“On behalf of Xcel’s South Dakota customers who very much would like their electricity to remain reliable 24/7/365 in good weather or bad, we ask you to reconsider your unfortunate decision to close King and Sherco prematurely. We do not want Xcel to be part of the impending problem of generation shortage in the MISO footprint. Reliability should be your number one commitment.”
What Others Are Saying
Below is a collection of quotes from industry experts, policymakers, officials, and others on various electrical grid issues. Use the filters below to find perspectives on topics like coal retirements, reliability, regulations and more.
Quote Filter
- South Dakota Public Utilities Commission
- South Dakota Public Utilities Commission
- South Dakota Public Utilities Commission
- Letter to Xcel Energy on the Planned Closure of Minnesota Coal Plants
- 01/04/2024
“Regulatory, policy, and environmental pressures on fossil-based generation resources that provide 60 percent of the nation’s electricity further threaten the reliability and flexibility of the grid. Because of these pressures, coupled with projections of electric demand growth, we are concerned about the reliability of the bulk-power system and the actions the Commission is taking or considering taking to ensure that it fulfills its mission to ‘assist consumers in obtaining reliable, safe, secure, and economically efficient energy services at a reasonable cost through appropriate regulatory and market means, and collaborative efforts.”
- Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC-3)
- Chair
- House Subcommittee on Energy, Climate, and Grid Security
- Letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)
- 01/05/2024
“Regulatory, policy, and environmental pressures on fossil-based generation resources that provide 60 percent of the nation’s electricity further threaten the reliability and flexibility of the grid. Because of these pressures, coupled with projections of electric demand growth, we are concerned about the reliability of the bulk-power system and the actions the Commission is taking or considering taking to ensure that it fulfills its mission to ‘assist consumers in obtaining reliable, safe, secure, and economically efficient energy services at a reasonable cost through appropriate regulatory and market means, and collaborative efforts.”
- Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA-5)
- Chair
- House Energy and Commerce Committee
- Letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)
- 01/05/2024
“We urge the EPA to rescind its Clean Power Plan 2.0 proposal and make affordability, reliability, and the limits of its authorities under the Clean Air Act cornerstones of any future proposal. The more time that has passed since the proposal, the more issues with the Clean Power Plan 2.0 have been uncovered. The proposal is beyond repair and must be withdrawn. Failing to do so and moving ahead with the proposal would significantly threaten the safety and reliability of the electric grid. The impact of these flaws will ultimately be borne by ratepayers through higher energy costs and the effects of reduced reliability on economic opportunity and public health and safety. Low-income and other vulnerable Americans will be disproportionately affected due to the regressive nature of energy cost increases.”
- Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY)
- Ranking Member
- Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
- Letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan
- 12/19/2023
“We urge the EPA to rescind its Clean Power Plan 2.0 proposal and make affordability, reliability, and the limits of its authorities under the Clean Air Act cornerstones of any future proposal. The more time that has passed since the proposal, the more issues with the Clean Power Plan 2.0 have been uncovered. The proposal is beyond repair and must be withdrawn. Failing to do so and moving ahead with the proposal would significantly threaten the safety and reliability of the electric grid. The impact of these flaws will ultimately be borne by ratepayers through higher energy costs and the effects of reduced reliability on economic opportunity and public health and safety. Low-income and other vulnerable Americans will be disproportionately affected due to the regressive nature of energy cost increases.”
- Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV)
- Ranking Member
- Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works
- Letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan
- 12/19/2023
“In 1990, two-thirds of the generating capacity in this country was coal and gas and today almost two-thirds of the generating capacity is still coal and gas. But what’s happened is in 1990 about half of our capacity was coal and only about 10% was gas, and now it’s reversed. In 1990 we were using gas almost exclusively for gas peakers, turn them on at peak and that’s it. Now, we’re running gas as baseload and that takes a lot more gas and we don’t have the infrastructure—that’s the real energy transition by the way, the coal to gas that’s taken place in this country since 1990.”
