As the old adage goes, you only regret the shots you didn’t take. Our newly refreshed, interactive online…
Consumers across the heartland are paying about $60 million more a year than they should for electricity to…
New MISO Grid Plan Could Solve Power Supply Problems
August 13, 2020The mid-continent’s electric grid is facing serious challenges. With more utilities and states aiming for ambitious clean energy…
Grid planning for an achievable clean energy future is at a crossroads. The rapid growth in wind and…
Reliability Experts to FERC: Focus on “No Regrets” Actions
August 1, 2018By John Moore, Director & Gillian Giannetti, Staff Attorney The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) held its annual…
Grid Resilience Efforts Should Focus on Customer Benefits
May 3, 2018By John Moore, Director & Gillian Giannetti, Staff Attorney In the time since U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)…
FirstEnergy Attempts An Illegal Power Plant Bailout Scheme
March 30, 2018Increasingly desperate to keep its failing coal and nuclear plants afloat, FirstEnergy just asked the U.S. Department of Energy…
Electric Grid Resilience and FERC: What Happens Next?
March 7, 2018On March 9, the nation’s regional grid operators are poised to tell their regulator—the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission…
FERC Rejects Perry’s Coal/Nuke Bailout, Finding It Illegal
January 9, 2018By John Moore, Director, Sustainable FERC Project & Miles Farmer, NRDC Alum The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)…
Cold Temps Prove Value of Electricity Grid Markets, Planning
January 4, 2018Much of the country is in the grip of frigid weather, which is increasing demand for electricity (but…
Transforming the Grid Is Essential for a Safe Climate Future
October 11, 2017This is part of a series of blogs on NRDC’s new report, “America’s Clean Energy Frontier: The Pathway to…
Our Transforming Grid: Focus on Reliability, Not the Fuels
October 3, 2017Whenever coal or nuclear interests claim America needs their fuel to avoid power blackouts, you should check your…
DOE’s Grid Study: Clinging to the Past
August 24, 2017By John Moore, Director and Miles Farmer, NRDC Alum DOE’s long-awaited grid study grasps for any possible rationale to support…
Senate Approves FERC Nominees; Agency Regains Quorum
August 3, 2017The Senate has confirmed President Trump’s nominees to fill two of the four open seats on the Federal…
Perry’s DOE Study Has Little Power to Shape the Grid
July 28, 2017By John Moore, Director and Miles Farmer, NRDC Alum Anticipation is building in advance of the release of…
Court Decision a Victory for State Clean Energy Leadership
June 30, 2017Update: On August 17, 2017, in a very short order, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals denied Allco Finance’s…
Clean Energy, Not More Coal, Better for Health and the Grid
May 12, 2017The Trump Administration continues to promote its “coal above all” mantra. Department of Energy Secretary Perry claimed last…
Trump Picks Two for FERC – Will Bipartisanship Continue?
May 9, 2017President Trump has finally announced his intent to nominate candidates for two of the three open seats on…
Energy Dept. Grid “Study”: Politics Trump Facts
April 28, 2017Secretary of Energy Rick Perry has directed his agency to conduct a hurried review of how environmental protection…
Powering into the Future with Renewable, Reliable Power
February 22, 2017We depend on electric power like we do the air. Without electricity our society could not function. For…
As Clean Energy Grows, Electricity Markets Must Evolve
January 5, 2017Part of NRDC’s Year-End Series Reviewing 2016 Energy Developments As 2016 fades away in the rear-view mirror, we…
Connecticut Clean Energy Law on Strong Legal Ground
December 7, 2016A federal appeals court is reviewing whether Connecticut’s renewable portfolio standard (RPS) violates the Federal Power Act and…
More Recent FERC Decisions: Week of May 9th, 2016
May 13, 2016By Tim Murphy, Program Assistant, Sustainable FERC Project & John Moore, Senior Attorney, Sustainable FERC Project FERC approves…
Highlights from the February FERC Open Meeting
March 2, 2016Notice of Inquiry on Primary Frequency Response. In Docket No. RM16-6, FERC issued a Notice of Inquiry seeking comment on the need…
Reliability Prescription for States for Cutting Carbon Pollution: Plan Ahead, Plan Together
February 9, 2016By John Moore, Senior Attorney, The Sustainable FERC Project The Clean Power Plan requires states to take grid…
New FERC Guidance Will Help States Craft Better Plans to Cut Carbon Pollution
January 20, 2016New guidance from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) will help states develop more reliable (and affordable) compliance…
NERC’s 10-Year Grid Assessment: Enough Power, And Some Challenges
