Paul Dabber writes in the Washington Examiner about the material inflation in U.S. power prices. The availability of power plants has been shrinking due to environmental regulations being placed on older, primarily coal plants. Not enough power plants are being built to cover for those shutdowns due to federal and local restrictions on new construction. And...

Phil Gramm and Donald J. Boudreaux write in The Wall Street Journal about the price of protectionism. “Protectionism and industrial policy misallocate resources and reduce economic efficiency. When firms in a free market produce outputs that consumers won’t buy, the money entrepreneurs and investors lose is their own. When protectionists and industrial-policy planners make mistakes,...

"FECI intends to complete construction of the new Brightline project before the 2028 Olympics come to California. If it does, the firm will have offered yet another demonstration of how the private sector can succeed where the public sector fails. "

"In Borrego Springs, a desert town of 3,000, temperatures often top 110 degrees Fahrenheit in summer and air conditioners run nonstop. The town’s primary utility, San Diego Gas & Electric, has raised electric rates 82% in the past 10 years as it poured money into wildfire prevention and expanding and greening the grid."

Phil Rossetti writes in RealClearEnergy that Joe Biden is at least partially to blame for high gas prices. “Like it or not, Biden was the one steering energy policy during a time of elevated energy costs across the board. While he can’t be blamed for things outside of his control, we can certainly blame him...

"The auction secured 135,684 megawatts for the period from June 1, 2025, through May 31, 2026. The power mix from generators included 48% gas, 21% nuclear, 18% of coal, 1% of solar, 1% of wind, 4% of hydro, 5% of demand response and 2% from other resources, PJM said."

"High-voltage transmission construction — 345-kV or greater — has fallen since the early 2010s when about 1,700 miles was added each year on average, according to the report. High-voltage additions fell to 925 miles on average from 2015 to 2019, and 350 miles a year from 2020 to 2023, Grid Strategies said."

"Indeed, new transmission lines and renewable projects are facing growing opposition from people who don’t want them in their proverbial backyard. The International Energy Agency said in a 2023 report that the US was among the places with the strongest barriers to grid development 'that relate to public acceptance of new projects.'"

"The three Texas battery installations — Lumina I, Lumina II, and Radian — are expected to be up and running in 2024. They will store solar power already flowing from Intersect’s 640 megawatt Lumina project and its 320 megawatt Radian project in Texas, helping provide additional flexibility to a state that outpaced California in solar deployment as of last year and is forecasted to beat California in energy storage deployment in 2024."