Blog

04May

The End of Flat Power Demand: Electrification, Big Data and Crypto

A new energy era is here. The shale gas glut and years of flat power demand have come to an abrupt end. Those two constants of the past decade have been replaced by soaring gas prices and the return of rising power demand driven by the data revolution and electrification. Natural gas prices are four […]
27Apr

The Grid Reliability Crisis Spreads to the Midwest

Just a few months ago, the North American Electricity Reliability Corporation (NERC) warned that capacity retirements and the rapid remaking of the grid will pose tremendous challenges to reliability over the next decade. It was a warning coming on the heels of the grid catastrophe in Texas and startling blackouts in California that some tried […]
20Apr

Price Spikes and Renewed Urgency to Maintain Fuel Optionality

On Monday, U.S. natural gas prices surged above $8 per million British thermal units, four times what they were before the pandemic, and a level not seen since 2008. With energy-driven inflation front-of-mind for voters and a deepening risk to the economy, the arrival of a painfully expensive new natural gas normal is only heightening […]
13Apr

The Consequence of Policy Conceived and Executed in a Vacuum

It would be difficult to find a country untouched by the global energy crisis. Here in the U.S. inflation has reached four-decade highs, driven in large part by skyrocketing energy prices. But some are managing it better than others, with the UK serving as a stark example of energy policy malpractice. The Brits have had […]
05Apr

Innovation as a Path Forward on Energy and Climate Includes all Fuels

Just when you think the global energy crisis has reached rock bottom, it seems to find new depths. March will go down in the record books as the most expensive month for power prices in European history. And while the acute nature of the current pain stems from Russia’s weaponization of its energy resources, it’s […]
30Mar

Burying the Lede, and Responsible Energy Policy

A new study designed to show that a future in Texas without coal is within reach in fact shows just the opposite. Like other studies and models before it, renewable boosters have an interesting propensity to bury the lede. In this case, a study about Texas’ vast wind and solar potential in fact highlights one […]
23Mar

Dismantling Grid Reliability One Rulemaking at a Time

When Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator Michael Regan recently boasted that he doesn’t have to rely on any one policy or rulemaking to achieve his agenda, he turned more than a few heads. He signaled his intent to race forward on a zealous and wide-ranging regulatory program regardless of unsettled questions about EPA’s authority to […]
16Mar

EPA is Determined to Accelerate the Electricity Affordability Crisis

The energy crisis emanating from Europe is a wakeup call for policymakers about the importance of energy security and the delicate balancing act required by the energy transition. Europe’s energy policy missteps are now proving an invaluable example of a path best avoided. Overreliance on Russian energy, lack of dispatchable fuel diversity and a rushed […]
09Mar

Fight Back with American Energy

Just a week ago, sanctioning Russian energy seemed out of reach. Not anymore. On Tuesday, President Biden announced a ban on imports of Russian oil, natural gas and coal to the U.S. The United Kingdom is phasing out Russian oil imports this year and moving to ban Russian gas. And the European Union – alarmingly […]
02Mar

Reembrace American Energy Abundance

It has taken the rumble of Russian tanks to remind us of the importance of energy security. While economic sanctions have touched nearly every dimension of the Russian economy, Russia’s energy sector remains largely a bridge too far, a testament to the importance of Russian oil, gas, uranium and coal to global energy markets, and […]