Ethan Howland

5 utility commissions ask FERC to undo MISO’s $22B multi-value transmission portfolio The Midcontinent Independent System Operator overstated the benefits of transmission projects approved in December, according to a complaint at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

In FERC complaint, utility commissions from Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana and North Dakota seek to undo MVP classification of MISO's Tranche 2.1 transmission portfolio -- which would eliminate $22B in regional cost share.

Utility commissions from Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana and North Dakota contend that MISO overstated the benefits of its Tranche 2.1 regional transmission portfolio. www.utilitydive.com/news/ferc-co...

Dynegy to pay $38M to settle charges it manipulated MISO’s capacity market The case shows how easy it is for companies to manipulate regional transmission organization capacity auctions and underscores the need for stronger safeguards, said a consumer watchdog.

The case shows how easy it is for companies to manipulate RTO capacity auctions, per Public Citizen.

PJM capacity prices set another record with 22% jump The Trump administration will likely seize on the auction results to justify keeping thermal power plants, namely coal, in PJM from retiring, according to analysts with Capstone.

Sidenote on PJM: hard to build power plants with tariffs so instead consolidation underway in power sector. “It’s a mad rush right now, and I don’t think it’s over,” per Public Citizen’s Tyson Slocum. #energysky

Governors seek more influence over PJM amid ‘crisis of confidence’ Nine governors representing the majority of electric customers in the grid operator’s footprint said they want a say in filling two vacant board seats.

"PJM’s multi-year inability to efficiently connect new resources to its grid and to engage in effective long-term transmission planning has deprived our states of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in investment that may flow to other regions,” nine governors said to PJM's board.

Eight utility regulators challenge DOE order keeping Michigan coal plant open The department’s invocation of emergency powers to interfere with state and regional utility planning is unprecedented, according to the challenge.

State utility commissions cast doubt on reliability of NERC reliability reports as they challenge DOE order to keep coal plant operating past retirement date. #energysky

“There is no energy emergency in our country … and it is illegal to invoke a made-up emergency to overturn a long-planned plant retirement,” the Sierra Club’s Greg Wannier said.🔌💡
www.utilitydive.com/news/doe-eme...

NERC overstates MISO reliability risks: market monitor Also, the Midcontinent Independent System Operator has vastly overestimated the power supplies it will need in coming years to meet demand for electricity, market monitor David Patton said.

MISO’s market monitor contends NERC overstates the grid operator’s reliability risks (NERC says MISO could have supply shortfalls during normal summer/winter peak conditions). www.utilitydive.com/news/nerc-mi...

Vistra solar, battery projects in MISO face supply chain delays Vistra asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for two-year commercial operation deadline extensions for projects in Illinois totaling 833 MW.

MISO, the PJM Interconnection and other grid operators face tightening power supply conditions, but ...

PJM fast-tracks 11.8 GW, mainly gas, to bolster power supplies Natural gas-fired generation accounts for 69% of selected Reliability Resource Initiative capacity, followed by batteries at 19% and nuclear at 12%.

One item that jumped out to me from this story: PJM has a measly 21.5 MW of battery storage in its capacity market, per its market monitor. That could change with PJM selecting 2.3 GW of battery capacity in its fast-track interconnection initiative.

Phillips exits FERC, leaving a seat for Trump to fill The White House has been considering replacement candidates from a pool of conservative lawyers with experience at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, according to R Street’s Devin Hartman.

so far, FERC (an agency that had been majority D-led until yesterday) has mostly been spared Trump admin's axe. www.utilitydive.com/news/ferc-ph...

FERC approves SPP’s RTO West, plus 4 other open meeting takeaways The White House has not directed the commission to bolster coal-fired generation, and the agency is eyeing reorganization possibilities, Chairman Mark Christie said Thursday.

Highlights from FERC’s meeting yesterday: no White House directives on coal; ending EJ analysis; and interconnection queues shrink.

Hopeful: witchhazel is blooming in Maine.

Ontario imposes 25% tariff on power exports to US The Canadian province on Monday adopted a US$7/MWh fee on exports to Michigan, Minnesota and New York, which it expects will reap about $243,000 a day in U.S. dollars.

Ontario says it could increase its “tariff response charge” or stop electricity exports to the U.S. entirely, depending on the Trump administration’s actions.

Power for data centers could come at ‘staggering’ cost to consumers New report highlights how traditional ways of setting rates don’t fit Big Tech’s massive, immediate demand for more electricity

A look at how electric utility customers may be subsidizing the data center buildout.

Bonneville opts to join SPP’s Markets+ day-ahead market over CAISO alternative BPA’s draft decision sets the stage for having two, intertwined day-ahead markets across the West with complex seams between them.

The West is heading towards two, intertwined day-ahead power markets — with all the complexities that entails. 🔌💡

Basin Electric urges Congress to support clean energy tax credits Inflation Reduction Act tax credits support energy infrastructure needed to meet rising demand for electricity, an Iowa Republican said during a House hearing.

Clean energy tax credits are “incredibly helpful in ensuring that we can get those projects built and online in a manner that’s affordable for our customers,” Southern Co. exec says during House hearing.

