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Cold, Dark and Expensive

Surging energy prices are colliding with renewed grid reliability concerns this winter. While the price at the gas pump has garnered the lion’s share of attention over the past few months, the rising price of electricity and the surging price of natural gas are putting new wind in the sails of energy-driven inflation that reached […]

Transatlantic Energy Negligence

The months of warnings about energy rationing and the threat of blackouts in Europe are about to be put to the test. Winter is quickly approaching and there’s growing discomfort from policymakers that while much was done to prepare for a winter without Russian energy perhaps it was too little, too late. The European Union […]

Sweater Weather

It’s getting cold out there. And across energy-strapped Europe, government officials are taking note Last week, Danish authorities ordered one of its electricity providers to continue and resume operations of power station units that use coal and oil for fuel. And while the move is absolutely what needs to be done to keep the lights […]

Energy policy should support affordability

Via The Gazette: The U.S. is playing energy inflation whack-a-mole. Gasoline prices have retreated from wallet-draining summer highs, but consumers now find themselves looking at surging natural gas and electricity bills. The global energy crisis —driven by a warring Russia cutting oil and gas to western Europe — continues to batter energy markets and American […]

The Little Engine That Might Not

The recent 11th hour agreement to avoid a rail strike was a disaster narrowly avoided. A strike would have created a debilitating logistics chokepoint, disrupting supply chains of all kinds and creating enormous headwinds for the U.S. economy. Estimates put the cost of a rail strike at almost $2 billion a day. Yet, despite this […]

Picking the Wrong Bridge

Dispatchable fuel diversity has long provided a shield to electricity consumers from fuel price spikes. But that optionality is eroding in much of the U.S. – or is already gone – as the coal fleet is pushed off the grid. Years of warnings about the potential pain to consumers should natural gas prices spike, and […]

The Next Grid Crisis is in New England

New England recognizes it has a dangerous fuel security problem on its hands. And a telling factor in that crisis is what it doesn’t have: fuel diversity in the form of coal capacity. New England’s overreliance on natural gas, constrained gas delivery system, and inability to site and build alternatives is barreling towards a completely […]

Learn from California’s Self-Imposed Crisis

Will California – the global tech capital – plunge into darkness? Broiling heat has once again pushed California’s shaky grid to the limit. Record power demand has threatened to eclipse available supply with utilities, the grid operator and the governor all pleading for citizens and businesses to curb demand to keep rolling blackouts at bay. Just […]

The U.S. Coal Solution for Europe

The European energy crisis continues to deepen, and European leaders are now scrambling to break the link between the cost of natural gas and the price of electricity. Natural gas prices are 12 times higher than at the start of 2021 and power prices have exploded in tandem. The cost to consumers is enormous and […]

Europe’s Energy Crisis Underscores the Need for Fuel Diversity

The energy crisis in Europe keeps getting worse. Months of warnings are now becoming grim reality. European power prices are now equivalent to more than $1,000 per barrel of oil. The price of natural gas is 13 times its normal seasonal price. As winter draws nearer, so does the pain of crushing energy costs. Britain […]