Bloomberg

13Jan

The Grids Are Not OK

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 and capacity […]
16Dec

Modelling the Impossible

“It’s technically possible,” is not the type of a response you want to hear from any expert. It’s the kind of response you get when something is brutally impossible but the person delivering the news wants to soften the blow. A new study from researchers at Princeton charting what’s needed to achieve net-zero U.S. emissions […]
10Nov

Stumbling Over Transmission

The cost of wind and solar power may be falling but building the transmission infrastructure to send power across the country – perhaps the key piece of the renewable puzzle – has only gotten more difficult and more expensive. A reality now playing out in both the U.S. and Europe. Germany’s attempt to pivot to […]
19Aug

When Warnings Become Blackouts

This was not part of the plan. In fact, some might wonder if there was a plan. In the midst of a heatwave, California can’t keep the power on. To ensure the grid for the entire Western U.S. doesn’t collapse, California’s grid operator has been forced to cutoff power for millions of people for hours […]
08Jul

For Millions of Families, Affordable Power Has Never Mattered More

The dog days of summer have arrived. And as the temperature continues to tick up, so too will electricity bills – bills millions of Americans can’t afford. As Bloomberg recently reported, “millions of people already reeling from the coronavirus’s economic fallout are about to face sharp increases in electric bills that may drive some to […]
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 […]