Coal in the News

23Feb

Texas Power Crisis Puts Spotlight on Reliable Electricity

Via Inside Sources: The nation is watching Texas with great concern. Some four million Texas households went without electricity in sub-zero temperatures on Tuesday. Ordinarily, such winter power outages come when snowstorms knock down trees and power lines. In this case, however, the problems actually stem from an overwhelmed electricity grid that hasn’t been able to keep up […]
22Feb

Blackouts Reveal Endemic Problems in the Texas Power Market

Via DallasNews.com: Now that the Texas deep freeze is receding and electric power is being restored, the blame game is heating up. Gov. Greg Abbott has called for an investigation and resignations at the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, known as ERCOT, the state’s electric grid operator. Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan has asked two […]
18Feb

The Texas Electricity Crisis is No Anomaly

Via The Washington Times: Only in a crisis do most Americans pay attention to the reliability of the nation’s electricity grid. But as millions suffer through blackouts in frigid temperatures from Texas to the Dakotas, this reliability crisis has come at an incredibly consequential fork in the energy road. The electricity grid is in transition […]
17Feb

Closing Coal Plants Is Becoming Big Business and a Disaster for Consumers

Via Inside Sources: If you think the accelerating pivot to renewable energy is all about cleaning up, think again. An increasing number of utilities are under mounting pressure from Wall Street and their shareholders to spend and pass the costs of new wind turbines, solar farms, and transmission infrastructure off to their ratepayers. New projects […]
16Feb

Coal Rescues U.S. Power Grid During Polar Vortex

Via The Pottstown Mercury: Another winter, another cold snap. Right now, much of the United States is feeling the chill of a brutal “Polar Vortex.” And northern states like North Dakota and Minnesota are seeing night-time temperatures drop below zero degrees Fahrenheit. In fact, Duluth is currently chasing a record for the coldest sustained weather, […]
11Feb

It’s a Mistake to Retire Coal Plant

Via The Wisconsin State Journal: The future closing of one of Wisconsin’s largest coal-fired power plant is a huge mistake. The Columbia Energy Center near Portage produces 1,100 megawatts of electricity, which is enough to power the needs of hundreds of thousands of homes. The loss of this plant will supposedly be replaced by clean […]
25Jan

Biden Must Focus on Affordable, Reliable Electricity

Via LoganDaily.com: Democratic majorities in the House and Senate, along with a new Biden administration, promise sweeping policy changes in the United States. This includes campaign pledges to remake America’s electricity mix. But with campaign season over, Democrats should put rhetoric aside and pursue a bipartisan energy plan that supports economic recovery. During the 2020 […]
21Jan

Guest Column: Biden Policies Will Raise Your Electric Rates

Via The Delaware County Daily Times: Democratic majorities in the House and Senate, along with a new Biden administration, promise sweeping policy changes in the United States. This includes campaign pledges to remake America’s electricity mix. But with campaign season over, Democrats should put rhetoric aside and pursue a bipartisan energy plan that supports economic […]
19Jan

The Power Grids Are Not OK

Via RealClearEnergy: Despite ongoing insistence that the fuel security, balance and reliability offered by coal can be easily replaced, mounting evidence points to just the opposite. In states and grids across the U.S., blackouts, near-misses and troubling warnings have become all too common. California suffered rolling blackouts this summer, Texas has stumbled from one near-miss […]
04Jan

WV Coal: Back to the Future

Via The West Virginia Gazette: The recent announcement that Mylan, now Viatris, will shutter its Morgantown manufacturing facility and eliminate 1,500 jobs in the process leaves us all with an inexplicable empty feeling and sense of hopelessness. It serves as a brutal realization that longstanding state businesses can be “here today, gone tomorrow” due to […]