Laura Schepis

May 4, 2022

Biden Administration Begrudgingly Resumes Oil and Gas Leases

Last month, the Biden Administration announced it would open 144,000 acres of federally-owned lands for new oil and gas leases. Opening these lands to support America’s energy needs is a good thing, but it shouldn’t have taken the Biden Administration so long to see the wisdom of opening new lease […]
April 15, 2022

Russian Invasion of Ukraine Prompts Nuclear Renaissance in UK

Several European countries have found themselves strapped for energy supplies in recent months. The fallout from the Covid 19 pandemic and Russia’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine has caused prices to skyrocket and sparked fears of shortages. Even the world’s most sophisticated and developed countries have not been immune to this […]
April 8, 2022

Biden Administration Takes Action To Secure Critical Rare Earth Minerals

We’ve written many times about the need for the U.S. to secure a reliable supply of rare earth minerals. Unfortunately, shortages and supply chain issues have plagued the industry and ultimately contributed to the slow growth of electric vehicle (E.V.) adoption. Fortunately, the Biden Administration is invoking a Cold War-era […]
March 25, 2022

U.S. Leads the World in LNG Exports

We’ve written many times about the bright future for U.S. liquified natural gas (LNG) exports. Two years ago, we noted how the U.S. was on track to become the world’s largest LNG exporter by 2023. However, we’ve reached that milestone a year early as Europe’s energy crisis has increased demand […]
March 18, 2022

Energy Secretary asks U.S. drillers to ramp up supply

Gas prices have been steadily rising for months now, but Russia’s invasion of Ukraine caused them to skyrocket even more. This unprovoked aggression prompted the Biden Administration to ban imports of Russian oil and liquefied natural gas while acknowledging that consumers will see even more pain at the pump. President […]
March 11, 2022

Germany Keeps Making the Same Mistakes

It seems like we’ve written volumes about Germany’s short-sighted energy transition goals encapsulated in its Energiewende. The Energiewende is the ongoing transition by Germany to a low carbon, environmentally sound, reliable, and affordable energy supply. But unfortunately, this aggressive carbon reduction initiative has only raised costs for consumers and put […]
March 2, 2022

Russia Invasion of Ukraine Highlights Risk of Cyberattacks

In May of last year, a significant ransomware attack shut down the Colonial Pipeline for five days. This critical pipeline provides 45% of fuel for the East Coast. And the sudden shutdown left thousands of service stations without gas, pushing prices to the highest levels in six years. The Colonial […]
February 23, 2022

Transmission battle takes place in New York over whether hydropower is really “green”

A strange battle pitting environmental groups against clean energy advocates is taking place in New York – a state with one of the most aggressive carbon reduction initiatives in the U.S. The issue? Whether the proposed 339 transmission line and the hydropower it will carry from Quebec to New York […]
February 18, 2022

Fusion Experiment Creates Star Power

For five seconds back in December, scientists in the U.K. created a literal star on Earth. While five seconds seems like a woefully short amount of time, the experiment was groundbreaking for the field of nuclear fusion and the future of clean energy. Scientists have been on a quest to […]
February 11, 2022

Lithium Drilling Begins in California

We’ve written many times about the importance of securing a domestic supply of lithium. This so-called “white gold” is an essential component in electric vehicle batteries and electronics and will play a significant role in our clean energy transition. Presently, most of the world’s lithium comes from South America or […]
February 8, 2022

Federal Judge Punts On Oil & Gas Leases

In the latest round of energy-related political football, a federal judge has put the brakes on plans to lease millions of acres of energy-rich parcels below the waters of the Gulf of Mexico.  As we wrote last year, the Biden Administration previously hit pause on a significant offering of oil […]
February 3, 2022

Energy Fairness Podcast #2: Goldendale Pumped Hydropower Energy Storage Project

For Energy Fairness’ 2nd podcast, Executive Director Paul Griffin has an in-depth conversation with Erik Steimle (Rye Development) about the potential of the Goldendale Pumped Hydropower Energy Storage Project in Washington State.
June 14, 2018

Hedging Happens Every Day

Everyone needs to manage risk. We do it in our daily lives both personally and professionally. Utilities are no different. PACE has spent the last few weeks highlighting natural gas hedging after the Missouri legislature passed a resolution supporting the continued use of this essential, though often misunderstood practice. Today’s […]
June 12, 2018

A Sea of Change in Charleston

It’s 90 degrees in the shade here in Charleston, South Carolina, where the Southeastern Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (SEARUC) has gathered for its annual meeting. Eleven states’ public utility regulators, from Texas and Arkansas to Florida and the Carolinas, are represented. This year’s theme is “Effective Utility Regulation – All in […]
June 7, 2018

Walking a Few Feet in Poverty

Since the Partnership for Affordable Clean Energy joined the National Energy & Utility Affordability Coalition earlier this year, I’ve searched for ways to get smarter about home energy assistance and to deepen the Energy Fairness commitment to consumers. In late May, I attended a “poverty simulation.” Regular readers of the […]
June 5, 2018

Hedging Happens Every Day

Following up from our column last week in Morning Consult, we wanted to create a simple way to explain natural gas hedging. As our infographic shows, gas hedging is no different than common, everyday steps families and individuals take to protect themselves from risk, whether that’s having a home insurance […]
May 30, 2018

Natural Gas Hedging – Smart Tool for Diverse Energy Portfolio

PACE thanks Morning Consult for publishing this op-ed as original content. https://morningconsult.com/opinions/hedging-smart-tool-diverse-energy-portfolio/. As the U.S. energy portfolio continues to diversify, the tools and tactics electric utilities use to protect consumers and stabilize costs must keep up with the times to accommodate the growth of natural gas, renewable resources, storage and […]
May 24, 2018

Smarter Ways Forward with The Ray

Frequently, PACE talks about consumers’ interest in transportation from a fuel supply angle (oil pipelines) or integrating new technologies (electric vehicles). Many big thinkers are attempting to envision how, when and at what cost energy, telecommunications and transportation will converge. Many laudable “Smart Cities” projects and pilots with broad scopes […]