Mark Christie

04Jun

Racing to Cover Capacity Shortfalls

Need more evidence we’re in a power supply emergency? Look no further than how the nation’s grid operators are scrambling to fast-track interconnection of new dispatchable resources that can shore up eroding reliability. From the Great Plains to New York, operators are frantically trying to revise interconnection processes to get new generation added to grids […]
28May

A Grid Emergency in MISO

Well, that didn’t take long. Before the boiling heat of summer has even officially arrived, the lights went out in the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) region. More than 100,000 customers in and around New Orleans went without power for most of the day on Sunday when MISO was forced to order rotating outages in […]
21May

A Demand and Price Shock

As electricity prices continue to rise and grid reliability warnings proliferate, electricity demand projections are only growing more aggressive. A new report from consulting group ICF International sees U.S. electricity demand jumping 25% by 2030 and 78% by 2050 compared to 2023. That surge in demand will have huge impacts on already teetering reliability and […]
23Apr

Yes, it is an Energy Supply Emergency

With so much understandable focus on meeting soaring new power demand from the AI revolution and hyperscale data centers, it’s easy to forget the nation entered this moment already facing a grid reliability crisis. The reshoring of industry, electrification and the rapid loss of dispatchable power were already enough to push grid operators to warn […]
19Mar

Undoing the Regulatory Assault on Grid Reliability

Just a week ago the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) launched the “biggest deregulatory action in history,” announcing 31 actions to unleash American energy, lower the cost of living, restore the rule of law and give power back to states to make their own decisions. Notably, on the urgent issue of rapidly eroding grid reliability, the […]
19Feb

Manufacturers Join the Chorus: Keep the Coal Fleet Open

In just a matter of weeks, momentum has swung decisively in favor of preserving the coal fleet. First, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Chairman, Mark Christie, put out a statement saying the nation must “stop the premature retirement of dispatchable generation.” He was followed by the Secretary of Energy, Chris Wright, who said the U.S. should […]
05Feb

Power Demand Math Doesn’t Work Without Coal  

The nation’s grid operators are now forecasting 8.2 percent growth in electricity demand over just the next five years, largely driven by the rapid addition of AI data centers. That’s equivalent to hooking up nearly 50 million homes to the grid by 2029. It’s no secret, U.S. power supplies are already alarmingly tight, particularly in periods of […]
22Jan

Hitting the Ground Running

On his first day in office, President Trump declared an energy emergency and followed it with a flurry of executive orders and appointments to refocus the nation’s energy policy. That focus is shifting to the twin crises of rapidly eroding grid reliability and spiking costs for consumers—and not a moment too soon. Just this week, […]
02Oct

PJM Can’t Get New Capacity Online

At the precise moment power demand is exploding, PJM, the operator of the nation’s largest grid, is struggling to get new capacity online. In fact, the problem is doubly difficult. At the exact time PJM desperately needs new capacity additions to surge, they’re stalled, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is making matters worse […]
04Sep

Dispatchable Power Remains Irreplaceable

On August 26, amidst broiling heat across the Midwest, the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) issued a maximum generation event with power demand soaring to 122 gigawatts (GW). MISO – with service territory stretching from Louisiana up through Minnesota – needed every megawatt of power it could generate and then some. MISO even needed to […]