grid reliability BS
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merri ok
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CONTEXT? MMA
The Wall Street Journal's coverage of threats to the power grid gets twisted on Fox Business
The Journal explicitly credits solar for reducing the risk of blackouts, but on Fox Business “blue state anti-fossil fuel policies” are “by far the biggest threat”
Special ProgramsClimate & Energy
Written by Allison Fisher
Published 07/08/26
During the July 7 edition of Fox Business’ Varney & Co., guest host David Asman claimed that a recent Wall Street Journal article warned that a “perfect storm” of “high temperatures, new A.I. data centers pulling a lot of energy and those blue state anti-fossil fuel policies” are threatening the stability of the electric grid.
In reality, the article explicitly cites “an influx of 58.5 gigawatts of new resources, dominated by solar and battery storage” for reducing “the widespread blackout risks the country faced in recent years.” In fact, nowhere in the article are “anti-fossil fuel policies” cited as a threat, nor does it suggest blue states are more vulnerable to blackouts than red states.
The Journal does make clear that “hotter-than-usual” temperatures and other climate-driven disruptions — like droughts, wildfires and hurricanes — are not only a threat to the grid but are driving up electricity costs. The article notes that “summer cooling costs have increased nearly 40% since 2020, driven by a combination of rising electricity prices and hotter summers.”
Relatedly, CNN reported yesterday on a new analysis that found “the collective impact of the administration’s actions will raise costs on American households by more than half a trillion dollars by 2040.” To date, “382 clean energy projects have been canceled or stalled since Trump’s election,” according toClimate Power. Even some Fox figureshave questioned killing renewable energy projects at a time of rising electricity cost and demand.
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Citation
From the July 7, 2026, edition of Fox Business' Varney & Co.
DAVID ASMAN [FOX BUSINESS HOST]: Take a look at this Wall Street journal article, “The ‘Five Alarm’ Risk Facing the Power Grid This Summer.” It talks about a perfect storm, if we have high temperatures, new A.I. data centers pulling a lot of energy, and those blue state anti-fossil fuel policies. People are really worried, particularly in blue states about blackouts because of all of this. Is that a possibility?
CHRIS WRIGHT: [US ENERGY SECRETARY]: David, and the last one is by far the biggest threat. These are blue state policies and they were Obama administration policies and Biden administration policies. Seventeen years ago, the Democrats decided they're the party of expensive energy. They're the party of unreality. We're going to oppose fossil fuels even though they're 80% of American energy and 80% of global energy, and we're going to close coal plants and make it hard to build new gas plants, close nuclear plants, and bet the farm on the sun and the wind. That was a disastrous bet that drove high electricity prices and stopped any growth of American electricity production.
Fortunately, with the working families tax cut, we just — July 4 — we just passed the day that those subsidies are no longer available if you start construction on a project today. Ironically spending hundreds of billions of dollars on government subsidies was a driver of increased electricity prices. Normally you have a huge subsidy and you push the price of something down. They lost twice: spend massive subsidies, make electricity more expensive. But the Trump administration is reversing all of that. You will see an end to the rise of the electricity prices and our pragmatic policies will keep the lights on and keep the air conditioners running this summer, but it will be a massive challenge given 17 years of Democrat policies degrading the quality of our electric grid.
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GGL 6 26
[### Staff Report to the Secretary on Electricity Markets and ...
Department of Energy (.gov)
https://www.energy.gov › staff-report-secretary-electricit...](https://www.energy.gov/staff-report-secretary-electricity-markets-and-reliability)
Jun 4, 2026 — “The electric grid reliability study results confirm that coal remains a critical energy source for consumers and businesses across the ...Read more
AI Overview
+7
The Department of Energy Staff Report on Electricity Markets and Reliability, ordered by former Secretary Rick Perry in 2017, examined the U.S. power grid. It evaluated how policies favoring wind and solar impact traditional baseload power plants (like coal and nuclear) and overall grid reliability.
Bloomberg.com +2
Key Takeaways of the Study
- Market Pressures: The report concluded that the primary driver behind traditional baseload plant closures was not renewable energy subsidies, but rather the low cost of natural gas and flat electricity demand.
