Inside Energy

The Environmental Protection Agency is putting the finishing touches on its Clean Power Plan to reduce carbon emissions, but warnings against it are getting louder. Many who deal in the energy sector- grid operators, lawmakers, and especially the coal industry- are piling on to the idea that transitioning away from coal to renewables and natural gas will destabilize our power grid. In the latest installment of our series Blackout: Reinventing the grid, Inside Energy’s Leigh Paterson reports.

Coal's Decline Means Cultural Changes In Rural Colorado by Inside Energy

Next Generation Fuels Stuck In Nuetral by Inside Energy

More Money, Fewer Grasslands: Corn Ethanol's Impact on Rural America by Inside Energy

Why Smart Meters Don't Make a Smart Grid by Inside Energy

When The Largest Machine In The World Fails by Inside Energy

You probably have a pretty good idea of what you last paid for a gallon of gas, right? OK, now, how much are you paying for a kilowatt hour of electricity? Perhaps a more difficult question. As we place more and more demands on our electricity system, there’s evidence reliability is going down. As part of our ongoing series about the US power grid, Inside Energy Reporter Dan Boyce says public knowledge about the grid is pretty limited.

A listing of the greater sage grouse under the endangered species act could deeply affect the industries making up the backbone of the Western economy. Think agriculture, oil and gas and mining. So, nearly a dozen states are working to save the bird from listing and nowhere is more important than Wyoming, where nearly forty percent of the entire sage grouse population lives. Our Inside Energy Reporter Dan Boyce tells us about an unprecedented collaboration of stakeholders working to protect both industry and sage grouse.

Low Oil Prices and the Surprisingly Exciting World Of Mineral Auctions by Inside Energy

Energy producing states get an annual budget boost from revenue known as severance taxes. These are collected from companies that extract oil or gas, coal or other minerals. Inside Energy reported recently that North Dakota has voted to lower the severance tax rate charged to oil companies. In Colorado half of the severance tax revenue is supposed to go back to the cities and counties most impacted by energy development. But each year, how much goes where can be a battle. Colorado lawmakers just voted to take 20 million dollars of severance tax revenue away from communities and put it into the general fund. As KUNC’s Stephanie Paige Ogburn reports, the move is not sitting well with people in the oil patch.

After the Boom, Rebuilding the Forest by Inside Energy

Wyoming has long been one of the whitest states in the country, but over the last few years its black population has more than doubled. African Americans still make up a tiny percentage of the state’s population but the substantial shift is largely a result of the oil boom of the last few years. People from other, more diverse regions moved in to fill the huge and immediate need for employees. But with oil prices so low, rig count is down and layoffs are looming. Inside Energy’s Leigh Paterson reports.

Amidst Low Prices, North Dakota Scrambles To Change Oil Tax Rate by Inside Energy

For a week each year, a hotel in Houston, Texas becomes the center of the world of energy. Energy executives from around the globe as well as top government officials descend on the city for the annual IHS CERA (sare-uh)week conference. Our Inside Energy Team was also there for the event, which drew to a close on Friday. Dan Boyce reports.

A chicken-sized game bird native to western sagebrush has become the subject of the biggest conservation project in U.S. history. The effort to keep the greater sage grouse off the endangered species list stretches across 11 states from North Dakota to California, and has become a complex balancing act between saving critical ecosystems and protecting the region’s key industries. Biologists list energy development as one of the primary threats to the sage grouse and as our Inside Energy Reporter Dan Boyce tells us, the biggest threat arguably comes from a source thought of as one of the greenest.

Over two decades ago, Wyoming surpassed Kentucky as the country’s number one coal producing state and has kept that title ever since. The steady and sharp increase in demand for the state’s comparably cleaner coal wasn’t due to obvious factors, like market forces or labor costs. It was brought on largely by federal environmental regulations. And now a series of new regulations are changing the industry even more. Inside Energy’s Leigh Paterson reports.

As the Appalachian coal industry has disappeared, coal has moved west, to the Powder River Basin of Wyoming. That state now produces 40 percent of the nation's coal and that production has left an impact on the land.

Faced with competition from natural gas and increasing federal regulations, the coal industry is going through tough times. Layoffs and mine closings are becoming more and more common, especially in in parts of West Virginia and Kentucky. As part of Inside Energy's series on the Future of Coal, reporter Catherine Moore went to find out what’s next for those most heavily impacted by the coal industry’s problems.

Oil and gas production in many parts of the country continues to exceed the pipeline capacity, despite a drop in oil prices. But a boom in pipeline construction means conflicts between landowners and big oil and gas companies. In Pennsylvania, an Oklahoma-based company recently filed a formal application with federal regulators to build a large interstate natural gas pipeline through 10 counties in the state. The pipeline has sparked intense opposition from communities, who are afraid they will lose their land. StateImpact Pennsylvania’s Marie Cusick reports.

Why Oil Workers Are Still Paying $600 To Live In A Closet by Inside Energy