Commentary

Clean firm power, which refers to carbon capture and storage (CCS)-enabled, baseload, dispatchable electricity, is critical to achieving emission reduction goals and meeting energy demands affordably and reliably. New plant designs and retrofitting of existing power plants should be advanced rapidly, while at the same time building jobs and wealth creation across many parts of […]

As a professional power analyst and former hydrologist who literally got my feet wet scheduling hydropower -generation on the Columbia River, the emergence of rolling blackouts in the Pacific Northwest, especially as an expense of a changing climate, is the last thing I want to see happen. COMMENTARY This year’s record-breaking heat wave is a […]

The benefits of smart grid technologies and data-driven management are well understood. Using open protocols to control energy resources, extract information, and optimize responses can enable enormous productivity and stimulate new services. Similarly, the accumulation of data can inform better planning for a more resilient grid. But, as explained in “The Dark Side of the […]

At the urging of the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) and the California Energy Commission (CEC), on July 1, the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) announced its intent to procure

President Biden in March of this year announced plans to “jumpstart” offshore wind projects, making that renewable energy resource a focal point of his administration’s energy and environmental policies

Now is the time for oil and gas companies to get involved in renewable energy. Fossil fuels provide the bulk of energy consumed in the U.S., but oil and gas (O&G) companies saw declining energy consumption in recent years and face a negative, long-term economic outlook. According to Wood Mackenzie, wind and solar will make […]

Some stories in the world of energy are perennial. Pretty much every year, we read new advances in energy production or use that are going to revolutionize the world. And every year, that prediction doesn’t pan out. COMMENTARY Other stories are decadal. Every 10 years or so, we hear about radical breakthroughs in electric cars, […]

The American Jobs Plan was announced by the White House earlier this year to much fanfare. It describes sweeping action, using bold words like “reimagine” and “rebuild.” And while the Jobs Plan is not

The way we generate and distribute electricity has become a Rubik’s cube for power companies, regulators, and consumers. The need to reduce carbon emissions linked to climate change by investing in renewables is acknowledged by most experts. At the same time, recent unusual weather events have demonstrated that there is also an urgent need to […]

The extreme freeze in Texas and ensuing power outages in February were the latest reminders that energy is the backbone of our society. From wildfires in the west to hurricanes on the Atlantic seaboard, climate related events are increasing in severity and frequency, illuminating the vulnerability of our power grid across the nation. COMMENTARY Nationwide, […]

For a century our country has relied on fossil fuels to power our economy. But that is beginning to change with wind, solar, renewable fuels, hydrogen, advanced nuclear options, and more. The effort to decarbonize our economy and protect the planet from greenhouse gas emissions is now aggressively underway in the U.S. and other parts […]

The Biden administration in February announced that for the remainder of 2021, federal agencies will conduct regulatory and environmental analyses assuming that the global “social cost” of emitting carbon

Governments and non-governmental organizations worldwide are clamoring for reduction in human-generated CO 2 emissions. Yet, America’s largest carbon-free energy source is regulated and demonized to the

The solar power industry continues to see growth in distributed generation installations from residential to commercial projects, particularly as people take more control of powering their properties to increase their electricity reliability, and to control their energy costs. An important part of that process involves a rooftop solar installation’s onsite survey. There is currently a […]

The past year and a half has been, to put it mildly, a weird time. Americans have grappled with the COVID-19 crisis, as well as with the associated economic fallout that revealed cracks in a number of our nation’s workforce and social systems. But recent years have also exposed the significant flaws in parts of […]

Purchasing renewable energy is a means to an end: decarbonization. Yet, renewable energy projects are not all equal when it comes to cutting carbon. At REsurety, we’re developing a new carbon impact measurement tool called Locational Marginal Emissions (LMEs) that measure carbon emission reductions at the granular level: the electrical node where the carbon-free energy […]

In March, America’s energy infrastructure received a C- rating from the American Society of Civil Engineers’ (ASCE) Infrastructure Report Card, showcasing the country’s desperate need for improvement, and more importantly, investment. And in April, President Biden committed to cutting U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50% by 2030, putting a heavy emphasis on the […]

The new U.S. administration’s policies could prove to be pivotal in the global fight to tackle climate breakdown. President Joe Biden signed a host of executive orders on “Climate Day” at the end of

Natural calamities challenge businesses and create problems with customer experience (CX). How can a utility demonstrate the desired experience attributes such as speed, quality, consistency, and so on at the same or even at a higher level after a catastrophe? Following a winter that saw record-breaking bomb cyclones in the northern Pacific. and the biggest […]

If we plan on making real progress on beating back climate change, we’re going to have to work together. That means working across not just international borders, but party lines, aggressively pursuing realistic solutions that will make a difference. Democrats like me have always worked hard to not only be leaders on responsible environmental stewardship, […]

With a global pandemic and unprecedented extreme weather, we have seen how essential our energy delivery system is to our way of life. Through collaboration and innovation, we will make the system more resilient and fulfill our commitment to reducing emissions. American Gas Association members are already leading in these areas—providing customers with reliable and […]

On a recent visit to my local hardware store, I was struck by all the products on display to help manage my energy needs. The store had LED light bulbs, weather stripping, and fiberglass insulation to help

In 2009, only three in 10 American adults said dealing with global climate change should be a top priority. Over the past 10 years, this number has more than doubled: Nearly seven in 10 American adults say the federal government is doing too little to reduce the effects of global climate change, with six in […]

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 […]

While not a new occurrence, in recent years wildfires have wreaked havoc across the western U.S. We have also seen Mother Nature batter coastlines and landscapes around the globe, and the ever-mounting pace of

High on the list of Trump administration rules that will be reevaluated by the Biden administration is the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Clean Water Act (CWA) section 401 rule on state water

It will be some time before we know every detail that aligned to cause the tremendous number of sustained power outages in Texas, or the spiking power prices across all markets in the central states. Some things we do know. Some natural gas supply was frozen in. Some wind turbines froze up, and ice damaged some […]

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) “Secret Science” rule establishing new standards for consideration of certain “pivotal” scientific studies, which was slated to go into effect on Jan. 6 of this year, has been vacated and remanded by the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana. The decision reached Feb. 1 impacts the power generation […]

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 […]

The body that regulates the interstate transmission of oil, electricity, and natural gas has signaled its willingness to approve regional grid operator plans that incorporate carbon pricing into their rate