Over the last three years, IREC has been involved in proceedings before the Minnesota Commission focused on tools to enhance the transparency of Xcel Energy’s distribution grid.
Regulatory Insights 
What Grid Transparency Looks Like
With little fanfare or attention, the main investor-owned utilities in California released their first Integration Capacity Analyses (ICA) and supporting distribution system maps at the beginning of 2019. IREC has done an in-depth exploration of the capabilities of the maps and advocated for ongoing improvements, encouraging the commission to establish a process for ensuring the utilities remedied both the data quality and usability issues.
Key Lessons from the California Integrated Capacity Analysis
For the deep dive you’ve been waiting for on hosting capacity, search no further. Herein you will find an overview of hosting capacity analyses, why they matter, a summary of the key findings from the California Working Group effort and important insights that are transferable to other states seeking to enable a more modern grid.
The Evolution of Hosting Capacity Analysis as a Grid Modernization Tool
For anyone in the distributed energy industry, the term “hosting capacity analysis” is one to know. Hosting capacity analysis (HCA) is a new analytical tool that can help states and utilities plan for and build a cleaner electric grid that optimizes customer-driven distributed energy resources (DERs), such as rooftop solar and energy storage.
Cornerstone for Next Generation Grid Activities: Forecasting DER Growth
This IREC Insight blog is focused on a relatively uncharted frontier in energy planning: distributed energy resource forecasting (aka DER forecasting). We will examine what a DER forecast is, why it matters, and what states, regulators and utilities should consider…
