Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

29Mar

Where’s the Transmission?

As the Biden administration charges ahead with its regulatory blitz to shutter the existing U.S. coal fleet, the infrastructure required for renewable energy to reliably support American households and businesses simply doesn’t exist.  Again and again, experts warn that transmission is the key to building a renewable-heavy future. Analyses from researchers at national labs, the […]
22Mar

Handcuffed to Natural Gas Volatility

Can U.S. natural gas be two maddeningly contradictory things at the same time? The answer appears to be a resounding yes. The nation’s supply of natural gas has become both the crutch of the U.S. energy system and also an energy affordability and reliability landmine. Once persistent fears of natural gas shortages were turned on […]
16Mar

COAL TO The Rescue in Europe

The Wall Street Journal recently pointed out an uncomfortable truth for the keep-it-in-the-ground crowd: Germany avoided energy shortfalls over the past year by turning to coal. In fact, for the second year running, coal use in Germany has grown. Coal now provides a full third of the nation’s power as use of natural gas has […]
01Mar

PJM Sounds the Capacity Shortfall Alarm

The nation’s largest electricity market is warning that it will face a steep capacity shortfall by the close of the decade as forced power plant retirements far outpace planned additions. Policy-driven closures of primarily coal plants threaten to leave PJM Interconnection – which serves 65 million Americans in 13 states and the District of Columbia […]
15Feb

Does the EPA Care at All About Grid Reliability?

In July of last year, 26 House Republicans sent U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan a letter asking for details on the agency’s efforts to assess the potential grid reliability threats posed by EPA’s regulatory agenda. Among other detailed questions, the letter asked what work had been done to coordinate with the Federal […]
08Feb

The Country Needs Coal Too Mr. President

Call it an admission of pragmatism. While talking to the nation’s energy future last night during the State of the Union address, President Biden went off script and admitted that “we’re still going to need oil and gas for a while.” It was a statement of fact even if it made climate hawks grimace. What […]
11Jan

The Grid Crisis is a Certainty

The U.S. electricity grid is undeniably in crisis. As rolling blackouts over Christmas demonstrated, no corner of the country is immune. Regions that were supposed to be safe from power shortfalls found themselves unable to keep the lights on. Tens-of-millions of other ratepayers got the unexpected present of emergency alerts asking them to dial back […]
22Dec

A Year in Review

The year is coming to a close, but before we look forward to 2023 it’s worth looking back on the stories and themes that shaped the energy conversation in 2022 and coal’s role in it. An ongoing global energy crisis continues to upend markets and trade flows. Coal – so often the recipient of premature […]
30Nov

The Grid Reliability Crisis Keeps Getting Worse

The nation’s electricity grid regulators at the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) must be exasperated. The reliability of the grid is rapidly eroding, driven to the edge by a mismanaged and haphazard energy transition, and they’re doing their best to urgently warn anyone who will listen that the nation desperately needs a policy reset […]
07Nov

The President Doubles Down on Bad Policy

When President Biden boasted last week about closing coal plants all across the country, he meant it. The White House has already begun spinning and clarifying his remarks, but the President knew what he was saying because there’s a plan to do it. Even as electricity and natural gas bills soar – up a startling 16% […]