Blog

14Mar

A Solution in Search of a Problem

It’s not uncommon to hear calls for rebuilding and transforming the electricity grid. In fact, renewable energy boosters say transforming the grid is an imperative if the nation is to reach their goal of 100 percent wind and solar power. But this call for transformation exposes some of the underlying problems with the proposed wind […]
06Mar

A Most Vital Technology

What technology does Fatih Birol, director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), believe is “most vital” to reducing emissions? Wind or solar power? Nuclear energy or energy storage? It is, in fact, carbon capture. Mr. Birol made his remarks last week in a joint press conference with U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry. Both are adamant […]
01Mar

A Warning Not to be Ignored

How valuable is a balanced, diverse mix of energy sources? Just ask the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), the grid operator that manages the electricity grid for much of the U.S. Midwest and parts of Canada. When the polar vortex hammered the Midwest at the end of January, the grid weathered the storm, but it […]
22Feb

Building a Better Future from West Virginia to India

The world’s population is racing towards 10 billion by 2050. It’s an astounding number that has huge implications for global energy use but also for material needs. As populations grow, urbanization is growing as well. A higher and higher percentage of us are living in cities. The United Nations reported last year that 55 percent […]
14Feb

Evaluating Grid Reliability Requires Examining What’s to Come, Not What’s Been

It was the study energy wonks were sure was going to be a deal maker or breaker in the ongoing debate about fuel-secure sources of generation and the reliability and resilience of the grid. It turns out, the study is neither of those things. E&E News obtained the unpublished draft study, and, if anything, it […]
05Feb

A Warning to Proceed with Caution

What’s the cost of inaction to protect the fuel diversity of our grid? New York offers a hint. The Empire State may have only two coal-fired power plants remaining, but a new rule aimed at effectively eliminating coal power from the state’s grid by 2020 is already jolting markets. As Bloomberg reported, the rule hasn’t […]
30Jan

The German Misstep

Strong voter support for an all-of-the-above energy strategy in the U.S. – as identified in recent Morning Consult polling – is undoubtedly informed by experience. Just ask Xcel Energy customers dealing with record subzero temperatures this week who were asked to turn their thermostats down to 55 degrees to prevent widespread natural gas outages in the area. […]
24Jan

Balancing the Grid and Reducing Emissions with Advanced Coal Technology

Preserving the fuel diversity and affordability of our power supply while also reducing emissions is not only smart energy policy, it’s a tall order. It’s a challenge not unlike walking a tight rope, and current trends suggest we are losing our balance. The loss of fuel-secure baseload sources of power and our growing overreliance on […]
16Jan

Better for Consumers? Hardly.

Baseload power plant retirements continue at an alarming pace. Plant operators retired 14,000 megawatts of coal generation in 2018, enough generating capacity to power about 10 million homes. Nearly 40 percent of the U.S. coal fleet has been forced into early retirement since 2010 and a third of the commercial U.S. nuclear fleet is in […]
09Jan

Reversing the Anti-Coal Supertanker

If anyone has ever told you, “it’s like turning a supertanker,” you know the task at hand isn’t going to be easy. The analogy beautifully captures the immense challenge of reversing momentum. For all the energy required to get that proverbial supertanker moving, it can be doubly difficult and slow to change its course. Reversing […]