27Jun

A Scorching Reminder of the Coal Fleet’s Importance

Searing summer heat has blanketed much of the country and once again coal power is playing an essential role in meeting soaring demand. But this coal capacity – the very power plants working overtime to keep the lights on and air conditioners running – comes from the same plants the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) […]
18Jun

The Biden Administration’s Alternate Reality

This week the Biden administration reiterated through a top energy official at the State Department that it is firmly committed to keeping its blinders on when it comes to the world’s energy realities. Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources Geoffrey Pyatt told reporters on Tuesday that “a top priority” is targeting and ending the […]
12Jun

It’s the Entire Suite of Rules

Lawsuits are piling up in opposition to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) so-called Clean Power Plan 2.0. Senator Capito of West Viriginia and Congressman Balderson of Ohio have led the charge in pursuing a Congressional Review Act (CRA) joint resolution of disapproval of the rule. This mobilization of opposition is deeply important to confronting […]
05Jun

Surging Power Demands Meet an Inflexible EPA Agenda

Not a week goes by without another jaw-dropping projection on the speed and scale of power demand growth. PJM Interconnection, the nation’s largest grid operator serving 65 million Americans, has warned again and again that it is facing rapidly approaching capacity shortfalls. The collision of soaring power demand driven by electrification, new industrial activity and […]
29May

When the EPA Oversteps Its Authority, the Courts Must Act

Last week, the National Mining Association alongside America’s Power asked the U.S. Court of Appeals to pause the implementation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) new carbon power plant rule – the so-called Clean Power Plan (CPP) 2.0. The NMA argues that the agency clearly overstepped its authority in the rule by requiring generation […]
22May

As Electricity Demands Soars, BLM Says No New Federal Coal Leasing

On May 16, the Biden administration announced it would not be issuing any new coal leases in the Powder River Basin, the beating heart of federal coal production. It was a decision that doubles down on the administration’s effort to leave the nation woefully unprepared for surging power demand. Riding on the coattails of the […]
15May

Et Tu PJM?

When the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) launched its new suite of rules targeting the coal fleet, it waived away an avalanche of concern over the threat its strategy posed to the nation’s supply of power. EPA pointed to new flexibilities in its rules – namely small changes in the so-called Clean Power Plan 2.0 […]
08May

EPA’s Regulatory Blitz Collides with Hyperscale Power Demand

“You never like to have to sue, but we’re going to do what we have to do to defend our grid and our customers that use that grid,” Ben Fowke, American Electric Power (AEP) interim president, CEO and director, said during a recent earnings call. Facing surging power demand, AEP – which serves 5 million […]
01May

The Biden-EPA’s Alternate Reality

While the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continues to brush aside deep alarm over the grid reliability impacts of its new blitz of power plant rules, evidence is rapidly mounting that the nation’s supply of electricity is already in deep, deep trouble. In the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) market, which covers much of the […]
25Apr

EPA Doubles Down on the Grid Reliability Crisis

Today, the Biden administration’s Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) unleashed a suite of rules specifically designed to force the closure of well-operating coal plants and they did so with absolutely no analysis of the collective impact of these rules on the nation’s alarmingly shaky grid reliability. “For the last three years, the administration has methodically developed […]