All posts by Nancy LaPlaca

Utilities Fiddle While Arizona Burns

As the temperature climbs, Arizona's utilities keep investing in fossil fuels that exacerbate climate change and present cost risks to customers.

/ July 28, 2017

Tucson Electric Power: Ignoring Water, Climate Change Risks

Tucson Electric Power is investing in new natural gas and old coal rather than distributed and utility-scale solar, heightening the region's water risks.

/ June 16, 2017

Despite record solar+storage deal, TEP still plans more gas, underwhelming solar growth

Tucson is awash in sunshine, but TEP’s future plans indicate that it will continue running very old coal plants, and increasing its use of natural gas far more than solar.

/ May 31, 2017

Arizona’s Andy Tobin Asks for Subsidy to Keep Coal Plant Running

Last week, Arizona Corporation Commissioner Andy Tobin proposed a Settlement Agreement to keep one of the oldest, most polluting coal plants in the Western U.S., Navajo Generating Station (NGS), running...

/ May 4, 2017

Peabody Uses Flawed Study to Push For Navajo Generating Station Lifeboat

Peabody Energy, the largest coal company in the U.S. that just emerged from bankruptcy, wants to keep the Navajo Generating Station running at least 20 more years.

/ May 2, 2017

EIA’s assumptions short-change clean energy, and are frequently wrong

Every year, energy nerds breathlessly await the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA’s) Annual Energy Outlook (AEO). As my previous post explained, the AEO is critical because U.S. utilities, as well...

/ April 27, 2017

What If The Marcellus Shale Gas Play Doesn’t Pan Out?

For the gas industry and some utilities that are racing to build as much gas infrastructure as possible, there’s a lot riding on a shale gas ‘play’ known as the...

/ April 25, 2017

U.S. DOE: Magical Thinking on Future Shale Gas Supplies

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Energy Information Administration (EIA) is the go-to source for data on electricity, natural gas, petroleum, nuclear, coal, emissions, energy efficiency and renewable energy. Every...

/ March 28, 2017

Andy Tobin Pushes To Keep Open Dirtiest Coal Plant In The Western United States

The Najavo Generating Station is one of the oldest, dirtiest coal-fired power plants. It is also one of the country’s largest CO2 emitters.

/ February 13, 2017

Gulf Power Wants to Make its Customers Pay for Twice the Coal by 2025

While most electric utilities are sprinting away from coal and toward less expensive and cleaner generating options, Gulf Power wants to make its customers in Florida pay for double the...

/ February 7, 2017