Energy Storage
Xcel Energy plans to build the Midwest’s largest battery energy storage site at the Sherco Energy Hub in central Minnesota. It wants to double the amount of battery storage adjacent to a coal plant from 300 megawatts of storage to 600 megawatts.
Reliability
The North American Electric Reliability Corp. has filed a suite of reliability standards with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in response to the “Milestone 3” directives from Order No. 901, “marking a critical step forward in enhancing grid reliability through improved model validation and data sharing requirements for inverter-based resources (IBRs), NERC said.
Generation
Deep Green on Nov. 5 announced plans to build a first-of-its-kind 24-megawatt, ultra-efficient data center in downtown Lansing, Mich.
Transmission
The Southwest Power Pool on Nov. 5 reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring a reliable, affordable, and resilient electric grid through its Integrated Transmission Planning process -- a collaborative effort that has identified transmission solutions to meet the region’s evolving energy needs.
Customer Service
Fifty-three public power electric utilities and utility organizations earned Excellence in Public Power Communications Awards from the American Public Power Association.
Workforce
The following is a transcript of the Sept. 22, 2025, episode of Public Power Now. Learn more about subscribing to Public Power Now at Publicpower.org/Podcasts. Some quotes may have been edited for clarity. Paul Ciampoli Welcome to the latest episode of Public Power Now. I'm Paul Ciampoli, APPA’s
Workforce
In a recent interview with APPA, Victor Fuentes, General Manager and CEO of Washington State's Franklin PUD, details the launch of a successful student intern program at Franklin PUD, as well as other efforts at the PUD to proactively address workforce issues facing the utility sector.
Generation
KPP Energy is purchasing four new diesel-fired generators in a move that will incrementally increase the overall capacity of the agency.
Reliability
Adrienne Lotto, Senior Vice President for Grid Security, Technical and Operations at the American Public Power Association, on Oct. 28 detailed how APPA members can benefit from the wide array of programs and services that it offers including in the areas of physical security and cybersecurity.
Distributed Energy Resources
Florida public power utility OUC has launched one of the largest floating solar arrays in the United States, and the largest in Florida, it said on Nov. 6.