December 17, 2015The latest edition of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) report on long-term power supply and reliability…
New Texas Grid Operator Report on the Clean Power Plan Is No Cause for Alarm
October 20, 2015October 20, 2015 by John Moore, Senior Attorney, The Sustainable FERC Project Written with the assistance of David…
10 Ways the Clean Power Plan Protects Electric Grid Reliability
August 5, 2015EPA’s just-released Clean Power Plan final standards will cut carbon pollution from our nation’s power plants while protecting…
The Grid Will Remain Strong—and Become More Reliable and Resilient—With Carbon-Free Energy
July 31, 2015Carbon-free energy and reliable electric service are like cookies and ice cream; while they’re good on their own,…
Highlights from FERC’s April Open Meeting Decisions
April 22, 2015Welcome and congratulations to Norman Bay, who took over as Chairman of FERC on April 15! Here are…
NERC’s Report on Clean Power Plan Deeply Flawed, But the Lights Will Stay On
April 21, 2015An electric power industry organization has issued a new report on the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposal to cut…
Heard on the Hill: Clean Power Plan Respects Grid Reliability
April 14, 2015The Analysis Group’s Sue Tierney, a highly respected authority on electricity markets, testified (and here’s her one page…
A Flexible Plan for Reliable Electric Service and Cleaner Air
March 30, 2015Power plants are responsible for about 40 percent of our country’s carbon dioxide emissions that drive climate change. …
Playing the Reliability Card to Beat the Clean Power Plan – It’s a Bluff
March 12, 2015Don’t be fooled. Opponents of the president’s plan to fight climate change are stoking fears that cutting carbon…
New Report: States Can Cut Carbon Pollution and Protect Grid Reliability
February 14, 2015States can meet or exceed the proposed limits on dangerous carbon pollution from power plants while preserving the…
Wind and Solar Power: Transforming the Grid with Clean Energy – Reliably – Every Day
December 17, 2014Despite years of successful experience, dozens of studies, and increasing utility support for clean energy, urban myth holds…
Environmental Standards Will Help Reduce Consumer Electricity Bills
October 30, 2014The electric power industry is changing, driven by many factors. Leading the way are quintessential marketplace factors like…
Great Plains Power Grid Operator Sowing Confusion about the Clean Power Plan
October 9, 2014This post was updated following the public release of the study. The Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed Clean Power…
Hazy Midwest Power Outlook Clears a Bit; More Regional Cooperation Needed
September 25, 2014Some energy industry observers recently have made much ado about concerns that the Mid-Continent Independent System Operator (or…
Lower Power Prices Likely This Winter, Even With Another Polar Vortex
September 4, 2014[symple_box color=”green” text_align=”left” width=”100%” float=”none”] Last winter’s extreme cold weather, coupled with flaws in the power markets, drove…
Court Upholds FERC Order 1000: Major Victory for Clean Energy and Consumers
August 15, 2014Terrific news! A federal court today upheld in its entirety the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) groundbreaking electric…
Congratulations Commissioners LaFleur and Bay!
July 15, 2014The U.S. Senate today approved President Obama’s nominations of Cheryl LaFleur and Norman Bay as commissioners of the…
FERC Nominations Clear Big Hurdle
June 18, 2014The nation is one step closer to getting a full complement of commissioners on the Federal Energy Regulatory…
Court Deals Setback to Cleaner Electric Transmission Grid
May 25, 2014May 25, 2014 by John Moore and Allison Clements A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C. has handed…
The Polar Vortex and the Power Grid: What really happened and why the grid will remain reliable without soon-to-retire coal plants
April 29, 2014Apr 29, 2014 by John Moore and Allison Clements In the grip of the “Polar Vortex,” much of…
Order 1000 Has Its Day in Court
March 21, 2014The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued an important set of reforms intended to save consumers money and…
Nation’s Largest Grid Operator: Huge Renewables Expansion Won’t Be a Problem
March 10, 2014PJM Interconnection, the nation’s largest power transmission grid organization, announced last week that wind and solar power could…
A Reminder of the Need to Get More Clean Power onto the Electric Grid
February 10, 2014A cold Sunday morning in Washington, DC isn’t when you would expect to find hundreds of utility regulators…
We Can Have Both a Reliable Grid and a Cleaner Environment
December 9, 2013Opponents of power plant pollution control standards waved the red herring of grid reliability at a congressional hearing…