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Americans Want an Affordable, Reliable Electric Grid

Via Morning Consult: From 2007-13, I served as a commissioner on the Missouri Public Service Commission. During those six years, my fellow commissioners and I were focused on making sure our state had ample electricity around the clock. And we continuously looked for ways to ensure that electricity remained affordable throughout the state — particularly […]

Coal Industry Staying Strong

Via The Bluefield Daily Telegraph: The 23rd Bluefield Coal Show opened Wednesday morning with CONSOL Energy President and CEO Jimmy Brock bringing a message that the coal industry will continue to see better days ahead. Brock was the keynote speaker at the traditional Media and Exhibitor Appreciation Breakfast and afterwards helped cut the ribbon for […]

Restore Competition to Electricity Markets

Are renewable sources of power ready to stand on their own two feet? Ask wind and solar boosters and the answer would seemingly be yes. The story we’re being told is that after decades of government support, wind and solar projects are now cost-competitive with traditional sources of power. Except when they’re not. Curiously, these […]

The Energy Policy Disconnect Grows Wider

Lost in the noise of what candidates and pundits want for the nation’s energy future is what Americans want. While the rollout of candidates’ energy plans has turned into a game of one-upmanship on who can ban the most sources of energy or spend the most taxpayer money in the least amount of time, the […]

The Straining Texas Power Grid Needs Some Pricing Help from Regulators

Via TribTalk: According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), July was the hottest month on record across the globe, with severe heat waves in Europe, Africa and parts of the United States boosting the overall average temperature. Alaska recorded its hottest July since record keeping began in 1925. Not surprisingly, when temperatures rise, […]

Heatwave Sheds Light on Wind’s Limits

Via News-PressNow.com When I served on the Missouri Public Service Commission, my overriding priority was to ensure that Missouri residents didn’t experience power outages. This past winter, we learned some harsh realities about electricity generation in the face of unpredictable weather. During January’s brutal cold snap, Mid-continent Independent System Operator reported that frigid weather and […]

Trouble in Texas Hints at Wider U.S. Power Shortages

Via The Mercury: In recent years, Texas has become a bellwether for advances in wind turbines and renewable energy. The wide-open, breezy Texas panhandle offers some of the best wind resources in the country. But some surprising shortfalls are emerging in Texas’ electricity production — and that could prove instructive for other states that are […]

Calls to Eliminate Cheap, Plentiful Coal as a Key Energy Source Are Unrealistic

Via LifeZette: As the 2020 election draws closer [1], a number of candidates are calling for restrictive policies on the use of fossil fuels in the United States. Their overriding goal is to limit carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions — which they see as the primary driver of rising surface temperatures over the past century. They believe that, […]

From Texas to Germany, Grid Reliability Concerns are Growing

Texas’ recent near-miss with blackouts has turned more than a few heads. The challenges posed to the Texas grid, and other regional grids, by growing reliance on intermittent sources of power and, in some cases, an overstretched natural gas transmission system, have caught the attention of regulators and policymakers. Last week, U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer […]

Walking the Reliability Tightrope in Texas

The Texas electricity market is nothing if not unique. It has been described as having a “Vegas-like quality,” referring to its boom and bust potential. There are moments when no one is quite sure if the lights will stay on that it possesses all the drama of a roll of the dice at the craps […]