Category: Dateline Washington

In 2018, the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC), the organization that oversees the reliability on the North American electric grid, warned of the threat of accelerating losses of baseload sources of power. At the...

Row after row of drilling rigs and frack trucks now sit idle in parking lots across oil country. Drilling in U.S. oil and natural gas fields has come to a screeching halt. It’s a scene and reality that not only has ramifications...

As the coronavirus crisis continues to unfold, it’s clear that we’re living in a new world. We have learned very quickly that we simply cannot take for granted the resilience of our critical infrastructure. A sometimes...

Early this March, International Energy Agency Director Fatih Birol testified before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Asked what technology is most essential to tackling emissions, he didn’t mince words. “If I...

by conor bernstein What does the coal plant of the future look like?   For too many people, the answer is that we don’t need new coal technology nor a new generation of plants. That line of thinking is a huge mistake. Too many...

Presidential hopeful Michael Bloomberg recently announced that if elected he will phase out coal power in the U.S. by 2030. He made this proclamation standing in the pouring rain in front of a retired coal power plant, telling...

by conor bernstein Questions continue to arise about the cost and technical feasibility of moving to an emissions-free grid by 2050. Or, in the case of the Green New Dealers, making that jump even sooner. At a recent hearing on...

by conor bernstein Are renewable sources of power ready to stand on their own two feet? Ask wind and solar boosters and the answer would seemingly be yes. The story we’re being told is that after decades of government support,...

by conor bernstein Lost in the noise of what candidates and pundits want for the nation’s energy future is what Americans want. While the rollout of candidates’ energy plans has turned into a game of one-upmanship on who can ban...

by conor bernstein The North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) analyzes the reliability of our electricity supply. So, it’s with good reason that eyebrows were raised when NERC CEO Jim Robb told the Federal Energy...

by conor bernstein It has long been suspected that renewable portfolio standards are an incredibly costly and inefficient energy policy. Yet, they have grown in popularity and ambition with 29 states and the District of Columbia...

by conor bernstein How valuable is a balanced, diverse mix of energy sources? Just ask the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), the grid operator that manages the electricity grid for much of the U.S. Midwest and...