04Sep

Dispatchable Power Remains Irreplaceable

On August 26, amidst broiling heat across the Midwest, the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) issued a maximum generation event with power demand soaring to 122 gigawatts (GW). MISO – with service territory stretching from Louisiana up through Minnesota – needed every megawatt of power it could generate and then some. MISO even needed to […]
28Aug

Modeling the Impossible

One of the common refrains from renewable boosters or even the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is that the U.S. now has the technology needed to rapidly transform our electricity mix and maintain affordable, reliable power. In other words, the renewable technology available today can replace the dispatchable power currently provided by the nation’s coal, […]
21Aug

FERC’s Christie: “Such an Unrealistic Standard”

On July 12, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) and Subcommittee on Energy, Climate and Grid Security Chair Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) sent a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) demanding information on how FERC is preparing for the impacts of the so-called Clean Power Plan 2.0 and what role the Commission […]
14Aug

Surging Capacity Prices in PJM Set off New Alarms

For months now, PJM’s leadership has warned of rapidly approaching power shortages. If there was any suspicion of exaggeration, PJM’s most recent capacity auction has put those rumblings to bed. Capacity payments to generators in PJM, a sort of insurance premium to assure plants are available when needed, just jumped a remarkable 800% as rising […]
07Aug

Soaring Costs with Little to Show

With all the noise surrounding the energy transition, sometimes it’s hard to grasp what’s truly happening, or not happening at all. Is the shift to renewable power and the infrastructure to support it moving smoothly? Or is it proving far more challenging and costly than advocates want to admit? What’s happening in California, New York […]
31Jul

Pssst: Global Coal Use Hit Another Record in 2023

Where is the U.S. failing miserably in the climate fight? Look no further than the development and bungled deployment of advanced coal technology, namely carbon capture and storage (CCS). Why is coal technology so important? Simply, coal remains the world’s leading fuel for electricity generation and the world has never used more. Global coal use […]
24Jul

A Desperately Needed Step Forward for Grid Reliability

A new, bipartisan energy and mine permitting bill from Senators Joe Manchin and John Barrasso is a critical step forward to addressing a host of delays and obstacles derailing urgently needed projects. It’s also a very important step forward in bringing much-needed daylight to a singularly alarming threat to the nation’s grid reliability: the U.S. […]
17Jul

Are Candidates Ready to Address Energy Shortages?

The campaign trail is about to be filled with contrasting visions of the nation’s energy future. While oil production and the ongoing debate about energy independence are sure to draw focus, the remarkably perilous state of the nation’s power grid and our supply of electricity have become kitchen-table issues. Americans are rightfully frustrated with eroding […]
10Jul

MISO Warns it’s Going to be Woefully Short of Power

Across the country, one grid operator after another is sounding the alarm over soaring power demand, an inability to meet it and the threat posed by early retirements of essential coal capacity. PJM Interconnection, the Southwest Power Pool (SPP), the Electric Reliability Council of Texas and now the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) have all […]
01Jul

A Victory for Grid Reliability

In a significant victory for the reliability of the nation’s electricity grid, the U.S. Supreme Court granted state and industry requests to stay enforcement of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Ozone Transport rule. This is the first major court ruling on EPA’s suite of rules designed to prematurely retire coal plants. While pursuing the case […]