Coming out of semi-retirement for two reasons. First, to thank all our front-line utility folks who have kept electricity and all other vital utility services running through the pandemic. You’ve received little recognition, but where would we be without you? Thanking not only everyone on the lines — our front...

By Steve Huntoon By now we’ve all been told that FERC’s recent order on PJM’s minimum offer price rule is the death knell for renewables and a big hit to consumers. This is the spin from renewable advocates who didn’t actually read the order before firing off press releases.[efn_note]The order...

By Steve Huntoon Recap Six months ago, I discussed how PJM’s capacity market (the "Reliability Pricing Model") reversed a deteriorating reserve margin, efficiently assuring resource adequacy years into the future while integrating demand response and renewable resources.[efn_note]http://energy-counsel.com/docs/Fuel-Security-PJM-Does-Seinfeld.pdf.[/efn_note] RPM has been a bulwark against bailout claims for coal and nuclear units...

By Steve Huntoon Last month, FERC had a technical conference on one of the most effective and economic measures that could be taken to fight climate change (AD19-15)[efn_note]References here are to presentations and transcript (Tr.) from the conference. See also FERC Considering Tx Line Rating Rules.[/efn_note]. It’s akin to other...

By Steve Huntoon Steve Huntoon To recap, environmental advocates have decided to fight natural gas generation, notwithstanding, as I’ve pointed out, the fundamental problems with relying only on renewables and batteries, and the fact that new natural gas, not renewables, is responsible for 90% of the reduction in carbon emissions...

By Steve Huntoon Steve Huntoon Heard much about New York’s Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) lately? No, I didn’t think so. Remember how REV was supposed to empower customers and reduce their costs with all kinds of innovations in the traditional utility model? It was the most hyped regulatory initiative...

By Steve Huntoon Environmental advocates decided over the last year or so to fight natural gas generation, notwithstanding the fundamental problems with relying only on renewables and batteries,1 and the fact that new natural gas, not renewables, is responsible for 90% of the reduction in carbon emissions in places like...

By Steve Huntoon If you’re a regular with RTO Insider, Greentech Media and the like, you’ve likely read the accusation that PJM is screwing batteries (motive a mystery).1 Here’s the backstory. PJM has a capacity market that basically requires that a generator or equivalent resource be "on call" 24 hours...

By Steve Huntoon As in bridge, let’s review the bidding. The Natural Resources Defense Council attacked PJM,1 accusing it of suppressing renewable resources relative to other RTOs, wasting billions of consumer dollars in the process and contending, in effect, that a cheap and reliable zero-carbon future could be ours if...

By Steve Huntoon It’s said the Supreme Court won’t grant review to reverse a lower court decision that is "merely wrong." Don’t waste the court’s resources on error of little consequence. The opposite of that we might call "scary wrong": something profoundly wrong and with significant potential consequence. Such is...