Projected data center growth spurs PJM capacity prices by factor of 10
Our latest piece on data centers found a tightening market for electric generation capacity across the PJM region (which spans all or parts of 13 mid-Atlantic and Midwestern states, plus the District of Columbia) is driving up electric rates for consumers. This tight market is driven in large part by data centers, highlighting another way in which ratepayers are footing the bill for electrical infrastructure demanded by these facilities.
Glut – The four-letter word that has producers doubting their futures
The global oil industry has a serious problem: there’s simply too much oil and not enough demand. Today’s prices are too low for the oil and gas industry to thrive and are projected to fall even further. A fundamental mismatch between abundant supply and weak demand has created a weak outlook that has dampened the private sector’s enthusiasm for oil and gas companies.
Anti-renewable policies are going to cost consumers
Political uncertainty will raise the risks—and therefore, the costs—of developing other new power generation resources, including new nuclear facilities, dispatchable battery storage, solar, and gas-fired plants. Renewable energy and dispatchable storage are the only option for adding significant amounts of new generation capacity to the U.S. grid for at least the next five years. Adding power from gas-fired plants through 2030 is severely limited by turbine manufacturing constraints, and the administration's efforts to keep aging and unreliable coal plants open will cost consumers dearly.
The Williams NESE gas pipeline is not better the second time around
National Grid contends downstate New Yorkers (New York City and Long Island) should pay for construction of a new interstate pipeline. The proposed NESE gas pipeline would ship fracked natural gas from Pennsylvania to Downstate New York for combustion in homes, businesses, and Long Island power plants. IEEFA's report examines the project and concludes the pipeline is unnecessary.
Canada should learn from the Trans Mountain Expansion pipeline's fiscal issues
As some private interests and public officials call for government funding to construct more pipelines across Canada to enhance oil exports, it is worth taking a closer look at the financial quagmire of the Trans Mountain Expansion pipeline (TMX). The project has already been bailed out by the Canadian government once but still faces significant economic hurdles. Construction costs and government financial support have escalated significantly since 2018, when the Canadian government first purchased the financially troubled pipeline. Learn more in our fact sheet.
Poor coal economics to cost West Virginia electricity consumers
West Virginia customers of Appalachian Power and Wheeling Power (American Electric Power’s subsidiaries in the state) will pay tens of millions of dollars more in electric rates because of economic losses at the companies’ coal-fired power plants. Excess coal inventories are posing a challenge not only for utilities, but also for coal producers trying to sell into an oversupplied market.
.png?upscale=true&width=1160&upscale=true&name=Residential%20and%20Commercial%20Rooftop%20Solar%20in%20Puerto%20Rico@2x%20(1).png)