By Rich Heidorn Jr. Two cybersecurity firms on Monday disclosed what may be the most dangerous cyber threat yet to U.S. power systems: malware that can take control of circuit breakers without any manual involvement. Maryland-based Dragos and ESET, a Slovakian anti-virus software provider, said the malware — which the...

By Tom Kleckner SPP members are advancing at least two alternative solutions to address the RTO’s complicated crediting system for transmission upgrades. The Z2 Task Force agreed last week in Kansas City to present two proposals to simplify the process spelled out in Attachment Z2 of SPP’s Tariff for assigning...

By Rory D. Sweeney Most of the $280 million bill for PJM’s Artificial Island project would shift from Delaware to New Jersey and Pennsylvania under two alternative analyses the grid operator developed in response to complaints about how costs for the project would be allocated. | RTO Insider analysis based...

By Tom Kleckner Texas regulators on Wednesday rejected NextEra Energy’s last-gasp attempt to acquire Oncor, rebuffing a request to rehear a previous decision denying the proposed $18.7 billion deal. The Public Utility Commission of Texas reiterated the finding of its initial April order, saying Florida-based NextEra “failed to meet its...

By Amanda Durish Cook CARMEL, Ind. — After two years, MISO and SPP have negotiated a memorandum of understanding to address overlapping congestion charges, implement a small interregional project type and swap flowgate control to account for power flows. RTO officials say the MOU, which borrows elements from MISO’s coordination...

By Michael Kuser State officials in New England said last week that only they should have the ability to identify public policy-driven transmission needs for evaluation by ISO-NE. “The plain language of [ISO-NE’s Tariff] designates NESCOE as the entity that identifies whether there are state or federal public policies driving...

By Tom Kleckner DALLAS — SPP’s Strategic Planning Committee last week ended more than nine months of discussion on cost shifts within existing transmission pricing zones, agreeing unanimously to let the Markets and Operations Policy Committee take up the issue when it meets in July. Kansas City Power & Light's...

RENSSELAER, N.Y. — NYISO and adjacent grids will likely be able to serve load throughout summer based on historical performance of generation and transmission infrastructure, the ISO reported last week. However, an unlikely scenario of extreme heat could pose challenges for system capacity reserves, if not the system itself, according...

By Tom Kleckner AUSTIN, Texas — ERCOT staff said its preliminary analysis of Lubbock Power & Light’s integration into the Texas grid reveals as much as a $66 million increase in production costs to serve the additional 430 MW of load. | ERCOT However, those costs will be offset to...

AUSTIN, Texas — ERCOT stakeholders last week unanimously endorsed Oncor and American Electric Power’s 345-kV Far West Texas Project that addresses continued load growth southwest of Odessa, Texas. Since 2010, the area has seen annual load growth of about 8%, driven by increases in the region’s oil and natural gas...