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California

16Jun

The Texas Grid is Failing Again

Summer hasn’t even officially started but the Texas grid is already facing another electricity reliability crisis. Warning of potentially inadequate generating capacity, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) is once again begging Texans to reduce electricity use. Texans have every right to worry that the grid may not hold up this summer. This week’s […]
  • On June 16, 2021
  • California, dispatchable capacity, Ed Hirs, Electricity Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), Greg Abbott, grid reliability, Texas, University of Houston, Wall Street Journal
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26May

The Grid Reliability Warnings Keep Coming

Back in the summer of 2019, Jim Robb, the president and CEO of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), said that when most engineers look at the Texas grid, they conclude that “there’s no way in hell they can keep the lights on. And yet they do.” Robb, speaking to the Federal Energy Regulatory […]
  • On May 26, 2021
  • California, Colonial Pipeline, fuel diversity, fuel security, infrastructure, Jim Robb, New England, North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), Texas, Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC)
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19May

Here Come the Blackouts

We now know that the rolling blackouts that gripped California last summer weren’t an anomaly. They were, in fact, a preview of a reliability crisis that has grown to stretch across the Western grid. The Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC) is warning that the West simply doesn’t have enough power supply to meet a region-wide […]
  • On May 19, 2021
  • Bloomberg, California, grid reliability, JP McMahon, Loretta Lynch, Mike Florio, Politico, Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC), Wood Mackenzie
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03Mar

Dispatchable Fuel Diversity is Invaluable 

Does fuel diversity matter? Or, to put a finer point on it, does dispatchable fuel diversity matter? If February taught us anything, the answer is a resounding yes. Along with the Texas grid disaster, there were two neighboring grids pushed to the brink by the same unrelenting cold but both fared much better. The Southwest […]
  • On March 3, 2021
  • California, fuel diversity, International Energy Agency (IEA), Kevin Stitt, Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), Morning Consult, natural gas, polling, Ramanan Krishnamoorti, Southwest Power Pool (SPP), Texas, Wall Street Journal
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24Feb

The Texas Grid Crisis is a National Crisis

Think the Texas electricity crisis can’t happen where you live? Think again. Up and down the country, electricity markets – with very different designs – have fielded warnings that the right storm, with the right conditions could cause the same chaos or worse. Much of the blame in Texas has fallen on the Electric Reliability […]
  • On February 24, 2021
  • baseload power, Bud Weinstein, California, Dallas Morning News, Ed Hirs, Electricity Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), grid reliability, ISO New England, James Danly, North American Reliability Corporation, PJM Interconnection, Rich Nolan, Texas, The Houston Chronicle
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10Feb

Coal to the Rescue Again

The polar vortex is back in all of its frigid fury. On Tuesday, the majority of 10 states woke to temperatures below zero and the bitter cold is here to stay through at least the middle of the month. Surprise, surprise it’s not solar and wind power keeping the lights on and homes warm in […]
  • On February 10, 2021
  • California, energy security, Germany, grid reliability, Joe Biden, Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), polar vortex, renewable energy, United Kingdom
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27Jan

The Coal Fleet Remains Essential

A new report from the Sierra Club finds that dozens of the nation’s utilities plan on running their existing coal plants well beyond 2030. This is apparently devastating news for the Sierra Club’s “beyond coal” crowd, but for most Americans it should be a reminder of the incredibly important role coal continues to play in […]
  • On January 27, 2021
  • affordability, California, coal, coal-fired power plants, Duke Energy Corporation, E&E News, Edison Electric Institute, grid reliability, Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), Sierra Club, United Kingdom
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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 […]
  • On January 13, 2021
  • blackouts, Bloomberg, California, coal, Energiewende, Financial Times, Germany, Japan, renewable energy, Texas, United Kingdom
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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 […]
  • On December 16, 2020
  • Bloomberg, California, electric vehicles, emissions, Germany, renewable energy, transmission lines
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14Oct

Policy Crippled California’s Grid. Is Yours Next?

The rolling blackouts that stunned California this August were caused by extreme heat and poor planning according to a new report from the three organizations in charge of the state’s supply of power. The “root-cause” report, which outlines a range of failures, should be setting off alarms with regulators, lawmakers and consumers across the country. […]
  • On October 14, 2020
  • affordability, blackouts, California, Frank Wolak, grid reliability, Jim Patterson, NPR, renewable energy
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Recent California Posts
  • The Nation Braces for Blackouts
  • As Natural Gas Prices Soar, a Plea for Energy Pragmatism
  • The Reliability Crisis Reaches a New Gear
  • Dismantling Energy Security During a Global Energy Crisis
  • Dropping a Bomb on Electricity Affordability and Reliability
  • CEPP: Accelerating the Grid Reliability Crisis
  • Reshaping the U.S. Electricity Mix by 2030 is Full of Potential Pitfalls – Just ask European Consumers
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Count on Coal
Recent Posts
  • Halting Federal Coal Leasing During a Global Energy Crisis
  • Global Coal Use is on the Rise  
  • Supercharging the Reliability Crisis
  • Surging Natural Gas Prices Underscore the Need for Fuel Diversity
  • Coal Is at the Heart of Efforts Overseas to Keep the Lights On
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