The Texas electric power market is designed to give energy companies incentive to sell electricity at the lowest possible cost. That focus helps explain why it collapsed during a historic cold wave.
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Articles on Electric utilities
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Heat waves, droughts and deep freezes can all strain the electric grid, leading utilities to impose rolling blackouts. Climate change is likely to make these events more common.
A study points to one way to speed up adoption of innovations in clean energy technology – more flexibility among state regulators.
Many Americans have been unable to pay their electric bills during the COVID-19 pandemic, racking up billions of dollars in delinquent bills. Where will the money come from?
Many Americans had trouble paying their energy bills before COVID-19, and the current recession is making the problem worse.
Energy companies are marketing a new fuel: ‘renewable’ natural gas. But it’s not the same from a climate change perspective as wind or solar energy.
Nuclear threats are serious – but officials, the media and the public keep a close eye on them. There’s less attention to the dangers of cyberattacks, which could cripple key utilities.
Electric utilities have a right to make money on their government-granted monopolies, but customers also have a right to know what cyber-protections they would get if they paid more.
The electric utility is seeing rapid changes and threats that affect consumers, from more wind and solar to wildfires. How they react depends in large part on regulators.
Energy storage could prove an inexpensive way for power companies to handle heat waves and other times when consumers use more electricity than usual.
The results of a study that measured public responses to a policy aimed at reducing carbon emissions contradict a common environmental concern.
Lessons learned from Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and the Fukushima disaster in 2011 have changed how utilities brace for big storms.
Taking millions of gallons of water permanently out of the Colorado River amid a prolonged drought would surely start an interstate fight.
Many people board up their houses and stay in place during disasters – but often they aren’t prepared to go without water, power or transportation for days or weeks afterward.
As South American countries recover from a massive blackout, the US isn’t immune: The Northeast Blackout of 2003 cut power to 50 million people, and many threats to the electricity grid remain.
Power utilities’ cybersecurity practices may be effective, but need to evolve over time. And all companies operating elements of the grid – even the small ones – should step up.
Experts explain the task of securing the electrical grid against cyberattacks, and discuss potential solutions and the risk of failure.
A recent study suggests that smart meters can help households reduce their electricity use by as much as 5%. Are France’s anti-Linky households listening?
A recent survey of electric utility leaders finds that Trump administration efforts to promote coal energy and roll back air pollution regulations have had little impact on their long-range plans.
It’s easier to see how customers benefit from increased grid security than it is to justify making them pay for it.
Top contributors
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Director of Energy Studies, University of Florida
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Professor of Energy and Environmental Economics and International Affairs, Penn State
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Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Iowa State University
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Josey Centennial Professor of Energy Resources, The University of Texas at Austin
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Affiliate, Electricity Markets & Policy Group, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
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Professor of Agricultural Economics, Texas A&M University
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Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Florida
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PhD Student, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), London School of Economics and Political Science
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Professor of Public Policy, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
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Professor of Sustainability, Rochester Institute of Technology
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Associate Professor of Physics, Penn State
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Professor of Systems Science and Director, Clinical Science and Engineering Research Laboratory, Binghamton University, State University of New York
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Professor of Energy Economics, Grenoble École de Management (GEM)
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Provost Professor of Economics and Spatial Sciences, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
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Professorial Fellow, Department of Economics, Monash University
