Inside Energy

Microgrids Bridging The Gap To A Modern Grid by Inside Energy

Desert Microgrid Powers Small Southern California Town by Inside Energy

Two huge new transmission lines for Wyoming wind power were approved earlier this month, setting the stage for construction of the nation's biggest wind farm. In Colorado, Xcel Energy recently received approval from regulators to construct a massive wind farm. And North Dakota is one of a handful of states that gets at least 10 percent of its electricity from wind power. But wind is not just growing on the plains and the Rocky Mountain West. In the waters off of Rhode Island, the first offshore wind energy project began operations this fall. Now developers are pushing ahead in another vast body of water: the Great Lakes. For Inside Energy, Elizabeth Miller of Great Lakes Today has this progress report from Lake Erie.

Freshman Congressman Ryan Zinke from Montana is President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for Interior Secretary. Last week Zinke said he was “honored and humbled to be asked to serve Montana and America.” The Interior Department oversees one-fifth of federal lands in this country, including national parks from Yellowstone to the Grand Canyon. For Inside Energy, Nicky Ouellet of Montana Public Radio reports.

President-elect Donald Trump appears to have fossil fuels on his mind as makes his cabinet picks. The Governor of Texas at the Department of Energy, an ExxonMobil CEO running the State Department, and Oklahoma’s attorney general for the Environmental Protection Agency. But where do renewables like solar energy fit into this conservative agenda? In places like Arizona. For Inside Energy, Will Stone of KJZZ in Phoenix reports.

Now that the Army Corps of Engineers has denied a permit to complete the Dakota Access Pipeline, parties with a vested interest are wondering what’s next. For thousands of who’ve joined the Standing Rock Sioux’s protest against the pipeline -- should they leave or should they stay? Meanwhile, the oil industry and legal experts are trying to make sense of the decision and what it means for the project’s fate. Inside Energy’s Amy Sisk reports.

The U.S. government’s decision to block construction on the Dakota Access pipeline was a major victory for tribes in the much bigger fight to protect places they hold sacred — even when those projects are located off their reservations. Dan Kraker reports.

President-elect Donald Trump indicated for the first time on Thursday that he supports completion of the Dakota Access pipeline. Protesters have been camped out at the construction site in North Dakota for months, and now winter has arrived, dumping almost two feet of snow on the encampment this past week. The two-day deluge drove out some of the fairer-weather protesters, but most are gearing up to stay. All are waiting to see what happens on Monday, the deadline set by the Army Corps of Engineers for protesters to leave federal land. For Inside Energy, Nicky Ouellet reports.

Tonight in Bismarck, North Dakota, the chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe will host a community forum to discuss the controversial encampment where thousands have gathered to protest the Dakota Access Pipeline. The US Army Corps of Engineers wants to shut the camp down for safety reasons in the next week. Minnesota Public Radio's Doualy Xaykaothao has been visiting the camp since Thanksgiving and takes us inside.

While One Tribe Fights Oil, Another Cautiously Embraces It by Inside Energy

Protesters gathered all around the country this week in opposition to a controversial crude oil pipeline. The Standing Rock Sioux, the tribe opposing the Dakota Access pipeline project, are worried that if there was an accident, the pipeline could contaminate their water. Inside Energy’s Leigh Paterson reports on the risks of our massive and largely hidden pipeline network.

Coal country is celebrating Donald Trump's election victory. Support for Trump was strong from Appalachia to Wyoming, and people have high hopes he can reverse coal's recent downturn. But can he?

For weeks this spring, students and teachers at the school in tiny Midwest, Wyoming reported strange smells and headaches. Then, in May, the school shut down after health officials detected dangerous levels of potentially toxic gases. But for months, no one could answer the questions: What were the gases? And how did they get into the school?

Fossil fuel companies have a history of backing Republican candidates. But this year’s unusual presidential campaign appears to be having a strange ripple effect on political giving - at least from the oil and gas industry.

It may not be at the top of the ticket, but key battles are being waged on many state ballots over the future of energy this year. As the influence of solar grows, that industry and the power companies are clashing. Both sides hope to tip the scales in their favor by spending big money to get the right regulators elected. Arizona is ground zero for this fight. For Inside Energy, Will Stone of KJZZ in Phoenix reports.

Peabody Energy paid nearly one point eight million dollars in overdue taxes this week to a rural county in western Colorado, resolving, for now, a serious funding concern for a tiny school district there. Communities all over the country count on revenue from fossil fuel extraction to pay for basics like schools and roads. But with the downturn in coal, oil and gas, that steady stream of energy dollars is no longer assured. Inside Energy’s Leigh Paterson reports.

Trump or Clinton? What's At Stake For Energy States by Inside Energy

The duck curve has become shorthand for the challenges that utilities face as they add more solar power and other renewables to the grid. Why are power regulators across the country talking about it more and more?

Coal has been a major theme this election season, with each side pointing fingers at the other. From the presidential debate stage to local town halls, what to do about lost mining jobs keeps coming up. On Colorado’s western slope, two candidates running for Congress are divided on the issue and are nearly matched in campaign contributions as election day approaches. Inside Energy’s Leigh Paterson reports.

The future for Wyoming’s wind industry is finally looking up. There are few places in the country with more wind energy potential than Wyoming, but the state has seen almost no new wind turbines built in six years, even while wind has boomed in the rest of the country. Depending on who you ask, the challenges have been political, technical or both. But now, the outlook is improving on all fronts.