Evan Pittman

Realizing this is a snapshot in time but why do utilities and consumers have to deal with the rollercoaster. Look at all the news the past couple of weeks when the stock market went up and down a few times. They call it volatility. It makes people nervous and stressed. If there is one thing we as an energy industry need is stability in energy prices. Yes, wind and solar have caused the volatility with their intermittent and low capacity factor but we need the wind and solar too. What is truly needed is a market that values base load generation for what it does to ensure reliability and avoid the volatility like this. If base load generation is valued properly we would see more utilities and developers investing in the right resources for the grid which is a balanced approach (all of the above).

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Capacity market prices for energy in PJM surged, signaling a crucial demand for additional generation. PJM Interconnection's footprint is set to allocate $14.7 billion for capacity in the 2025/26 delivery year, a substantial rise from $2.2 billion in the previous auction. Stay informed about the energy sector's evolving landscape: [Link to the article] #EnergyMarket #CapacityAuction #PJMInterconnection

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What a great program from GridLab. Taking the plunge into entrepreneurship can be daunting. Don’t let the fear win out. Support like this in the beginning is a great way to help with the transition. Kudos to GridLab

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File under: energy regulatory observations, #RTO #complaints / #waivers when there are #tariff issues that don't make sense. I read a fair number of daily orders from / filings with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and this granting of a complaint against PJM stood out as a quick one to highlight for a few reasons. First, the level of tax-codification (like Shakespeare, I'll invent the words I need) that RTO tariffs have undergone. Read the intro paragraph of the order capturing the crux of the issue. My goodness. I cover issues across ISOs/RTOs from PJM, to NYISO, CAISO, and of course ISO-NE as well non-888/2000 regions like BPA and public utility districts and everyone has their own rules. For companies doing business in the US (which, for example, is common with generation, transmission developers, and large loads), it's like needing to be fluent in several languages. Observation: no wonder #FERC has some aspirations to more standardized language to at least create a bit of standardization in the tariff tower of Babel. Second, the complaint as a consensus tool. It's human nature to want to be right. Evolutionary, it's a mark of power. And power means safety. Humans are wired that way for survival, and it takes some self-awareness and reflection to engage the rational cortex over the non-verbal and much older limbic system and to hit the pause button to a challenge. The term "complaint" doesn't always help and neither does the "party v. party" case caption. The whole structure connotes conflict. Here, Dominion filed a waiver with a complaint in the alternative because PJM interpreted its tariff to not allow for a resource submission given a change in entity type. But instead of simply defending the tariff, PJM acknowledged the issue and supported a fix if the also supported waiver wasn't granted. FERC granted the complaint to fix the issue generally rather than a one off. While the stakeholder process - and all the interests that are encompassed therein - can make agreement to a change like this more difficult, the complaint and waiver processes are paths that can and should be used especially where time matters. One of the most critical things for those administering the rules to understand is: a delay is not harmless, a "comeback next time" is not without victims. Many projects have to have all elements align to move forward. Other issues may be more durable but can add needless costs to consumers, and those add up. This "how can we work with parties" approach is great to see and hopefully we'll see more of it. From capacity markets to interconnections, there is a lot of room for win-wins. Also, great to see Commissioner Rosner's name on these. #energy

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Excellent article by Jeff St. John! Even though US transmission owners have been investing more than ever in grid infrastructure (over $25 billion annually), bottlenecks in the power grid are preventing the US from meeting surging demand and interconnecting the necessary new resources. Good news is that we do have tools to address these challenges: more proactive planning, grid enhancing technologies, and improved generator interconnection processes! (See, for example, https://lnkd.in/d-BhHaXF, https://lnkd.in/e8vSr4V7, and https://lnkd.in/e7VpYVvj) https://lnkd.in/e7BaRV7S

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BEYOND UTILITY PROCUREMENT: What URA's forensic utility bill review can do for your company. Most medium to large businesses have a really good grasp on their energy procurement getting the best prices on electric and natural gas. Great! However this alone falls short from ensuring your utility bills are optimized. In fact, it's far from it. Even with the cheapest rates locked in, we've found that 72% of commercial businesses are still overcharged on their complex monthly invoices by 16% to 23%. Having qualified billing experts analyze your bills, like URA's team, you'll quickly uncover where & how much your utility companies are overbilling you. We increase profitability by reducing your costs; and best of all it's a fast turnaround, at no risk, zero out of pocket cost, no vendor changes, and minimal effort from your team. We sit on your side of the table as you and are only incentivized by saving you money, not by selling you new vendors, products and services. Nothing to lose and a whole lot to save! Reach out to me if you'd like to learn more.