Demand for renewable energy projects remains strong, but supply is growing: LevelTen Energy As more developers are forced to sell early-stage projects, a glut of supply is eroding renewable energy profits, according to data from LevelTen Energy.

Despite the current federal policy uncertainty surrounding tariffs and tax credits, analysts at LevelTen Energy believe the sale of renewable energy projects could pick up in 2025.

Will Trump tariffs delay utility transmission, power plant plans? FirstEnergy and other utilities warn they could be hurt by tariffs, but analysts see little immediate effect on utility capital expenditure plans.

“It’s very hard to predict what’s going to happen. We’re in uncharted territory,” Paul Patterson, an equity analyst at Glenrock Associates, said. www.utilitydive.com/news/trump-t...

Exelon data center pipeline jumps to 17 GW as load forecast turns positive CEO Calvin Butler called for new approaches to ensuring the PJM Interconnection has adequate power supplies. “A variety of solutions across regulated and merchant participants is necessary,” he said.

Exelon CEO Calvin Butler called for new approaches to ensuring PJM has adequate power supplies. “A variety of solutions across regulated and merchant participants is necessary,” he said on an earnings call.

New Jersey residential customers face 20% bill hikes, driven by PJM capacity prices: BPU New Jersey regulators must carefully examine utility filings with an eye towards keeping electricity affordable, the state’s ratepayer advocate said.

Electric bills for New Jersey’s residential customers are poised to jump up to 20%: New Jersey BPU. Other states may also soon feel the pinch from PJM’s last capacity auction, per Glenrock’s Paul Patterson.

FERC approves PJM’s fast-track power plant interconnection plan However, agency commissioners said they are concerned the PJM Interconnection’s proposal for shovel-ready projects may not address potential capacity shortfalls.

“By facilitating queue jumping for large generators ... PJM’s proposal may not actually resolve its impending capacity shortage,” FERC Commissioner Chang said in her dissent.

Existing US grid can handle ‘significant’ new flexible load: report “Flexible load strategies can help tap existing headroom to more quickly integrate new loads [and] reduce the cost of capacity expansion,” Duke University researchers said.

The US grid has headroom to handle new data centers, EVs, heat pumps etc. without system upgrades — as long as the load can be curtailed, according to a report released today by the Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability at Duke University.

FERC delay on ISO-NE interconnection plan could lock out 3 GW from capacity auction: Flatiron The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s failure to act on ISO New England's interconnection reform proposal is creating market uncertainty, according to New England states.

FERC failure to act on New England interconnection reform threatens capacity market participation, per energy storage company Flatiron Energy.

DOE to focus on expanding baseload generation: Secretary Wright “Net-zero policies raise energy costs for American families and businesses, threaten the reliability of our energy system, and undermine our energy and national security,” Energy Secretary Chris Wrigh...

“Net-zero policies raise energy costs for American families and businesses, threaten the reliability of our energy system, and undermine our energy and national security,” DOE Secretary Wright.

Trump plans to use emergency powers to fast-track generation co-located with AI President Donald Trump’s comments on building power plants for data centers appears to align with the views of FERC Chairman Mark Christie, ClearView Energy Partners said.

Co-locating generation and data centers “was largely my idea,” Trump said. “Nobody thought this was possible … I told them that what I want you to do is build your electric generating plant right next to your plant as a separate building connected.” www.utilitydive.com/news/trump-e...

Voltus agrees to pay $18M to settle allegations it violated MISO demand response rules In a program called “Scranta” — a combination of “scrape” and “Santa” — Voltus obtained data from an Ameren Illinois website without customers’ knowledge, per the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

another MISO/demand response enforcement case ... seems related to the Ketchup Caddy case, with Voltus scraping an Ameren website to get customer information. www.utilitydive.com/news/voltus-...

FERC floats ‘ride-through’ reliability standards for wind, solar, batteries, plus 5 other open meeting takeaways The standards are the first in what is expected to be a suite of NERC rules for inverter-based resources, which can trip offline during grid disturbances.

FERC approves PJM’s decision to boot a 900-MW solar project from its interconnection queue for missing a deadline to post security by several hours … “The outcome here is really hard to explain,” FERC Commissioner Rosner says, noting PJM’s dire warnings on supply shortfalls.

FERC should bar transmission owners from planning local transmission over 100-kV: complaint A coalition including Industrial Energy Consumers of America and ratepayer advocates from Maryland, Pennsylvania and West Virginia called for the use of independent transmission planners.

FERC should bar transmission owners from independently planning “local” transmission projects above 100-kV, according to a complaint filed by a coalition of large energy users and ratepayer advocates.

American Efficient faces $975M FERC hit for ‘manipulative scheme’ in MISO, PJM The energy efficiency company has cleared 20,751 MW and $473.7 million in capacity payments since entering PJM’s capacity market in 2014, enforcement office staff said.

from FERC enforcement office report: "American Efficient’s Policy Director left the Company, concluding that it had become nothing more than a 'wealth transfer' from ratepayers and was being run in a manner that was 'at best unethical.'