Good morning. For many power pros, climbing cyber threats are top of mind—but do utilities have the resources to defend against AI-fueled intrusions? CISA recently touted a plan to ramp up cybersecurity support for critical infrastructure systems. But last month, the agency announced that it’s scrapping several reviews offered to these orgs.
Talk about mixed messaging. To cut through the confusion, we asked our readers: Is the federal government actually doing enough to assist utilities' cybersecurity efforts? Two-thirds of respondents said no, 18% said yes, and the rest said that “it’s complicated.” 🤔
P.S. Get the inside scoop on cyber defense from OT security experts: Join us on Nov. 3 at 1 p.m. ET for a webinar hosted by Energy Central and our partners at Nozomi Networks.
— Molly, Carrie, and the Energy Central editorial team
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Will BAAJA blast off—or will the long-awaited permitting bill fail to launch?
For energy wonks, this year’s lame duck session will be anything but lame.
Time is ticking for Congress to seal the fate of one of the country’s most consequential energy bills in years: the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act (BAAJA). If BAAJA fails to pass the Senate and House after the midterms—and before the next session kicks off in January—the historic deal will end up dead in the water.
The beefy bill: This 417-page piece of legislation (unveiled in the Senate last month) aims to fast-track federal permitting for generation, transmission, and other key infrastructure projects. BAAJA has drawn praise from across the energy industry as a grid buildout gamechanger—but not all utility pros are on board.
Plus, the bill has sparked criticism from some Indigenous groups and environmental organizations, who say it restricts community feedback and legal recourse when projects land in people’s backyards.
So, which BAAJA bits matter most to utility pros? “Really, everything,” Xan Fishman, executive VP of energy at the Bipartisan Policy Center think tank, told Energy Central. It includes provisions to:
Streamline project reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Historic Preservation Act…and curb associated court challenges that can delay projects for years.
Strengthen federal authority over interstate transmission lines—the bill would enable FERC to skirt state opposition to certain projects.
Reshape the transmission buildout by 1) requiring regional and interregional planning 2) banning federal rules that give incumbent utilities first grabs on certain projects 3) adding state checks on utilities’ transmission planning and 4) pushing advanced transmission tech.
Require data centers to pay for their grid impacts. The bill also directs RTOs and ISOs to streamline their generator interconnection processes.
The power sector takeaway: BAAJA shifts more control over energy permitting to the federal level, Craig Heilman, COO of energy regulation analytics firm Arbo, told us.
BAAJA’s odds: “I am optimistic that this bill passes the Senate, somehow passes the House, and gets signed by the President before the end of this year,” Fishman said. “But it’s not a sure thing.”
The hurdle: BAAJA has run into resistance in both Congressional chambers. Prominent Senate Dems want to see the White House halt its clean energy attacks before they vote for the bill. And some House members—most notably Jared Huffman (D-CA)—have opposed BAAJA, claiming it could restrict public input, encourage environmental harms, and accelerate data center expansion.
If Democrats can snag a House majority after the midterms, Rep. Huffman hopes they can negotiate a new bill—but “that’s highly unlikely to succeed,” Fishman said.
The stakes: Politics move slowly—but grid demand sure doesn’t. 📈
If BAAJA falls flat, it’s unlikely that officials can pull off another massive permitting deal over the next few years, Heilman said. “It’s hard for Congress to act in a bipartisan way in this era—there was an awful lot of work that was done to create this bill,” he told us.
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Another day, another DOE megaloan: Alliant Energy is getting $5B for new gigawatts.
The details: The DOE is loaning $5.1B to Alliant Energy for its utilities to add new capacity in Iowa and Wisconsin (the company is considering 1.6 GW of natural gas and 1 GW of storage, along with upgrades to gas plants). The projects will save customers in the two states more than $1B, the department said.
The cash keeps flowing: On Tuesday, the agency announced a separate $5B loan to support Constellation’s nuclear uprates in PJM. That marks more than $10B in federal funding over the span of a few days—clearly the Trump administration is serious about expanding US capacity ASAP.
SPP is looking back on a stressful summer—and MISO is expecting a reliable winter.
☀️ SPP’s market monitor reflected on the three emergency alerts issued in its Western footprint over July and August due to low power supplies. Two involved large coal plants tripping offline, while the third stemmed from a drop in imports from CAISO. The solution? More “rampable capacity,” which would offer SPP more flexibility to respond to rapid grid shifts (Translation: more fossil fuels).
❄️ MISO said it has “sufficient capacity” for winter. The grid operator has secured around 135 GW of seasonal capacity, including gas, coal, wind, solar and storage (MISO projects a winter peak of roughly 113 GW). This winter is expected to be balmier than usual, easing heating needs.
GE Vernova is buying a high-voltage grid equipment giant for $9B.
The deal: GE Vernova said its acquisition of Trench Group cements its foothold in the global high-voltage sector, which is set to hit $130B by decade’s end as the grid expansion accelerates. This deal will “help deliver the technologies and manufacturing capacity needed for the global electricity supercycle,” the company wrote in a statement.
Plus, a status update: GE Vernova reported that its Q3 orders doubled year-over-year (reaching $29.3B), while order backlogs continue to grow.
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⛓️ Don’t overlook this supply chain snag. For projects already operating on tight schedules, site access mat availability could be the next bottleneck that delays execution. And when access is blocked, everything stops. Get all the info on early planning from our partners at Sterling Site Access Solutions:
Thanks for reading. TTYL!