grid reliability

20Dec

Doomed from the Start

There’s no question that the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) power plant agenda – designed to prematurely retire coal power plants – is going to imperil U.S. grid reliability. And this blog has outlined how EPA’s proposals have exceeded the agency’s legal authority under the Clean Air Act. Looking at the facts, this blog has politely […]
13Dec

A System on the Brink

The North American Electric Reliability Corporation’s (NERC) latest long-term reliability assessment is clear: the bulk power system is in crisis and the energy transition is being woefully mismanaged. The report reveals surging electricity demand, potential supply shortfalls under both extreme weather conditions and normal operating conditions, as well as alarming peak capacity deficits in grids […]
29Nov

The Power Demand Surge

There is a quiet revolution upending the trajectory of our energy future. For all the extraordinary challenges inherent with trying to stand up a renewable-dominant energy mix nearly overnight, perhaps none is beginning to loom as large as the breakneck speed electricity demand is growing all over the country. Speculation about the impact that electrification, […]
15Nov

With All Alarms Sounding, EPA Has Few Answers and Less Planning

In the hours before the regulators at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) sat down with stakeholders from across the country to discuss the nation’s deteriorating grid reliability, the urgency of the gathering was underscored by a new and deeply unsettling winter reliability assessment. The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) found in its most […]
08Nov

Will FERC Hold EPA to Account?

This Thursday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is holding its annual technical conference on grid reliability. Of particular interest is the attention FERC and its expert witnesses will give to examining the impact the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) so-called Clean Power Plan 2.0 will have on reliability. FERC is digging into reliability at […]
24Oct

Congress Can Act on Grid Reliability

Months of congressional hearings have led to a crescendo of concern over grid reliability and the danger posed by the Biden administration’s regulatory agenda. With eye-opening testimony coming from utilities, co-ops, grid operators and reliability regulators, Congress now has a deeply important opportunity to take action. Today, the House Energy, Climate & Grid Security Subcommittee […]
04Oct

The Gas Reliability Gap

The U.S. has a natural gas problem. While regulatory pressure continues to place an ever-greater burden on the gas fleet and gas infrastructure to provide dispatchable power when it’s needed most, the gas system is again and again showing it’s simply not up to the challenge. The latest alarming example comes from the after-action report […]
27Sep

A Transition to Deindustrialization?

The European energy crisis is not over. The fear of natural gas rationing may have abated but the costs of Europe’s energy policy missteps continue to reverberate. There has been so much energy demand destruction in Europe from high energy prices that European economies are barely keeping their heads above water. In fact, for some, […]
15Sep

Walking the Reliability Tightrope

Just last week, the Texas grid narrowly avoided blackouts as the state’s grid operator, ERCOT, instituted emergency operating conditions. It was the latest sign that as power demand soars, operators are walking a tightrope to manage grids ever-more dependent on variable sources of power, policy-constrained supplies of thermal generation and inadequate infrastructure. As E&E News […]