Ars Technica +3
- Reliability Maintained: Leaked drafts and the final 125-page report indicated that the grid remained highly reliable, and that higher levels of intermittent renewable energy could be integrated without compromising system stability.
NRDC +1
- Policy Recommendations: It recommended that regulators re-evaluate wholesale electricity market pricing rules to ensure that traditional, 24/7 baseload generators with on-site fuel reserves were adequately compensated for their contributions to grid resilience.
Department of Energy (.gov) +1
Context and Implications
- Initial Concerns: Perry’s directive was heavily debated, with critics arguing the study aimed to artificially prop up the struggling coal industry by penalizing renewable energy.
Conservation Law Foundation +2
- Controversy: The report's findings initially caused friction when a leaked draft contradicted the premise that renewable energy posed a direct threat to the power grid.
Ars Technica +1
- Actionability: The findings spurred ongoing efforts to update market rules and pricing strategies to maintain grid resilience, which you can read more about on the Department of Energy (.gov) page.
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GRNWIRE
The current version of a highly anticipated grid study from the Department of Energy no longer includes draft text that pointed a finger at cheap gas and low electricity demand — not renewables — as the main drivers of recent baseload power plant closures.
An early draft of DOE's grid study spanning more than 140 pages obtained by E&E News concludes that the nation's grid is operating reliably and probes the closure of baseload power plants. Bloomberg first reported on the draft Friday.
The draft iterates repeatedly the connection between baseload plant closures, cheap gas and waning demand as efficiency increases, stating "baseload retirements correlate closely to the fall in natural gas prices and the flattening of customer peak demand.”
One section of the draft concludes the grid is running smoothly. "Reserve margins and resource adequacy are presently sound. The power system is more reliable today due to better planning, market discipline and the better operating rules and standards," according to the report. "Grid operators are using technologies, standards and practices to assure that they can continue operating the grid reliably."
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GGL 6 26
[### Perry's Grid Study Willfully Ignores Energy Innovation
Environmental Defense Fund
https://www.edf.org › media › perrys-grid-study-willfull...](https://www.edf.org/media/perrys-grid-study-willfully-ignores-energy-innovation)
Yet, Perry's study ignores innovation and new technologies, instead suggesting America go back to the future by interfering with a well-functioning electricity ...
[### Flawed Perry Grid Study Finally Released
NRDC
https://www.nrdc.org › press-releases › flawed-perry-gr...](https://www.nrdc.org/press-releases/flawed-perry-grid-study-finally-released)
Aug 24, 2017 — DOE Secretary Perry appears determined to mold America's transmission grid around support for fossil fuels, but the facts in his own report don' ...Read more
[### Rick Perry and his own grid study are saying very different things
vox.com
https://www.vox.com › energy-and-environment › rick...](https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2017/8/24/16195620/rick-perry-grid-study-nothingburger)
Aug 24, 2017 — Rick Perry and his own grid study are saying very different things. The analysis finds that the grid is perfectly reliable without coal plants.Read more
[### What Rick Perry's Grid Reliability Study Means for New ...
Conservation Law Foundation
https://www.clf.org › blog › doe-study-new-england](https://www.clf.org/blog/doe-study-new-england/)
Aug 9, 2017 — With this study, Perry is trying to back up his claims that renewables like solar and wind are threatening our electric grid's reliability.Read more
[### Electricity Grid Reliability Study is Fair to Wind Energy
Senator Chuck Grassley (.gov)
https://www.grassley.senate.gov › news › news-releases](https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-electricity-grid-reliability-study-fair-wind-energy)
Aug 24, 2017 — Chuck Grassley asked Energy Secretary Rick Perry a series of questions about a study Perry directed that appeared geared to undermine the wind ...Read more
[### Nothing New in Department of Energy Grid Study
Harvard University
https://eelp.law.harvard.edu › nothing-new-in-departme...](https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/nothing-new-in-department-of-energy-grid-study/)
Aug 24, 2017 — In April, Secretary of Energy Rick Perry issued a memo to Department of Energy (DOE) staff, requesting a study of electricity markets and ...Read more
[### Don't buy Perry's reliability ruse. His fake study is pro-coal ...
