April 24
Most States Undertook Grid Modernization Actions During Q1
This week's top smart energy news, curated by the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative (SECC).
Member News
Forty-five states, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, took actions during the first quarter of the year related to grid modernization, according to a new report by the N.C. Clean Energy Technology Center (NCCETC). The greatest number of actions related to energy storage deployment proposals (69), interconnection rules (43), overall utility business model reforms (41) and smart grid technology deployment (30).
BlastPoint, an AI-driven customer intelligence platform, and Tierra Resource Consultants, a leading utility consulting firm, announced a strategic partnership to help utilities better leverage data to design, target and optimize customer programs. The partnership brings together BlastPoint’s advanced data and predictive analytics capabilities with Tierra’s deep expertise in utility program design, economic analysis and regulatory strategy.
Plus Power and the Tennessee Valley Authority this week announced a 20-year energy storage agreement to add 200-megawatt/800 megawatt-hour utility-scale battery energy storage to the Tennessee Valley. TVA selected the project through a Request for Proposal issued in early 2025 to supply new capacity resources needed across the region.
With new weather stations deployed across Michigan, Consumers Energy expects to better predict outages and respond to storms. The company-owned weather stations collect weather data, including wind, temperature, and soil moisture, that directly affects the electric grid and planning for restoration. Consumers Energy has already installed five weather stations, and it plans to deploy 100 stations by 2027.
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Industry News
The Midcontinent Independent System Operator expects its peak load will grow to about 163 GW by 2035, up 35% from its 2025 peak of 121 GW, driven largely by data center development, MISO said in a presentation on its latest long-term forecast. Other factors pushing up MISO’s load forecast are EVs – although less than previously expected – manufacturing, and the residential and commercial sectors.
For decades, utilities have used smart thermostats to reduce strain on the grid when electricity consumption is super-high. Paying customers to let utilities turn down air conditioning on hot summer afternoons or electric heating on cold winter mornings is called demand response, and it’s delivering gigawatts of valuable grid relief today.
On April 13, Maryland’s General Assembly passed what its House Speaker called the crown jewel of the 2026 session. The Utility RELIEF Act, its supporters tout, will save the average household at least $150 a year on electricity bills – a number that Democratic leaders in Annapolis were careful to describe as a floor, not a ceiling. Governor Wes Moore signed it the same day.
Investor-owned utilities have boosted their five-year capital expenditure plans by about 21% in order to meet rising electricity demand, threatening to exacerbate an energy affordability crisis that is worrying almost three-quarters of Americans, according to a report from PowerLines. The group reviewed 51 recent utility quarterly earnings calls and found IOUs plan to spend $1.4 trillion through 2030, up from the $1.1 trillion that was laid out in capex plans last year.
