Canary Media
Trump emergency order casts uncertainty over grid battery growth 10 September 2026 at 08:30

Trump emergency order casts uncertainty over grid battery growth

10 September 2026 at 08:30

The Trump administration’s vaguely worded executive order on grid cybersecurity threatens to slow down the booming U.S. energy storage market . The order, issued late last month, declares a national security emergency over the risk that foreign-made technologies could be used to hack into and disrupt the U.S. power…

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This novel power line could link 3 grids across 3 time zones 3 September 2026 at 08:30

This novel power line could link 3 grids across 3 time zones

Canary Media

By: Jeff St. John

3 September 2026 at 08:30

Michael Skelly knows it’s hard to build a huge transmission line that connects different regions of the grid. He has spent a decade trying to get one up and running. But Skelly, now CEO of Grid United , thinks his current attempt to build a first-of-its-kind transmission line is on the right track. And he’s gotten a…

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California declines to fund its biggest virtual power plant 1 September 2026 at 15:04

California declines to fund its biggest virtual power plant

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By: Jeff St. John

1 September 2026 at 15:04

California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration has blocked an effort to keep the state’s most successful virtual power plant program funded through next year. State budget language finalized last week does not authorize additional money for the Demand Side Grid Support program , one of the biggest VPPs in the country…

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California virtual power plant bills clear key legislative hurdle 26 August 2026 at 08:30

California virtual power plant bills clear key legislative hurdle

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By: Jeff St. John

26 August 2026 at 08:30

Last year, California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a slate of bills meant to expand virtual power plants that could offset the state’s fast-rising electricity costs. Will he do the same this year? Earlier this month, two virtual power plant bills made it through a key legislative hurdle. Lawmakers must vote on the bills…

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PJM has finally greenlit a lot of new clean power. Can it get built? 24 August 2026 at 08:30

PJM has finally greenlit a lot of new clean power. Can it get built?

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By: Jeff St. John

24 August 2026 at 08:30

The country’s biggest energy market has a problem: It can’t build enough power plants to keep up with electricity demand. For PJM Interconnection’s 67 million customers across 13 states, the consequences are ever-higher utility bills. For PJM itself, it’s unrelenting political pressure, from blue-state lawmakers on…

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PJM wants data centers to bring their own power. Pennsylvania’s on it. 20 August 2026 at 22:00

PJM wants data centers to bring their own power. Pennsylvania’s on it.

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By: Jeff St. John

20 August 2026 at 22:00

Last month, grid operator PJM Interconnection unveiled a long-awaited proposal to prevent data centers from spiking power prices — but the plan largely relies on states to give it teeth . Pennsylvania, one of the biggest states in PJM’s 13-state territory, is taking up that challenge. This week, Pennsylvania Gov.…

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Major data center bills advance in California despite industry pushback 18 August 2026 at 08:30

Major data center bills advance in California despite industry pushback

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By: Jeff St. John

18 August 2026 at 08:30

California, with its sky-high electricity prices, isn’t facing the same influx of data centers that many other states are. But the massive facilities are still being built and proposed in California — and legislators are racing to stop them from pushing up utility rates and pollution. Two major data center bills…

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Federal ruling hands virtual power plants a win in PJM 13 August 2026 at 08:30

Federal ruling hands virtual power plants a win in PJM

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By: Jeff St. John

13 August 2026 at 08:30

A recent ruling from federal regulators will let virtual power plants help meet surging energy demand in the county’s biggest energy market. Late last month, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ordered PJM Interconnection to accept statistical sampling as a valid method for measuring the reliability of programs…

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3 ways to fix California's utility spending problem — if lawmakers act 11 August 2026 at 08:30

3 ways to fix California's utility spending problem — if lawmakers act

Canary Media

By: Jeff St. John

11 August 2026 at 08:30

California lawmakers are once again contending with how to curb the state’s high energy costs as they hurtle toward the end of this year’s legislative session on Aug. 31. So what’s on the table for utility rate reform in the final stretch? Enter Senate Bill 905 , a complicated package of proposals that are likely to…

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Trump is blocking billions of dollars of grants that would fix the grid 6 August 2026 at 08:30

Trump is blocking billions of dollars of grants that would fix the grid

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By: Jeff St. John

6 August 2026 at 08:30

In Wisconsin, utility Alliant Energy has called off a project meant to reduce power outages in disadvantaged and tribal communities, after the Trump administration terminated a federal grant that would have supported it. In California, the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, which has deployed and upgraded…

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PJM’s big new data center plan: Make the states figure it out 5 August 2026 at 08:30

