27Mar

In 2018, U.S. Coal Exports Were the Highest in Five Years

Via The U.S. Energy Information Administration: Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Annual Coal Report, and the U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau While U.S. coal consumption has generally declined since its 2008 peak, EIA expects that U.S. coal exports reached 116 million short tons (MMst) in 2018, the highest level in five years, based on foreign trade data collected […]
27Mar

A Reminder of Essential Value of Coal Power

Via The Williamsport Sun-Gazette: Pennsylvanians are keenly aware that the state’s weather can be unforgiving. The nation’s latest turn with the polar vortex was a reminder of just how unforgiving it can be, both in the Commonwealth and around most of the country. With temperatures dipping well-below zero in most regions, our energy systems, particularly […]
26Mar

Minnesotans Ought to be Concerned by State’s Sweeping Energy Transformation

Via The Duluth News Tribune: Renewable energy has certainly been in the news of late, with a number of states announcing efforts to ramp up wind and solar power. Minnesota is now joining this green movement, thanks to legislation introduced by Sen. Nick Frentz, DFL-North Mankato, and Rep. Jamie Long, DFL-Minneapolis. The two are hoping […]
25Mar

Natural Gas Exports Could Turn a Blessing Into a Curse

Via Real Clear Energy: If someone had suggested a decade ago that countries around the world could obtain large amounts of natural gas from the United States, the idea would have been dismissed as fantasy. Back at the turn of the century, American natural gas fields were thought to be depleted, and energy investors were […]
20Mar

A “Very Scary” Situation in Texas

Texas got a taste of cooler than expected weather this week and it sent shockwaves across the state’s electricity market. The Lone Star State learned a valuable lesson about putting too much faith in intermittent renewables. Temperatures dipped Monday morning, increasing heating demand, and that cooler weather was accompanied by calmer than expected winds. Calm […]
20Mar

US Labor Secretary Tours North Antelope Rochelle Coal Mine

Via The Gillette News Record: U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta is in Wyoming to tour some of the Cowboy State’s largest industries, hosted by U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyoming. Monday morning, the pair took a tour of Peabody Energy Corp.’s North Antelope Rochelle coal mine south of Gillette. Enzi said after the tour that […]
19Mar

“The Surprisingly Sustainable Case for Coal”

Via The World Coal Association: Amid a fuel that is so often miscast as a Hollywood villain, I’d like to briefly lay out what I would call the surprisingly sustainable case for coal… with three key observations. First Observation: The story of global energy is not one of good versus evil.  It is a tale […]
18Mar

Coal’s Decline Could Mean More Power Shortages

Via The Washington Examiner: As the need for electricity to power the nation’s digital economy grows, coal is no longer playing a primary role, and that’s problematic, because it undergirds the electric grid and is the most reliable source of energy. Without coal plants that supply base-load power on demand, large parts of the United […]
15Mar

Perry Says He’s ‘Thrown a Lot of Jello at the Wall,’ on Coal, Nuclear Closures

Via The Houston Chronicle: Energy Secretary Rick Perry said Wednesday the Trump administration continues to look at steps to stop coal and nuclear power plants from closing. More than a year after Perry was shot down by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on a proposal to increase wholesale power rates for those plants, the former […]
14Mar

A Solution in Search of a Problem

It’s not uncommon to hear calls for rebuilding and transforming the electricity grid. In fact, renewable energy boosters say transforming the grid is an imperative if the nation is to reach their goal of 100 percent wind and solar power. But this call for transformation exposes some of the underlying problems with the proposed wind […]