Category: Electric

June 25, 2020

Experts disagree about how fast the United States can replace coal and gas-fired power plants with zero-carbon electricity. Some say we can shift to 100 percent clean power by 2050 with little friction and minimal cost. Others say that’s unrealistically […]

June 17, 2020

Covid-19 has roiled California, threatening 18% unemployment in 2020 and forcing policymakers to recharge the world’s fifth-largest economy, even as they face a $54 billion budget deficit stemming from the crisis. In response, Governor Newsom convened a Recovery Task Force, […]

May 29, 2020

The EIA states that this outcome mainly reflects the continued decline in the amount of coal used for electricity generation over the past decade as well as growth in renewable energy, mostly from wind and solar. Compared with 2018, coal […]

May 6, 2020

California utility Pacific Gas & Electric may need to rely even more heavily on forced blackouts this year, to prevent its grid from starting more deadly wildfires like the ones that drove it into bankruptcy. PG&E’s wildfire mitigation work is […]

March 30, 2020

A study published by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) shows peak demand and energy use decreased as much as 21% in some areas as a result of actions taken to reduce the spread of COVID-19. The report—COVID-19 Bulk System […]

March 23, 2020

There is little doubt that the world has entered a global economic recession as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Every recession lowers energy use, and this one may be a whopper. The 2008 financial crisis, and the Great Recession […]

February 13, 2020

As decarbonisation of the power sector ramps up in earnest, attention is turning to the other key sectors of the economy that need to cut their emissions – transport, buildings and industry. If these three sectors are electrified at the […]

November 27, 2019

The report states that wind energy is rapidly becoming the new norm for power generation and will deliver 30% of all global electricity production by 2050, with 12% from offshore wind and 18% from onshore wind. In 2019, mega wind […]

November 12, 2019

Presidential candidates, state governments, and utilities are promoting “net zero” emissions targets to rapidly reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and preserve a safe climate future by helping to limit global warming to well below 2°C. But few of them are […]

October 25, 2019

As much as wind and solar are increasing, natural gas is increasing more. And gas will continue to grow faster than all other energy sources in the United States for some time. Over the past fifteen years, coal has decreased […]

October 2, 2019

A storm is brewing as Big Oil looks to take on electric utilities that support EVs. Utilities stand to gain if EV adoption rates increase. Not everyone is applauding this trend. As a recent article in Politico reports, groups backed […]

August 26, 2019

Electricity demand is rising as global temperatures increase and economies grow, driving greater demand for cooling: Researchers project that by 2050 a warming climate will push energy needs 25% higher than they otherwise would be absent climate change in parts […]

August 23, 2019

California is on the clock, with just 25 years to achieve economy-wide carbon neutrality. Buildings account for about a quarter of California’s greenhouse gas emissions, so concerted efforts will be needed to squeeze carbon out of the sector, especially existing […]

July 19, 2019

For people living in the developed world, electricity is something that can perhaps be taken for granted — with the flick of a switch or the press of a button they have lighting, TV and a huge number of other […]

July 17, 2019

Mini-grids may finally be ready to change the world. But the small, self-sufficient electricity grids that connect communities who have not been reached by the main grid are not a new technology. In fact, the first grids were mini-grids. Edison […]