Environmental Defense Fund
https://blogs.edf.org › energyexchange › 2017/06/01 › d...](https://blogs.edf.org/energyexchange/2017/06/01/dont-buy-perrys-reliability-ruse-his-fake-study-is-pro-coal-propaganda/)
Jun 1, 2017 — Energy Secretary Rick Perry's so-called grid reliability study will be nothing more than thinly-veiled propaganda for the coal industry and ...Read more
[### Perry's DOE Study Has Little Power to Shape the Grid
Sustainable FERC Project
https://sustainableferc.org › perrys-doe-study-has-little-...](https://sustainableferc.org/perrys-doe-study-has-little-power-to-shape-the-grid/)
... Perry to examine “critical issues central to protecting the long-term reliability of the electric grid.” It is more likely to end with a fizzle than a bang ...
[### DOE Grid Study Correctly Shows Wind, Solar Not a Threat ...
Union of Concerned Scientists
https://www.ucs.org › about › news › doe-grid-study-c...](https://www.ucs.org/about/news/doe-grid-study-correctly-shows-wind-solar-not-threat-electricity-reliability)
Aug 24, 2017 — The study shows recent growth in wind and solar power is creating new jobs and is not a threat to reliability, contradicting previous claims made by Perry.Read more
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EPI
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Stevenson and the Mackinac Center want to repeal Michigan’s landmark clean energy laws
In March, Stevenson delivered testimony in support of Michigan House Energy Committee Chair Pauline Wendzel’s “Project Lighthouse” legislation, House Bills 5710 and 5711, which would repeal Michigan’s landmark [2023 clean energy laws](https://www.michigan.gov/mpsc/commission/workgroups/2023-energy-legislation#::text=The%20laws%20also%20include%20three%20one-time%20proceedings:,Increases%20the%20cap%20from%201%25%20to%li%25).
The legislation approved by Republicans in the Michigan House would slow down the “build-out of the cheapest, fastest energy, limiting Michigan’s ability to leverage federal investments and pushing the state toward more expensive, long-term fossil fuel infrastructure” if it becomes law, according to the Michigan League of Conservation Voters (LCV).
It would also remove “basic planning and reporting requirements, allowing pollution to go unreported and increasing costs as energy demand grows,” Michigan LCV said.
In his testimony in support of the legislation, Stevenson again pointed to a 2025 report prepared for the Mackinac Center by the Center for the American Experiment, a Minnesota-based SPN affiliate, and Always on Energy Research, a SPN partner. The Lignite Energy Council, a coal industry group that’s opposed 100% clean energy legislation in neighboring Minnesota, paid the Center of the American Experiment $115,000 for electrical grid and reliability modeling in 2023.
The 2025 reportclaimed that powering Michigan with coal, gas, large-scale nuclear, and SMR would be cheaper than transitioning to a mix of wind, solar, nuclear, and energy storage. In addition to postponing the closures of the J.H. Campbell and Monroe plants until 2040, the report called for outfitting the state’s existing coal and gas plants with carbon capture and storage (CCS). The report also claimed relying on wind, solar, and energy storage “could lead to numerous blackouts throughout the year.”
“Our study might be contested,” Stevenson acknowledged in his testimony.
SMR projects in the U.S. and globally have run into cost overruns, according to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis. Multiple high-profile utility projects aimed at demonstrating the commercial viability of CCS for coal plants have devolved into costly economic boondoggles mired in public scandal.
Always on Energy Research has churned out similar reports for other SPN groups, including two reports focused on New England’s power grid prepared for the Americans for Prosperity Foundation and SPN groups based in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. The Acadia Center, an environmental group working to halve carbon emissions in the Northeast by 2030, has published rebuttals of Always on Energy Research reports on New England.
“Misleading analysis grossly inflates the cost of clean energy, selectively ignores fuel savings, and proposes highly unrealistic alternative scenarios,” the Acadia Center said of Always on Energy Research’s methodology in its latest rebuttalin January.
Stevenson received funding from SPN to lead a nuclear waste discussion group with nuclear industry contacts
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