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Western drought hurts hydropower production, California among the hardest hit states

Western drought hurts hydropower production, California among the hardest hit states Energize Weekly, July 14, 2021 The drought conditions smothering the West are crippling hydropower production with hydro-generation’s share of energy production forecast to be 6.5 percent this year – the lowest it has been since 2015, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).…

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More than half the U.S. faces electricity supply problems in the face of a long, hot summer

More than half the U.S. faces electricity supply problems in the face of a long, hot summer Energize Weekly, July 7, 2021 More than half the U.S. – primarily in the West, Texas, Midwest and to a lesser extent, New England – is at risk of energy emergencies this summer, according to the North American…

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Solar installations break records in Q1 of 2021, but face rising costs and supply chain issues

Solar installations break records in Q1 of 2021, but face rising costs and supply chain issues Energize Weekly, June 23, 2021 A record-breaking 5 gigawatts (GW) of solar capacity was installed in the first quarter of 2021, pushing total installed U.S. capacity to 100 GW – more than doubling in four years, according to an…

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Queue for electric generation and storage projects is growing across the U.S.

Queue for electric generation and storage projects is growing across the U.S. Energize Weekly, June 2, 2021 The queue of electricity generation and storage projects is growing year-on-year, reaching a total of 950 gigawatts (GW) of capacity by the end of 2020, according to a survey by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. There are 750 GW of…

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Rising natural gas prices boost coal production and summer coal-fired generation

Rising natural gas prices boost coal production and summer coal-fired generation Energize Weekly, May 19, 2021 A steady rise in natural gas prices since the start of 2021 has given the U.S. coal industry a boost as electric utilities, the nation’s prime coal consumer, are set to switch to coal-fired generation this summer. The federal…

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Cost of winterizing Texas electricity grid worth the expense, Dallas Federal Reserve says

Cost of winterizing Texas electricity grid worth the expense, Dallas Federal Reserve says Energize Weekly, April 21, 2021 The cost of weatherizing the Texas electric power system – which faced a major collapse during a February freeze – could run into hundreds of millions of dollars, but the expense would be worth it, according to…

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Xcel Energy plans to transform its Colorado grid, boosting renewables and closing coal plants

Energize Weekly, March 3, 2021 Xcel Energy – in one of the country’s most sweeping initiatives to reconfigure a gird – has announced an $8 billion plan to double its renewable energy generation and storage in Colorado, add transmission and close all its coal-fired power plants in the state by 2040. The plan, to be…

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Collapse of the natural gas system from wellhead to turbine fueled Texas’ blackout

Energize Weekly, February 24, 2021 The near collapse of Texas’ electric grid was caused in the main by a failure of the natural gas system from the wellhead to pipeline to gas turbine, according to an analysis by the International Energy Agency (IEA). “Texas has a power shortage because it has a gas shortage,” the…

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European oil companies changing names and shifting their focus to alternative energy

Energize Weekly, February 17, 2021 European oil companies are continuing their push to reorient and rebrand themselves as comprehensive energy companies and not just producers of oil and natural gas. On Feb. 9, French oil company Total announced it was changing its name to TotalEnergies to reflect a broader strategy of developing renewable energy and…

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U.S. energy consumption will take years to rebound from pandemic, EIA says

Energize Weekly, February 10, 2021 It will take years for U.S. energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions to return to 2019 levels after the severe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the country’s economy and the global energy sector, according to the federal Energy Information Administration (EIA). Energy consumption in the agency’s “reference case” will…

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U.S. wind and solar generation set to soar in 2021, as coal-fired and nuclear plants close

Energize Weekly, January 27, 2021 The U.S. electricity generation fleet will continue its transformation in 2021 with wind and solar dominating new installations and nuclear and coal-fired plants steadily being retired, according to the federal Energy Information Administration (EIA). Power plant developers and utilities are planning for 39.7 gigawatts (GW) of new generating capacity in…

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Voters weigh in on local and state energy issues from renewable energy to oil and gas taxes

Energize Weekly, November 11, 2020 Election returns on state and local energy issues were both literally and figuratively all over the map last week on issues ranging from renewable energy to oil and gas taxes. Voters in Alaska rejected a tax on oil operations while the industry was denied a tax break in Louisiana. Columbus,…

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