01Nov

US Electric Grid is Too Vulnerable to Not Have a Backup Plan

Via The Hill: If there is one undisputed role for the federal government, it is to protect its people as best it can. From national defense to public health, governments of every party can agree on this much. Today, a debate is simmering over a new but little-known threat — the weakened reliability of the […]
01Nov

North Carolina Could Benefit from Changes to Electric Grid

Via The Herald-Sun: America’s energy sector has reached an interesting crossroads. After eight years of the Obama Administration working to dismantle the nation’s coal fleet, the Trump Administration has upended the apple cart. Earlier this year, Energy Secretary Rick Perry commissioned a study that noted a sizable decline in America’s “baseload” power, and urged steps […]
31Oct

A Ghostly Story

October 31, 2017 Here’s a scary thought for Halloween. Imagine you’re a well-paid Washington reporter covering, say, the environment and energy beat. You’ve reported on the colossal loss of coal jobs in Appalachia – more than 60,000 since 2010 [MISI consultants, Oct. 26] – and you wrote sympathetically about federal job training programs promised for […]
31Oct

Pruitt Is Right To Withdraw Obama’s Clean Power Plan

Via The Daily Caller: Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt is fully justified to withdraw the Obama administration’s expensive and useless Clean Power Plan (CPP). After all, it only controls emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), which is simply plant food. The Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Changecites over 1,000 peer-reviewed studies showing that rising atmospheric CO2enhances […]
31Oct

Coal and Nuclear Plants Needed to Meet Missouri’s Energy Demands

Via The Kansas City Star: When I served on the Missouri Public Service Commission, I spent time studying the different utilities that supply electricity throughout our state. And along the way, I learned some surprising facts about our power grid. For starters, we still depend on a lot of coal-fired power. In 2014, coal generated 83 […]
30Oct

Wisconsin Could Benefit from Revisions to Electric Grid

Via The La Crosse Tribune: America’s energy sector has reached an interesting crossroads. After eight years of the Obama administration working to dismantle the nation’s coal fleet, the Trump administration has swept into office and upended the apple cart. Earlier this year, Energy Secretary Rick Perry commissioned a study to assess the health of America’s […]
30Oct

The Clean Power Plan Is Irrelevant

Via Forbes: Signed under the Obama administration but still not enacted, The Clean Power Plan (CPP) called for a 32% reduction in power sector CO2 emissions by 2030 (compared with 2005 levels) but is now in the process of being repealed under the Trump administration. This decision is consistent with American norms because it leaves […]
27Oct

Don’t Overlook Coal’s Continued Importance

Via RealClearEnergy: Contrary to popular opinion, coal is still critically important to meeting our nation’s energy needs. Coal is America’s number one source of electricity, accounting for 32 percent of electricity production, and it generates more than half of the power in states with heavy industries like Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, Colorado and Utah. Coal is also […]
26Oct

Trump is Taking the Right Steps to Ensure our Energy Future

Via Penn Live: America’s energy sector has reached an interesting crossroads. After eight years of the Obama Administration working to dismantle the nation’s coal fleet, the Trump Administration has swept into office and upended the apple cart. Earlier this year, U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry commissioned a study to assess the health of America’s power […]
25Oct

Perry’s Angry Critics

October 25, 2017 It was the 17th century English playwright William Congreve who claimed “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.” Congreve never met the renewable fuels industry. Wind and solar proponents, feeling scorned by Energy Secretary Perry, reacted with righteous anger to his request that the Federal Energy Regulatory Corporation (FERC) allow utilities […]