The past few years has seen a surge in reactive power compensation filings for solar and wind-powered projects, with a high concentration of filings for facilities in MISO and PJM. There are several factors contributing to this trend. Spurred on by decreasing costs, state and regional renewable energy goals, and investment tax credits (ITC), solar leads all other technologies for new electric generation capacity additions. Together solar and wind outstripped all other technologies 4:1 in new U.S. capacity additions in 2020. Until recently, reactive power compensation for wind and solar was not an achievable revenue opportunity, but technological advancements and changes in the regulatory landscape created new revenue opportunities for non-synchronous resources. Read full article here.
On May 7th, Colonial Pipeline was forced to shut down operations as a result of a ransomware attack. The shutdown lasted until May 12th and the effects of the shutdown were felt long after. Colonial Pipeline supplies 2.5 million barrels of fuel daily to the southeastern US. This accounts for about 45% of the fuel for the region and resulted in massive fuel shortages which lasted for weeks. Read full article here.