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The Coal Leasing Moratorium is Lifted

Yesterday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals put an end to the unlawful federal coal leasing moratorium, concluding a saga that stretches back to the Obama administration. Rich Nolan, President and CEO of the National Mining Association, said, “This is a victory for American-mined energy.” He added, “With this ruling, important projects can once again […]

Not So Fast, We Need Those Plants

Concern about its ability to keep the lights on has led FirstEnergy, one of the nation’s largest regulated utilities, to walk back the proposed closure of two of its coal power plants. The decision to continue the operation of the utility’s two West Virginia coal plants past 2030 – the Fort Martin and Harrison power stations […]

Recognizing the Full Breadth of the Variability Challenge

As the world begins to use more and more variable renewable energy, we’re learning in real-time just how much more complex and challenging navigating the energy transition will be. A new paper from the International Energy Agency’s International Centre for Sustainable Carbon finds that a potential over-reliance on variable power in trying to maintain a […]

Failure to Launch

The SunZia transmission line has become emblematic of the challenges of delivering the nation’s energy future. The project – a $10 billion effort essential to moving wind generation across several states – had been stuck in legal limbo and permitting purgatory for 17 years until it was finally approved last year. But now several Tribes […]

Essential Dispatchable Capacity

While the lights haven’t yet gone out during this winter’s blast of bitter cold, Federal Energy Regulatory Commissioner (FERC) Mark Christie recently provided an important reminder of how utilities and grid operators are meeting record power demand. During a FERC open meeting last week, Christie reminded all in attendance that it’s dispatchable power – namely […]

The Next Winter Grid Disaster

If the lights went out for millions of Americans on a frigid day would there be much surprise? There would be shock – and there would be plenty of finger pointing – but “surprise” is a word that might be tellingly missing. In fact, some major regional grid operators might be more likely to be […]

The Jig is Up

When is the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) going to face the facts on the unworkable technology mandates in its so-called Clean Power Plan 2.0? Just this week, prominent Senate Democrats Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., Chairman of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Mark Kelly of Arizona, Jon Tester of […]

A Critical Year for Grid Reliability

As energy transition policy enters a pivotal year, the challenges of maintaining a reliable and affordable supply of electricity are coming into sharper focus. The era of lab modelling is coming to an end as on-the-ground, real-life curveballs have proven how difficult and unpredictable a transition from baseload – or “always on” – power to […]

2023 in Review

The year is coming to a close but, before the ball drops and we ring in 2024, it’s worth looking back on the energy stories and themes that shaped 2023 and coal’s role in them. Globally, coal demand hit an all-time high while at home – despite ever-louder warnings about imploding grid reliability – the […]

Doomed from the Start

There’s no question that the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) power plant agenda – designed to prematurely retire coal power plants – is going to imperil U.S. grid reliability. And this blog has outlined how EPA’s proposals have exceeded the agency’s legal authority under the Clean Air Act. Looking at the facts, this blog has politely […]