Power Demand Math Doesn’t Work Without Coal  

The nation’s grid operators are now forecasting 8.2 percent growth in electricity demand over just the next five years, largely driven by the rapid addition of AI data centers. That’s equivalent to hooking up nearly 50 million homes to the grid by 2029. It’s no secret, U.S. power supplies are already alarmingly tight, particularly in periods of […]

Gigawatts Hiding in Plain Sight

Where is the U.S. going to get the power needed to meet surging demand? It’s a question that has become a day-one issue for the Trump administration and the AI economic engine. Just how much power are we talking and how fast? A recent forecast sees U.S. electricity demand rising 128 gigawatts (GW) over just […]

Hitting the Ground Running

On his first day in office, President Trump declared an energy emergency and followed it with a flurry of executive orders and appointments to refocus the nation’s energy policy. That focus is shifting to the twin crises of rapidly eroding grid reliability and spiking costs for consumers—and not a moment too soon. Just this week, […]

Britain Reaps What It Sows

Who could have possibly seen this coming? After celebrating the closure of its last coal plant in 2024 with royal fanfare, Britain is finding itself woefully short of power this winter and facing crushing energy costs. Just last week, the British grid came perilously close to rolling blackouts as demand came within inches of eclipsing […]

Beginning the Year in Crisis

While Americans rang in the new year with “auld lang syne,” the electricity grid regulators at the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) were singing a very different tune: another winter grid crisis is here. On New Year’s Eve Jim Robb, NERC’s president and CEO, took to YouTube with a strong warning to the power […]

2024 in Review

Happy almost new year! Before we turn the page on 2024, it’s worth looking back on the stories and major developments that shaped – even reshaped – the energy landscape over the past 12 months. Years of warnings about rapidly eroding grid reliability collided with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA’s) regulatory agenda and the […]

NERC’s Christmas Present: Majority of the Nation Faces Blackout Risks

This should be the nail in the coffin of the Biden administration’s unworkable and downright dangerous regulatory policy undermining the nation’s power supply. According to new analysis from the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC), more than half of the nation faces blackout risks over the next decade due to capacity shortfalls. While these findings […]

Power Demand Growth Gets Another Enormous Upward Revision

As we approach the end of the 2024, it is fitting that electricity demand growth has gotten another huge upward revision. According to new analysis from Grid Strategies, a leading power sector consulting firm, U.S. electricity demand could jump an astonishing 128 gigawatts (GW) over just the next five years driven largely by the data […]

Europe’s Masterclass on What Not to Do

The trajectory for the nation’s electricity supply is alarming. Reserve margins are rapidly eroding, power demand is soaring and the price of electricity has jumped nearly 30% since 2019. With the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency keeping its boot on the neck of the power sector and the Department of the Interior deciding in the 11th hour […]

NERC Warns of Power Shortfalls During Bitter Cold this Winter

Winter is here. The first snow of the season is expected across parts of the Midwest, Northeast, Great Lakes and even into the Southeast later this week. At elevation, a foot or more of snow could be coming. In the Northwest, a “bomb cyclone” storm is forming offshore with the potential to have the intensity […]