News

SACRAMENTO, CA— Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) could save Californians $550 million per year in energy costs —$500 million of which could go directly to customers who participate, and another $50 million in system-wide ratepayer savings. VPPs are networks of distributed energy resources, such as smart thermostats, home batteries, and electric vehicles, that work together to shift demand and deliver clean, affordable, and reliable power to the grid.  

AB 740, authored by Assemblymember John Harabedian, would accelerate the deployment of virtual power plants (VPPs). The bill directs the California Energy Commission to study the potential of VPPs and develop a statewide implementation plan to deploy VPPs at scale.  

HARRISBURG, PA – A key Pennsylvania House committee voted today to advance the Pennsylvania Reliable Energy Sustainability Standard (PRESS), legislation that would modernize and expand the state’s outdated energy portfolio. The bill’s passage out of the Environmental & Natural Resource Protection Committee brings Pennsylvania one step closer to unlocking billions in private investment, creating thousands of jobs, and delivering long-term economic and health benefits to communities across the state. 

SACRAMENTO, CA— California homes and businesses are one step closer to achieving lower energy bills as the State Assembly passed Assembly Bill (AB) 44 with bipartisan support. AB 44, authored by Assemblymember Nick Schultz, is designed to lower energy costs and improve grid reliability by streamlining processes for utilities to use demand-side technologies like virtual power plants (VPPs) to reduce electricity use during peak demand.

DENVER, CO — A new report from Aurora Energy Research assesses the potential for Public Service Company of Colorado (Xcel Energy) to join a regional electricity market in the West.  

The report evaluates the economic benefits of different day-ahead market participation scenarios and found that Xcel Energy’s proposal to join the relatively small and disjointed Markets+, run by the Arkansas-based Southwest Power Pool (SPP), would increase both costs and greenhouse gas emissions compared with other options. Compared to Markets+, participating in the Extended Day-Ahead Market (EDAM) would yield between $4.2 and $13.2 million per year greater savings through 2060.

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the United States House of Representatives passed a job-killingtax reform package that dismantles sound, long-standing energy tax credits. The bill passed by a vote of 215-214. Earlier this year, Advanced Energy United launched a campaign, Unlocking Advanced Energy, highlighting the $3 trillion in economic benefits, $846 billion in household savings, and 13.7 million American jobs these credits would generate over the next decade.

TRENTON, NJ – A bill to bring long-overdue transparency to how New Jersey’s utilities vote at PJM Interconnection, the regional grid operator that serves New Jersey, cleared a key legislative hurdle today with a successful committee vote in the New Jersey Legislature. The legislation, sponsored by Committee Chair Assemblyman Robert Karabinchak, moved out of the New Jersey Assembly State and Local Government Committee with broad bipartisan support.

“If your electric bill is going up, you deserve to know who’s behind that and why,” said Assemblyman Robert Karabinchak. “This bill makes sure our utilities aren’t making those decisions in back rooms with no one watching.” 

SACRAMENTO, CA— In the face of rising electricity costs, growing reliability challenges, and ambitious climate goals, California needs to invest in building a more modern, flexible, and resilient electricity grid. While the May Revision to the 2025–26 state budget maintains some investments in critical programs that help ensure affordable, reliable energy, it falls short of the broader vision needed to unlock customer-driven cost-saving energy solutions, empower customers, and reduce dependence on costly, polluting resources.

ANNAPOLIS, MD – In a landmark move, Gov. Wes Moore signed the Utility Transparency and Accountability Act into law today, making Maryland the first state to require its utilities to publicly disclose how they vote at PJM Interconnection, the powerful regional grid operator that makes decisions affecting energy costs, reliability, and clean energy deployment across 13 states. 

The legislation, sponsored by Del. Lorig Charkoudian and Sen. Katie Fry Hester, received bipartisan support and backing from a broad coalition of clean energy industry advocates, consumer groups, and local business voices.