of a utility’s demand assumptions consequential in a way it rarely was a decade ago.
• In both the United States and Canada, students are at the forefront of the climate crisis, confronting not only the real-world impacts of environmental degradation…
• Commissioners can now ask whether prospective customers have signed firm load contracts, when that demand is actually expected to arrive, and how costs get reassigned if the real number comes in lower.

Data center growth is the single biggest driver, with S&P Global Energy CERA projecting more than 45 gigawatts of new peak load and 374 terawatt-hours of added demand through 2035. Regulators are still approving substantial rate increases, so this is not a story about utilities losing ground wholesale. Our brands publish trusted news on sustainability, energy, and environmental leadership—and produce the annual E+E Leader Awards, recognizing excellence in innovation and impact. The question regulators are asking has gotten specific. That makes the quality of a utility’s demand assumptions consequential in a way it rarely was a decade ago. The underlying capital program came through largely intact, a split that matters more than the headline number suggests.

California tightens oversight of data center energy use, grid costs

If a utility has to revise a project, supply more evidence or change how it allocates cost, the timing and terms of a new service connection can shift too. Commissioners can now ask whether prospective customers have signed firm load contracts, when that demand is actually expected to arrive, and how costs get reassigned if the real number comes in lower. When the commission approved https://www.fundacionburke.org/2020/09/ the resubmitted plan in December 2024, it also cut Ameren’s requested rate increase by roughly 7%, to $309 million, while still authorizing the underlying grid work the company needed to keep the system reliable. U.S. utilities are heading into the largest capital spending cycle in decades, and state regulators are making them prove each dollar belongs there before it reaches a customer’s bill. A facility expansion that depends on added electric capacity needs a schedule grounded in the utility’s approved work and its actual pace of delivery, not the long-range spending forecast alone.

Our training helps ensure electrical safety, code compliance, and technical excellence for utilities, industries, contractors, and engineers in both the U.S. and Canada. We deliver live online and in-person courses year-round, taught by certified instructors. Stay informed with our FREE Newsletter — get the latest news, breakthrough technologies, and expert insights, delivered straight to your inbox. New York State’s transition to a clean, zero-emissions energy grid could include up to 8.5… Batteries have greatly influenced the utility industry, and the evolution of battery chemistries has revolutionized their applications.