In the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, the vulnerability and fragility of our current electric grid has once again been showcased in an unfavorable light. With Long Island Power Authority originally having outages […]
Exporting to China may not save the U.S. coal industry after all
Last week, I wrote that the U.S. coal industry is in trouble and the only way it can hope to reverse its downward slide is through increased exports, mostly to China. This […]
Natural Gas: America’s Future Electric Grid?
In August 2003, cascading electric blackouts across the northeast United States left roughly 50 million people without power and cost billions of dollars in economic losses. That incident called into question the […]
Smart meter deployments continue to rise
Electric meters with enhanced communication capabilities—an essential component of the smart grid—are becoming more prevalent. In 2011, more than 23% of all U.S. electrical customers had smart meters. These meters use two-way […]
What Happens When the ITC Expires? Part 2
With the 30 percent Federal Business Energy Investment Tax Credit (ITC) set to expire at the end of 2016, GTM Research has begun to assess the state of the U.S. solar market […]
The fiscal cliff deal helped wind power. But our wind policy is still insane.
It took a lobbying blitz and a little bit of luck, but the wind industry eventually got its hoped-for reprieve in Tuesday’s fiscal cliff deal. As part of the bargain, Congress extended […]
Lots of Solar Power May Reduce, Not Increase, Electricity Prices
Whether German feed-in tariffs or U.S. tax incentives, opponents of solar rail at its perceived high cost. But a story making rounds this week, “why power generators are terrified of solar,” presents […]
Solar Power: The Killer App
Solar power reduces electricity prices. As more solar is added to deregulated power grids, power prices fall lower. The secret sauce is the markets. Deregulated power markets are invisible to many Americans, […]
Cheap natural gas doesn’t mean we should stop investing in alternative energy
There’s a pernicious argument being made against energy efficiency, and it goes like this. Last winter was one of the warmest on record, so people had to spend less to heat their […]
New EIA data show total grid-connected photovoltaic solar capacity
Using new information, EIA combines data on utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity with customer-sited PV capacity, as reported in the graphic. EIA’s utility-scale electric generator survey has a threshold of 1 MW […]
Prometheus Institute 