Commentary

NRDC
PJM’s Reliability Backstop Auction: Fixing Half the Problem
PJM, with prompting from 13 governors, is trying another solution to resource adequacy: the “Reliability Backstop Auction.” While details still are being negotiated, this boils down to throwing money at new power plants, says Tom Rutigliano of the NRDC.
The Century Foundation commentary with data from UC-CCP
Electricity Rates are the Political Livewire Threatening the Industry
Residential electricity bills have moved from being background noise in discussions about resource adequacy, decarbonization, and transmission expansion to being the loudest political and business risk, says Dej Knuckey.
Windy.com
Navigating Extreme Winter Storms: A System-of-systems Perspective
With Winter Storm Fern, we learned, once again, that our nation’s power grids rely on a significant fossil mix when the weather turns nasty, writes columnist Peter Kelly-Detwiler.
MISO
MISO’s Zero-injection Proposal: A Good Start, but It’s Not Enough
Limiting MISO large load solutions only to zero-injection scenarios misses the mark and can create a myriad of challenges now and in the future, writes David Sapper of the Clean Grid Alliance.
ICF EnergyInsite
Tech Companies Need a Hedge Against Worrisome Grid Politics
An alternative to connecting a large data center load to the electrical grid is a private, fully off-grid energy system, writes Travis Fisher of Cato.
Shutterstock
The Data Center Paradox: NIMBYism Versus Corporate Welfare
Misguided NIMBYism or corporate welfare either obstructs the building of new data centers or compels taxpayers to subsidize them, writes energy consultant Kenneth W. Costello.
Entergy
ERAS Tour: Hi, It’s Me, I’m the Planning Problem
The new ERAS processes in MISO and SPP allow certain power plants to effectively jump the interconnection line, skipping ahead of hundreds of other projects already waiting their turn, writes Southern Renewable Energy Association Executive Director Simon Mahan.
IPCC
Leadership in a Time of Systemic Climate Risk
Climate risk no longer is simply an environmental problem. It’s a governance, planning, and management problem. And it sits squarely on the desks of utility executives, system operators, and policymakers.
Shutterstock
The Maryland 2026 Midterms Energy Trilemma Blues
Maryland's 2026 legislative session could show how states facing explosive demand growth can achieve their clean energy and affordability goals despite the Trump administration’s resistance to solar, wind and storage, according to Livewire columnist K Kaufmann.
© RTO Insider
Beware of Unintended Consequences
Achieving Washington's and Oregon's goals of 80% clean/decarbonized energy by 2030 will be difficult because of the transmission access and construction realities, writes Randy Hardy.

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