New England’s electricity system is rapidly evolving. Thanks to proactive state climate policies and market forces, cheap renewable…
The Grid Is A-Changing—and Grid Operators Need to Change With It
December 19, 2023This blog is co-written by NRDC Senior Strategic Director David Doniger. When it comes to the current sturm…
Grid operator MISO’s outdated ban on renewables providing essential services threatens future reliability of the grid
October 10, 2023By Aaron Stemplewicz of Earthjustice, reposted from Earthjustice.org. If we are to shift to a clean energy system,…
Winter Storm Elliott Report Highlights the Risk of Natural Gas Failures
July 20, 2023When the eastern United States was sheathed in snow and extreme cold during Christmas week last year, the…
Renewables and Storage Hold Their Own in the Texas Heat Dome
July 5, 2023For weeks, a wave of extreme heat has blanketed Texas and other parts of the South. This heat dome, with…
Summer Grid Forecast: Blustery Headlines, Steady Reliability
June 1, 2023This time every year, families across the country kick off the summer with time-honored traditions: kids get out…
SPP Is Ignoring the Data to the Detriment of Reliability
May 26, 2023In the wake of a winter storm that pushed power grids to the brink of crisis just ahead…
It Is Past Time to Upgrade Our Power Grid for New Challenges
December 15, 2022Part of NRDC’s year-end series reviewing 2022 climate & clean energy developments For more than a decade and…
FERC’s Winter Outlook Shows Need for an Updated Grid
October 15, 2022In its much-anticipated winter assessment, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) forecasts that U.S. electricity markets should have…
The Heat Was On and Our Power Grid Held: But Will It Next Time?
October 4, 2022It wasn’t easy, but the U.S. power grid defied record-breaking heat waves and doomsday warnings to survive the…
FERC Begins to Plan for the Age of Extreme Weather
September 12, 2022This summer has confirmed what the world’s top climate scientists have warned about for years: Climate change is causing more…
The wind may not always blow and the sun may not always shine, but in a month that…
A sizzling summer in Texas is demonstrating some key realities about that state’s electricity grid. With solar power…
Record heat and drought are raising the risks of summer brownouts. To limit these climate risks in the…
The Texas Storm That Proved the Need for Grid Investments
February 9, 2022It has been a year since Winter Storm Uri left millions of people without power. The United States…
Building a Better (and Cleaner!) Electric Grid
October 21, 2021Many people have wondered how we will decarbonize our grid given the fact that the wind doesn’t always…
How to Save Four Billion without Really Trying
June 8, 2021Plan ahead, they always say. Turns out that might not always be the best advice: thanks in part…
After Texas, a New Spotlight on Long-Distance Transmission in MISO
March 5, 2021Last month, a winter storm caused millions to lose power in Texas; tragically, some lost their lives. The…
MISO and SPP Can Benefit From a More Connected Grid
March 3, 2021This blog was co-written with Andy Kowalcyzk, an independent consultant focusing on MISO South. Electric grids across the Midwest,…
Texas Needs a Smarter, More Resilient Electric Grid
February 16, 2021Freezing cold temperatures put the Texas electric grid into distress this week, with dozens of deaths and other…
A Hopeful Sign for PJM Capacity Reform
February 1, 2021PJM Interconnection, which coordinates the movement of wholesale electricity in all or parts of 13 states and the…
New England Grid Operator Misses the Mark on Clean Energy
May 22, 2020The company running the power grid in the six New England states is making a costly and environmentally…
New CEO Faces Old Problems in the PJM Market
November 21, 2019Manu Asthana’s new job will not be easy. PJM’s new CEO inherits an organization recovering from financial scandal, at odds with…
Senators Urge New England Grid Operator to Address Climate
September 19, 2019It’s time for New England’s power grid operator, ISO New England, to start giving the climate crisis the…
To Green the Grid, Take a Lesson from the Auto Industry
July 15, 2019Consider for a moment why hybrid cars are so efficient: most of the time, when you’re cruising, the…
While Power Plants Fail, the Grid Works
February 13, 2019Fossil fuel plant owners hype their reliability, but when the weather turned bitterly cold in late January, coal…
For Demand Response, Second Best Isn’t Good Enough
January 9, 2019A major cost to the power grid is handling peak load—making sure that there is enough power available…
McNamee Should Recuse Himself in FERC Resilience Dockets
December 18, 2018The Natural Resources Defense Council today joined with other organizations in formally asking new Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)…
The Coal/Nuke Plant Bailout: We Must Remain Vigilant
October 16, 2018Recent media reports suggest that the White House has tabled its plan to bail out costly coal and nuclear plants. While…
Trump Officials Pressured National Lab to Help Coal Agenda
August 9, 2018Trump administration officials pressured the Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) to write their March…
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…
Regulator Confirms Electric Reliability and Resilience Continue to Improve
June 21, 2018By Michael Goggin, Vice President at Grid Strategies LLC “Grid Shows Improved Resilience” is the headline of the…
The Coal/Nuke Bailout, or DOE’s Game of Whack-A-Mole
June 21, 2018June 21, 2018 by Gillian Giannetti, Staff Attorney, Sustainable FERC Project, Climate & Clean Energy Program If it feels like…
State Clean Energy Laws Make New England Grid More Resilient
May 9, 2018May 9, 2018 by Bruce Ho, Senior Energy Advocate The New England power grid is growing more resilient and…
What’s Resilience? It’s Not More Fuel or Higher Prices, PJM
May 9, 2018By Jennifer Chen, NRDC Alum The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) early this year rejected the Department of…
Worried About Grid Resilience? Don’t—You Can Sleep Well
May 9, 2018May 9, 2018 by Gillian Giannetti, Staff Attorney, Sustainable FERC Project Secretary of Energy Rick Perry has warned of an energy…
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…
Fossil lab misses mark in cold weather “resilience” report
March 28, 2018By Michael Goggin, Vice President at Grid Strategies LLC A new report by the Department of Energy and…
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…
What’s Resilience? DOE Should Say Before Spending Your Money
October 23, 2017By Jennifer Chen, NRDC Alum The Department of Energy (DOE) recently proposed that American consumers further subsidize certain power plants (essentially, coal…
DOE’s Coal and Nuclear Bailout Proposal Should Be Rejected
October 23, 2017By Miles Farmer, NRDC Alum The Trump administration’s outrageous plan to prop up the sagging coal and nuclear industries would…
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…
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…