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Missing the Heart of the Story

Over the past few weeks, both The Washington Post and The New York Times have discovered the sudden reemergence of soaring electricity demand and its collision with the nation’s teetering supply of power. The Post feature, which ran on the front page the morning of the State of the Union, was dramatically titled, “Amid explosive […]

Meeting Growing Global Demand with U.S. Coal

The fourth quarter of 2023 brought a surge in U.S. coal exports and there are promising signs the robust market for U.S. coal will continue. Total 2023 Q4 exports surged 25% year-over-year compared with 2022, according to S&P Global. The surge in exports was led by cargoes to India where the volume of imported U.S. […]

Mr. President: Listen to Americans on Energy Policy

With the State of the Union address now here and energy policy likely to have a significant role in the President’s agenda, it’s valuable to understand what Americans actually want from the nation’s energy policy. As new national polling released from the National Mining Association (NMA) and conducted by Maru Public Opinion makes clear, Americans […]

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 […]

During Bitter Cold Coal Comes to the Rescue Again

When the polar vortex slammed much of the country in January, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) member Mark Christie spoke up about the irreplaceable role dispatchable capacity, namely coal and gas, played in keeping the lights and heat on when power demand peaked. Now, a new report from Energy Ventures Analysis (EVA) goes deeper into […]

The Coal Leasing Moratorium is Lifted

Yesterday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals put an end to the unlawful federal coal leasing moratorium, concluding a saga that stretches back to the Obama administration. Rich Nolan, President and CEO of the National Mining Association, said, “This is a victory for American-mined energy.” He added, “With this ruling, important projects can once again […]

Not So Fast, We Need Those Plants

Concern about its ability to keep the lights on has led FirstEnergy, one of the nation’s largest regulated utilities, to walk back the proposed closure of two of its coal power plants. The decision to continue the operation of the utility’s two West Virginia coal plants past 2030 – the Fort Martin and Harrison power stations […]

Recognizing the Full Breadth of the Variability Challenge

As the world begins to use more and more variable renewable energy, we’re learning in real-time just how much more complex and challenging navigating the energy transition will be. A new paper from the International Energy Agency’s International Centre for Sustainable Carbon finds that a potential over-reliance on variable power in trying to maintain a […]

Failure to Launch

The SunZia transmission line has become emblematic of the challenges of delivering the nation’s energy future. The project – a $10 billion effort essential to moving wind generation across several states – had been stuck in legal limbo and permitting purgatory for 17 years until it was finally approved last year. But now several Tribes […]

Essential Dispatchable Capacity

While the lights haven’t yet gone out during this winter’s blast of bitter cold, Federal Energy Regulatory Commissioner (FERC) Mark Christie recently provided an important reminder of how utilities and grid operators are meeting record power demand. During a FERC open meeting last week, Christie reminded all in attendance that it’s dispatchable power – namely […]