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May 22, 2025
RTO Insider
BOEM Lifts Stop-work Order on Empire Wind
The first monopile for Equinor's Empire Wind 1 project off the coast of New York
Sif Group
BOEM lifted a stop-work order on the Empire Wind 1 project in a deal that will have New York work on expanding pipelines into the Northeast, a goal the White House has publicly sought since shortly after President Trump took office.
Yes Energy acuires RTO Insider LLC
RTO Insider
A rendering shows the potential configuration of a GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy BWRX-300 small modular reactor facility.
GE Vernova
TVA First U.S. Utility to Request SMR Construction Permit
The Tennessee Valley Authority crossed a milestone May 20, becoming the first U.S. utility to request a construction permit for a small modular nuclear reactor. 
RTO Insider
The U.S. Energy Information Administration is projecting greater hydroelectric power generation in 2025 than in 2024, due to precipitation levels.
EIA
U.S. Hydropower Projected to Bounce Back from 2024 Slump
Federal analysts expect U.S. hydropower generation to increase 7.5% over 2024 totals, which were the lowest in at least 14 years.
RTO Insider
Shutterstock
Turlock Irrigation District to Join EDAM in 2027
California-based Turlock Irrigation District has agreed to join CAISO’s Extended Day-Ahead Market in 2027.
NetZero Insider
Sheets of blue insulation are installed on a building under renovation in New York City.
Shutterstock
$5B Authorized for N.Y. Energy Efficiency, Building Electrification
New York’s major utilities and its energy development entity have been cleared to administer $5 billion for energy efficiency and building electrification through 2030.
RTO Insider
Molly Sterkel with the California Public Utilities Commission discusses the agency’s proposed Reliable and Clean Power Procurement Program (RCPPP) during a California Energy Transition Summit in Sacramento on May 6.
© RTO Insider
CPUC Proposal Seeks to Blend RA, Clean Energy Procurement

The California Public Utilities Commission has proposed a new framework that would take a “more programmatic approach” to load-serving entities’ resource procurement requirements compared with the agency’s recent practice of issuing procurement orders as needed.

ICF Report Predicts the Pace of Demand Growth to Speed up
ICF International is projecting another rise in the rate of demand growth as more data centers seek to plug into the grid in the coming years, with a 25% increase from 2023 levels by 2030 and 78% by 2050. 
CAISO Chooses Viridon to Develop Humboldt OSW Transmission Projects
CAISO selected Viridon, a power infrastructure development firm, to finance, build and operate new transmission lines and infrastructure in Humboldt County for planned offshore wind development.
ERO Insider
Mark Lauby, NERC
© RTO Insider
Panel Discusses Data Center Load Growth at PJM Annual Meeting
Experts in the data center field discussed the challenges of meeting accelerating computational load during the PJM Annual Meeting, held in the core of Northern Virginia’s Data Center Alley. 
ACORE Panelists Call for ‘New Era’ in Energy Policy
Former FERC Chair Neil Chatterjee and other panelists in an ACORE-hosted webinar warned that grid stakeholders need to put aside old ways of thinking to address growing reliability challenges.
FERC Summer Assessment Shows Risks from Growing Demand, Extreme Weather
FERC's summer assessment shows rising demand and prompted Chair Mark Christie to discuss recent developments in PJM.
NetZero Insider
The Massachusetts State House in Boston
Shutterstock
Mass. Gov. Healey Introduces Energy Affordability Bill
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey has filed a major energy bill that her administration says would save ratepayers $10 billion over the next decade.
N.J.’s Power Future Clouded by Data Center Uncertainty
The amount of stress to the grid posed by data centers is so uncertain it could hamper New Jersey’s effort to plan new generation and transmission, speakers at a clean energy conference said.
Counterflow: The SMR Fission Vision in Ontario
Experience with small modular reactors (like other nuclear) is for massive cost overruns, writes columnist Steve Huntoon.
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RTO Insider
From left: Chair Phil Bartlett, Maine Public Utilities Commission; Claire Wayner, Rocky Mountain Institute; Commissioner Kerrick Johnson, Vermont Department of Public Service; Alan Trotta, Avangrid; Anne George, ISO-NE
© RTO Insider
ISO-NE Open to Asset Condition Review Role amid Rising Costs
ISO-NE announced it is open to taking on a limited asset condition reviewer role, intended to help increase oversight of transmission infrastructure projects. 
