North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC)

18Dec

NERC’s Christmas Present: Majority of the Nation Faces Blackout Risks

This should be the nail in the coffin of the Biden administration’s unworkable and downright dangerous regulatory policy undermining the nation’s power supply. According to new analysis from the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC), more than half of the nation faces blackout risks over the next decade due to capacity shortfalls. While these findings […]
11Dec

Power Demand Growth Gets Another Enormous Upward Revision

As we approach the end of the 2024, it is fitting that electricity demand growth has gotten another huge upward revision. According to new analysis from Grid Strategies, a leading power sector consulting firm, U.S. electricity demand could jump an astonishing 128 gigawatts (GW) over just the next five years driven largely by the data […]
20Nov

NERC Warns of Power Shortfalls During Bitter Cold this Winter

Winter is here. The first snow of the season is expected across parts of the Midwest, Northeast, Great Lakes and even into the Southeast later this week. At elevation, a foot or more of snow could be coming. In the Northwest, a “bomb cyclone” storm is forming offshore with the potential to have the intensity […]
23Oct

The Numbers Aren’t Adding Up

At the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s annual Reliability Technical Conference on Oct. 16, the nation’s top grid reliability expert sounded like a doctor delivering grim news. Despite the many warnings, despite countless reports and congressional testimony, the reliability of the nation’s grid is going from bad to worse. North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) CEO Jim Robb […]
24Jul

A Desperately Needed Step Forward for Grid Reliability

A new, bipartisan energy and mine permitting bill from Senators Joe Manchin and John Barrasso is a critical step forward to addressing a host of delays and obstacles derailing urgently needed projects. It’s also a very important step forward in bringing much-needed daylight to a singularly alarming threat to the nation’s grid reliability: the U.S. […]
17Jul

Are Candidates Ready to Address Energy Shortages?

The campaign trail is about to be filled with contrasting visions of the nation’s energy future. While oil production and the ongoing debate about energy independence are sure to draw focus, the remarkably perilous state of the nation’s power grid and our supply of electricity have become kitchen-table issues. Americans are rightfully frustrated with eroding […]
27Jun

A Scorching Reminder of the Coal Fleet’s Importance

Searing summer heat has blanketed much of the country and once again coal power is playing an essential role in meeting soaring demand. But this coal capacity – the very power plants working overtime to keep the lights on and air conditioners running – comes from the same plants the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) […]
08May

EPA’s Regulatory Blitz Collides with Hyperscale Power Demand

“You never like to have to sue, but we’re going to do what we have to do to defend our grid and our customers that use that grid,” Ben Fowke, American Electric Power (AEP) interim president, CEO and director, said during a recent earnings call. Facing surging power demand, AEP – which serves 5 million […]
25Apr

EPA Doubles Down on the Grid Reliability Crisis

Today, the Biden administration’s Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) unleashed a suite of rules specifically designed to force the closure of well-operating coal plants and they did so with absolutely no analysis of the collective impact of these rules on the nation’s alarmingly shaky grid reliability. “For the last three years, the administration has methodically developed […]
11Apr

New Paper: EPA’s Grid Crisis Collides with Surging Power Demand

The National Mining Association (NMA) has released a new paper on the collision of soaring power demand with rapidly eroding grid reliability driven by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) regulatory agenda. This is a familiar story to readers of this blog, but this new white paper connects some important dots on the interconnected challenges […]