Minnesota

31Mar

Infrastructure Go-Time for America’s Met Mines

Today, President Biden is laying out his vision for reinvesting in and modernizing the nation’s infrastructure. Few issues are more in need of attention and even fewer have such bipartisan support. There will be fighting and horse trading over what ends up in a final infrastructure package, but both parties recognize the urgency of action. […]
24Mar

When Dispatchable Fuel Diversity Goes, Affordability Does Too

Coal power proved invaluable across the Midwest this February in keeping the lights on and homes warm during the deep freeze. But coal is not just a reliability backstop. As we’re now seeing, it’s also a critical piece of a balanced generation portfolio that holds down wholesale electricity prices. On the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) […]
30Jan

A Failure to Connect the Dots

The U.S. has a growing energy infrastructure problem. More precisely, major transmission lines needed to move wind and solar power from regions of production to centers of demand aren’t being built at nearly the pace needed. Natural gas pipeline additions are also failing to keep up with gas demand. One infrastructure project after another is […]
01Mar

A Warning Not to be Ignored

How valuable is a balanced, diverse mix of energy sources? Just ask the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), the grid operator that manages the electricity grid for much of the U.S. Midwest and parts of Canada. When the polar vortex hammered the Midwest at the end of January, the grid weathered the storm, but it […]