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COMMENTARY Throughout my career—and also POWER magazine’s long history—thermal power generation has been the greatest source of dispatchable electricity generation. In my view, policymakers have run a very good and smooth evolution of power generation diversity off the rails. The Biden Administration and Democrat Congress policies constitute an anti-American war on carbon. These policies, if […]

2020 was a lot of things, most of them sombre. However, there is one positive way I believe we in the distribution grid sector can describe the year, as an inflection point. In years to come, we may well look back on 2020 as the year when terms like “energy transition” and “digitalization” finally began […]

During lockdown, Delhi, one of the world’s most polluted cities, enjoyed some of the freshest air that the capital has seen in decades. Having witnessed the benefits of eliminating pollution from their cities, politicians the world over are talking about “building back better” in the wake of Covid-19. For many countries that means accelerating investment […]

The 46th president of the United States has officially been sworn in. During his inauguration address President Joe Biden spoke of unity, empathy, and the challenges Americans must face together. Challenges indeed abound for Biden’s incoming environmental and energy team, including New Mexico congresswoman Deb Haaland as Interior Secretary, former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm as […]

Growing the amount of renewable power that’s available on the grid is equally as crucial for the energy transition as the ability to generate power from renewable sources. Fossil fuels continue to have the advantage because of market-bidding protocols that place their power on wholesale energy markets across the country, making it widely available to […]

The passing of 2020 is a great relief to many. The new year allows us to review not just the tremendous loss of life from the pandemic, but to consider the state of the global energy system. Despite the virus, 2020 was a great year for climate commitments. While COP26, the UN Climate Change Conference, […]

The Trump administration’s final rule interpreting the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) to not prohibit the incidental take (accidental injury or death) of migratory birds recently hatched. But with the Biden administration taking the regulatory reins on Jan. 20, 2021, this lame-duck regulation will be quickly grounded. COMMENTARY Anticipating this, power companies should remain vigilant […]

Latin America’s largest economy was already in a fragile state when the global pandemic added to its list of woes. However, despite being hit by a wave of corporate bankruptcies and soaring government debt, Brazil’s economy is predicted to shrink by only 5-6% in 2020, somewhat less of a contraction than many other economies expect. […]

Companies in the energy sector this past year faced unprecedented financial, economic and operational challenges, exacerbated by a once-in-a-century public health crisis. Falling energy prices, coupled with the economic downturn triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, caused a significant labor contraction in the energy sector. The spread of COVID-19 required companies, including those involved in power […]

2021 Predictions for Energy, Utilities, and Resources Even if the climate crisis is currently having to share headline space with the global pandemic, it has by no means lost its traction. Nor have the perils of climate change lost any of their urgency. Taking a global stance, I would say that the charge to lower […]

By Aurelien Guichard Manager, Arthur D. Little As we near the close of 2020, companies are under greater pressure to source more energy flexibility to ensure security of supply as renewables and other “green” alternatives shift the energy mix. From board rooms to investors to social media, the decisions companies are making and the approaches […]

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC’s) ruling on Sept. 4, 2020,  rejected, in a three-to-one decision, the New York Independent System Operator’s (NYISO) proposal to change its capacity market rules, ostensibly intended to support, among other things, New York and New Jersey’s ambitious, and some say, unattainable renewable goals. The action comes directly on the […]

California needs more reliable electricity. The ongoing rolling blackouts in the Golden State will likely become more frequent unless its elected leaders change their foolish energy policies. More importantly, California’s energy posture reveals some harsh lessons for the rest of America, as it provides a glimpse into the future of power generation should the Democrats […]

America’s energy systems are being led by renewables development, both now and in the foreseeable future. There should be no real argument about what the future of our energy economy looks like. Not just because renewables bolster needed decarbonization efforts, but because renewables are a better economic solution and embody core principles of American entrepreneurism. […]

It’s an article of faith in large parts of the U.S.—at least among power industry people—that organized and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)–regulated “merchant” interstate power markets are the best way to ensure a sufficient supply of electricity, as well as to ensure fair and equitable prices for ratepayers. On that basis, large areas of […]