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This article discussion flies in the face of the market PJM has created. A market that only supports short term assets like wind and solar backed up by gas or batteries. In short it confirms the market flaws that have been claimed by utilities over many years, and should encourage support for creating market signals to create long lived assets like baseload generation plants.

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The bipartisan Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024 released by U.S. Senators Joe Manchin (I-WV) and John Barrasso (R-WY) takes a much needed step in accelerating the permitting process for critical energy projects in the U.S. As the legislation spornors's state (shared here), our outdated permitting system is stifling our ability to move clean energy projects forward, which in turn has adverse economic effects and inhibits our ability to reduce emissions. I'm glad to see these bipartisan efforts are moving toward fixing a broken permitting system that has shackled American energy production for far too long. #EnergyProduction #EnergyPermitting

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Interregional transmission can provide many benefits -- yet power markets and grid operating practices are not set up to fully capture these benefits. This new report by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory for the DOE Grid Deployment Office lays out the barriers that need to be addressed to realize the full value of existing and new interregional transmission: https://lnkd.in/ekzximcU One of the necessary steps to improve seams-related inefficiencies is "intertie optimization," which we addressed here: https://lnkd.in/ew3QtcpQ and here: https://lnkd.in/dptXMG3t Great work by Christina Simeone, PhD and Amy Rose! #gridmodernization

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In case you missed this new EIA report: while generation costs still account for the majority of utility expenses, grid infrastructure investments drove most of the increase in US electric utility spending over the last two decades! Here is more detail: 1️⃣ Over the last 20 years, the annual spending of US utilities to produce and deliver electricity has increased 12% more than inflation (from $287 billion in 2003 to $320 billion in 2023, in inflation-adjusted 2023 dollars) as aging infrastructure was replaced or upgraded 2️⃣ Capital investments drove most the increase (more than doubling) as aging generation and grid infrastructure was replaced or upgraded. 3️⃣ Generation-related costs decreased 25% (in 2023 dollars) since 2003, mostly due to lower fuel costs (but also from lower O&M costs due to the retirement of older, costlier-to-maintain power plants) 4️⃣ Capital spending on electricity generation increased by 23% ($4.7 billion) in 2023 compared with 2022, mostly due to the addition of a single power plant (the Vogtle nuclear plant operated by Georgia Power). 5️⃣ Transmission costs tripled from 2003 to 2023, increasing to almost $50 billion/year (in inflation-adjusted 2023 dollars), with capex accounting for $27.7 billion. 6️⃣ Distribution system costs were the main driver of utility cost increases over the last two decades, approximately doubling from $40 billion to $80 billion/year (in inflation-adjusted 2023 dollars), with distribution capex increasing by $31.4 billion (or 160% in real terms) from 2003 to 2023. Check out the full U.S. Energy Information Administration report here: https://lnkd.in/gimGVPvv

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EQT Group’s new Transition Infrastructure strategy acquires distributed energy company Scale Microgrids Ryan Goodman Jan Vesely Warburg Pincus LLC #infrastructure #energytransition #cleanenergy #renewableenergy #privateequity

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FERC has approved interconnection reform - and this is *generally* good for the energy transition. That said the devil in in the details of how states and utilities implement these changes. Some improvements like penalties assessed against utilities for tardy studies, trying to clean out queue squatters, and expressly identifying certain technical flexibility into interconnection design are good. However, we have specifically seen "Cluster Studies" and higher financial security requirements stymie development and create very costly and endless loops of re-studies in many markets (utility and DG). Calling on American Clean Power Association (ACP) Solar Energy Industries Association and importantly state level advocacy and watch dog groups to closely watch and actively participate as the implementation of these changes occur at the state level PUCs and DPUs - ensuring proper accountability and fair play. https://lnkd.in/ewehaH52 NYSERDA New York Solar Energy Industries Association MID-ATLANTIC RENEWABLE ENERGY COALITION Renewable Energy Vermont American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) Smart Electric Power Alliance NECEC Cleantech Leaders Roundtable

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Two USA Department of Energy papers on DER integration. These papers offer practical frameworks to examine the architectural, technical, and engineering economics of the various sourcing (i.e., tariffs, programs, procurements, and flexibility markets) and orchestration mechanisms (i.e., dispatch, autonomous, and behavioural) to more fully utilize DER services for distribution, not just for the bulk power system. They provide a systematic approach based on earlier Grid Architecture principles and methods to understand the interrelated aspects and factors to holistically scale DER utilization. Are there any new insights or way of thinking about Distributed Energy Resources in this paper which are new to Australia?

