A transformation is underway in the energy sector where utility grid infrastructure is evolving to produce more energy from renewable sources and incorporate new advanced grid technologies. Technology concepts such as microgrids, and distributed and district energy help to localize our energy supply and allow us to generate, store, and consume energy in the places […]
The energy industry must work together to restore trust in the digital age. When Hurricane Harvey hit, Houston knew what to do. Emergency response plans went immediately into effect to save lives and jump-start a long recovery. But as energy leaders convene here in the world’s energy capital for CERAWeek, we need to ask […]
Commentary The clean energy industry was hit hard by two decisions coming out of the Trump administration these past few weeks. First, a 30% tariff was imposed on imported solar panels. Then earlier this week, the Trump administration proposed plans to cut the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy office budgets by 65%, all while […]
A recent article in The Wall Street Journal heralded the following: “Power Plants Bloom Even as Electricity Prices Wilt.” Understandably, the WSJ editors are excited about the current spate of combined cycle construction projects. I’m also pleased about the growth in our sector (Figure 1). But I’m less sanguine about our ability to execute all […]
Is high-flying Elon Musk, Tesla CEO and purveyor of electric and self-driving cars (and maybe trucks), battery storage for solar systems, private-sector space ships, and “hyper-loop” transportation, headed for a crash? That’s the case that the investment website Seeking Alpha makes in a devastating analysis of trendy Tesla, where continued losses only seem to pump […]
The Department of Energy-generated notice of proposed rulemaking at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, aimed at rescuing coal and nuclear power generation from the vagaries of competitive markets by raising the idea of paying out-of-market prices for “resilient” generating technologies, rests on the idea of rewarding power plants that have a 90-day supply of fuel […]
The nuclear power industry has been a tremendous asset to the world for decades. Yet, when the word “nuclear” is spoken, bombs are what first come to many peoples’ minds. World governments and the industry as a whole could do well by rebranding President Eisenhower’s 1953 United Nations “Atoms for Peace” speech. Eisenhower spelled out […]
The focus of the coverage of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) plan to kill the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan (CPP) has been on what it will mean for coal. The consensus is that it won’t have much impact, as major consumers of steam coal have already written off the fuel as a result of […]
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission got blitzed this week with comments on the Department of Energy’s proposed rule to give nuclear and coal plants a competitive advantage in competitive wholesale markets run by regional transmission organizations (RTOs). Comments came in such volume Monday that it crashed FERC’s “eFiling” system, giving those making comments another day […]
What to do about the faltering nuclear power industry? Two analysts from the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, in a new book, lay out what they believe is a policy agenda that can stem the growing closures of existing nuclear plants. In their book – “Keeping the Lights on at America’s Nuclear Power Plants” – […]
