PJM Interconnection

06Jul

Coal Remains Globally Essential

Perhaps The Economist announcing an “end to coal” last year was just a bit premature. As The Wall Street Journal just reported, from Asia to Europe and the U.S., coal is once again having a moment. Energy shortages, rediscovery of the importance of energy security and energy-driven inflation are all driving a new, voracious appetite […]
18May

As Natural Gas Prices Soar, a Plea for Energy Pragmatism

In the wake of stunning blackouts in California in August of 2020, California Assemblyman Jim Patterson said, “today we have a grid that is increasingly expensive, unreliable and unavailable when the people of California need it the most.” What Mr. Patterson didn’t know at the time is that his remark would soon describe nearly the […]
11May

The Transition to Crisis

The grid reliability crisis continues to deepen and spread. Warnings about capacity shortfalls and blackouts are so frequent and ubiquitous they are as regular as a utility bill. Just this week, The Wall Street Journal found that, “from California to Texas to Indiana, electric-grid operators are warning that power-generating capacity is struggling to keep up with […]
08Sep

Don’t Jeopardize the Affordability Underpinned by Dispatchable Fuel Diversity

Just a few weeks ago, industry observers declared the end of the era of cheap natural gas. With U.S. natural gas prices soaring past the $4/MMBtu mark and now sitting above $4.60—nearly double what they were this time last year – that call seems increasingly prescient. Not since 2014 have prices been at this level […]
18Aug

With Natural Gas Prices Soaring, Fuel Diversity Matters More than Ever

The era of cheap natural gas is officially over. According to Bloomberg, a decade of low natural gas prices – driven by surging production from the U.S., Australia and other nations – has finally been overtaken by demand from a recovering global economy. New supply, and the appetite of industry to provide it, isn’t keeping […]
23Jun

The Reliability Crisis is a Market Failure

How is that both California and Texas – the two wealthiest states in the wealthiest nation on earth – can’t seem to keep the power on? Or, how is that electricity reliability in the United States, in the 21st century, seems to suddenly be getting worse when it should be getting better? According to two members […]
17Mar

The Existing Coal Fleet Is the Bridge We Need

With the energy transition underway, learning from the Texas grid crisis and building a path towards increased reliability is more urgent than ever. Additional variable power will be coming to grids across the country. At what pace and scale remains to be seen but ensuring reliability in the years ahead is shaping up to be […]
24Feb

The Texas Grid Crisis is a National Crisis

Think the Texas electricity crisis can’t happen where you live? Think again. Up and down the country, electricity markets – with very different designs – have fielded warnings that the right storm, with the right conditions could cause the same chaos or worse. Much of the blame in Texas has fallen on the Electric Reliability […]
24Sep

Balance is Good! Dispatchable Fuel Diversity to the Rescue this Winter

Just imagine the outcry if there was an energy price spike during this unprecedented economic crisis. What if the price at the pump jumped to $5 per gallon or electricity prices suddenly jumped by 50%? With the nation already reeling and tens-of-millions of families barely staying afloat, spiking energy prices would likely be the straw […]
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, […]