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The US wind industry is set to add 39 GW of new onshore capacity by 2030.
The numbers: Wind turbine orders have ballooned in recent months, reaching 2.8 GW in Q2—the highest addition since late 2023—according to a Wood Mackenzie report. Why? Developers are scrambling to wrap up projects and clinch expiring federal tax credits. Right now, over half of the project pipeline through 2028 is already running or under construction.
Yes, but: Next year, the American Society of Civil Engineers is expected to release design requirements for wind turbines in tornado-prone areas. These rules could raise project costs “throughout most of the country,” Wood Mackenzie wrote.
As generators ditch MISO’s queue, the org plans to raise tariff rates by 24%.
MISO’s IOUs: The grid operator is feeling the fallout from a spike in queue dropouts (amid calls to cap its hefty queue). Now, MISO owes more in interest refunds than previously anticipated…but says they’re a “short-term” expense.
The big picture: Load growth is offsetting tariff rates by 5.6%, MISO reported. But if approved, next year’s proposed $548.6M budget would mark the grid operator’s biggest yet.
While we’re here: MISO is getting heat for its proposal to fast-track reviews for data center projects >200MW and their associated generation. This plan would saddle customers with more costs, according to member states, clean energy groups, and ratepayer advocates…and even Google. On the other hand, Duke Energy Indiana, Entergy utilities, and a long list of other MISO transmission owners say they’re fans.
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This robodog is reporting for grid inspection duty. 🫡
Powerful pups: Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) is rolling out robotic dogs (aptly named after Jetsons characters) to assist in inspections across their hundreds of substations and large transformers.
The savings: These robodogs enable SMUD to keep a close eye on critical equipment and reduce reliance on time-consuming manual inspections. They’re equipped with thermal cameras to flag potential problems before they become pricey failures.
You might be wondering: Will these high-tech canines replace people? SMUD's Eric Poff is "on team human,” he told us. The bots will enable people “to collect data in a more efficient way—and be able to act on that.”
US power equipment production is getting a nearly $500M boost.
Mitsubishi Power is pouring $490M into expanding its GA factory that manufactures power generation equipment like gas and steam turbines. This will enable Mitsubishi “to meet unprecedented power generation needs,” the company said in a statement.
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💡 Utilities can’t efficiency their way out of gigawatts of new demand. What they can do? Reduce, optimize, and shift demand. Get the lowdown from our partners at Franklin Energy:
Thanks for reading. Catch you on the flip side!