As the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran disrupts key Middle East energy routes and chokes global liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies, Asia’s top LNG importers are turning back to coal to keep the lights on. Spot LNG prices have roughly doubled, while Asian LNG imports have fallen sharply—the biggest drop since 2022—prompting utilities across the region […]
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PJM Interconnection, the nation’s largest regional transmission organization, is confronting a historic shift from electricity surplus to structural scarcity. A new special report released by PJM on May 6, 2026, titled Powering Reliability Through Market Design, details how unprecedented demand growth—fueled largely by hyperscale data centers and AI infrastructure—combined with accelerated retirements of dispatchable generation […]
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One thing you can say about this energy news cycle is that there is no shortage of topics, so the Energy Realities Team of David Blackmon, Irina Slav, Dr. Tammy Nemeth, and Stu Turley is bringing the biggest news stories of the week to help get your week rolling. We had way too much fun […]
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The AI boom is rewriting the rules of U.S. electricity demand, and the numbers don’t lie. BloombergNEF’s latest analysis, highlighted in a widely shared post by energy analyst David Blackmon (@EnergyAbsurdity), projects that data centers will drive massive incremental power needs through 2035. The stacked bar chart from BNEF is crystal clear: combined-cycle gas turbines […]
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The United Kingdom’s vaunted renewable energy fleet delivered a stark reality check over the recent weekend. Despite boasting approximately 32 GW of installed wind capacity—onshore and offshore combined—actual output plummeted to just 0.6 GW, less than 2% of nameplate capacity. This collapse occurred overnight, when solar generation was zero, leaving Britain functionally reliant on dispatchable […]
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The standard Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) has dominated energy policy discussions for years. Policymakers, media, and even some industry reports cite it to claim that wind and solar are now the “cheapest” forms of new electricity generation. But as Germany’s Energiewende and certain U.S. states demonstrate, this metric is dangerously incomplete. It ignores the […]
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In a rare show of bipartisan cooperation on energy policy, two major coal-fired power plants in western Pennsylvania that were slated for retirement in 2028 will now remain online for several more years. The decision, sealed through a state consent decree and highlighted by President Donald Trump on Truth Social, underscores Pennsylvania’s pragmatic “all-of-the-above” energy […]
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ENB Pub Note: This article is from America Outloud, and Ronald Stein, P.E., and Dr. Lars Schernikau have been on the Energy News Beat podcast! They are fantastic, and we recommend reading America Outloud. An extensive economic review of South Africa’s Integrated Resource Plan 2025 (IRP 2025), approved by Cabinet in October 2025 has been conducted by the authors, and the report concludes […]
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As the U.S.-imposed blockade of Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz enters its critical phase, global oil and LNG supply chains are in chaos. Tankers are idled, LNG prices have spiked, and energy-short nations in Asia and Europe are scrambling for alternatives. The result? Coal—reliable, abundant, and easy to stockpile—is surging back into favor […]
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The 2026 Iran conflict, which escalated in late February with U.S.-Israeli strikes and Iranian retaliation—including the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz and attacks on energy infrastructure—has triggered the largest supply disruption in global oil market history. Nearly 20% of the world’s oil and significant LNG volumes have been taken offline, sending Brent crude […]
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