- Mark Christie
- Commissioner
- Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)
- FERC meeting: Elliott Report: Complete Electricity Standards, Implement Gas Reliability Rule
- 09/21/2023
“And by the way, that is before the EPA came out with the power plant rule, which is going to make that number even worse, as every RTO knows. The numbers don’t add up. You lose 8 gigs of dispatchable, and you pick up 24 gigs of wind and solar, [you think] you’re fine right now. You’re not fine, because as we all know, a megawatt of nameplate wind and solar is not equal to a megawatt of nameplate coal or gas. It’s just reality.”
- Mark Christie
- Commissioner
- Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)
- "Nation’s Grid Faces ‘Rendezvous with Reality", RTO Insider
- 09/11/2023
“The first rule of holes is if you’re in one, stop digging. “If the fundamental problem we’re facing is we’re shutting down dispatchable resources far too prematurely, then the answer is to stop shutting down dispatchable resources far too prematurely.”
- Mark Christie
- Commissioner
- Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)
- "Rendezvous with Reality", RTO Insider
- 09/11/2023
“Right now, when it comes to the reliability of our grid, the United States is facing a rendezvous with reality. Reality is just around the corner. You may think you can avoid it for a while, but reality will track you down. And reality is tracking us down when it comes to the reliability of our grid.”
- Mark Christie
- Commissioner
- Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)
- "Nation’s Grid Faces ‘Rendezvous with Reality", RTO Insider
- 09/11/2023
“Commissioner Christie said the red lights are flashing, problems are coming. The problem generally is not the addition of intermittent resources primarily wind and solar but the far too rapid subtraction of dispatchable resources especially coal and gas.”
- Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY)
- Ranking Member
- Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
- Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee
- 05/04/2023
“PJM has recently said that we are facing imminent resource scarcity and yet in the last procurement auction the capacity prices dropped. During times of scarcity, if a market functions correctly, obviously the prices should go up. This is proof that the subsidies are working ill on the markets right now.”
- James Danly
- Commissioner
- Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)
- House Energy and Commerce Committee
- 06/13/2023
“The spinning mass that has been the basis for our generation fleet for ages is what allows us to ride through the voltage disturbances that are inevitable in a dynamic system like this. And even if you have grid-forming inverters, the likelihood that they would have that level of resilience given the fact that intermittents can turn on and off in a moment’s notice is very unlikely.”
- James Danly
- Commissioner
- Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)
- House Energy and Commerce Committee
- 06/13/2023
“The US is heading towards a reliability crisis in our electric markets. This reliability crisis is being driven by two primary factors. The first is the effect of subsidies and the second is the commission’s… abandonment of its long-standing commitment to the rule of law.”
- James Danly
- Commissioner
- Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)
- House Energy and Commerce Committee
- 06/13/2023
“You can’t just shut down your dispatchable generation overnight or within the matter of a few years and think that you can keep the lights on by simply trying to replace. My point of the megawatt versus a megawatt is the capacity value of the wind or solar megawatt is simply not equal to the capacity value of a megawatt. You can’t just keep the grid running with a 1-1 replacement – the numbers don’t add up.”
- Mark Christie
- Commissioner
- Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)
- House Energy and Commerce Committee, Energy Subcommittee
- 06/13/2023
“It would be wonderful if carbon capture technology could be mature to where you could run coal or gas generating units with carbon capture and actually remove all the carbon and have that benefit. I don’t think the technology is anywhere near being mature yet, but time will tell.”
- Mark Christie
- Commissioner
- Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)
- House Energy and Commerce Committee, Energy Subcommittee
- 06/13/2023
“… there’s an accusation there’s fear mongering going on with those of us expressing concerns about loss of dispatchable resources. I don’t think the head of NERC is fearmongering when he repeatedly says that this is a coming danger. I don’t think the head of PJM is fearmongering when he has said, we’re losing dispatchable resources at a rate we cannot sustain.” I don’t think the head of MISO is fearmongering when he says we’re losing dispatchable resources at a rate we can’t sustain.” I don’t think it’s fearmongering when the head of New York ISO last week said the same thing. I think we need to listen to the engineers, not the lobbyists. And I think we need to be doing what’s right for rate payers and not political narratives.”
