grid reliability

September 14, 2023

Ask a Scientist: It’s Getting Easier for US Car Owners to Go Electric

Elliott Negin
Senior Writer

Gas plant in California with pipeline in foreground

John Ciccarelli/BLM

September 13, 2023

Extreme Summer Weather Threatens Gas Power Plants. Here’s How.

Paul Arbaje
Energy Analyst

Alex Levine/Flickr

September 7, 2023

How Do Electric Grid Operators Warn Us About Extreme Heat?

Guest Commentary

Two people sitting in front of two laptops. One holds a pencil over paper with calculations.

Mark Graham/Unsplash

August 23, 2023

How Reliable Are Gas Power Plants? What ICAP, UCAP, and ELCC Tell Us.

Mark Specht
Western States Energy Manager/Senior Analyst

UCS

August 22, 2023

Extreme Heat Makes Electricity More Expensive, More Polluting, and Less Reliable

John Rogers
Energy Campaign Analytic Lead

American Public Power Association/Unsplash

August 17, 2023

Too Many Gas Power Plants Are the Problem, Not the Solution

Vivian Yang
Western States Energy Analyst

An electric car charges at a transportable, off-grid, solar powered, solar tracking, electric vehicle charger at a National Renewable Energy Laboratory facility.

U.S. Department of Energy/Flickr

August 16, 2023

EVs Can Support Power Grid Reliability and Reduce Costs. Here’s How.

Mark Specht
Western States Energy Manager/Senior Analyst

Oxana Melis/Unsplash

August 16, 2023

California Has a Chance to Ensure EVs Get Even Better With Bidirectional Charging

Samantha Houston
Senior Vehicles Analyst

Pedro Castellano

June 12, 2023

Fossil Fuels vs. Renewables: A Price on Reliability?

Mike Jacobs
Senior Energy Analyst

Image from space of California and Nevada

European Space Agency

April 19, 2023

Western Grid Regionalization Is Back on the Drawing Board. Why Now?

Mark Specht
Western States Energy Manager/Senior Analyst

image of tornado approaching a car, Texas, 1995

Harald Richter/National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL)

April 12, 2023

Tornadoes and More: What Spring Can Bring to the Power Grid

Paul Arbaje
Energy Analyst

Marii Sha/Unsplash

January 24, 2023

Storm Elliott Knocked Out Fossil-Fuel Power. We’ve Been Here Before.

Paul Arbaje
Energy Analyst

Cinzy Hidden/Flickr

January 4, 2023

What Does Western Grid Regionalization Mean for California?

Vivian Yang
Western States Energy Analyst

Jeremy Bezanger/Unsplash

September 21, 2022

Changes to California’s Resource Adequacy Program Will Have Huge Consequences for the Power Grid

Mark Specht
Western States Energy Manager/Senior Analyst

GPA Photo Archive/Flickr

September 12, 2022

Can the Electric Grid Handle EV Charging?

Samantha Houston
Senior Vehicles Analyst

Mathias Appel/Flickr

September 7, 2022

Failure to Plan Could Create an Energy Crisis

Mike Jacobs
Senior Energy Analyst

Western Area Power/Flickr

August 31, 2022

September Is Here. That Means Another Nail-Biter for California’s Grid.

Mark Specht
Western States Energy Manager/Senior Analyst

NREL

May 18, 2022

Why We Can Send A Rover To Mars, But We Can’t Send An Electron From New York to California

Mike Jacobs
Senior Energy Analyst

Markus Spiske/Unsplash

April 25, 2022

Grid Modeling Overview: Four Types of Models Guiding the Transition to Clean Electricity

Mark Specht
Western States Energy Manager/Senior Analyst

Paxson Woelber/Flickr

January 24, 2022

Odds are Power Plants Near You are Holding Back on Cold Days

Mike Jacobs
Senior Energy Analyst

Moritz Knoringer/Unsplash

December 14, 2021

California Energy: A 2021 Review and a Look Ahead

Mark Specht
Western States Energy Manager/Senior Analyst

a photo of the Russell City Energy Center in Hayward, California, taken by the blog author on his tour. a sign on the chainlink fence in front of the plant reads, "welcome to the best damn plant in the fleet!"

Mark Specht

August 12, 2021

I Toured “the Best Damn Plant in the Fleet.” Two Years Later It Exploded.

Mark Specht
Western States Energy Manager/Senior Analyst

Kevin Dooley/Flickr

June 24, 2021

California Takes Big Step Towards Clean Electricity, But Not Without Stumbling

Mark Specht
Western States Energy Manager/Senior Analyst

Matthew Henry/Unsplash

June 15, 2021

Why Should We Care About MISO’s Long Range Transmission Planning?

James Gignac
Midwest Senior Policy Manager