PJM’s big new data center plan: Make the states figure it out

Canary Media

By: Jeff St. John

5 August 2026 at 08:30

PJM Interconnection, the biggest grid operator in the U.S., has finally settled on a plan to prevent data centers from causing other customers’ utility bills to soar further in its 13-state territory. That plan relies heavily on states themselves, and the utilities they regulate, to force data centers to secure…

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Court rules against Trump EPA’s freeze of $20B in ‘green bank’ funds 5 August 2026 at 00:37

Court rules against Trump EPA’s freeze of $20B in ‘green bank’ funds

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By: Jeff St. John

5 August 2026 at 00:37

A federal appeals court has ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency acted improperly in terminating billions of dollars of “green bank” financing last year, setting up a potential showdown before the U.S. Supreme Court over one of the Trump administration's earliest attacks on a key Biden-era climate program.…

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Trump admin bans ‘new’ foreign-made inverters. What does that mean? 29 July 2026 at 22:00

Trump admin bans ‘new’ foreign-made inverters. What does that mean?

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By: Jeff St. John

29 July 2026 at 22:00

Citing national security concerns, the Trump administration has banned the import and domestic use of new power inverters made outside the United States. The move could throw sand in the gears of gigawatts’ worth of planned solar, wind, and battery installations — projects that make up the vast majority of new…

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The coal industry gave Trump a wish list. He’s checking items off it. 29 July 2026 at 08:30

The coal industry gave Trump a wish list. He’s checking items off it.

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By: Jeff St. John

29 July 2026 at 08:30

The Trump administration seems to be doing all it can to give the coal industry everything it wants. Those efforts may not succeed, but they could keep the dying industry on life support, and soak U.S. citizens with the financial and environmental costs of doing so — unless legal challenges compel it to change…

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California to offer a novel $3,500 rebate for first-time EV buyers 27 July 2026 at 08:30

California to offer a novel $3,500 rebate for first-time EV buyers

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By: Jeff St. John

27 July 2026 at 08:30

California is making a bet: Once you’ve driven an EV, you won’t want to go back to a gas-powered car. Earlier this month, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed legislation creating the MyFirstEV program. It’s the state’s first big attempt to make up for the loss of federal EV tax credits, and it’s exclusively targeting the…

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State legislatures are getting better at clean-energy permitting policy 22 July 2026 at 08:30

State legislatures are getting better at clean-energy permitting policy

Canary Media

By: Jeff St. John

22 July 2026 at 08:30

Solar, wind, and batteries are the cheapest, fastest ways to add much-needed electricity to America’s grid. And across the country, more state legislatures are passing laws to streamline renewable development than are enacting policies to prevent clean energy from being built. That’s the good news from the Siting…

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PJM’s old way of getting power built isn’t working. Has it found a fix? 17 July 2026 at 08:30

PJM’s old way of getting power built isn’t working. Has it found a fix?

Canary Media

By: Jeff St. John

17 July 2026 at 08:30

With the conclusion of its latest capacity auction, PJM Interconnection has once again shown that its process for securing new energy is unable to keep up with the wave of electricity demand from data centers. But PJM, the grid operator for the country’s biggest energy market, is poised to adopt a new process that…

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Electric trucks look a lot more appealing when gas prices are sky-high 2 July 2026 at 08:30

Electric trucks look a lot more appealing when gas prices are sky-high

Canary Media

By: Jeff St. John

2 July 2026 at 08:30

Electric cargo trucks have been getting more cost-competitive for years. But the fuel price spike triggered by the Iran war has made it clear just how much cheaper it can be to move freight with trucks that run on electricity instead of gasoline or diesel. New data from electric-vehicle manufacturer Workhorse ,…

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California’s choice: Cleaner air for schools or money for utilities 29 June 2026 at 08:30

California’s choice: Cleaner air for schools or money for utilities

Canary Media

By: Jeff St. John

29 June 2026 at 08:30

Should California spend nearly $200 million helping public schools install healthier and more efficient heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, and plumbing systems? Or should it send the money back to the state’s biggest utilities so their customers can pay roughly a dollar less on their monthly bills over the…

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Tesla, Sunrun, Renew Home team up on massive 16GW virtual power plant 24 June 2026 at 13:00

Tesla, Sunrun, Renew Home team up on massive 16GW virtual power plant

Canary Media

By: Jeff St. John

24 June 2026 at 13:00

The leading U.S. providers of rooftop solar, home batteries, and grid-responsive smart thermostats have combined forces to create what could be the country’s biggest virtual power plant — or, more precisely, a lot of VPPs in data center hot spots. On Wednesday, Sunrun, Tesla, and Renew Home announced an agreement to…

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