15Oct

US Energy Reliability Gone With the Wind

Via RealClear Energy: It is too often assumed that making maximum use of renewables is the answer to addressing environmental goals.  So easy is it to buy into this assumption that intermittent wind power is pulling ahead of coal in Texas. Energy analysts forecast that wind turbines in Texas will generate about 87,000 megawatt-hours of […]
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 […]
04Oct

More and More Coal Plants are Shutting Down in Pennsylvania But What Will Take their Place?

Via The Patriot-News: With coal and nuclear power plants closing and utilities adding renewable sources of power at a breakneck pace, it could appear at first glance that renewables are winning the energy marketplace. Appearances can be deceiving. Baseload coal and nuclear plants, and even some nearly brand-new natural gas plants, are being pushed aside […]
02Oct

The Case for Carbon Capture Has Never Been Stronger

The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s 2019 International Energy Outlook projects that global energy consumption will increase 50 percent by 2050. Electricity consumption is expected to jump an even more staggering 79 percent. Should electrification take off – as many experts expect it will – and there is a decisive shift to electric vehicles, as well as […]
26Sep

Charting a Replicable Path Forward

U.N. Climate Week has delivered no shortage of rhetoric and theatrics, but not nearly enough focus on energy reality and replicable solutions. Amid the summit, the U.S. Energy Information Administration released its International Energy Outlook, projecting that global energy consumption is expected to increase 50 percent by midcentury as the global population surges towards 10 billion. […]
19Sep

Addressing the Epidemic

Wholesale electricity markets are coming undone. They have been compromised by an ever-expanding accumulation of state mandates and subsidies that have turned any semblance of traditional competition on its head. What began as modest state policies initially intended to give emerging variable resources a jumpstart have now become an epidemic. Instead of just a nudge […]
16Sep

Americans Want an Affordable, Reliable Electric Grid

Via Morning Consult: From 2007-13, I served as a commissioner on the Missouri Public Service Commission. During those six years, my fellow commissioners and I were focused on making sure our state had ample electricity around the clock. And we continuously looked for ways to ensure that electricity remained affordable throughout the state — particularly […]
12Sep

Coal Industry Staying Strong

Via The Bluefield Daily Telegraph: The 23rd Bluefield Coal Show opened Wednesday morning with CONSOL Energy President and CEO Jimmy Brock bringing a message that the coal industry will continue to see better days ahead. Brock was the keynote speaker at the traditional Media and Exhibitor Appreciation Breakfast and afterwards helped cut the ribbon for […]
11Sep

Restore Competition to Electricity Markets

Are renewable sources of power ready to stand on their own two feet? Ask wind and solar boosters and the answer would seemingly be yes. The story we’re being told is that after decades of government support, wind and solar projects are now cost-competitive with traditional sources of power. Except when they’re not. Curiously, these […]