President Trump and his Energy Secretary, Chris Wright, want U.S. utilities to continue operating coal plants to help meet growing electricity demand, avoid blackouts, and keep the United States from deindustrializing as Germany has done with its energy transition to wind and solar power. …
News Tag: IER
Global Coal Use Hits Another Historic Record in 2024
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), coal consumption hit another new record last year—8.77 billion metric tons—due to soaring coal use by China and India. Global coal demand is expected to grow by 1% in 2024—down from 2.4% growth in 2023. …
Duke Extends the Life of Its Largest Coal Plant
Duke Energy Corp. plans to extend the life of its largest coal-fired power plant for 3 years, pushing aside its climate goal to shutter all facilities that burn coal by 2035. Duke says its emission-reduction goals are not changed but are not linear and its resource plans are not final decisions as they are revised regularly. Duke’s power …
The Supreme Court Will Not Stay the EPA Power Plant Rule While It Goes through the Lower Courts
The Supreme Court has decided not to stay the EPA’s “power plant rule” that requires the use of an expensive and non-commercial technology while lower courts deliberate the rule and its legality. …
Breathe a Little Easier: Why America’s Air is Among the Cleanest in the World
Breathe a Little Easier is part of our ongoing effort to explain the role that energy has played in improving human living standards over the past two centuries. This project examines trends in air quality in the U.S. in order to push back at the doom-and-gloom narratives that dominate so much of our thinking about energy …
As Renewable Energy Increases in the Generation Mix, Power Outages Grow
Texas and California lead the nation in power outages and in wind and solar generation. Since 2019, there have been 263 power outages across Texas–more than any other state–each lasting an average of 160 minutes and impacting an estimated average of 172,000 Texans. From 2019 to 2023, California had 221 power outages, ranking second, and …