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February 15, 2025
RTO Insider
Tacoma Power to Join SPP’s Markets+
Tacoma Power's headquarters in Tacoma, Wash.
Tacoma Public Utilities
Tacoma Power has signed an agreement to join SPP’s Markets+, making the Washington utility the second Pacific Northwest entity to commit to participating in the market in the past month.
RTO Insider
BPA transmission lines near The Dalles Dam. The agency estimates it will pay about $26.6 million to help fund Phase 2 of Markets+.
RTO Insider
SPP Secures Funding to Begin Markets+ Phase 2
The RTO said it has received signed Phase 2 funding agreements from eight interested participants in its proposed day-ahead service offering — including the Bonneville Power Administration.
ERO Insider
From left: Outgoing NERC MRC Chair Jennifer Flandermeyer; outgoing board Chair Ken DeFontes; new Chair Suzanne Keenan; and CEO Jim Robb.
© RTO Insider LLC
NERC Leaders Highlight Canada-US Collaboration
NERC's chair and CEO touted the ERO's work across borders in a Board of Trustees meeting that featured leadership turnover and an initiative to remake the standards development process.
RTO Insider
This graphic illustrates Powerex's argument about how EDAM flows from one non-CAISO BAA to another (in this case PacifiCorp's East and West BAAs) will result in a price that includes congestion charges incurred inside CAISO.
Powerex
Powerex Paper Sparks Dispute over EDAM ‘Design Flaw’
The new paper from Powerex is likely to reignite the debate between supporters of CAISO’s Extended Day-Ahead Market and SPP’s Markets+ just as the competition between the two markets approach critical junctures.
NetZero Insider
National Grid workers replace a gas main in a promotional video.
National Grid
Mass. DPU Proposes Major Shift in Gas Line Extension Policies
The Massachusetts DPU has proposed requiring customers who request new gas service to cover the full cost of any needed line extensions, which effectively would end utilities’ practice of spreading the costs across their rate base.
RTO Insider
PGE distribution lines in Portland, Ore. The company has been working on its implementation plan for joining CAISO's Extended Day-Ahead Market.
© RTO Insider LLC 
CAISO EDAM Pioneers Share Implementation Details
With go-live dates for its first two participants looming in May and October of next year, implementation activities for CAISO’s EDAM are ramping up.
Duke Spending Big to Meet Increasing Load Growth in the Late 2020s
Duke Energy’s leadership changed the guard during its first-quarter earnings call as retiring CEO Lynn Good and her replacement, Harry Sideris, split the presentation. 
AEP to Increase Investment in Face of Data Center Growth
American Electric Power told financial analysts that it is evaluating $10 billion of potential incremental investment because of increasing interest from data centers and other large loads.
ERO Insider
Jason Marshall, CEO of Sho-Me Power Electric Cooperative (left), and Matt Duncan, E-ISAC
© RTO Insider LLC
E-ISAC: Foreign Actors Continue to Target Grid
China and other foreign actors remain committed to undermining the North American power grid, representatives of the E-ISAC said.
US Grid Has Flexible ‘Headroom’ for Data Center Demand Growth
A new study from Duke University says the existing power system could handle much of the demand growth expected in the coming years with no additional generation if artificial intelligence data centers can be persuaded to cut their energy use by as little as 1% during times of peak demand.
NASEO Panel Explores Coordinated Planning to Meet Demand Growth
The U.S. electric power industry faces unprecedented challenges from the size, pace and impacts of demand growth and should look to new approaches for possible solutions, according to speakers at NASEO’s Energy Policy Outlook Conference.
NetZero Insider
DTE Energy's Sauk Solar Park came online in October 2024.
Barton Malow
DTE Energy Ups 5-Year Plan to $30B
DTE Energy’s five-year capital expenditure plan now calls for $30 billion in investment, up $5 billion.
Eversource to Boost Grid Investments by $1.9B After Exiting Wind, Water
Eversource Energy executives announced during the company’s year-end earnings call its plan to increase investments in its “core electric and natural gas operations” by $1.9 billion in 2025-2028.
Type One, TVA to Cooperate on Fusion Plant
The 350-MWe pilot fusion plant would provide baseload generation for the Tennessee Valley region, potentially repurposing returned TVA fossil-burning power plant infrastructure.
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RTO Insider
BPA Administrator John Hairston
BPA
BPA Committed to Trump’s Energy Goals, Hairston Says
BPA CEO John Hairston said the agency is committed to President Donald Trump’s goal to “unleash American energy dominance,” while also revealing that about 200 staff have accepted the president’s deferred resignation offer.