- Mark Christie
- Commissioner
- Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)
- House Energy and Commerce Committee, Energy Subcommittee
- 06/13/2023
“We are heading for potentially very dire consequences, potentially catastrophic consequences in the United States in terms of the reliability of our grid.”
- Mark Christie
- Commissioner
- Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)
- House Energy and Commerce Committee
- 06/13/2023
“By imposing unworkable deadlines and unproven technologies not commercially available, this latest version of Democrats’ so-called Clean Power Plan poses an existential threat to providers of affordable and reliable American energy.”
- Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
- Minority Leader
- U.S. Senate
- Response to EPA’s Proposed Carbon Rule
- 05/11/2023
“Mandating more electrification while making it harder to produce electricity is a recipe for disaster. The Biden EPA’s new proposed rules for power plants will put Americans at risk of blackouts, energy shortages, and higher prices by shutting down reliable energy sources.”
- Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC-3)
- Chair
- House Subcommittee on Energy, Climate, and Grid Security
- Response to EPA’s Proposed Carbon Rule
- 05/11/2023
“The EPA’s new proposed rules would kill jobs in Wyoming and raise energy costs for families across the country. We can protect the environment and unleash clean, affordable, and reliable American energy at the same time.”
- Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY)
- Ranking Member
- Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
- Response to EPA’s Proposed Carbon Rule
- 05/11/2023
“Today’s proposal further risks the security and reliability of our country’s electric grid, which could lead to energy shortages and rolling blackouts like those experienced across several states this past winter.”
- Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA-9)
- Chair
- House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
- Response to EPA’s Proposed Carbon Rule
- 05/11/2023
“With these new proposed rules, the Biden administration continues to wage war not only against U.S. energy companies but also against all the everyday Americans who rely on energy simply to maintain their homes and take care of their families.”
- Todd Rokita
- Attorney General
- Indiana
- Response to EPA’s Proposed Carbon Rule
- 05/11/2023
“Based upon what we currently know about this proposal, it is not going to be upheld, and it just seems designed to scare more coal-fired power plants into retirement—the goal of the Biden administration.”
- Patrick Morrisey
- Attorney General
- West Virginia
- Response to EPA’s Proposed Carbon Rule
- 05/11/2023
“Forcing power plants to close or adopt costly modifications will further harm electricity reliability and raise energy bills for Americans. If the president doesn’t start encouraging conventional energy alongside renewable development, consumers are going to pay a heavy price.”
- Sen. John Thune (R-SD)
- Minority Whip
- U.S. Senate
- Response to EPA’s Proposed Carbon Rule
- 05/11/2023
“At a time when millions are struggling to fill up their tanks and pay their utility bills, it’s reprehensible that the Biden administration would clamp down even further on domestic energy production, attempt to close down power plants, and kill American energy jobs.”
- Sen. Shelley Capito (R-WV)
- Senator
- U.S. Senate
- Response to EPA’s Proposed Carbon Rule
- 05/11/2023
“… the reality is that our dispatchable coal power was one of the most reliable energy sources during the Winter Storms Uri and Elliott. Coal power plants saw significantly fewer outages than natural gas plants. The grid would have been absolutely decimated during these storms if our coal fleet was retired prematurely.”
- Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV)
- Chairman
- Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
- FERC Oversight Hearing
- 05/04/2023
“It makes no sense at all to take tools out of the toolbox. No energy resource is immune to weather disruptions whether that be frozen wind turbines, frozen gas wells, or frozen coal stockpiles, all of which we saw in recent winters.” […] “There is no doubt that our electric grid is undergoing a rapid transition both in generation sources and in the types of demand the grid is called on to serve. The speed of this transition must be balanced against reliability and affordability of electricity.”
- Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV)
- Chairman
- Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
- FERC Oversight Hearing
- 05/04/2023