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NJ Spotlight News: Op-Ed: The steps needed to get offshore wind back on track in 2024

Posted by Heather O'Neill on Mar 13, 2024

In an opinion piece featured in NJ Spotlight News, United's President and CEO Heather O'Neill writes about the storm of challenges the offshore wind industry faced in the last few post-pandemic year and highlights four key steps to getting the industry back to full power.

After a turbulent 2023, the new year brought some welcome news for the offshore wind industry. Power started to flow from New York’s South Fork Wind and Massachusetts’ Vineyard Wind soon followed suit, meaning that America’s first large-scale projects are now sending clean electricity to its shores for the first time. Meanwhile in New Jersey, the state granted two offshore wind solicitation awards in January, totaling 3,742 megawatts of capacity, enough to power 1.8 million homes when fully operational. 

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Topics: United In The News, New York, Heather O'Neill, Offshore Wind, Massachusetts, New Jersey

Maryland Matters: Gridlock or grid upgrade? Legislation aims to address grid readiness

Posted by Nick Bibby on Mar 11, 2024

In an opinion piece featured in Maryland Matters, United's Nick Bibby speaks to legislation requiring Maryland’s Public Service Commission and utilities do more toward getting the grid ready to handle the influx of EVs and building electrification. 

Would you be surprised if I told you that the number of electric vehicles (EVs) in Maryland increased by over 3,000% since 2013? EVs are continuing their upward trend in Maryland and around the U.S., marking a record 12% market share in December alone. But with all these new EVs in our state and country, how are we preparing our grid for the needed power?

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Topics: United In The News, Electric Vehicles, Nick Bibby

Advanced Energy United response to the State of the Union Address

Posted by Adam Winer on Mar 8, 2024

National business association Advanced Energy United calls on Congress and the States to build on momentum towards a 100 percent clean energy future 

WASHINGTON, DC – Advanced Energy United released the following statement from its President and CEO Heather O’Neill after President Biden delivered the annual State of the Union address:

“We must harness the incredible power of advanced energy technologies to reduce harmful emissions while also lowering energy costs, creating economic opportunity for Americans in all states, and building an energy system we can rely on. As witnessed in recent events across the country, our aging, fossil-fueled electricity system is leaving households and businesses vulnerable to outages. We can fix this by updating our energy infrastructure and doubling down on clean energy and storage investments. The longer we wait, the harder and more expensive this work becomes, jeopardizing more lives and the economic well-being of local businesses and economies.

Under Biden’s leadership, Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (IIJA), and the CHIPS and Science Act, which combined are leading to $650 billion in private-sector investments in advanced manufacturing and clean energy, and the creation of tens of thousands of jobs in those industries. But the work isn’t done. Congress needs to pass sensible and responsible permitting reform legislation that makes it easier for us to build a stronger interstate transmission grid, bolster the supply chain for domestic advanced energy manufacturing, and continue the growth of a circular clean energy economy.

States must also build on this momentum. We have the technology to meet our 100 percent clean energy goals while ensuring we have an affordable and reliable grid. This opportunity and urgency must be met with state policies that meet the moment, harnessing unprecedented resources unleashed by the IRA and IIJA. States must remove barriers to building large-scale clean energy projects, make it easier and more affordable for households and businesses to go electric, and ensure utilities are serving customer needs by leveraging all the kinds of advanced energy technologies and services available to get to 100 percent clean electricity as quickly as possible.”


Click here to learn more about Advanced Energy United’s work advocating for federal investment and advanced manufacturing that accelerate the deployment of advanced energy and electrified transportation solutions.

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Topics: Federal Policy, Press Releases, Manufacturing, Manufacturing and Infrastructure

WVTF: Virginia's regional grid operator ranks last in the nation

Posted by Sandy Hausman on Mar 4, 2024

In an interview, WVTF Virginia Public Radio talks with Advanced Energy United Director Jon Gordon about PJM's low grade on United's 2024 Interconnection Scorecards.

Advanced Energy United... recently ranked all seven of the nation’s regional grid operators and gave the one serving Virginia a grade of D-minus. Policy Director Jon Gordon says PJM – which covers 13 states – used to add a few new power plants a year.

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Topics: Virginia, United In The News, Transmission, Jon Gordon

Utility Dive: Gas utility planning processes should be more like their electric utility counterparts

Posted by Sarah Steinberg and Brad Cebulko on Mar 4, 2024

In an opinion piece featured in Utility Dive, United's Sarah Steinberg and United member company Strategen's Brad Cebulko speak to the outdated gas planning process that allows infrastructure spending to go largely unvetted. The piece highlights a recent  report , authored by Strategen and United, that provides guidance for states looking to improve transparency into or oversight of gas utilities.
 

