natural gas

11Mar

Another Global Pivot to Coal?

War in the Middle East is continuing to upend energy markets. With natural gas supply dramatically reduced with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and natural gas prices soaring globally, the pivot to coal has begun. Buyers from Europe to Asia are scrambling for natural gas substitutes. Rising prices for thermal coal – still […]
18Feb

Coal Answers the Natural Gas Bottleneck

American manufacturers are facing an energy crisis. Despite the U.S. being the world’s largest natural gas producer, manufacturers are increasingly being cutoff from natural gas supplies during periods of peak winter and summer demand. The critical challenge is a lack of pipeline capacity to meet the competing needs of power generation, heating and manufacturing. And […]
10Dec

A Coal Salve for Rising Electricity Prices

Energy affordability – particularly electricity affordability – has become a top-tier issue for voters and policymakers. U.S. electricity prices have risen 32% over the past five years and relief – at least immediate relief – is hard to see. Sharply rising power demand and surging natural gas prices are only adding headwinds to an already […]
20Aug

Natural Gas Prices are Rising. Can Coal Soften the Blow?

America’s natural gas abundance – an economic and industrial boon – has also now become a deeply concerning consumer vulnerability. Gas is the leading fuel for electricity generation, heating and manufacturing, and the U.S. has now also become the world’s largest liquified natural gas (LNG) exporter with U.S. LNG export capacity set to double by […]
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 […]
08Jan

Beginning the Year in Crisis

While Americans rang in the new year with “auld lang syne,” the electricity grid regulators at the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) were singing a very different tune: another winter grid crisis is here. On New Year’s Eve Jim Robb, NERC’s president and CEO, took to YouTube with a strong warning to the power […]
20Nov

NERC Warns of Power Shortfalls During Bitter Cold this Winter

Winter is here. The first snow of the season is expected across parts of the Midwest, Northeast, Great Lakes and even into the Southeast later this week. At elevation, a foot or more of snow could be coming. In the Northwest, a “bomb cyclone” storm is forming offshore with the potential to have the intensity […]
01Mar

EPA Misses the Point on Grid Reliability

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has picked a winner in the energy markets and, in doing so, the American people will undoubtedly be the losers. Yesterday, the news broke that existing natural gas power plants will be exempted from the so-called Clean Power Plan 2.0. While EPA claims that a new comprehensive rule on […]
01Nov

The Next Winter Reliability Crisis is Almost Here

It may have been a balmy 80 degrees in the nation’s capital this week but make no mistake, winter is coming and with it ever-greater concern about the perilous state of the nation’s electricity grid. For all the white knuckling from grid operators during summer months, when heat waves and record demand stressed power supply […]