Free Republic

'Congress alone has the authority' to breach federal dams, lawmakers write in letter to White House.. The Biden administration is quietly discussing a potentially far-reaching settlement with environmental groups that advocate for tearing down four hydroelectric dams in Washington... ... In the filings, jointly submitted by the federal government and eco groups... However, the filing failed to detail exactly what conditions were included in the secretive package .... We find it necessary to remind you Congress alone has the authority not only to order the breach of the Lower Snake River Dams, but also exclusive authority to direct the study...

12-05-23 Across the country these sites are becoming fertile ground for renewable energy projects, from wind and solar to battery storage. AES Indiana’s Petersburg Generating Station, which towers over the White River in southwest Indiana, has been burning coal to generate electricity since the late 1960s. That era, though, will come to an end soon. Two of the power plant’s four coal-burning units have already retired and the last is planned to shut down in 2025. “AES Indiana will be the first utility out of coal in the state,” says Kelly Young, a spokeswoman for the company, which has more...

The utility company boasted of record profits at a recent shareholder meeting. ... Kim Lysobey typically wears three layers and thick boots while at home during the winter. She keeps her thermostat at 60 degrees during the day and turns it down to 50 degrees overnight. She keeps the house dark during the day. Even her dog, Boo, wears a sweater in the house. Despite these efforts to conserve energy, her Xcel Energy bill — like so many other customers around the state — still saw a sharp increase at the end of 2022. In Lysobey’s case, her bill nearly...

Colorado-based cooperative Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association will accelerate the closure of a coal-fired unit in the northwestern part of CO, and announced a retirement date for an Arizona coal plant. Tri-State said it wants to acquire at least another 1,250 MW of renewable energy generation over the next several years. The not-for-profit company, which serves rural electricity consumers across four western states, said the ERP filed with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission seeks to take advantage of funding from the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture’s $9.7 billion Empowering Rural America program, part of the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act. The...

John Kerry, special presidential envoy on climate matters, announced Saturday that the United States has "proudly" committed to not to build any new coal plants and to get rid of existing ones entirely."To meet our goal of 100 percent carbon pollution-free electricity by 2035, we need to phase out unabated coal," Mr. Kerry said in a Dec. 2 statement, in which he announced that the United States had officially joined a coalition of 56 other countries who all plan to ditch coal in the name of climate change.“We will be working to accelerate unabated coal phase-out across the world, building...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The United States committed to the idea of phasing out coal power plants, joining 56 other nations in kicking the coal habit that’s a huge factor in global warming. U.S. Special Envoy John Kerry announced over the weekend that America was joining the Powering Past Coal Alliance, which means the Biden Administration commits to building no new coal plants and phasing out existing plants. No date was given for when the existing plants would have to go, but other Biden regulatory actions and international commitments already in the works had meant no coal by 2035.

Michigan's Democrat majority legislature passed and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) signed a new law that will require all electricity utilities to be 100% clean by 2040. All fossil fuels will be banned thereafter. Clean power sources include wind, solar, nuclear, and natural gas systems that can capture at least 90% of their emissions. Whether solar and wind will ever generate enough electricity to supplant coal-fired electricity is doubtful. The problem lies in the mismatch of supply and demand. When the sun is shining and the wind is blowing there is plenty of electricity. However, at night or when breezes are...

India produced a record amount of electricity from coal in October ... Coal remains fundamental to the country’s energy security ... India will depend on its mines and rail network to satisfy rapidly growing electricity demand and ensure reliability. Total electricity demand met increased by 24 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) (+21%) in October compared with the same month a year earlier. ... the electricity system turned to gas (1.6 billion kWh, +103%) and especially coal (28 billion kWh, +33%) to meet demand. Coal-fired generators produced a seasonal record of 111 billion kWh in October 2023 up from 84 billion kWh in...

In 2032, India will need a billion tonnes of coal, partly to charge EVs in urban areas via power generated by thermal plants. Five Indian cities, including the capital, New Delhi, consistently rank in the world’s top ten worst air-polluted cities. Vehicular emissions are significant contributors; Delhi alone has around four million cars – no wonder the government of India is promoting electric vehicles (EVs) on a large scale. While India’s target is a 30% market share of EVs by 2030, the share is currently only 1.1%. Moreover, concerns exist about whether EVs are a green option if pollution is...

