Inside Energy

There is a building boom for pipelines all across the country right now. And that’s created anxiety about new pipelines close to where people live and work. While the federal government is trying to ratchet up safety rules, there are limits on what these new rules can do. In western Pennsylvania, residents are especially concerned after an interstate gas pipeline ruptured east of Pittsburgh. The Allegheny Front’s Reid Frazier reports for Inside Energy.

For the poorest amongst us, paying every bill can be a struggle, including the power bill. Until now, solar power hasn’t really been a go-to option for those at the bottom. That’s despite the fact that solar has boomed nationwide and costs have fallen some 70% But that’s starting to change. as Inside Energy’s Dan Boyce explains.

Why North Dakota Coal Is The Last Man Standing by Inside Energy

Glance at a satellite image of northeast Wyoming, and you can’t miss the coal mines. Even zoomed out, the square-cornered grey blotches stand out—stretching north to south over more than 70 miles. But if all goes according to plan, someday, when the mining is done, those scars will disappear, erased from the landscape by intensive reclamation efforts. Coal companies are on the hook for that cleanup, but the industry’s recent collapse has raised questions about whether they will actually be able to meet those obligations.

Millions of dollars are being spent in a fight over two controversial ballot initiatives. Taken together, they would seriously restrict oil and gas development in Colorado. Opposing campaigns, infused with this fresh flow of cash are all about one thing right now: signatures. Gathering enough of them to get these initiatives on the November ballot or stopping that from happening. Inside Energy’s Leigh Paterson reports.

Frank Thompson was one of almost 500 miners laid off in Wyoming in a single day earlier this year. Now, he's trying to figure out life after mining—how to provide for his son, and how to bounce back.

Coal Dependent School Budgets in Crisis by Inside Energy

How we get electricity in the West is changing. Fast. New projections put 2016 as the biggest year ever for natural gas-fired power plants. But that’s just the beginning of the story.

The oil tycoon who’s been a key adviser to Donald Trump says the candidate will make America energy independent. Harold Hamm addressed the Republican National Convention Wednesday night. Inside Energy’s Amy Sisk has more.

Burning natural gas for electricity is much cleaner than coal. But there's a problem - leaking methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Nearly two years ago Colorado implemented rules to try to limit methane leaks from natural gas infrastructure. Now the EPA is proposing to model federal rules on Colorado's. Still finding and plugging leaks remains a challenge nationwide. In Pennsylvania, where thousands of gas wells and pipelines are working the Marcellus Shale, researchers are trying to figure out how much is leaking. For our Inside Energy project, The Allegheny Front’s Reid Frazier tagged along.

Wyoming, like other energy producing states, is shedding jobs in coal, oil, and gas. But the renewables industry is growing nationwide, including jobs to make parts like wind turbine blades and towers. Wyoming wants to attract wind manufacturing jobs as part of an effort to diversity its fossil fuel-based economy, but right now the state has none of these jobs. Neighboring Colorado has thousands. Inside Energy’s Leigh Paterson went to find out what’s standing in the way, starting off in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Across the country, power companies are rushing to keep pace with a changing energy landscape. Many operate on outdated business models that never accounted for people producing their own electricity or clean energy mandates. That’s prompted Arizona’s largest utility to pursue a new way of charging its customers -- one that no other utility has done before. Will Stone of KJZZ in Phoenix reports for Inside Energy.

From the podcast Outside/In: GRIDLOCKED - Something very different is going on up in Boothbay, Maine. It was an experiment which – if it works – could represent a fundamental shift in the way we think about using electricity.

The coal industry’s recent downturn is casting ripples throughout the economy in the West. In Wyoming, the unemployment rate is climbing faster than any other state in the country—and it’s not just miners who are struggling. From a hotel in Gillette, Wyoming Public Radio’s Stephanie Joyce explores the fallout from the collapsing mineral economy.

How oil and gas drilling can affect drinking water has been a source of controversy across the country, from Pavillion, Wyoming to Pennsylvania.. Residents near drilling operations in the Keystone state have filed thousands of complaints, and sometimes waited for years for answers. That’s left some isolated communities to fend for themselves in a quest for clean water. For Inside Energy, Maryam Jameel from the Center for Public Integrity reports.

There’s growing evidence that activities related to hydraulic fracturing can contaminate water supplies. A controversial draft report last year from the Environmental Protection Agency said the contamination was not widespread or systemic --- yet for a number of households whose water has been tainted, and for many more who fear it is tainted, the struggle for clean water can sap energy and take years. Maryam Jameel from the Center for Public Integrity has the first of two stories on families in Pennsylvania desperate for answers.

Waste from fracking is often radioactive but there are no federal regulations governing how and where it is dumped. States deal with it with a patchwork of regulations and recommendations. In the Ohio River Valley and the Marcellus region, companies and regulators are struggling to find safe ways to get rid of it. Glynis Board reports from Ohio Valley Resource.

Answering an energy question from Wellington Middle School, our Inside Energy team shines a light on power wasted in electricity generation. Can it be reused? Recycled? Turned into energy?

Under a new bill introduced in Congress on Thursday, coal companies would no longer be allowed to just promise to pay for future mine clean up. Inside Energy’s Leigh Paterson reports.

Researchers at Colorado State University have released the results of a nearly $2 million dollar study measuring oil and gas emissions on the state’s Western Slope. The area was recently discovered to hold the second-largest natural gas reserve in the country.