A conservative energy analysis group charges that the Trump administration’s draft plan to aid economically uncompetitive nuclear and coal generating plants, pitched at strengthening grid resilience, will do the opposite. The Houston-based Institute for Energy Research says, “The administration’s proposal would undermine the profit and loss system by socializing the losses of these power plants, … More Conservative energy group slams Trump ‘resiliency’ plan

To understand the Trump administration’s latest plan to sell off federal electric transmission systems, it’s worth consulting that great American philosopher Lawrence “Yogi” Berra: “It’s déjà vu all over again.” The administration’s government reorganization plan, unveiled last week, contains a proposal to sell off the transmission assets of the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Southwestern Power … More Trump Plan to privatize federal electric transmission surfaces again

Don’t count coal out globally. While battered in the U.S. market, coal is holding its own around the rest of the world, according to BP’s annual “Statistical Review of World Energy,” one of the best annual assessments of the state of energy around the globe. “Coal consumption increased by 25 million tonnes of oil equivalent … More Worldwide coal not down and out

The same day that Moody’s Investors Service lowered its outlook for utilities, based on rising debt, investment banker Morgan Stanley says it’s a good time to load up on some utility stocks. Morgan Stanley analyst Michael Wilson has upgraded the utility sector to “outperform” the broader stock market. Low-risk stocks, such as those for utilities, … More Morgan Stanley likes utility stocks as a defensive play

Moody’s Investors Service has lowered its outlook for U.S. regulated utilities from stable to negative. The credit rating service said Monday, “This marks the first time the regulated utilities sector has carried a negative outlook since Moody’s began conducting sector outlooks.” The source of the revised outlook is the Trump administration-Republican federal tax reform, which … More Moody’s lowers utility credit outlook to negative

The Trump administration’s nascent, second-generation plan to bail out uncompetitive coal and nuclear plants, bypassing the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, got a decided thumbs down from the Republican-dominated FERC and several Republican Senators on Tuesday. Greentech Media commented, “Outside of politicians from coal states, the DOE’s plan doesn’t have many supporters in Washington.” The Senate … More Trump’s coal-nuke bailout lacks GOP support

Four years ago, I wrote in POWER magazine, “Geoengineering: A practical climate work-around or just plan crazy?” At the time, and still today, the mainstream approach to global warming was political and administrative, under the idea that the world could come together and mount a planet-wide plan to cooperatively reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Based on … More Climate change geoengineering gets a boost

Donald Trump has no coherent economic policy. It’s all fly-by-night, seat-of-the pants stuff. Trump truly believes he can command the U.S. economy. It’s not ideology but his narcissism and megalomania at work. Trump has become an accidental socialist, devoted to government central planning of the economy. He’s choosing winners and losers in the economy, most … More Trump’s unwitting socialism and mercantilism

Bogus. Arbitrary. Capricious. Add to that, stupid, unproductive, and dangerous. That’s the best summary I can come up with for the widely-reported White House plan to order the Department of Energy to slam uneconomic coal and nuclear plants into the heretofore competitive wholesale electric markets. Bloomberg and other news outlets are reporting, based on a … More Trump tells DOE to destroy competitive electric markets

The inexorable collapse of coal-fired generating capacity continues, with four more major plants set to retire in the next two days. The Trump administration’s proclaimed goal of saving coal appears entirely irrelevant as coal plant shutdowns continued apace. So, too, does the Sierra Club’s “Beyond Coal” campaign, fueled by Michael Bloomberg’s deep pockets, despite the … More Coalmageddon today and tomorrow