Strategy & Planning

Beyond the Blueprint

As the NARUC community gathers this November, it’s clear that Washington offers more than scenic views. It offers a glimpse into what’s possible when legislative ambition, regulatory innovation, and utility leadership move in concert turning clean energy from aspiration into everyday reality.

West Virginia PSC modified a request for proposal for a management audit of electric service reliability. The Commission’s aim was to extend deadlines for proposals and the resulting project. The focus is to be that state’s distribution system served by Appalachian Power and Wheeling Power, operating companies of American Electric Power.

“We’ll try to simplify Allgood’s writings and calculations as to how to figure out specific water systems’ operational data that generally is unavailable during the planning process, under no legal obligation to disclose, and often cloaked in the sphere of proprietary information on data center operation.”

“To help their states, regulators should work with their utilities on tailored, forward-looking ratemaking that protects consumers and enables timely construction. Keep prudence front and center. Align payers with benefits. Ensure utilities can compete for capital and move quickly.”

“NARUC recognized the need to establish separate rules for small generators that don’t require the same level of engineering analysis to ensure they will maintain grid safety and reliability.”

“The utility sector has managed this hyper-growth environment since 2020 with strong tailwinds creating impetus. However, a range of headwinds could derail this continuing trajectory as more uncontrollable factors emerge, and continuing dynamics create new impacts.”

“While VPPs, utility DERMS, and grid-edge DER orchestration platforms arose as related but distinct, they are converging. This article explores how and why the lines separating these solutions are disappearing, what a future steady state might look like, and what this means for utility investments in load flexibility.”

Conversation on the role of geothermal as a round-the-clock renewable and heating/cooling solution.

“Being the first to blend hydrogen at this level on an advanced-class turbine is a major innovation. The most significant outcome is that we proved it can be done and we did so while maintaining rigorous safety standards and operational reliability.”