Commentary

When I see estimates of premature deaths attributable to coal-fired power plants, I usually take the data with a grain of salt. It’s not that I don’t trust researchers to do their best to calculate the

Analysis by both the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and International Energy Agency shows that achieving a zero-carbon energy system by 2050 will require large-scale deployment of carbon capture

This last year of the decade proved to be a pivotal year for energy storage technology, as major developments underscored why it is so vital for energy markets. Events such as widespread power outages and transmission issues on a global scale have led to the precipitous rise in energy storage deployments. The energy industry has […]

In the year 2020, the energy sector will continue to undergo major changes. From doubling-down on alternative energy sources—as the world places more importance on sustainability—to the large number of workers retiring in droves, there will be substantial shifts in the way energy companies, including power generators and oil and gas producers, prioritize in the […]

Developers and other sellers of electricity have traditionally viewed utilities as creditworthy counterparties. Utilities are longstanding institutions that provide a public service and receive a regulated

The 2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP25), held in December in Madrid, Spain, showcased politicians and activists vying for the title of the world’s climate savior. In particular, youth

IEEE 802 standards are used but not often thought of in our daily lives—IEEE 802.3, Ethernet, IEEE 802.11, Wi-Fi, IEEE 802.15.4, Wi-SUN, etc. Despite these standards playing a role in almost every piece of technology we own, we have a limited understanding of how they’re created. For mission-critical entities who are reliant on IEEE 802 […]

The New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) has proposed incorporating the social cost of carbon into the wholesale price of electricity. According to an October-released study conducted by the consulting firm Analysis Group, “A carbon price in NYISO’s competitive wholesale power markets can help deliver New York’s clean-energy transition in faster, cheaper, more reliable, more […]

As an attorney who has spent the majority of his career litigating and settling international commercial disputes, I have experienced several instances where U.S. companies jump at the opportunity to expand

Natural gas traders once spoke of the North American continent as a potential seamless natural gas trading market, where market synergies could be perfected and hydrocarbon molecules could flow freely to the

In the September issue of POWER , I wrote about a public utility (JEA) that is exploring privatization, and in October, I looked at a city (Boulder, Colorado) that is exploring municipalization. While I think

In my “Speaking of Power” column last month, I explained that JEA, a community-owned utility in northeast Florida, is contemplating privatization. One of the reasons JEA is considering the change is that

COMMENTARY Texas has the most wind capacity of any state, generating about 16% of its electricity from wind. In August, as temperatures rose above 100F and consumers increased their use of air conditioning, Texas’ grid operators struggled to meet the record demand for electricity. Many of the wind turbines could not operate because the wind […]

COMMENTARY At this point, one thing should be abundantly clear about the Trump administration’s theme on energy policy: the president will do whatever it takes to prop up coal, even if the market and the public choose otherwise. The Trump administration’s latest pro-coal gambit is the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) so-called Affordable Clean Energy rule, […]

I was recently reviewing a report issued last year by BMI Research, a Fitch Group company. The Megatrends 2050 Special Report , as it is called, suggests there are three main trends that will transform the

In line with global emissions targets, energy markets are moving ever more quickly to take up renewables. Such a move is obviously important to ensure carbon reduction targets can be met. This does however create an issue—one that’s not been given the attention it deserves—of the impact this has on the conventional power plants that […]

The Implications of Two Technologies and How They Merge for Next-Generation Intelligence Undoubtedly, as the world becomes more complex and interconnected, digitization and technological innovations are vital components of the global power future. The power industry’s digital transformation is not merely developing alongside the industry, it is infiltrating it—transforming the very fabric of how the […]

What does the 21st century power market look like? That is the question the European Union (EU) is attempting to answer with the new electricity regulation and revised electricity directive passed at the end

Federal courts have been pretty kind to energy infrastructure in recent weeks, particularly in cases involving the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). For starters, this month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit removed one of the hurdles to construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. The court decided that a new presidential permit—issued […]

The digital revolution is transforming the way that many sectors work and the energy industry is on its way to becoming one of the biggest benefactors of this change. Although there’s no doubt it’s yet to be exploited to its full potential, new innovations and improved processes will see a far greater take-up as organizations […]

It’s no secret that the power industry workforce is aging and managers are struggling to find qualified candidates interested in filling open positions. In my April column, I referenced a

Numerous articles have boldly declared Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) to be the first of many climate change-related bankruptcies to come. The authors wag their fingers in caution at corporations across

Fifty years ago this July, NASA successfully landed men on the moon and safely returned them to Earth. In this year’s documentary about the mission, Apollo 11 , director Todd Douglas Miller draws on a

Commercial and industrial (C&I) sites increasingly are looking for ways to increase the reliability and resiliency of their power supply, along with controlling their energy costs. These C&I projects include distribution centers, data centers, office parks, hospitals, college campuses, and also military bases. CleanSpark, a San Diego, California–based technology company which specializes in the optimized […]

While the new Qualified Opportunity Zones (QOZ) program initially has drawn widespread interest regarding real estate development, it also appears likely to generate promising opportunities for green energy

COMMENTARY The 19th-century electrical grid has had a good run in the United States. For more than 100 years, it has reliably provided electricity to end-users based on the premise that a centralized generation and transmission model was the way to go. Large coal, hydro and (later) nuclear generating facilities would produce huge amounts of […]

What keeps you up at night? The question has become cliché as panel moderators now routinely ask it as a “thought-provoking” final query to close out executive roundtable sessions at industry conferences

Colorado lawmakers are considering legislation (HB19-1037) designed to help the state’s investor-owned utilities gracefully back out of non-economic coal-fired power plants. Colorado is at the forefront of

In an apparent attempt to show supporters he is making good on his pledge to revive the dying coal industry, President Trump has been trying to find a way to funnel tens of billions of dollars to a small

If you’ve been following the news, you know that Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection because it is facing tens of billions of dollars in liability for