WEEK OF APR. 12, 2024

U.S. electric utilities predict a tidal wave of new demand from data centers powering technology like generative AI, with some power companies projecting electricity sales growth several times higher than estimates just months earlier.

Nine of the top 10 U.S. electric utilities said data centers were a main source of customer growth, leading many to revise up capital expenditure plans and demand forecasts, according to a Reuters analysis of company earnings reports from the first three months of the year.

Replacing conventional transmission lines with advanced conductors could sharply increase U.S. transmission capacity in the near-term, and at a lower cost than building new power lines, according to a report on reconductoring released Tuesday.

Reconductoring transmission lines could add about 64 TW-miles of new interzonal transmission capacity by 2035 compared to about 16 TW-miles from only building new transmission lines, the report from the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley and GridLab said.

Electric vehicle drivers are saving everyone billions of dollars on their monthly electricity bills, a recent study found.

The analysis from Synapse Energy Economics compared how much EV owners paid for electricity with the cost for utilities to build, generate and distribute that power.

In comments filed with the New York Public Service Commission last year, a group of New York utilities said reaching 6 GW of storage by 2030 would require an “all-hands-on-deck approach.”

Despite generous state incentives and recent storage cost declines, the latest state report shows New York is unlikely to meet its interim 2025 goal and would need to “stretch” to reach its 2030 target, Vanessa Witte, senior research analyst for energy storage at Wood Mackenzie, said in an interview with Utility Dive.

South Carolina lawmakers are advancing sweeping energy legislation that could spur gas-fired development for Santee Cooper and Dominion Energy and Duke Energy utilities, while potentially hampering solar development in the state.

Renewable energy developers such as EnergyRe and Pine Gate Renewables want the legislation to require the utilities to acquire the roughly 8 GW of solar that is included in their approved integrated resource plans, with offramps if solar prices increase and the resource is no longer cost-effective.

On August 24, 2023, the PUC agreed to develop a policy statement that includes a definition of energy storage assets and resources and clarifies when such resources can be deployed and who should own them.

At a public meeting on April 4, commissioners said they had determined that energy storage assets are another tool to address reliability and resiliency concerns, and electric distribution companies can use them to solve distribution problems and ensure grid resiliency.

Although wind power remains the largest source of renewable power in the state, the installation of new wind turbine capacity slowed in 2023, while additions of solar generating capacity, often co-located with storage, grew rapidly.

With more solar capacity on the ERCOT electricity grid, EIA expects less use of natural gas generation during the middle of the day when solar generation displaces it.

Once implemented, the rule aims to decrease both ethylene oxide and chloroprene emissions from covered processes and equipment by nearly 80%.

A requirement for fenceline monitoring for key chemicals is included, with EPA making the data publicly available.

Crude oil prices moved lower today after the Energy Information Administration reported an estimated inventory build of 5.8 million barrels for the week to April 5.

The authority also reported builds in fuel inventories.

See more Notable News articles such as these via Utility Dive, OilPrice.com and BIC Magazine.