03Jun

Red-Hot Coal Prices Threaten Even Higher Power Bills

Via The Wall Street Journal: Natural gas isn’t the only power-plant fuel on fire this year. Thermal-coal prices have soared from Appalachia to Australia, threatening more increases in manufacturing costs and power bills this summer. Futures for coal delivered to northwestern Europe have risen 137% so far this year, to $323.50 a metric ton as of […]
02Jun

A summer of blackouts? Wheezing power grid leaves states at risk.

Via The Washington Post: The nation’s power grid is under stress like never before, with regulators warning that the kind of rolling outages that are now familiar to California and Texas could be far more widespread as hot summer weather arrives. A large swath of the Midwest that has enjoyed stable electricity for decades is […]
01Jun

Facing Grid Unreliability Reality

Summer heat has arrived and for too many families there’s deep concern over whether they can afford to stay cool or whether the grid is going to hold up when they need it most. With natural gas prices nearly three times what they were last year, electricity prices soaring and startling warnings about eroding grid […]
25May

Soaring Energy Prices are Swallowing Economic Recovery

Contrasting the painful immediacy of an oil price shock to that from electricity prices, Bloomberg columnist Javier Blas wrote, “akin to a rising tide, it is slow but relentless and then, surprise, you are overwhelmed.” Blas penned that description about the crushing electricity costs about to overwhelm Europe, but the metaphor neatly describes the electricity crisis […]
25May

Don’t write off coal. We need it to ensure power grid reliability

Via The Hill: Weather forecasters predict a long, hot summer for most of the United States, with significant implications for the nation’s electric power grids. For example, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), the regulatory authority that oversees grid operations in the U.S. and Canada, recently warned that the entire West and many areas of the […]
18May

As Natural Gas Prices Soar, a Plea for Energy Pragmatism

In the wake of stunning blackouts in California in August of 2020, California Assemblyman Jim Patterson said, “today we have a grid that is increasingly expensive, unreliable and unavailable when the people of California need it the most.” What Mr. Patterson didn’t know at the time is that his remark would soon describe nearly the […]
17May

America’s power grid is facing real trouble

Via The Salem News: There are two reasons why consumers experience a power outage. The first is obvious: a storm comes along and knocks down trees and power lines. That’s what typically happens. But there’s now a second reason for power outages in the United States–there simply isn’t enough electricity to go around. Power generation […]
12May

Does America Have a Secret Energy Source? Yes, It’s Coal

Via RealClearEnergy: The quick rise in the price of natural gas to levels not seen since 2008 has made one thing clear: The idea that gas was an economical bridge to a renewable energy future was flawed. The price of natural gas, which accounts for about 40% of electricity used by Americans and half of […]
11May

The Transition to Crisis

The grid reliability crisis continues to deepen and spread. Warnings about capacity shortfalls and blackouts are so frequent and ubiquitous they are as regular as a utility bill. Just this week, The Wall Street Journal found that, “from California to Texas to Indiana, electric-grid operators are warning that power-generating capacity is struggling to keep up with […]
05May

Soaring Natural Gas Prices Require an Energy Policy Rethink

Via Inside Sources: There’s a slow-motion train wreck unfolding for U.S. consumers. Inflation is on the rise — and is now hitting a four-decade high. If consumers aren’t yet feeling the full effects, they will soon. What’s driving these price hikes? A number of issues are converging, including pandemic recovery, supply chain disruptions and Russia’s invasion of […]