The Duck Curve#electricity rates
National Grid's winter heat pump rate clears the DPU at $0.02476 per kWh
The Massachusetts DPU issued two orders on September 30, 2026: D.P.U. 26-84 allowed National Grid's $13,559,331 performance-based ratemaking adjustment for October 1, 2026, and D.P.U. 26-78 allowed the rate summaries carrying a $0.02476 per kWh base distribution charge for November 1 through April 30 for customers enrolled in the optional residential heat pump rate, against $0.06777 on the default R-1 and R-2 rate. National Grid's filing puts the effect for an R-1 heat pump rate customer on Basic Service at a decrease on average of $104.35, or 11.0 percent, compared with the default R-1 rate.
Colorado Springs votes 7-2 for grid access or demand charges on new solar
The Colorado Springs City Council adopted Resolution 81-26 on September 22, 2026 by a 7-2 vote: from April 1, 2027, Colorado Springs Utilities' new residential and small commercial net metering customers choose time-of-day rates plus a $1.00-per-day Grid Access Charge with no rollover, or a summer $0.3608 / winter $0.2462 per kW per day demand charge on the highest 15-minute on-peak net load with rollover kept. Utilities puts the average residential net metering bill about $38 a month above the approved 2027 frozen rates either way; earlier agreements keep frozen rates until April 1, 2032.
Oracle deal expected to absorb about $300 million of Point Beach fuel costs
Oracle will subscribe to a portion of Point Beach Nuclear Plant output that We Energies is required to buy; both companies said on October 2, 2026 it is expected to save We Energies customers approximately $300 million in fuel costs, Oracle says it is subject to Public Service Commission of Wisconsin approval, and We Energies says details go to the commission in the following months. Neither release gives megawatts, price or term; Oracle ties the commitment to its Port Washington data center, and the contract behind the plant's rising cost escalates each year to 2030 and 2033.
FERC accepts PJM backstop procurement but suspends it to February 2027
FERC on September 29, 2026 accepted PJM's one-time Reliability Backstop Procurement for filing in docket ER26-3380-000 but suspended it for five months, to February 28, 2027, subject to refund, set a paper hearing on cost allocation, transmission-owner exit rules and load-serving-entity collateral, and opened a section 206 proceeding. It found the core design, from eligibility rules to the $555/MW-day average price cap, just and reasonable and encouraged a new section 205 filing. PJM says the procurement will not begin on September 30 as planned.
Minnesota PUC finds co-op's threat to disconnect Upper Sioux solar unlawful
The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission determined on September 17, 2026 that Minnesota Valley Cooperative Light & Power Association is acting unlawfully and unreasonably when it threatens to disconnect the Upper Sioux Community over its behind-the-meter solar and battery project, and required the co-op to keep serving the community as long as the project operates behind the meter and safely. The West Central Tribune reports a unanimous vote, a 2.5 MW array with battery storage, and that the co-op's attorney said it would appeal any such order.
Congress moved four energy bills in three days; one goes to the President
Between September 15 and 17, 2026, the House passed the High-Capacity Grid Act (H.R. 6633) and the Load Forecasting Enhancement Act (H.R. 9332) by voice vote and the Ratepayer Protection Act (H.R. 9340) by 417 to 3, and the Senate passed the Hydropower Licensing Transparency Act (H.R. 3657) by unanimous consent without amendment; the bill status record shows that bill presented to the President on September 17 and the other three received in the Senate. Each orders a report, a rulemaking, study boards, or a state proceeding; none funds or builds anything.
Massachusetts adds winter transmission discount to two heat pump rates
The Massachusetts DPU stamp-approved National Grid's compliance filing in D.P.U. 26-71 on July 29, 2026 and Unitil's revised heat pump tariffs in D.P.U. 26-72 on July 31, 2026, adding winter transmission charges for the 2026-2027 heating season to the optional residential heat pump rates enrolled customers pay, as directed in D.P.U. 25-08-A on June 1, 2026. National Grid's charge is $0.00477 per kWh for November 2026 through February 2027 against a $0.05464 default; Unitil's is $0.01499 against $0.04201 in summer, a rate Unitil says it plans to replace with revised rates for January 1, 2027.
NRDC projects US loses up to 540 GW of renewables under Trump policies
The Natural Resources Defense Council projects that Trump administration energy policies could cost the US between 390 GW and 540 GW of new wind, solar, and storage capacity over the next decade, according to trade-press accounts of a report announced August 25, 2026, with at most 9 GW of new gas capacity added in its place and average household electricity rates rising an additional 4.2% to 5.5% by 2035, all relative to the group's January 2025 baseline.
