United States

Secretary of Energy Signs Order to Mitigate Security Risks to the Nation's Electric Grid

This article discusses an order that has recently come to the table, as issued by Dan Brouilette. The notices of the order will be communicated to the utility by January 16, 2021. The order is meant to increase energy security on the United States' energy grids. Given the recent downturn in...Read more

Senators call for quick release of LIHEAP funds

This article includes background information on how the three stimulus bills passed to provide economic relief due to COVID-19 impacts LIHEAP. It describes a letter produced by a collective of 28 U.S. senators, based on data from a report produced by NEADA. Read more

Caught in a patchwork of policies and pledges, some utility customers may still be awaiting electricity restoration or racking up fees

This article reports on the state of disconnections across the United States in March 2020. One of the major points of the article is that, although many states have suspended utility shut-offs during the pandemic (sometimes for an unspecified length of time) there is little data on whether...Read more

Utility shutoffs should be a rallying cry for justice

In much a continued theme throughout the pandemic, utility shutoffs threaten and have negatively impacted many families across the United States. Without any jobs or assistance to pay for high energy bills, which continue to pile on as we are inevitably forced to stay inside, many families face...Read more

Renewable Energy Is Suddenly Startlingly Cheap

This article provides a great overview of the changes and transitions in energy that are being witnessed at the moment and that have made more than significant advances in the last three years. A non-profit, environmentalist agency (Carbon Tracker) has documented the steady decrease in prices...Read more

The carbon footprint of household energy use in the United States

Abstract: 

Residential energy use accounts for roughly 20% of greenhouse

gas (GHG) emissions in the United States. Using data on 93 million

individual households, we estimate these GHGs across the contiguous

United States and...Read more

The role of energy in economic growth

In this article, Nate Hagens gives an overview of the paper written by David I. Stern, energy and environmental economist working on the role of energy in the economy and the drivers and mitigation of climate change and a professor at the Crawford School of Public...Read more

North Dakota, Minnesota at opposite ends of energy efficiency scorecard

The article shows how, after evaluating the fifty states and their implementation of energy efficiency and zero emissions policy and goals, North Dakota comes in second-to-last, whereas Minnesota's scorecard comes in at the top 10. Still leading the country in energy efficiency and energy policy...Read more

6 Maps That Show How Bad Energy Poverty Is and Reveal 2 Ways to Make it Better

Things that attracted me to this article is the use of the term 'energy burden' and the fact that the maps were created by DOE. I also liked how the author talked about the differences between progressive and regressive policies. I learned some new terms too: split incentive and green lease. Read more

Department of Energy Releases Energy Storage Grand Challenge Roadmap

Hand in hand with the order released on December 16th, the finalized energy storage plans are part of the United States' attempt to secure energy supply for the nation. In an effort to remain competitive in the energy market, the United States is trying to find innovative ways to both produce...Read more

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