News and Events

‘We have a real adversary’: Work intensifies to safeguard solar from cyber attacks

Solar inverters are increasingly smart, but their sophisticated power electronics expose potential cyber security gaps. Work is underway to harden the devices ...

China Appears to Warn India: Push Too Hard and the Lights Could Go Out

As border skirmishing increased last year, malware began to flow into the Indian electric grid, a new study shows, and a blackout hit Mumbai. It now looks like ...

USEA Virtual Press Briefing: The Lessons of Texas

The Texas deep freeze was close to the sum of all fears for electric and gas utilities. If it could go wrong, it did go wrong, and Texans suffered. It has been ...

Should the US beef up cybersecurity rules for distributed resources? FERC solicits public input

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission published a notice of inquiry (NOI) on cybersecurity issues, including how "a coordinated cyberattack on ...

COVID-19, severe weather and power outages

Wildfire and hurricane season is here and with it comes an influx of weather-related power outages. Experts are warning that natural disasters and extreme ...

Webinar: Cybersecurity and Distributed Energy Resources

Cybersecurity is a critical aspect of power sector resilience. As an activity of the Resilient Energy Platform, this webinar will address cybersecurity for ...

Webinar: Utility Digitalization Progress and Digitalization Strategies and Roadmaps

This webinar will help utilities learn about global trends in digitalization including identification of digitalization priorities for power utilities, get an ...

Webinar: Building Blocks to Support Cybersecurity in the Power Sector

Join NREL and USAID for a webinar presenting a power sector cybersecurity framework and building blocks focused on technical, policy, planning, regulatory, and ...

Recovering Residential Solar Industry Prepares for Wildfire Season — With Batteries

Demand for home batteries may surge as the California market swings from a COVID-19 shutdown straight into wildfire season. COVID-19 shutdown straight into ...

Resilient Energy Platform Webinar - Cybersecurity and Distributed Energy Resources

Cybersecurity and Distributed Energy Resources

Resilient Energy Platform Webinar - Building Blocks to Support Cybersecurity in the Power Sector

Building Blocks to Support Cybersecurity in the Power Sector

Webinar - Strategies For Intelligence Integration: Connections Between Digitalization And Cybersecurity

This is the first in the series of USAID webinars on Digitalization and Cybersecurity in the Energy Sector hosted by E3.

Webinar: APPROACHES TO UTILITY RESILIENCE: CREATING AN ENERGY SECTOR THAT IS PREPARED FOR THE UNEXPECTED

For the past few months, the world has faced hardship and uncertainty amid a global pandemic. Despite these challenges, utilities in the energy sector have ...

Webinar: Smart Grids & Energy Storage - Finding Solutions for Caribbean Electric Utilities in a Pandemic

The Caribbean Electric Utilities Services Corporation (CARILEC) invites you to join the premiere of the 2020 Resilient Power Webinar Series where we showcase ...

Powering Health across Africa through COVID-19 and a Changing Climate

Modern health services require electricity everywhere in the world. The Sustainable Development Goals include access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and ...

New Quick Read: Cybersecurity and Distributed Energy Resources

This fact sheet addresses cybersecurity for distributed energy resources (DERs) and identifies best practices in cybersecurity governance, technical management ...

Webinar recording available: Clean Energy Technical Solutions for Power Sector Resilience

Clean energy technical solutions, such as distributed generation, energy storage, and smart grids, can enhance resilience across the grid system to help ...

Adapting to Fire: How Cities Can Enhance Resilience with Distributed Energy

As California experienced uncharacteristically low precipitation in February, normally its peak rainy season, parts of the state are moving into drought ...

Upcoming webinar: Resilience: Helping Communities and Countries Move from Crisis to Stability

March 24, 2020 | 12:00 - 1:00 p.m. ET

Updated Resource: Ask an Expert Service – Resilient Energy Platform

The Resilient Energy Platform Ask an Expert service is up and running after a short pause in functionality.

Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan deadlocked over giant Nile dam, look to Washington talks

The dispute over the filling and operation of the massive dam has sparked a diplomatic crisis between Egypt and Ethiopia, who both see existential threats in ...

Q&A: Quakes pose a new threat to Puerto Rico’s grid, but PREPA expects power to be restored to all customers in days

At least 45 earthquakes shook Puerto Rico over several days in early January, leaving behind collapsed buildings and a crippled electric grid. As of ...

'I didn’t think we'd get out': 6.4 magnitude earthquake leaves 1 dead, power out across Puerto Rico

A 6.4 magnitude earthquake rumbled across Puerto Rico on Tuesday, killing at least one person and knocking out power to virtually the entire island of more ...

New fact sheet released: Cross-Border Power Trade to Support Resilience

Cross-border power trade can support public interest goals such as better grid resilience, increased energy access, economic development, and other power ...

Flood-related blackouts strengthen case for new REIPPPP round in South Africa

The nation has been plagued by extensive power outages again with debt-riddled utility Eskom blaming heavy summer floods for taking out extensive parts of its ...

New fact sheet released: Finance for Power Sector Resilience

An overview of both established and cutting-edge mechanisms for power sector resilience finance.

PVEL and partners combine for technically-based solar plant insurance

PV Evolution Labs, Ariel Re, and Beecher Carlson Insurance Services, have created PV PlantProtect, an insurance program which uses technical due diligence to ...

Batteries vs. Blackouts: 1,100 Homes Powered Through Vermont Outage With Storage

Utility Green Mountain Power’s pilot programs paid off with clean, distributed backup power amid a statewide outage.

Zimbabwe finance ministry says economy to contract 6.5% this year

As worsening drought hits hydropower and crops, Zimbabwe's economy is shrinking

What would happen in an apocalyptic blackout?

As hospital patients in Venezuela found out earlier this year during a five-day nationwide blackout, power cuts can do more than just turn out the lights.

High-voltage PG&E power line broke near origin of massive fire in California wine country

A fast-spreading wildfire, spurred by powerful winds, continued to rage in Northern California on Friday and forced thousands of people to evacuate parts of ...

What a Hurricane Sandy recovery program can teach cities about resiliency

Rebuild by Design changed the way New York thinks about public works

California power shutoff: how PG&E's actions hit the medically vulnerable the hardest

The impacts of the electricity cut are being disproportionately felt by those dependent on medical devices.

New fact sheet released: Renewable Energy to Support Energy Security

Renewable energy plays an important role in supporting energy security through contributing to the protection and continued provision of energy services when a ...

Nursing Homes Facing Life-or-Death Decisions in Power Blackouts

As the Pacific Gas & Electric Company in California tries to reduce wildfire risk by cutting power during times of high risk, care facilities like nursing ...

Cayman solar company powering Bahamas relief effort

A Cayman Islands renewable energy company has been working in the Bahamas to provide emergency power to field hospitals in remote areas.

New fact sheet released: Understanding Power System Threats and Impacts

Understanding potential threats to a power system is an essential first step in supporting power sector resilience. It is important to assess both current and ...

Energy Storage & Extreme Weather

When severe weather strikes a region, energy infrastructure is often hit hard. On site energy storage can aid in energy recovery post-disaster.

Four new fact sheets released!

We have released four new fact sheets on Power Sector Resilience!

Launch of the Resilient Energy Platform and In-depth Look at Power Sector Resilience Planning in Lao PDR

This webinar will introduce the Resilient Energy Platform, present the Power Sector Planning Guidebook, and provide a detailed look at the process undertaken ...

When disaster strikes

In this article, George Irwin of ReNew Petra explains the essential role of skilled PV operations and maintenance teams in both preparation for and recovery ...

Battery storage called into action as UK suffers country-wide power cuts

When two large generators went down in the UK, the system operator called upon battery storage to balance the frequency of the grid.

Island-wide outage on Kaua'i: Clouds block solar recovery after generator's cable failure

After an arc flash in a gas generator caused an island wide power outage on the Hawaiian island of Kaua'i, solar and battery storage systems were able to ...

