04Oct

Don’t Sabotage Energy Reliability and Affordability

Via Inside Sources: The energy transition is happening. But how it proceeds, at what speed, and with what guard rails remains to be seen. The importance of managing this transition carefully, responsibly, and not sacrificing the reliability and affordability of our power supply can’t be overstated. Unfortunately, included in the House Reconciliation bill now working […]
29Sep

Dropping a Bomb on Electricity Affordability and Reliability

Senator Manchin began a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) by warning that, as the nation takes on the climate challenge, “we have to maintain a diverse and reliable energy mix with the technologies necessary to reduce emissions.” What he soon heard was that the very proposals coming […]
29Sep

Rapid Energy Transition Putting U.S. Power Grid at Risk

Via The Washington Times: Americans have seen some troubling incidents throughout the U.S. power grid in recent years. Last February, Texas suffered dangerous power outages during a lengthy polar vortex. And summer heatwaves have pushed California into rolling blackouts and other emergency measures. This is what happens when extreme weather drives electricity demand beyond available power supplies. […]
22Sep

To Prevent Electricity Shortages, Save Coal and Nuclear Plants

Via The Washington Examiner Given the appeal of emission-free sources of energy, it’s popular these days to talk about producing much more of our nation’s electricity from solar power. But so far, solar is generating more enthusiasm than electricity. Solar generation in the United States has almost doubled over the past three years, but it […]
22Sep

Europe’s Energy Crisis is all the Warning We Need

The past few weeks have seen Europe drift into an energy crisis of its own making – a perfect storm of bad policy. As wind generation has collapsed across Europe, overreliance on natural gas as a bridge fuel and backstop to renewable intermittency has come home to roost. Tight natural gas supplies, soaring prices and […]
16Sep

U.S. Needs Energy Reliability and Affordability, Not Outages

Via The Morning Journal: Americans have been hoping for economic recovery and a return to normalcy. Instead, they’re experiencing ongoing pandemic concerns and the ravages of wildfires and hurricanes. And adding to their woes, they’re now increasingly worried that the electricity grid on which they depend could fail when they need it most. Blackouts in […]
15Sep

CEPP: Accelerating the Grid Reliability Crisis

Senator Joe Manchin made the rounds on the Sunday talk shows this past weekend, making it clear he can’t get behind House Democrats’ proposed Clean Electricity Performance Program (CEPP), which would throw $150 billion at utilities to accelerate the pivot to renewable energy. Manchin told Chuck Todd, the plan “makes no sense at all.” He […]
08Sep

Don’t Jeopardize the Affordability Underpinned by Dispatchable Fuel Diversity

Just a few weeks ago, industry observers declared the end of the era of cheap natural gas. With U.S. natural gas prices soaring past the $4/MMBtu mark and now sitting above $4.60—nearly double what they were this time last year – that call seems increasingly prescient. Not since 2014 have prices been at this level […]
01Sep

Reshaping the U.S. Electricity Mix by 2030 is Full of Potential Pitfalls – Just ask European Consumers

Proposing to upend the nation’s electricity mix and do it at warp speed is policy that at the very least deserves transparent discussion and requires extensive planning. Tucked into the reconciliation package is just such a proposal. The Clean Electricity Payment Program will throw vast sums at utilities to transform their generating fleets and do […]
25Aug

Americans Concerned About Grid Reliability, Urge Caution in the Transition

Seventy-two percent of Americans are concerned that the speed of the transition to variable sources of power is coming at the cost of grid reliability, according to new polling conducted by Morning Consult for the National Mining Association (NMA). The poll also found that, within the energy transition, 63 percent of Americans believe that policymakers […]