Public Power Current

President Donald Trump’s recently released proposed budget for fiscal year (FY) 2027 includes $375 million to establish a targeted, performance-based program within the Department of Energy’s Grid Deployment Office/Office of Electricity to rapidly expand U.S. manufacturing capacity for transformers and other critical electric grid components.

The Department of Energy’s Hydropower and Hydrokinetic Office recently announced it will soon resume negotiations to issue nearly $430 million in payments to American hydropower facilities.

Arizona public power utility Salt River Project on April 30 announced an agreement with NextEra Energy Resources to develop 3,000 megawatts of new solar generation by the end of 2034.

The American Public Power Association’s Demonstration of Energy & Efficiency Developments program has approved $487,203 in funding for seven projects that aim to apply novel methods and technologies towards improving utility operations and services.

To enable public power utilities to continue meeting rising demand from data centers and maintain reliable, affordable service for their existing customers, Congress must resist adopting one-size-fits-all policies for data centers, APPA said in an April 28 letter to lawmakers in advance of a hearing held by the Energy & Commerce Committee’s Energy Subcommittee on policies related to large loads and data centers.

The Midcontinent ISO on April 28 released the results from its 2026 Planning Resource Auction (PRA), indicating the region has sufficient generation capacity to maintain reliability for the upcoming planning year (June 2026-May 2027).

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will use $90 million in grant funding to develop and revitalize drinking water and wastewater infrastructure that supports Tribal communities and rural America.

Colorado Springs Utilities is seeking up to 300 megawatts of utility-scale wind, solar and energy storage projects.