Energy Future New Orleans proposes new resilient RPS for the city

The Riddle of Resilience: What’s important for society and the economy and yet has no value?

How does the power sector incorporate a value for resilience, when many of the benefits are difficult to quantify? This article examines methods of ...

Manhattan blackout caused by fault in substation relay protection system

A fault in relay protection equipment at a substation in New York City led to a cascading blackout that left 72,000 customers without power.

Ridgecrest and Trona officials rush to fix roads, utilities after earthquakes

Officials in two damaged desert communities worked Sunday to repair roads and restore utilities following the largest earthquake in Southern California in ...

Despite drought, Costa Rica's electricity stays clean - but not cheap

The Central American nation relies on hydropower, but investing in extra capacity to keep the lights on during dry periods has saddled its utility with rising ...

Outage prone town turns to batteries

New England utility Eversource wants to deploy energy storage to back up an outage-prone New Hampshire town, while saving customers money.

Puerto Rico energy plan introduces MiniGrids to avoid repeat of Hurricane Maria

Puerto Rico's electric utility on June 7 unveiled its highly-anticipated integrated resource plan, sketching out a 20-year campaign to modernize and reimagine ...

Upcoming Webinar: Puerto Rico and Planning for a Resilient Energy Future

Join CAREC-CARILEC Renewable Energy Community on June 20th 2019 as they present a webinar titled "Puerto Rico and Planning for a Resilient Energy Future". The ...

Institutional Solutions to Enhance Power Sector Resilience

We have just released a new fact sheet on institutional solutions!

California May Go Dark This Summer, and Most Aren't Ready

California utility PG&E is planning on blackouts during high wind events in wildfire season to prevent serious damage to the power system. While some ...

Briefing: Microgrids for Enhanced Grid Reliability and Resilience

This presentation will highlight the ongoing DOE microgrid activities for enhanced grid reliability and resilience.

In Puerto Rico, Building a Disaster-Proof Business Is Part of Recovery

For a little over three years, Parallel18 has worked with 168 tech-based start-ups, each of which receive $40,000 in equity-free funding, co-working space and ...

New Recorded Webinar: Utility-Scale Battery Storage

A recording of the webinar "Utility-Scale Battery Storage: When, Where, Why and How Much?" has been published. The webinar introduced key concepts for ...

New Resource - An Introduction to Grid Services: Concepts, Technical Requirements, and Provision from Wind

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has released a new report titled "An Introduction to Grid Services: Concepts, Technical Requirements, and Provision ...

New Recorded Webinar: Best Practices for Grid Codes for Renewable Energy Generators

A recording of the webinar "Best Practices for Grid Codes for Renewable Energy Generators" has been published. The webinar explains in detail the purpose and ...

New Resources - "Xcel Model Wind and Solar PPA, Model Semi-Dispatchable PPA and Semi-Dispatchable RFP"

Xcel Energy has released their new Model Power Purchase Agreement for Wind and Solar Generators, their Model Power Purchase Agreement for Semi-Dispatchable ...

New Resource - "Updated Power Purchase Agreements for Renewable Dispatchable Generation"

The Hawaiian Electric Light Company (HELCO) recently released their new models for Power Purchase Agreements for Renewable Dispatchable Generation for wind and ...

New Resource - "Status of Power System Transformation 2018"

The International Energy Agency recently released a new report titled "Status of Power System Transformation 2018: Advanced Power Plant Flexibility".

Deep Dive Workshop Highlights Global Grid Integration Experiences and Good Practices

The workshop provided and opportunity for Asia Clean Energy Forum participants to gain knowledge and tools to enable a clean, modern, flexible, and affordable ...

Building Blocks for Distributed PV Deployment, Part 1: Goals, Definitions and Compensation

Due in part to the low cost of photovoltaic system hardware and scalability for deployment, grid-connected distributed photovoltaic (DPV) technologies are ...