History of Electricity - IER
WEBIn 1882, with J.P. Morgan funding his efforts, Edison launched the businesses that would later be known as General Electric. In September of that year, he opened the United States’ first central power plant in lower Manhattan—the Pearl Street Station. Pearl Street was a stroke of genius.
The Institute for Energy Research
WEB6 days ago · Even top Democrats and Elon Musk have started to realize that we need to support domestic energy production to help keep prices low for American consumers. A first-of-its-kind research tool that shines a long overdue spotlight on the money that is fueling the massive national environmental lobby ...
The United States Was Energy Independent in 2019 for the First …
WEBMay 11, 2020 · The United States Was Energy Independent in 2019 for the First Time Since 1957. By IER. May 11, 2020. Contact The Expert. U.S. energy production in 2019 was higher than U.S. energy consumption for the first time in 62 years. Thus, the U.S. attained the long-held goal of “energy independence”—which is not to say that we did not import or ...
The Environmental Impact of Lithium Batteries - IER
WEBNov 12, 2020 · During the Obama-Biden administration, hydraulic fracturing was accused of causing a number of environmental problems—faucets on fire, contamination of drinking water, etc.—but the administration’s own Environmental Protection Agency could not validate those accusations.. Now Biden is planning to transition the transportation sector to electric vehicles that are powered by lithium ...
History of Solar Power - IER
WEBFeb 18, 2016 · The history of solar power is not as recent as some may think as the technology has existed since the 19th century and has received substantial government support since at least the 1970s. Despite vast amounts of subsidies, solar power comprises less than 1 percent of US electricity generation [1] …
U.S. Nuclear Power Plants are Shuttering. What's replacing them?
WEBNovember 3, 2016. Contact The Expert. Five U.S. nuclear power plants have shuttered in the past 5 years and more are on the way due primarily to competition from low cost natural gas, onerous regulations from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), low prices in the regional market for electric generating capacity and artificially low prices ...
Solar Waste: A Looming Problem - IER
WEBJun 30, 2021 · U.S. installations of solar panels rebounded from the coronavirus pandemic with more than 19 gigawatts of total capacity installed in 2020, compared to about 13 gigawatts at the close of 2019. And, according to industry data, that number may quadruple over the next ten years.Further, given that the replacement rate of solar panels is faster than originally expected, a looming problem of solar ...
Price Controls and the 1970s Oil Crisis: Lessons for Today
WEBOct 24, 2023 · The 1970s “Energy Crisis” was in full swing. While shortages were blamed on Big Oil at home and OPEC abroad, the real culprit was federal price and allocation controls. President Richard Nixon’s August 1971 declaration of a 90-day freeze of wages and prices, intended to check price inflation then running near 4 percent (one-half of 2022 ...
Electricity Transmission - IER
WEBThe Economics of Electricity Transmission. Transmission makes up roughly 11 percent of the total cost of electricity. In 2012, the Energy Information Administration estimated that transmission cost 1.1 cents/kilowatt-hour (kWh), out …
California’s Natural Gas to Electric Future - IER
WEBMar 12, 2020 · In 2018, the average price of natural gas in California was $12.30 per million British thermal units (a measure of the heat content of the fuel), according to the Energy Information Administration. For a homeowner with a new, 95-percent efficiency natural-gas furnace or water heater, that translates into a cost of about $13 per million BTUs.