Green energy needs to start early to recruit workers, House panel says

Published on February 28, 2019 by Hil Anderson

Creating a ready-and-able workforce to usher the United States into its green energy future will require reaching out to the nation’s youth as early as their first school field trips, industry witnesses told a congressional hearing. The push to fire-up students about future careers in science ... Read More »

Preventing cyber threats, fuel source diversity key to energy security

Published on February 28, 2019 by Joanna Marsh

WASHINGTON – The U.S. power industry needs to be on top of cybersecurity threats because so much of the country’s economic health is dependent upon a reliable power grid, the head of a leading trade association for electric utilities said on Wednesday. “Electricity is 5 percent of the gros... Read More »

Panel sees local impetus for PURPA reform

Published on February 28, 2019 by Ed Roberts

WASHINGTON – A pan el of energy experts agreed Wednesday, while Congress holds the keys to major reforms to the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA), state legislatures and public service commissions can make meaningful changes to the 40-year-old law in order to affect their own... Read More »

Heinrich, Chatterjee, Speakes-Backman discuss future of energy storage

Published on February 28, 2019 by Kevin Randolph

Federal and state officials discussed the importance of energy storage and highlighted the need for a supportive regulatory environment at the Energy Storage Association (ESA) annual Policy Forum held recently in Washington, D.C. U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) announced plans to introduce legi... Read More »

Florida Power & Light Company unveils new smart grid technology

Published on February 28, 2019 by Kevin Randolph

Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) unveiled Tuesday a new piece of smart grid technology, called the Automated Transformer Switch (ATS), also called a VacuFuse Self-Resetting Interrupter, which helps to prevent and reduce power outages. “The investments we’ve made throughout the last 1... Read More »

I&M to upgrade east-central Indiana power grid

Published on February 28, 2019 by Chris Galford

Indiana Michigan Power (I&M) plans to rebuild approximately 20 miles of transmission line in Indiana’s Delaware and Grant counties, modernizing the grid supported therein. The announcement means that for customers in the east-central portion of the state, new towers will soon be on hand, ... Read More »

Program bolsters renewable energy goals

Published on February 28, 2019 by Douglas Clark

Four organizations are joining forces to help cities secure more than 2.8 gigawatts of renewable capacity, which represents more than the total existing solar capacity in three states. The Bloomberg American Cities Climate Challenge, the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), the World Resources Instit... Read More »

Alaska utilities seek to form transmission-only utility

Published on February 28, 2019 by Dave Kovaleski

Four Alaska utilities submitted an application to the Regulatory Commission of Alaska to form a transmission-only utility in Alaska’s Railbelt region. The four utilities that filed the application are the Golden Valley Electric Association (GVEA), Anchorage Municipal Light and Power (ML&P... Read More »

General Motors partners with DTE Energy on wind energy initiative

Published on February 28, 2019 by Dave Kovaleski

General Motors has partnered with DTE Energy on an initiative to bring 300,000 megawatt hours (MWh) of wind energy to GM facilities in Michigan. Specifically, the 300,000 mwh will provide 100 percent of the electricity needs of GM’s global technical center in Warren and its Renaissance Center ... Read More »

Senators urge DOE, DHS to ban inverters made by Huawei

Published on February 27, 2019 by Kevin Randolph

A bipartisan group of senators recently sent a letter to Energy Secretary Rick Perry and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen urging them ban the use of inverters made by the Chinese-owned company, Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd, citing cybersecurity concerns. “Huawei has recently become... Read More »