renewable energy

05Apr

Innovation as a Path Forward on Energy and Climate Includes all Fuels

Just when you think the global energy crisis has reached rock bottom, it seems to find new depths. March will go down in the record books as the most expensive month for power prices in European history. And while the acute nature of the current pain stems from Russia’s weaponization of its energy resources, it’s […]
30Mar

Burying the Lede, and Responsible Energy Policy

A new study designed to show that a future in Texas without coal is within reach in fact shows just the opposite. Like other studies and models before it, renewable boosters have an interesting propensity to bury the lede. In this case, a study about Texas’ vast wind and solar potential in fact highlights one […]
16Feb

Creating Our Own Energy Crisis

Perhaps the greatest challenge of the energy transition is timing the installation of the infrastructure and generating capacity required for our energy future in parallel with – or more quickly – than we are dismantling our current electricity mix and the affordability and reliability it underpins. Unfortunately, it’s a challenge policymakers either seem not to […]
10Feb

Coal to the Rescue Again

The polar vortex is back in all of its frigid fury. On Tuesday, the majority of 10 states woke to temperatures below zero and the bitter cold is here to stay through at least the middle of the month. Surprise, surprise it’s not solar and wind power keeping the lights on and homes warm in […]
13Jan

The Grids Are Not OK

Despite ongoing insistence that the fuel security, balance and reliability offered by coal can be easily replaced, mounting evidence points to just the opposite. In states and grids across the U.S., blackouts, near-misses and troubling warnings have become all too common. California suffered rolling blackouts this summer, Texas has stumbled from one near-miss and capacity […]
16Dec

Modelling the Impossible

“It’s technically possible,” is not the type of a response you want to hear from any expert. It’s the kind of response you get when something is brutally impossible but the person delivering the news wants to soften the blow. A new study from researchers at Princeton charting what’s needed to achieve net-zero U.S. emissions […]
28Oct

The Issue Remains Affordability

With less than a week to the election, it’s worth reminding the candidates – and ourselves – what voters really think about energy issues. Despite the rhetoric about energy mixes of the future or what will and will not be banned, the issue that matters most to voters is affordability. Time and again, in poll […]
14Oct

Policy Crippled California’s Grid. Is Yours Next?

The rolling blackouts that stunned California this August were caused by extreme heat and poor planning according to a new report from the three organizations in charge of the state’s supply of power. The “root-cause” report, which outlines a range of failures, should be setting off alarms with regulators, lawmakers and consumers across the country. […]
01Oct

Preparing for an Electrified Future

The electrification of America is not only happening, it’s picking up speed. Just last week, Tesla announced its ambition to slash the cost of lithium-ion batteries and produce a $25,000 mass-market electric vehicle (EV). Two days later Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that California will mandate a shift to EVs and the phase out of internal […]
09Sep

Mandating Higher Electricity Rates

It’s no secret that consumers across the country – particularly in the midst of an economic crisis – can’t afford to pay more for electricity. But higher electricity costs are coming as states, utilities and potentially the federal government push increasingly ambitious plans to rapidly move away from baseload power. Duke Energy’s recently announced Integrated […]