The Omaha Public Power District ruled in April that the developer, Eolian, could not connect to the grid batteries it plans to install on an industrial lot near Omaha’s coal-fired plant. The power company said private companies are prohibited from hooking up such projects because Nebraska is a “public power” state where infrastructure must be community owned.

Eolian officials, after working on their plan for six years, say they were blindsided by the decision. They argue Nebraska law has specific exemptions allowing the purchase of clean energy from private firms.

“Given the large and growing data center footprint in Omaha, it is confounding that the local utility would intentionally impede the addition of multi-hour battery energy storage resources,” said Eolian CEO Aaron Zubaty. The utility said in a statement that the exceptions are limited and do not allow for “a privately owned, stand-alone battery storage facility.” Eolian and the utility will now make their case to the Nebraska Power Review Board, which has authority to approve the project.

MASON — Christopher Dyer says his noisy neighbor moved in without warning. 

No one knocked at the door of his home about 40 miles northwest of Fredericksburg to ask how he’d feel about living next to a battery energy storage site. Instead, he got an earful of construction noise. That was soon replaced by the sound of air conditioners whirring to keep the batteries cool and the hum of electricity at the facility, which is about 60 feet from his property.

He installed waterfall fountains in his backyard to drown out the racket and the city of Mason built a 10-foot fence around the site. It wasn’t enough, Dyer said. He and his wife, Catherine, don’t even try entertaining on their patio anymore. 

FORT WORTH, Texas — Curious cattle lowed at the herd of people examining rows of shipping containers about thirty yards away on an overcast May morning.

A heavy-duty fence surrounds the inconspicuous gray boxes. Air conditioners cooling their precious cargo emit a gentle hum.

The property borders ranchland and an asphalt maker, all about three miles south of Hicks Airfield in Fort Worth. Electricity transmission lines cast a long shadow over the industrial site.

"A lot of people saw, like us, the opportunity to fill a need," Stephanie Smith said, walking the gravel path between the boxes.

Salt River Project (SRP) and Aypa Power have entered into an agreement to provide 250 megawatts (MW) / 1,000 megawatt-hours (MWh) of new energy storage to the Arizona grid. 

The Signal Butte energy storage project will be a 250 MW, four-hour battery energy storage system located in the Elliot Road Technology Corridor in Mesa, AZ. The project will utilize lithium-ion technology and will have the capacity to power over 50,000 average-sized residential homes over a four-hour period. The project is scheduled to be operational by mid-year 2026. 

“SRP is proud of our continued efforts to deploy battery storage, which will help us maximize use of renewable resources and decarbonize our portfolio in the coming years,” said Bobby Olsen, SRP Associate General Manager and Chief Planning, Strategy and Sustainability Executive. “The Signal Butte project will also help us meet the growing capacity needs of the Phoenix metropolitan area.” 

The mighty Columbia River has helped power the American West with hydroelectricity since the days of FDR’s New Deal. But the artificial intelligence revolution will demand more. Much more.

So near the river’s banks in central Washington, Microsoft is betting on an effort to generate power from atomic fusion — the collision of atoms that powers the sun — a breakthrough that has eluded scientists for the past century. Physicists predict it will elude Microsoft, too.

The tech giant and its partners say they expect to harness fusion by 2028, an audacious claim that bolsters their promises to transition to green energy but distracts from current reality. In fact, the voracious electricity consumption of artificial intelligence is driving an expansion of fossil fuel use — including delaying the retirement of some coal-fired plants.

New ERCOT battery rule could limit energy storage use in grid emergencies, operators say .

New state of charge rules “will substantially reduce energy storage participation in the ancillary markets and reduce competition,” Eolian CEO Aaron Zubaty said.

Two new local projects will add 400 megawatts of non-emitting capacity, helping PGE integrate more clean energy into its portfolio

PORTLAND, Ore., April 28, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Portland General Electric Company (NYSE: POR) today announced the procurement of 400 megawatts (MWAC) of new battery storage projects – a critical tool in Oregon's clean energy transition and the largest single procurement of standalone energy storage to date by a utility in the U.S. outside the state of California. These projects, located at substations close to electrical demand, will store enough electricity to power all PGE customer homes in a city the size of Portland for an entire evening on battery-delivered energy alone

BY ISABELLA O MALLEY

Published 7:15 AM MDT, April 28, 2023
Portland General Electric, the utility serving Portland, Oregon, announced Friday it is putting in the second-largest battery storage installation in the United States, at 400 MW of power. The significance of such projects is they diminish the need for power plants that burn fossil fuels that warm the planet.

Lightsource bp closes financing and mobilizes construction on largest solar project in Arkansas under agreement with Entergy Arkansas

• Build-transfer agreement with Entergy Arkansas for the 313-megawatt dc solar project facilitated financing

• At end of construction and start of commercial operation, Entergy Arkansas will assume facility ownership and operations

• Project to create up to 400 construction jobs, utilizing the local workforce and subcontractors

Lightsource bp has successfully closed on a $327 million financing package and mobilized construction on the 313 megawatt dc (250 megawatt ac) Driver Solar project located near Osceola in Mississippi County, Arkansas. Lightsource bp completed development, permitted and financed the project and will construct the facility under a build-transfer agreement with Entergy Arkansas announced last year. Upon completion, at 313 MW Driver Solar will be the largest solar farm in Entergy Arkansas’ portfolio as well as the largest in the state of Arkansas, generating enough energy to power more than 50,000 homes.

Wärtsilä Corporation, Trade press release 27 March 2023 at 11:00 UTC+2

Madero and Ignacio energy storage facility will provide Texas’ ERCOT grid with needed flexibility amidst growing energy demand and extreme weather events. ©Eolian

The facility is also first-of-its-kind financed with the Investment Tax Credit to provide critically needed dispatchable resource to meet urgent and growing demand for flexibility in Texas power market

The technology group Wärtsilä has reached commercial operation date (COD) for two major interconnected energy storage systems in South Texas totaling 200 MW and owned by Eolian L.P. (Eolian), a portfolio company of Global Infrastructure Partners. The Madero and Ignacio energy storage plants will be operated using Eolian software, enabling full participation in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) market. This will add much needed year-round reliable operational ramping capacity to the system. The order for Wärtsilä was booked in February 2021.