Blog

GOP Sweep Impacts Power at State Level

Tuesday’s sweeping Republican electoral triumph likely will see its greatest impact on the power industry at the state level, where governors often appoint state regulators and set state policy on…



With Macfarlane Out, Wither the NRC?

President Obama named Allison Macfarlane to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and appointed her chairman in July 2012 largely to restore some calm to the chaos that reigned at the NRC…


Beyond Common Sense

The Sierra Club’s frequently silly “Beyond Natural Gas” campaign just got a whole lot sillier. Last week, the New Jersey chapter put out the claim that repowering an old coal-…


Where’s the Heat?

In the 1984 Democratic presidential nomination contest, Sen. Paul Tsongas repeatedly charged the establishment in his party with lacking “new ideas.” When he and front-runner Walter Mondale, former senator and…


Love, War, and Politics

My home in Maryland is just across the Potomac River from West Virginia – I can see my neighboring state when I walk out of my front door and look…


The Truth about Fracking

Let’s get frank about fracking. As I see it, horizontal well drilling and hydraulic fracturing of tight rock formations to release hydrocarbons is the best thing to happen in U.S.…


MISO Confronts Capacity Problems

For much of its 15-year history, the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (nee the Midwest Independent System Operator) didn’t pay much attention to the topic of “resource adequacy.” The regional transmission…


Who Runs U.S. Grid Security?

An article in today’s Washington Post troubles me greatly. It outlines severe retention and moral problems at the Department of Homeland Security, the uber-agency created in the aftermath of the…