❌

Normal view

PG&E expands V2X program with Tesla, Volvo, Nissan and $17K incentives

3 September 2026 at 15:48

PG&E just expanded its Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) program, adding EVs from Tesla, Kia, Volvo, Polestar, and Nissan and opening up as much as $17,000 in incentives to turn a car into home backup power.

The California utility brought in Bidirectional Energy and PowerFlex as approved partners, and drivers now have until June 30, 2027 to enroll.

more…

Data centers become "killer application" for new power transformer tech

24 August 2026 at 22:32

Data centers have become the largest driver of a surging electricity demand that is straining US power grids. But the AI data center boom has also accelerated investment in a technology that could provide a silver lining for everyone—solid-state power transformers that replace industrial-age technology with modern power electronics.

Power grids currently rely on conventional transformer technology that is painstakingly assembled by hand and has a fundamental design dating back to the 1880s. Two copper wire coils manually wound around a steel core create electromagnetic fields that help step up voltage levels of alternating current electricity for long-distance transmission or step down voltage levels for the electricity use of homes and businesses. The largest power transformers cannot be mass-manufactured but are instead custom-built for each utility company’s electrical substations.

Manufacturing constraints, coupled with the scramble to upgrade US power infrastructure, have meant utility companies and other customers must wait up to several years for delivery of new power transformers. That not only hinders power grid infrastructure expansion needed to support growing electricity demand, but also delays the process of replacing aging power transformers.

Read full article

Comments

© EPRI

Britain’s biggest community solar farm forced to shut over grid overload fears

12 July 2026 at 15:00

Timing of Devon switchoff ‘could not be worse’, says board, as members face an estimated £2m in lost revenue

Britain’s biggest community solar project has been forced to shut for the duration of its first summer by the government’s energy system operator to avoid overloading the local grid with renewable energy.

The north Devon solar farm was ordered to shut weeks before record high temperatures across Europe led to power supply warnings, due to concerns that the large amount of rooftop solar in the area could destabilise the power grid by triggering a “thermal overload”.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Peter Cade/Getty Images

© Photograph: Peter Cade/Getty Images

© Photograph: Peter Cade/Getty Images

ELM MicroGrid installs battery storage in its hometown [video]

4 June 2026 at 01:42

Battery energy storage specialist ELM MicroGrid has spent more than two decades building a nationwide energy storage and utility infrastructure businesses. Now, the company is bringing that expertise home with the installation of a new battery energy storage system at a solar microgrid project in Peoria, IL.

❌