September 25, 2024

The news that Constellation Energy would restart and rename Three Mile Island Unit 1 in a power purchase agreement with Microsoft came ahead of further debate this week on the treatment of co-located load on the PJM grid, with a hearing by the Maryland PSC and a white paper co-authored by former FERC Commissioner Tony Clark and former PJM Senior Vice President Vince Duane. Devin Leith-Yessian covered it all. 

That topic is just a microcosm of the rapid additions of large loads, mostly data centers, which is trying states, utilities and transmission planners. James Downing covered a speech by Dominion CEO Robert Blue, who assured business group Virginia FREE that the state, home to Data Center Alley, is poised to accommodate its share. James also interviewed ITC Holdings President Krista Tanner about the Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024 and other efforts to improve U.S. transmission siting. 

And in Boston, several Northeast utility regulators said at Raab Associates’ New England Electricity Restructuring Roundtable that increasing electricity prices must be met with a greater effort to reduce peak loads and protect low- and moderate-income ratepayers. Jon Lamson attended. 

Here’s what else we had this past week: 

• Berkeley Lab: Solar-storage Hybrids Reshaping the Grid 

• Brattle Paper Weighs Pros and Cons of Utility-owned Generation in NY 

• California GHG Emissions Decreased 2.4% in 2022 

• Cautious Optimism at Alliance for Clean Energy NY Conference 

• DOE Awards $3B to Tackle Gaps, Challenges in US Battery Supply Chain 

• NJ Committee Backs Bill to Require Fast-charger Tariffs 

• Report Finds Mass. Storage Programs Falling Short on Equity 

See you next week!