natural gas

06Jan

The Important Difference Between Capacity and Security

To hear environmental groups and renewable boosters tell it, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) recent action to restore competition to PJM Interconnection’s capacity market was a terrible solution in search of non-existent problem. The capacity market is supposed to ensure that PJM’s customers will have adequate generating capacity, including a strong reserve of power, […]
18Dec

Campaigning on a Platform of Job Losses and Power Outages

Presidential hopeful Michael Bloomberg recently announced that if elected he will phase out coal power in the U.S. by 2030. He made this proclamation standing in the pouring rain in front of a retired coal power plant, telling the handful of people gathered that the photo-op was “one of the dumbest things we’ve ever done,” […]
13Dec

Investors First, Ratepayers Second

New natural gas power plants are being added to the electricity grid at a remarkable speed and scale. And while it’s been fashionable to believe the overwhelming impetus for this building spree has been cheap natural gas that could potentially save consumers money, while also reducing emissions, that line of thinking now has nearly as […]
21Nov

Breaking News: Fuel Targeting Doesn’t Work

A report issued this week by the U.S. Energy Information Administration found that U.S. carbon emissions from energy increased in 2018. You heard that right. Emissions are up, despite the near constant vilification of coal and hundreds of millions spent by activists like Michael Bloomberg. And to be clear: that’s hundreds of millions spent not […]
09Oct

Think Innovation, Not Fuel Targeting

For the better part of a decade, U.S. emissions reduction efforts have largely consisted of fuel switching from coal to natural gas. Driven by regulatory policies that singled out coal-based electricity generation as the target, the natural gas industry seized the opportunity for a PR push to brand gas generation as “clean” power.   Despite […]
17Jul

A Fuel Security Crisis

If you’re in the grid reliability business, the New England grid is a problem most don’t want to touch with a 10-foot pole. New England’s challenge is two-fold. First, the region has retired nearly all of its baseload coal capacity and much of its nuclear power capacity. New England has put all its eggs in […]
10Jul

No Way in Hell

The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) analyzes the reliability of our electricity supply. NERC’s reports and statements are consistently measured, typically packing all the flair and excitement of a buttoned-down white dress shirt. So, it’s with good reason that eyebrows were raised when NERC’s CEO, Jim Robb, recently told the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission […]
12Jun

A Roll of the Dice

Jerry Jones, the enigmatic, billionaire, oil-man owner of the Dallas Cowboys just made a big bet on the future of natural gas. His gamble is a timely reminder that low prices and cheap energy don’t tend to stay that way. Predicting just when natural gas prices rise is anyone’s guess, but Jerry is rolling the […]