Power System’s Shifting Direction Highlighted at Energy Future Forum
President Donald Trump’s policies and the growth in demand from data centers and other new customers have changed the trajectory of the power system, speakers said at the Energy Future Forum.
Texas RE: ESRs to Boost ERCOT During Summer
Rapid growth in battery energy storage systems in ERCOT has resulted in a “significantly lower” probability for an energy emergency alert this summer, according to the Texas Reliability Entity.
MISO Gen Developers Sour on RTO’s JTIQ Cost Allocation
MISO generation developers pushed back on MISO’s cost allocation of the $1.65 billion Joint Targeted Interconnection Queue, reportedly saying MISO’s late-stage alterations have eroded the value of the seams planning.
© RTO Insider 
Calpine Proposes Time-varying TCCs at NYISO
Calpine proposed that NYISO split its 24-hour-only transmission congestion contracts into on-peak and off-peak products, arguing it would reduce the cost of congestion hedging by better aligning it with load and generation behavior.
PJM Board of Managers member David Mills speaks during the May 14 Public Interest and Environmental Organization User Group meeting.
© RTO Insider 
Consumer Advocates, Environmentalists Lay out Priorities to PJM
PJM’s Public Interest and Environmental Organization User Group voiced mixed views on the RTO’s policy trajectory, praising advances in generation interconnection over the past year while raising concerns about rising costs and transparency.
ERO Insider
The SAR rejected by the SC proposed to revise the definition of generator owner and operator to include inverter-based resources that are not subject to NERC standards.
Shutterstock
NERC Standards Committee Rejects IBR Definitions Request
NERC's Standards Committee moved forward with multiple standards development projects, while rejecting one standard request as proposed by a development team.
Texas RE’s Albright Hopes to Learn from Iberian Outage
Texas Reliability Entity CEO Jim Albright sees similarities between the issues facing the U.S. and European grid and hopes to learn from the recent Iberian Peninsula outage.
NERC Warns Summer Shortfalls Possible in Multiple Regions
NERC's Summer Reliability Assessment found that energy shortfalls are possible this summer in the middle of North America, New England and Baja California.
CAISO Foresees Sufficient Resources for Normal Summer Conditions
California expects to meet its peak demand this summer under most weather conditions due to thousands of megawatts of new energy resources — almost all battery storage.
Shutterstock
Deadline Approaching for ERO Cold Weather Reports
Registered entities have until May 15 to submit required information about their generating units' cold weather performance.
PUC attorney Allison Fink explains the issues related to a proposed rule for exemption requests from ERCOT's reliability requirements as staffers Connie Corona and David Smeltzer listen.
Admin Monitor
Texas PUC Drafting Reliability Exemption Rule for ERCOT
The Texas Public Utility Commission’s staff are drafting a rule codifying a process for exemption requests from ERCOT reliability requirements.
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NetZero Insider
The hydropower plant at this now-demolished paper mill in Lyons Falls, N.Y., is planned to be repowered.
Lyons Falls Hydro
N.Y. Finalizes REC Contracts for 2.57 GW of Renewables
New York has executed renewable energy certificate contracts for 26 solar, wind and hydro projects to help meet its clean energy goals.
California PUC Denies PG&E’s Biomass-to-gas Pilot Project
The California Public Utilities Commission rejected a project proposed by Pacific Gas and Electric to convert wood biomass to natural gas.
N.Y. Moves to Boost Lagging Clean Energy Development
New York is tweaking its approach to clean energy development as it works to get its lagging decarbonization efforts back on track. 
Community Opposition Still a Hurdle for Storage in N.Y.
The annual New York energy storage conference and expo came with excellent timing this year, as progress at the state level was matched by looming obstacles at the federal level.
Panelists at a California conference discussed strategies for deploying heat pumps in more homes across the state.
Shutterstock
Calif. Looks for Ways to Spur Heat Pump Adoption
California’s goal of deploying 6 million heat pumps in buildings by 2030 is being tackled from multiple angles, and the different strategies were the subject of a panel discussion during a recent conference.
PV panel diagram
ISO-NE
ISO-NE Finds Advanced PV Panels Could Reduce Decarbonization Costs
New research by ISO-NE indicates bifacial solar panels with tracking capabilities could reduce the cost of decarbonizing New England’s generation mix by about $3.7 billion.