In business, the only constant is disruption and change. We’ve seen this truth manifest across all industries, from telecommunications to retail to computing and manufacturing. The energy industry is no exception. Both gas and electric energy systems are becoming increasingly complex, with more dynamic supply and demand-side market forces instigating a profound evolution in how our power is sourced, priced and delivered. Change has come quicker to the electric side, but recently we have begun to see how the gas delivery system used to heat and cool homes and businesses is primed for change, and it should challenge the business-as-usual strategies currently used to regulate these essential services for ratepayers across the country.

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Topics: United In The News, Energy Efficiency, Building Decarbonization

Legislation to Help Keep the Lights on in Virginia Passes General Assembly

Posted by Savannah Gribbins on Mar 1, 2024

H.B. 862, a bill to advance grid-enhancing technologies, passed out of the General Assembly on Thursday and now heads to the governor’s desk

RICHMOND, VA – A bill that will help Virginia’s electric transmission grid be more efficient and help keep the lights on passed the Virginia General Assembly on Thursday.  

H.B. 862, proposed by Del. Phil Hernandez and endorsed by national business association Advanced Energy United, will improve grid reliability and increase the capacity of the existing grid to keep up with the Commonwealth’s growing energy needs. The bill requires that electric utilities in the state consider grid-enhancing technologies (GETs), a suite of technological upgrades that could add 30-40% more capacity to the current grid and save the Commonwealth money on grid congestion costs, in the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) process. 

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Topics: State Policy, Virginia, Press Releases, Kim Jemaine, Transmission

NV Energy’s Bait-and-Switch Plan Approved by PUCN

Posted by Caroline Grace on Mar 1, 2024

Advanced Energy United expresses disappointment in Nevada’s latest IRP amendment to move forward with natural gas plant, a missed opportunity for clean energy 

LAS VEGAS, NV —National business association Advanced Energy United (United) expressed disappointment todaywith the Nevada Public Utilities Commission (PUCN) decision to approve NV Energy’s Fifth Amendment to its 2021 integrated resource plan (IRP). The decision allows NV Energy to backtrack on plans to retire existing coal and gas plants in Northern Nevada. Instead of replacing them with clean energy as they proposed in 2021, NV Energy candoubledown on these plants for decades longer at a direct cost to ratepayers of at least $100 million, and hundreds of millions more per year in imported fuel costs. 

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Topics: State Policy, Press Releases, Nevada, Brian Turner

Utility Dive: Nevada regulators set to approve NV Energy’s $2B IRP amendment, including new gas resources

Posted by Robert Walton on Mar 1, 2024

In an interview, Utility Dive talks with Advanced Energy United Director Brian Turner on how the Nevada PUC is set to approve NV Energy's 5th Amendment to its 2021 Integrated Resource Plan. 
 

Nevada regulators could vote today to approve about $2 billion in spending for NV Energy, including new gas, solar and battery resources which critics say should have received more scrutiny and could have been cheaper.

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Topics: Regulatory, United In The News, Nevada, Brian Turner

Advanced Energy United welcomes progress on new FERC nominations

Posted by Adam Winer on Feb 29, 2024

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, national business association Advanced Energy United applauded President Biden’s nomination of three new Commissioners to fill vacant and soon-to-be vacant seats at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).  

“A full complement of Commissioners is critical to ensure robust debate and efficient progress on the important issues that FERC will be asked to weigh in on in the coming months and years, from interconnection reform to transmission planning to market rule changes in light of the energy transition,” said Caitlin Marquis, Managing Director at Advanced Energy United. “We encourage the Senate to move forward quickly with the appointment process and look forward to working with a fully staffed Commission under the leadership of Chair Willie Phillips.”

 Background resources:  

Click here to learn more about Advanced Energy United’s work expanding wholesale markets for advanced energy, and engaging with FERC.

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Topics: Press Releases, Caitlin Marquis, FERC

NJ Spotlight News: Interconnection Issues at PJM Threaten Reliability and Clean-Energy Goals, Warns New Study

Posted by Tom Johnson on Feb 27, 2024

NJ Spotlight News reports on a recently released Generation Interconnection Scorecard, authored by Grid Strategies and the Brattle Group and released by Advanced Energy United, that ranks PJM the lowest amongst the seven regional grids. United's Jon Gordon and Kristina Persaud spoke to the massive backlog PJM faces and lack of planning for such scenarios.
 

PJM Interconnection, the nation’s largest electrical power grid operator, is struggling to connect new electricity projects to its system, threatening power reliability and clean-energy goals, according to a study.

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Topics: Wholesale Markets, United In The News, New Jersey, Jon Gordon, Kristina Persaud