News

Updated November 6, 2024: Alex Gonzalez of Utah News Connection published an accompanying Public News Service broadcast for this piece. Listen to the full audio here.

Utah News Dispatch reports on the growing interest in virtual power plants (VPPs) and quotes United's Brian Turner, who emphasizes VPPs' potential as a cost-effective and flexible solution to rising electricity demand.

AZ Mirror examines the likelihood of summer power outages and regulator issues, quoting Leah Rubin Shen's perspective on states' responsibility to build resiliency towards ever-rising temperatures and summer heat waves.

As much as two-thirds of North America could face shortages of electricity this summer in the event of severe and protracted heat, according to the regulator in charge of setting and enforcing standards for the electric grid. 

“Increased, rapid deployment of wind, solar and batteries have made a positive impact,” said Mark Olson, manager of reliability assessments for the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), in a news release. “However, generator retirements continue to increase the risks associated with extreme summer temperatures, which factors into potential supply shortages in the western two-thirds of North America if summer temperatures spike.” 

Ohio Capital Journal outlines the strengthening opposition to renewable developments, quoting J.R. Tolbert about the complex siting and permitting process, as well as the importance of selling the merits of renewables. 

Across the country — from suburban Virginia, rural Michigan, southern Tennessee and the sugar cane fields of Louisiana to the coasts of Maine and New Jersey and the deserts of Nevada — new renewable energy development has drawn heated opposition that has birthed, in many cases, bans, moratoriums and other restrictions.