California is widely regarded for environmental leadership, especially around clean energy policy. The state has set an ambitious goal of achieving 100% renewable energy by 2045. Decarbonizing its electric power sector requires new approaches and ways of thinking to meet carbon reduction goals, all while minimizing land use, emissions, and cost. One promising approach is […]

Authored by Bryan Sillaman and James Alford of Hughes Hubbard In the midst of the global COVID-19 crisis, another unprecedented event took place that was largely overshadowed by more urgent, and life-threatening, circumstances. On April 20, 2020, the price of U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude oil dropped below zero dollars per barrel (bbl), plunging past […]

In 2012, 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were drafted at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, which was held in Brazil. The goals were adopted by all the United Nations member countries in 2015. They replaced the Millennium Development Goals, which started in 2000 to tackle the challenge of extreme poverty across the world. […]

Hybrid power plants, also known as solar plus storage or wind plus storage projects, have gained significant traction in recent years. These projects combine solar energy or wind energy with battery energy storage. The result is a somewhat dispatchable renewable energy power plant, which can provide smoother (less-volatile) energy, and can shift time of delivery […]

Dear utility managers and workers, We’ve met some of you over the years, and as our employees have been sheltering in place with lights, internet, televisions, and many other modern comforts, we wanted to say thank you. Too often, energy providers only receive attention when something goes wrong. Because utilities in the U.S. are 99% […]

After Superstorm Sandy pummeled the great State of New Jersey in 2012, more than two million households were without power, many for close to two weeks. A silver lining is that this disaster occurred in the fall, after the heat of summer and before the onset of freezing conditions. With Sandy, New Jersey and the […]

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic is not the type of thing enterprise technologists could see in our magic crystal ball. Before the onset of the virus and its effects, I set out three predictions for the energy, utilities, and resources sector for the coming year—but of course, a global shutdown of business, transport, and […]

South Africa has the largest carbon footprint in Africa and contributes 40% of the total CO2 emissions in the continent. As the world evolves in response to climate change concerns, the way business is done in South Africa will need to change. In addition to the critical need for every business to contribute to broadly […]

Traditional plants are turning to automatic self-cleaning strainers to provide more reliable cooling, reduce required maintenance, and improve uptime. With greater intrusion into the market from renewables, traditional power generation plants are under pressure to produce more efficiently and cost-effectively. Consequently, more than ever, there is no room for any unscheduled downtime. While not the […]

It’s 2020, and the global standards for building electrical systems are still based on 70-year-old Thomas Edison era electromechanical architecture that is outdated, prone to malfunction, and lacking in basic intelligence that adds functionality and value to powered products. Compared to state-of-the-art innovations like wireless control, machine learning, artificial intelligence (AI) and solid-state silicon technologies, […]

The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) has released a report focused on how distributed energy resources (DERs) and microgrids can improve the resilience of the power grid. The report, Advancing Electric System Resilience with Distributed Energy Resources: A Review of State Policies, is designed in part as a guide to help state regulators […]

Energy companies are used to weathering disruption of all kinds. And during this incredibly challenging time, we are now more than ever relying on energy companies for the safe access to, and delivery of, power, gas, water, and other essential services. As governments around the world enact drastic measures to slow transmission of the COVID-19 […]

Ahead of most of the U.S., California state and local officials in the first weeks of March adopted some of the earliest and strongest steps to restrict movement and close non-essential businesses in order to fight the spread of the COVID-19 disease. One of the key challenges in implementing these “shelter-in-place” orders was how to […]

Dr. Harold Hardaway and Shannon Hernandez / Cardigan With only a day’s or two notice, organizations found themselves required to send their folks home and set up remote work protocols. Employers and employees alike were quickly learning the nuances of Zoom meetings, with catchphrases like, “I think you’re on mute,” and “Is it your WiFi […]

Workers who install solar power and energy storage systems, along with those working in other sectors of renewable energy, are considered “essential” to maintain “critical infrastructure” in California, according to a clarification from the California Energy Commission (CEC). The state’s Public Health Officer had earlier designated a variety of personnel, mainly health care staff, as […]