Speaking of Power

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in January that the number of wage and salary workers belonging to unions decreased to 14.3 million in 2020, down 321,000 (2.2%) from 2019. That was the bad news

It was about a year ago that COVID-19 gained the world’s attention. The first laboratory-confirmed case of COVID-19 in the U.S. was reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Jan. 22

When the World Health Organization published news on Jan. 5, 2020, about cases of “pneumonia of unknown etiology” detected in Wuhan City, China, few people began stocking up on toilet paper or canceled

In the late 1960s, the U.S. was facing an environmental crisis. Air pollution was a serious problem in cities across the country, industrial activities and the widespread use of hazardous pesticides were

In mid-August, the western U.S. experienced some of the most extreme heat it has encountered in recorded history. Temperatures in some locations were up to 20F above normal. During the hot spell, California

I think most people know that there are a lot of people around the world who don’t have access to electricity. The International Energy Agency has said the number is about 860 million with the majority of

Costs for wind and solar power systems have been declining for years thanks to technology improvements, economies of scale, and fierce competition in auctions. In the second half of 2019, the levelized cost of

Building a new nuclear power plant is challenging. Nuclear construction projects always seem to be behind schedule and over budget. Even in the late 1960s and early 1970s—arguably nuclear power’s

An energy imbalance market (EIM) is a voluntary market that provides a sub-hourly economic dispatch of participating resources for balancing supply and demand every five minutes. One such market is the Western

It’s peak season for the U.S. power industry. While actual dates may vary from one utility to another, generally the summer peak period spans from Memorial Day (May 25 this year) to Labor Day (Sept. 7)

The COVID-19 outbreak has forced many companies to change the way they conduct operations. Leaders have had to divide employees into essential and non-essential categories. Essential employees must report to

The world has become a very different place over the past few months with the outbreak of a new coronavirus—COVID-19. The virus has forced travel bans and literal lockdowns in several countries. The NCAA and

Is your company’s information technology (IT) department your friend or your enemy? Does it work with you to identify, evaluate, and select the best new digital technology to make your job easier and your

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

Some power industry insiders believe hydrogen offers a solution to large-scale energy storage problems. The concept generally revolves around utilizing electricity generated by renewables when supply is high

Decarbonization is a word that seems to be used quite regularly these days. For the power industry, it refers to the shift in electric generating resources from carbon-heavy coal to carbon-free nuclear or

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

There are generally three types of electric power utility ownership structures: public power utilities, rural electric cooperatives, and investor-owned utilities (IOUs). The American Public Power Association

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

The worldwide movement toward a clean energy future is barreling ahead. Most clean energy advocates seem to focus on wind and solar power as their resources of choice, and it shows, as the installed capacity

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

The power grid is a pretty complex system. Electricity is generally produced on an as-needed basis. Generators ramp up and down based on demand. However, energy storage systems are beginning to change how

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

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

Utility-sponsored energy-efficiency programs have always seemed like a contradiction to me. Obviously, power companies make money by selling electricity, so encouraging customers to install energy-efficient

Digital technology is everywhere today including in most power plants. Computer hardware and software are changing the way plants are operated and maintained. Many technology experts will tell you that

It’s not particularly easy to find reliable and detailed statistics on the deployment of distributed energy systems. One reason is that a lot of distributed energy is installed behind-the-meter. As a result

If you look up the history of users’ groups, you’ll find that many early organizations focused on computers. While it’s hard to confirm all the details, at least one source suggested that the first

It’s no secret that U.S. nuclear and coal-fired power plants are struggling to remain viable in competitive markets. Many plants have been retired for economic reasons long before the facilities reached the