grid reliability

23Aug

We’re Still Not Talking Enough About Power Demand

Electricity demand records are falling daily. In Texas, the state’s grid operator has reported 10 new all-time highs in demand this summer with another new peak expected this week. In the Southwest Power Pool, which runs the grid in parts of 15 states, power demand hit an all-time high on Monday. And the operator that […]
16Aug

EPA’s UnINiformed Decisions

Who exactly did the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) consult about grid reliability when constructing its so-called Clean Power Plan 2.0? Formal comments on the rule have made it rather clear who EPA didn’t consult: the very folks tasked with keeping the lights on have made it abundantly clear the rule is a grave danger […]
09Aug

Unworkable and Unlawful

With the U.S. power grid hanging on by a thread, and coal and natural gas plants working overtime to meet soaring power demand this summer, all eyes are on the fate of the so-called Clean Power Plan 2.0 and the threat posed by the rule to the nation’s grid reliability. Last week, 39 senators wrote […]
25Jul

U.S. Miners Make American Life Possible

As the U.S. labor market cools and employment gains slow, the mining industry continues to provide extraordinary career opportunities about which most Americans know very little. When asked to describe a day in the life of a miner, most think of pickaxes and canaries instead of the remotely-operated machinery, artificial intelligence and other innovations that […]
12Jul

China Doubles down on Renewables and Coal

What can the U.S. learn from China in managing the energy transition? More than you might think. China is charting its own course that is a clear rejection of the West’s emissions reduction first, grid reliability last approach. China has watched Europe’s energy crisis, along with our unfolding grid reliability crisis, and seen enough of the challenges […]
14Jun

Not Going as Planned

The New York Times almost figured it out. In “Why the U.S. Electric Grid Isn’t Ready for the Energy Transition,” The Times explores a litany of challenges to making the transition to a renewable-dominated electricity system. Yet, in reporting the story, The Times is silent on the most inconvenient truth: despite acknowledging that the grid […]
07Jun

Congress Zeroes in on EPA’s Grid Reliability Crisis

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is supposed to consider grid reliability in its rulemakings on the nation’s power plants. But, as a recent series of Congressional hearings on the deteriorating state of the nation’s grid reliability have made abundantly clear, not only is EPA not serious about grid reliability, it’s driving the crisis. Last […]
18May

A Plan to Break the Grid

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rolled out its sweeping new climate rule last week. In the plan’s crosshairs is the generating capacity that meets 60% of the nation’s power. Should the EPA get its way, today’s coal and gas fleets will be largely disassembled nearly overnight, posing a remarkable threat to a grid already […]
10May

FERC Testifies to the Importance of the Coal Fleet

As the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) charges ahead with its regulatory agenda aimed at driving the coal fleet off the grid, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) was on Capitol Hill last week warning of dire grid reliability consequences from the accelerating loss of essential coal capacity From FERC to the North American Electric […]
03May

FERC Stares Down the Reliability Crisis

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) sits right at the crossroads of the nation’s collapsing grid reliability and the increasingly disorderly energy transition. While FERC commissioners will be the first to tell you they don’t have the tiller for the nation’s energy policy, they do have a keen sense of whether the nation’s electricity markets […]