Commentary

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Whither FERC?
Columnist Steve Huntoon predicts that the independent federal agencies like FERC will survive the Supreme Court’s revisiting of Humphrey’s Executor v. United States.
Shutterstock
Will Batteries Remain a Clean Energy Bright Spot in 2026?
In 2026, utility-scale energy storage projects in the U.S. will face headwinds that could slow the pace of a technology that is fast becoming a global grid staple, warns columnist Dej Knuckey.
Illustrated by Perplexity
The Year the Humble Electron Becomes Politicized
The defining story of the coming year will be the widening chasm between electricity supply and demand, a dynamic driven by a slow-moving supply side, coupled with the explosive growth of energy-hungry data centers, says columnist Peter Kelly-Detwiler.
MISO
Can Expanding Transmission Reduce Electricity Costs?
Expanding transmission can reduce electricity costs for consumers, but only if the buildout uses consumer welfare as the North Star and ignores narrow political or business interests, say Travis Fisher and Nick Loris.
Con Ed
The Slow, but Inevitable, Threat of Sea Level Rise
Storm surge events like Sandy offer insights into what the worst of sea level rise may do to an area’s infrastructure and how the power industry needs to think about this slow-moving but inevitable threat, says columnist Dej Knuckey.
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What is the Outlook for Batteries in PJM?
For the first time in PJM history, the market signal for flexible capability such as battery storage is strong, consistent and grounded in clear system need, says Ali Karimian of GridBeyond.
UN Climate Change - Kiara Worth
Clean Energy Must Start Post-Trump Planning Now
Livewire columnist K Kaufmann argues that clean energy supporters should focus on a strategically planned, outcome-focused, and rapidly achievable transition toward renewables.
DOE
Whither Nuclear?
A new study makes a strong case that the cost of new nuclear plants could decline from the Vogtle experience as multiple units are constructed, says columnist Steve Huntoon.
U.S. Climate Vulnerability Index
Building a Resilient Grid for an Uncertain Future
Planning for the grid of the future requires increasingly sophisticated prognostication, and the industry needs to look to new data sources to model the grid of tomorrow, says columnist Dej Knuckey.
NRDC
PJM’s Board Must Protect the Grid
Load growth beyond PJM’s ability to serve is a clear and present danger to the reliability of the grid and the functioning of PJM’s markets, says the NRDC.

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