Coal in the News

22Jun

Recent blackouts serve as warning for Ohio power grid

Via The Salem News (Ohio): Ohio just had a brush with rolling blackouts when a quarter of million people lost power due to storm damage. Losing so much electricity at one time is always troubling. However, it’s also an unfortunate preview of a similar disaster in the making. Ohio is one of the top 10 […]
08Jun

Opinion: Think things are bad under Biden? Get ready for the blackouts.

Via The Washington Post: First came the worst border crisis in U.S. history. Then came the worst inflation in four decades and record-high gas prices. Then came the baby formula shortage. Next up? Blackouts. That’s right, just when you thought things couldn’t get worse, add rolling blackouts to the rolling disasters President Biden has unleashed […]
03Jun

Red-Hot Coal Prices Threaten Even Higher Power Bills

Via The Wall Street Journal: Natural gas isn’t the only power-plant fuel on fire this year. Thermal-coal prices have soared from Appalachia to Australia, threatening more increases in manufacturing costs and power bills this summer. Futures for coal delivered to northwestern Europe have risen 137% so far this year, to $323.50 a metric ton as of […]
02Jun

A summer of blackouts? Wheezing power grid leaves states at risk.

Via The Washington Post: The nation’s power grid is under stress like never before, with regulators warning that the kind of rolling outages that are now familiar to California and Texas could be far more widespread as hot summer weather arrives. A large swath of the Midwest that has enjoyed stable electricity for decades is […]
25May

Don’t write off coal. We need it to ensure power grid reliability

Via The Hill: Weather forecasters predict a long, hot summer for most of the United States, with significant implications for the nation’s electric power grids. For example, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), the regulatory authority that oversees grid operations in the U.S. and Canada, recently warned that the entire West and many areas of the […]
17May

America’s power grid is facing real trouble

Via The Salem News: There are two reasons why consumers experience a power outage. The first is obvious: a storm comes along and knocks down trees and power lines. That’s what typically happens. But there’s now a second reason for power outages in the United States–there simply isn’t enough electricity to go around. Power generation […]
12May

Does America Have a Secret Energy Source? Yes, It’s Coal

Via RealClearEnergy: The quick rise in the price of natural gas to levels not seen since 2008 has made one thing clear: The idea that gas was an economical bridge to a renewable energy future was flawed. The price of natural gas, which accounts for about 40% of electricity used by Americans and half of […]
05May

Soaring Natural Gas Prices Require an Energy Policy Rethink

Via Inside Sources: There’s a slow-motion train wreck unfolding for U.S. consumers. Inflation is on the rise — and is now hitting a four-decade high. If consumers aren’t yet feeling the full effects, they will soon. What’s driving these price hikes? A number of issues are converging, including pandemic recovery, supply chain disruptions and Russia’s invasion of […]
02May

America’s power grid facing real trouble

Via The Times Record News: There are two reasons why consumers experience a power outage. The first is obvious: a storm comes along and knocks down trees and power lines. That’s what typically happens. But there’s now a second reason for power outages in the United States—there simply isn’t enough electricity to go around. Power […]
13Apr

Coal Production Up, Being Sent Domestically

Via Cowboy State Daily: Wyoming’s coal producers are not yet seeing the impact of a European ban on the import of Russian coal, according to an industry official. However, the state’s coal producers have seen significant increases in demand for their product domestically, said Travis Deti, executive director for the Wyoming Mining Association. “With the […]