The competitive market was supposed to produce lower prices, but when faced with the first big demand shock in decades, it delivered chaos, writes Power for Tomorrow President Brad Viator.
Read the full column in Utility Dive.
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In a letter sent to West Virginia legislators, Power for Tomorrow President Brad Viator calls on elected officials “to protect West Virginians from energy policy that undermines both grid reliability and customer affordability.”
“Passing SB 420 is antithetical to the Legislature’s own stated commitment to affordability. West Virginia already carries the fourth highest poverty rate in the nation. Its residents cannot afford for this legislation to move forward. If running coal plants at 69% capacity made financial sense, utilities would already be doing it, no mandate required. We urge you to vote no on SB 420 and protect the interests of West Virginians.“
Read MoreMaryland’s electricity demand is rising and the grid is struggling to keep up.
Power for Tomorrow President Brad Viator testified before the Maryland House Environment and Transportation Committee in support of HB 1561, the Affordable Energy Act.
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Power for Tomorrow announced a series of leadership appointments that support the organization’s next phase amid a rapidly changing U.S. energy landscape, marked by soaring electricity demand and projected continued growth driven by data centers, electrification, and new domestic manufacturing.
Brad Viator has been elected President of Power for Tomorrow, effective immediately. In addition, Alison Williams has been appointed Senior Vice President, Public Policy & Regulatory Affairs, and Gary Meltz has been appointed Senior Vice President, Communications.
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As PJM grapples with reliability, load growth, and market failures, policymakers are still debating what might work next. Meanwhile, one model has already been delivering real results for more than a century.
Alison Williams of Power for Tomorrow makes the case that well-regulated, vertically integrated utilities are doing exactly what today’s power system needs.
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PJM’s new decisional letter on large load additions confirms what recent capacity auction results already showed: market signals alone are not delivering enough new generation to meet rapidly growing demand. For the first time, PJM cleared short of its reliability requirement.
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Louisiana is proving that data centers don’t have to mean higher power bills for residents. On the contrary, strategic infrastructure investments tied to industrial growth can be used to improve grid reliability, boost economic growth and lower costs for everyone.
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The millions of Americans who are struggling with under the weight of higher electric bills deserve real relief, not false promises. Weatherizing homes, investing in efficiency, and strengthening the grid can ease some of the costs. But deregulation is a proven failure because it doesn’t lower bills – it raises them. Lawmakers should reject this policy and focus instead on solutions that actually protect customers, not exploit them.
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National groups are sniffing around with a risky idea called electric deregulation. It’s being sold as “choice,” but don’t be fooled. Deregulation won’t lower your power bill. It’ll raise it.
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In a recent RTO Insider column, Brad Viator and Alison Williams examine the root causes of PJM’s failures and propose solutions to address its systemic shortcomings.
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Power for Tomorrow expert Ed Hirs, an energy economics professor and UH Energy Fellow at the University of Houston, explains that—despite the rhetoric from deregulation advocates—it’s the traditionally regulated states like Virginia and Georgia that are successfully generating enough electricity to attract and support new data centers.
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Power for Tomorrow expert Ed Hirs — a renowned energy economist and lecturer at the University of Houston — published a compelling column that explores the serious risks of “industrial only” electricity deregulation in Louisiana. Hirs makes the case that this policy shift could have wide-reaching consequences for every Louisianan, not just large industrial users.
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Brad Viator promotes sensible utility regulation with a column in Utility Dive, "Surging data center power demand risks subtracting clean energy from the grid."
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Ed Hirs, energy economist, fellow at the University of Houston and Power for Tomorrow expert, speaks to the Wall Street Journal about how companies are working to adapt as they confront record-setting temperatures, floods and windstorms
“Storms are another big problem because they are expected to increase in severity and frequency. That means utilities, grid operators and power-plant owners will have to spend a lot more on things such as strengthening electric poles, transmission towers and other infrastructure.”
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Brad Viator, a state utility policy expert, said the Maryland law was spurred by third-party suppliers’ heavy-handed sales tactics. “They’re like anybody else who’s trying to get a bunch of customers to sign up for a service,” Viator said. “There are some salespeople out there that are super aggressive and are using some unscrupulous tactics to get people to sign up. And the problem has become so prevalent, in Maryland in particular, but really in a lot of the states in the Northeast.”
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Power for Tomorrow’s Executive Director in the Daily Energy Insider discussing the Maryland law that will bolster consumer protections — especially those for low-income residents — against deceptive practices in the state’s unregulated retail electricity market.
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Today, Maryland Governor Wes Moore signed into law Senate Bill 1 (SB1). This legislation provides reasonable oversight of electricity markets and protects customers by restricting the amount retail suppliers can charge. This brings an end to the most harmful component of Maryland's deregulation experiment, which began in 1999 under the Electric Choice Act and promised energy savings for consumers. In the 25 years following the Electric Choice Act, Maryland customers collectively have paid an extra $1.2 billion to retail energy suppliers, compared to regulated electricity and gas prices.
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“This report once again shows a clear pattern by the individual competitive electric supply industry of substantially harming our residents,” said Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell. “The harms caused by these companies significantly outweigh any benefits to consumers.”
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“A bill in Kentucky that could become law soon has the utilities industry concerned, along with environmental, business, and consumer groups that say the measure favors coal interests over ratepayers.
Gary Meltz, executive director of Power for Tomorrow, said the group opposes SB 349.”
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Power for Tomorrow’s Executive Director, Gary Meltz, in the Lexington Herald-Leader, discussing how lawmakers in Frankfort, seeking to protect Kentuckly’s coal industry, are pushing legislation that will create a new layer of bureaucracy overseeing the state’s electrical utilities. While the bill’s supporters mean to protect the state’s coal workers, this new law will result in Kentuckians paying higher – not lower – electric bills.
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