This author has yet to write their bio.Meanwhile lets just say that we are proud Scott Carlberg contributed a whooping 635 entries.
Having a grid operator makes a lot of sense according to one energy expert. That grid operator is an RTO – regional transmission organization. There’s a catch, though. “So far nobody has figured out how to do it the right way,” says Ed Hirs, an energy economics expert. In my last column – Policymakers Have […]
“An RTO is an industrial purchasing bureau, similar to the Soviet construction.” RTO = regional transmission organization, and it is being “studied” as something to implement in the Carolinas, if not the whole Southeast. The person who compares RTOs and old Soviet economics is Ed Hirs, who teaches energy economics at the University of Houston […]
The top two fastest-growing jobs in the next 10 years that do not require a college degree are in energy. That is what a Bureau of Labor Statistics report says. Those jobs are in new energy technologies – wind energy technicians and solar panel installers. Finding a career niche without college is a big deal, […]
Choosing the candy you enjoy most can be a treat. Not having a choice is not so much fun. Choosing whether you want electricity generated from solar, hydro, gas or wind is a treat, unless there is little electricity to use at all. Then you take what you can get because you need electricity. Yet […]
Mention solar energy even a few years ago and angels sang, the sky was deep blue, and all was right with the world. Not so much anymore. That burnish has worn off in some places. NIMBYism – Not In My Backyard – has hit solar development. A story in the Salisbury [NC] newspaper, Solar farm […]
North Carolina has an energy bill – Energy Solutions for North Carolina. The vote in the Senate Wednesday followed a huge public debate, sparked by Governor Cooper’s 2019 Clean Energy Plan. The House voted on the compromise bill and Cooper now has it to sign. Everyone seems to get something, no one got everything asked. Seems […]
Have you ever seen a one-car parade? Get ready. South Carolina takes its first step in an electric market restructuring process. It could change how South Carolinians get their electricity, how much electricity, and what they pay. A legislative committee will study whether to create or join a Regional Transmission Organization (RTO). Regional is an […]
Someone needs to throw the BS flag on a part of the energy debate in the Carolinas. Consider it thrown. Last week the South Carolina legislature’s committee to investigate a regional transmission organization (RTO) convened. Perhaps investigate should be in quotes. One comment made in the session was that no pre-conceived outcome has been determined […]
There was a legislative committee meeting in Columbia Thursday. It didn’t garner headlines; it wasn’t on the evening news. Not even a Tweet or peep from the usual Capital reporters who follow such things report out in 280 characters or less. But the committee was a domino falling, the first step in an electric market […]
The energy market is showing that supply and demand are still in effect. Right now, the highlight is the price of natural gas, used in homes but also by many utilities to make electricity. The price of natural gas is 70% above recent lows; in the second week of September, it was a new 8-year […]