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Constellation Energy's acquisition of Calpine represents a transformative development in the U.S. energy sector, with significant implications for market dynamics and grid interconnection. The merger's success will depend on effectively integrating diverse energy assets, strategic infrastructure investments, and careful navigation of regulatory landscapes. #EnergyTransition #GridModernization #MarketTrends Via Utility Dive https://lnkd.in/ghzgJnCB

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It is exciting to see great discussions and policy work to expand Transmission Grid Capacity and the role of Grid Enhancing Technologies (GETs) in unlocking the Grid for more renewables. We at GridAstra acknowledge some of the pressing challenges mentioned - the laborious work to simulate GETs during studies and lack of software tools to help plan the Grid with GETs. GridAstra recently released ‘𝙁𝙐𝙎𝙄𝙊𝙉-𝙏 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿’ to address this very challenge by providing 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗚𝗿𝗶𝗱 𝗘𝗻𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗲𝘀 (𝗚𝗘𝗧𝘀) 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗲𝘀. The ‘𝙁𝙐𝙎𝙄𝙊𝙉-𝙏 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿’ can not only perform the detailed pre-projects and post-projects steady state analysis to identify the basecase and post-contingent constraints based on cluster studies, but can also provide automated suggestions for mitigating these constraints with GETs based controls. As a part of such GETs based control actions, it can automatically provide an optimal strategy by coordinating Grid Topology Reconfiguration and Advanced Power Flow Controllers (APFCs), or using any one of these control types based on your choice. In case you are wondering about where to place the APFCs in the Grid for optimal impact (with minimum APFC installation), our software can also help find that out for you! And last but not the least, this software can be easily integrated in your existing Interconnection Study workflows, thanks to its compatibility with industry-standard data formats. Ultimately, our goal with the ‘𝙁𝙐𝙎𝙄𝙊𝙉-𝙏 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿’ software is to empower Transmission operators, Utilities, and Generation project developers to reliably connect larger volumes of new generation in a much shorter period of time and at a much lower cost. If you are interested in a demo of our ‘𝙁𝙐𝙎𝙄𝙊𝙉-𝙏 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿’ software, please reach out to us at [email protected] or https://lnkd.in/g6BacNK5.

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Yesterday, ERCOT issued a notice of "possible future Emergency Condition of reserve capacity deficiency" for Friday & Saturday nights. This makes the latest The Energy Capital Podcast with Zach Dell, founder of Base Power Company, particularly relevant and timely. Residential batteries solve multiple problems. Base Power Company is the first and, so far, only retail electric provider in Texas to offer customers a home battery, monthly energy service, and installation all in one package. This episode highlights one of the things I most love about Texas’ competitive energy market: we are seeing a lot of innovative offerings. And in that category, Base Power stands out. The goal of Base Power is to essentially operate as a Virtual Power Plant (VPP). When the grid is up and running, the batteries installed in participating homes will improve grid stability and lower costs. And when there are blackouts, batteries will provide customers with backup power. People often forget that over 90% of power outages happen at the distribution level. When increasingly dangerous storms, hurricanes, wildfires hit the distribution grid, no amount of large central station generation will keep the power on; that will take distributed resources located at homes and buildings. Residential batteries contribute to resource adequacy, ensuring there is enough bulk power to meet demand for everyone, but they also provide consumers a measure of self-reliance and reliability you can't get from the ERCOT grid. Please listen and share widely! #txlege #txenergy https://lnkd.in/d9XVbckD

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Vitesse Energy, LLC to Buy Bakken Pureplay Lucero in $220MM Deal Vitesse Energy will acquire Lucero Energy Corp.’s Bakken/Three Forks assets, including 25 net remaining locations, 1.9 net DUCs and 20 wells that are candidates for recompletions. Read the full story: https://lnkd.in/gpvguvxb

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The James M. Gavin plant in Ohio represents the delicate balance between economic progress and environmental responsibility. As one of the largest coal-fired plants in the U.S., its potential transition away from coal reflects a broader national movement—and the need for a thoughtful approach. While shifts away from coal are necessary, we must also support the communities and industries impacted by this change. Our region's future lies not only in adopting cleaner energy sources like natural gas and renewables but in ensuring that these shifts strengthen our economy and workforce. By investing wisely and partnering with forward-thinking organizations, we can lead the way in sustainable innovation while ensuring that progress doesn’t come at the expense of those who built the industries of the past. #EnergyTransition #SustainableInnovation #EconomicGrowth #Leadership #ResponsibleChange

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