Canary Media | Covering the clean energy transition

Artist rendering of solar panel-topped electric school buses parked at EV chargers

EV charging

New York City tests a solar-powered electric-school-bus microgrid

Utility Con Edison and school-bus operator First Student see bus-charging depots equipped with solar and batteries as a win-win that supports the power grid.

By Jeff St. John . 4 November 2024

Solar

How solar microgrids are bringing power (and quiet) to North Carolina

In areas hit by Hurricane Helene, the nonprofit Footprint Project is replacing noisy and polluting generators with solar panels and batteries.

By Elizabeth Ouzts . 28 October 2024

Duke Energy’s solar-and-battery microgrid in Hot Springs, North Carolina

Distributed energy resources

Hurricane Helene underscores need for more solar-battery microgrids

Distributed solar and batteries are helping North Carolina communities that were cut off from grid power by flooding. Should utilities build them into resilience plans?

By Jeff St. John . 18 October 2024

Utilities

Hurricane Helene could force local utilities to rethink grid resilience

As recovery efforts continue, utilities in Appalachia need to consider their approach to providing electricity in the face of climate change.

By Gautama Mehta . 10 October 2024

Transmission

Biden admin announces $2.2B in grants to boost US power grid

The grid is overburdened, under-resourced — and vital to the energy transition. New federal funding aims to increase capacity and get more clean energy built.

By Jeff St. John . 6 August 2024

Solar

Churches are going solar and saving big thanks to the climate law

The Inflation Reduction Act is helping churches, synagogues, and mosques across the nation access the climate, cost, and reliability benefits of solar power.

By Jeff St. John . 29 July 2024

Power poles knocked down by Hurricane Beryl in Harris County, Texas.

Distributed energy resources

Houston’s post-Beryl outages highlight benefits of distributed energy

More solar, batteries, and gas microgrids could have helped Houston during last week’s outages. But state leaders and utilities haven’t made them a priority.

By Jeff St. John . 18 July 2024