FERC Approves PJM’s One-time Fast-track Interconnection Process
FERC approved a one-time measure by PJM to add up to 50 new projects to a cluster of projects to be studied beginning in April.
Dominion Sees Sharp Rise in Forecast for New Data Center Load
Dominion Energy CEO Bob Blue discussed continued growth in data center demand, offshore wind and the firm's Connecticut nuclear plant during the company's Q4 earnings call.
FERC Proposes Talks with DOJ on Southern Co. Plant Purchase
FERC took the rare step of formally noticing potential discussions with DOJ anti-trust officials over Alabama Power's proposed purchase of a Tenaska power plant.
The Bonneville Power Administration has paused certain transmission planning reforms in light of increased demand for new resources and loads.
Shutterstock
BPA Halts Some Tx Planning Processes Amid Surge of Service Requests
BPA has temporarily paused certain transmission planning processes to consider new reforms in light of “exponential growth” of transmission service requests, staff told stakeholders during a workshop.
The Beverly-Morgan Valley Transmission Project in Iowa
ITC Midwest
Incumbent Utilities Make Case for ROFR Laws in New Report
A band of incumbent utilities has collected case studies that they say demonstrate the need to instate or maintain the right of first refusal for the good of grid expansion.
ERO Insider
EMC Engineering Services
NERC Updates FERC on IBR Registration Progress
In a filing, NERC told FERC it estimates more than 850 inverter-based resources will need to be registered under new criteria.
Neo-Nazi Convicted in Baltimore Grid Attack Conspiracy
Brandon Russell was convicted of masterminding a 2023 plan to damage electric substations in a plot to "completely destroy" Baltimore.
FERC, NERC Praise Grid Performance in Cold Snap
FERC and the ERO have launched a review into the electric grid's performance during January's extreme cold weather that brought record low temperatures and snowfall to the Southeastern U.S.
Stakeholder Soapbox: Preparing for NERC Registration and Compliance with New IBR Rules
Consultant Terry Brinker warns about potentially hundreds of facilities being included in NERC's IBR rules, where fines and penalties can be as high as $1 million a day per violation.
The ITCS recommended 35 GW of "prudent additions to transfer capability" across North America, including more than 14 GW of connections between ERCOT and neighboring regions.
NERC
Texas RE Calls ITCS Recommendations ‘Very High Level’
A representative of Texas RE emphasized that NERC plans to build on last year's Interregional Transfer Capability Study.
SERC's settlement with Duke Energy involves facility ratings violations at 22 solar and wind facilities.
Duke Energy Renewables
FERC Upholds $150K Penalty for Facility Misratings
NERC's monthly spreadsheet notice of penalty listed 22 infringements of facility ratings standards across multiple regions.
MOTUWETHFRSASU
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NetZero Insider
Intersect Power
Report Assesses Climate Activism of Pension Funds, Finds Most Lacking
An environmental report found that most pension funds, key investors in infrastructure in the power industry, lacked any real policies to protect their investments from the effects of climate change.
Study Finds Savings from Heating Electrification in New England
While heating electrification in New England is poised to drive major increase in peak demand, electrifying about 80% of households could reduce the combined cost of the region’s electric and gas systems by 21 to 29%, according to a new study.
DOE Official to NASEO: ‘There is not an Energy Transition’
Hrkman got a respectful, if not enthusiastic reception from state energy officials at the NASEO conference, many of whom are waiting to see if they will receive the billions in IRA and IIJA dollars they were awarded for a range of clean projects.
Equinor, Ørsted, Vestas Say US OSW Market in Trouble
Three companies closely involved in offshore wind power development offered a glum assessment of the sector’s prospects in the U.S.
While U.S. panel manufacturing has hit more than 50 GW of capacity, the nation is still lagging on the upstream side, with only 2 GW of cell manufacturing online and no wafer or ingot facilities yet available.
SEIA
SEIA: US Now Manufacturing More Solar Panels Than It Installs
The U.S. has enough solar panel manufacturing capacity to produce more than 51 GW of panels per year, with another 17.5 GW under construction and 23.5 GW of additional capacity announced.
Shutterstock
Puget Sound Energy Partners with Tech Co. to Promote Hydrogen
Puget Sound Energy and Modern Hydrogen have launched an initiative aimed at expanding hydrogen technology among large gas customers to meet decarbonization goals.