Blog

09Oct

Think Innovation, Not Fuel Targeting

For the better part of a decade, U.S. emissions reduction efforts have largely consisted of fuel switching from coal to natural gas. Driven by regulatory policies that singled out coal-based electricity generation as the target, the natural gas industry seized the opportunity for a PR push to brand gas generation as “clean” power.   Despite […]
02Oct

The Case for Carbon Capture Has Never Been Stronger

The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s 2019 International Energy Outlook projects that global energy consumption will increase 50 percent by 2050. Electricity consumption is expected to jump an even more staggering 79 percent. Should electrification take off – as many experts expect it will – and there is a decisive shift to electric vehicles, as well as […]
26Sep

Charting a Replicable Path Forward

U.N. Climate Week has delivered no shortage of rhetoric and theatrics, but not nearly enough focus on energy reality and replicable solutions. Amid the summit, the U.S. Energy Information Administration released its International Energy Outlook, projecting that global energy consumption is expected to increase 50 percent by midcentury as the global population surges towards 10 billion. […]
19Sep

Addressing the Epidemic

Wholesale electricity markets are coming undone. They have been compromised by an ever-expanding accumulation of state mandates and subsidies that have turned any semblance of traditional competition on its head. What began as modest state policies initially intended to give emerging variable resources a jumpstart have now become an epidemic. Instead of just a nudge […]
11Sep

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 […]
28Aug

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 […]
14Aug

The Texas Reliability Two Step

The Texas grid has been pushed to its limits this week. Demand for power has exceeded supply, prices have soared and energy experts and consumers alike have waited with bated breath for rolling brownouts or blackouts.   On Monday, electricity demand hit a new record and electricity prices spiked to $6,500 per megawatt hour. On […]
07Aug

When Down is Up

The reduction in the price of electricity from solar and wind power over the last decade has made for a fantastic story. But it’s hiding a more complex and troubling truth. While the price of generating power from renewables has fallen, the cost, or burden, of integrating these intermittent sources of power onto the grid […]