This Week in Energy
New Publications in the OurEnergyLibrary
The International Renewable Energy Agency
June 2, 2020
Atlantic Council Global Energy Center
May 26, 2020
The World Bank and Guidehouse
May 27, 2020
Find these new publications and others in the OurEnergyLibrary.
June Discussion
Ongoing Discussion
By General Wesley K. Clark
 Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander and Founder, Renew America Together
Question 1 : Are we currently investing enough into grid security efforts? How does the need for increased security compare to other investment options?
" We are most certainly in need of investment in a better grid, and one aspect of 'better' is that it will be inherently more secure. But more importantly, it will be more distributed and more resilient. It should be pretty much immune to cascading blackouts and wide area EMP events. It will be the long touted 'smart grid.'

The grid we need will likely involve cleaving the handful of large AC synchronization regions we have into dozens of smaller transmission subnets...." - Roger Arnold , Systems Architect, Silverthorn Engineering
Question 2 : Who should be primarily responsible for efforts to increase grid security? – governments, in protecting the public interest, or energy companies that have a responsibility to protect customers and assets?
"I believe the energy industry has primary responsibility for securing their facilities and operations as much as possible from cyber and physical attacks. This includes the electric utility industries’ securing of its power generation and transmission assets, and the fuel suppliers securing pipelines that deliver natural gas now (and potentially hydrogen in the future) for power generation. Consumers pay electric utilities to provide secure, reliable energy to help ensure this gets done. The electric utility industry has a North American Energy Reliability Corporation (NERC) to ensure the electric power companies follow recommended best practices to ensure reliability of the grid.

Because the electric power grid is critical infrastructure for the entire country, the federal government has a key role to play in its security that should be focused on three main areas: 1) identify and alleviate threats to the grid from domestic hackers/terrorists and foreign governments; 2) ensure energy companies are following best practices on security; and 3) understand and communicate the security issues in the evolution of the future electric power grid...." - Henry Goldberg , Consultant
Question 3 : The provision of electricity is a public service, and in most cases a regulated public utility. How do we retain public accountability while preserving essential elements of grid security?
Energy Headlines
Yahoo Finance
Roll Call
The Intelligencer
Update from Congress

New Legislation
  • Thurs, June 4 - Senators Mike Braun (R-IN), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) announced that they will be introducing the Growing Climate Solutions Act, which will break down barriers for farmers and foresters interested in participating in carbon markets so they can be rewarded for climate-smart practices.

Podcast Spotlight


In this podcast from Resources Radio , host Daniel Raimi talks with Wil Burns , co-director of the Institute for Carbon Removal Law and Policy at American University, an expert on geoengineering strategies, and a member of OEP's Advisory Council.

Burns explores why existing public policies and corporate commitments are not doing enough to slow global temperature increases—and argues that carbon removal will be necessary for decarbonizing the global economy.

Featured Energy Events
  • When: Mon-Thurs, June 8-11

  • When: Wed, June 10, 12-1 p.m. Eastern Time

  • When: Thurs, June 11, 12-1 p.m. Eastern Time
Visit the Events Calendar to see events from energy organizations across the country.
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