RMI

Grid reliability concerns are rising along with electricity demand growth in the US. Regulators and grid planners need to evaluate current outages to make sure that customers are paying for grid investments that actually meet their needs. Over the past decade, extreme weather and failures on the distribution system — the lower-voltage wires connecting homes and businesses to the bulk electric grid — have been the primary causes of customer outages in the US.  Recent policy decisions have focused on energy generation to address reliability, but the amount of energy available and where it comes from matters little to a customer if their distribution system fails to deliver it to them. Intentional planning for resilient infrastructure is key to advancing reliability for all customers. Use RMI’s new Reliability Dashboard to learn more about your state’s reliability, inform system planning practices, and improve the way that reliability data is tracked and reported so that grid investments truly reduce customer outages ➡️ https://ow.ly/jNW850Z3m9B

Across Southeast Asia, the energy transition is not only about technology or infrastructure. While in the US, conversations around Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month continue, I’ve also been reflecting on the leadership, lived experiences, and communities shaping the transition across Asia and the Pacific itself. In Indonesia, women entering the clean energy sector are bringing perspectives rooted in resilience, community realities, and system-level thinking at a pivotal moment for the region’s transition. This article from RMI shares insights from the first Global Women in Clean Energy Fellowship cohort in Indonesia. Their experiences highlight both persistent challenges and significant opportunity: • 80% of women interviewed reported gender-based barriers in their careers • Women hold just 5% of decision-making roles in Indonesia’s energy sector • Women’s leadership is critical to building more inclusive, effective, and resilient energy systems What stands out most are the stories: engineers, finance professionals, and advocates working across Indonesia’s 17,000 islands to expand energy access, strengthen communities, and accelerate clean energy deployment. Their work is a reminder that the energy transition is not only a technical shift. It is a broader systems transformation, shaped by who is included in designing it. Recognising and investing in the next generation of leaders will be essential to building a transition that is both ambitious and inclusive. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gXYkfwnS

Electric vehicles (EVs) and conventional cars and trucks share a common challenge: Both perform best in moderate temperatures and lose range in very cold or very hot weather. That’s a key reason why weather plays such a big role in aggregate power demand to charge growing numbers of EVs. Grid-wide, seasonal temperature shifts can have big implications for grid planning. RMI’s latest update to the GridUp EV load forecasting tool examines how seasonal changes affect EV charging demand. When temperatures move away from that middle range, EVs use more energy for heating or cooling, leaving less for travel. Thus, for utilities and regulators, there’s a big difference between planning for an average day versus another day in frigid January or sweltering August. Real-world conditions put more pressure on the grid. The tool’s new seasonal scenarios are designed to help planners better understand and prepare for these patterns. As EV adoption grows, factoring in how extreme weather amplifies charging demand will be key to making smart, cost-effective infrastructure decisions. Learn more: https://ow.ly/iFrT50Z2Xz0

Virtual power plants (VPPs) can help utilities meet growing electricity demand in the United States more quickly and cost-effectively than building traditional power plants — if they are properly modeled in the grid planning process. VPPs aggregate distributed energy resources such as batteries, electric vehicles, smart thermostats, and other connected devices that can provide utility-scale and utility-grade services. Although VPPs have become increasingly prevalent in state regulatory filings, these mentions do not indicate that utilities are fully accounting for the value that VPPs are providing to their systems. RMI’s insight brief shares how utilities can include VPPs in their modeling on equal footing with other planning elements: https://ow.ly/8Hnr50Z2eOp

The United States needs more grid hardware to meet surging electricity demand, integrate new energy generation resources, and upgrade aging poles and wires. Lead times and prices for transformers, switchgear, and power cables have soared in recent years, which is already impacting electricity bills, threatening reliability, and stalling critical projects. Manufacturing more grid components in the US can help reduce supply chain risk while creating jobs, supporting economic growth, and improving energy security and affordability: https://ow.ly/iWyx50Z2cN2

Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) has grown fast in the last decade. Researchers, entrepreneurs, and early buyers have been launching companies, funding projects, and testing innovative ways to remove and store CO₂, from mineralizing it in concrete to pulling it from the ocean. But it needs to go faster still to achieve the multi-gigaton scale needed by 2050. And to do that, we need to strengthen demand signals that are currently concentrated and uneven. In a new insight brief, we highlight three important demand trends already gaining traction in the CDR space. For each trend, we share case studies that illustrate existing successes and actions that can support and scale emerging demand. Learn more 👉 https://ow.ly/lTz750YZLWN

On a global scale, the estimated 81 million metric tons of methane that the oil and gas industry squanders annually through venting and leaking its gas has an estimated economic value today of $20 billion to $50 billion a year, depending on highly variable gas prices. Taking action to stop methane leaks helps bolster energy, economic, and environmental security: https://ow.ly/Ysg650Z0k6G

Governors are in a unique position to promote energy affordability because of their role as state decision makers and their ability to affect change through a variety of tools like executive orders, legislative agendas, and regulatory directives. RMI compiled data on governor-led actions between January 2023 and January 2026 and analyzed them across several dimensions to understand how governors are choosing to address this complex issue and to identify examples that others might replicate: https://ow.ly/mx9350Z0jvQ

Companies, utilities, and communities can implement technologies and strategies that manage the affordability and reliability risks presented by data centers and other customers with large electricity demand, while also meeting their needs. 🔀 On site, data centers can implement behind-the-meter measures to reduce or shift electricity use without drawing additional power from the grid. 🏘️ Throughout a community, clean energy systems can be installed rapidly to enhance grid infrastructure and deliver cost savings and resilience benefits to residents. 🌐 Utilities can coordinate and manage large-scale clean generation projects and overall system improvements. Learn more about how these solutions can reduce strain on the grid, enhance community resilience, and lower energy bills: https://ow.ly/l2gX50Z0jMR

"Oil and gas are embedded in most of our modern society — in everything," which is why we need to fully understand the many risks posed by this sector. RMI’s Deborah Gordon joined Resources for the Future's Daniel Raimi to discuss what the hit TV show "Landman" gets right about the oil and gas industry in West Texas and what they would love to see next from the show: https://lnkd.in/ed4Yw-u7