Dependable, low-cost electricity is essential to keeping the lights on for millions of American family-owned businesses. It is the type of essential item that touches nearly every aspect of our lives; the bakery relies on ovens, the repair shop on power tools, and the local grocer on refrigeration, and on and on. A consistent and affordable power source ensures that they can operate without interruption and keep prices competitive for their customers despite low margins and a fragile economy. Unfortunately, misguided federal policies now threaten to further disrupt our electric grid and could cause these business to shutter. In the...

Natural gas remains the main source of heating in American homes despite the current administration’s electrification push. . Heating homes this winter using natural gas is estimated to cut down energy costs by more than 40 percent compared to electricity, according to a recent report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Households using electricity to heat homes are projected to pay $1,063 on average between November and March, according to a Nov. 7 winter fuels outlook report by the EIA. In comparison, households using natural gas are only expected to shell out $601. Region-wise, the biggest difference is in...

Homeless people stealing power caused $500 million of damage to an LA freeway. It will take three months to repair. 10 million people are inconvenienced because homeless people were allowed to steal electricity.

The average American household that uses electricity to heat a home this winter will pay hundreds of dollars more than those who use natural gas, according to a new report from a federal agency. The report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration said a home that uses electricity will pay 77 percent more or an average of $462 this winter, compared to a household that uses natural gas. Looking into the winter fuel outlook, the report said electricity will cost $46.19, based on a unit of heat. By comparison, the cost of natural gas will be $13.97. ... officials have...

More than half of the U.S. and parts of Canada, home to around 180 million people, could fall short of electricity during extreme cold again this winter due to lacking natural gas infrastructure, the North American Electric Reliability Corp (NERC) said on Wednesday. In its 2023-24 winter outlook, the regulatory authority warned that prolonged, wide-area cold snaps threaten the reliability of bulk power generation and availability of fuel supplies for natural gas-fired generation. “Recent extreme cold weather events have shown that energy delivery disruptions can have devastating consequences for electric and gas consumers in impacted areas,” NERC said.

Switzerland’s nuclear power plant operators plan to keep the facilities operational for longer than initially planned, ... Switzerland has four nuclear reactors, which generate up to 40% of its electricity ... the energy crisis and concerns about the reliability of electricity supply in the country has prompted utilities to look to extend the lives of the reactors as long as the extension of the operations is found to be safe. Axpo Holding and Alpiq Holding have increased the planned lifespan for their nuclear power plants to 60 years from a previous target of 50 years, which means they could be...

On 6 July China’s dictator-for-life, Xi Jinping, ordered his military to “deepen war and combat planning.” At the same time, the Biden administration (and most of Congress) will not recognize that the CCP has already declared war on them and the rest of America. As a result, our international and domestic defenses are vulnerable in many vital areas.To match Xi Jinping’s preparations for war we must accelerate rebuilding our navy with more ships and submarines, we must create a real ICBM defense, we must stop thousands of Chinese illegals now flooding across our borders, and we must round up those...

researchers at MIT and Harvard University have developed an efficient process that can convert carbon dioxide into formate, a liquid or solid material that can be used like hydrogen or methanol to power a fuel cell and generate electricity. ...However, the researchers expect it to be scalable so that it could provide emissions-free heat and power to individual homes and even be used in industrial or grid-scale applications. These crystals have an indefinite shelf life, remaining so stable that they could be stored for years, or even decades, with little or no loss. By comparison, even the best available practical...

California’s buildout of wind and solar farms is exceeding the ability of its grid to handle all the electricity during periods of high production and low demand. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported Monday that curtailments, which is when wind and solar farms are deliberately shut down, increased to peak levels in 2023. The California Independent System Operator, which operates the electricity grid for much of the state, has steadily curtailed the amount of electricity from wind and solar farms that flows through its system. The decreases appear to be situational, not a steady process, and are the result of...

Wind and solar are both terrible methods of generating electricity, both expensive and unreliable. The one thing that can make the situation worse is the drive to electrify everything, including motor vehicles. The impracticality of this “green” vision has become blindingly obvious, and the “green” movement has begun to fall apart. Steve noted this afternoon the collapsing share prices of renewable energy companies. Here are some more indications that the “green” movement is spiraling downward: From the Telegraph: “Electricity prices ‘must rise by 70pc to pay for more wind farms.’” No new wind farms will be built off Britain’s shores...

It's one thing to try and replace fossil fuels with wind and solar power, but experts are saying the generation of power is only half the battle, and that the problems in getting that power to Americans may be insurmountable. A new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) concludes that the size of the global electricity grid will need to double by 2040, in order to reach global emission reductions targets in line with the Paris Agreement. That means, the IEA says, the world will need to refurbish or add 50 million miles of new transmission lines within 17...