They Must Be Reading The Blog -- December 30, 2017 -- Global Warming Hits The Bakken -- Record Cold Weather Reported Across North Dakota

I really have to thank the reader who brought this to my attention. About two weeks ago a reader noted that nuclear energy, coal, and natural gas had maxed out in New England and the region was responding by increasing the amount of oil being used to generate electricity. It was then noted that renewable energy (mostly wind) was not up to the task. As energy demand increased during the day, renewable energy actually decreased -- it appears that wind turbines were either less efficient or coming off-line during the day when electricity was most needed.

Now, Don alerts me to this Washington Examiner story, "coal to the rescue as record cold grips the East."

Coal-fired power plants are king again as sub-zero temperatures sent demand for heating and electricity soaring on the East Coast Friday in the largest energy market in the nation.
Coal outpaced both natural gas and nuclear power plants in the PJM market, which extends from the Midwest to Washington, according to real-time updates provided by the grid operator PJM Interconnection.

Coal provided nearly 20,000 megawatts more electricity throughout the day Friday than its primary rival natural gas and over 10,000 megawatts more than nuclear power plants.

One megawatt of electricity can provide 750-1,200 homes with power, depending on how much demand there is on the system, according to experts.

The PJM breakdown looked like this: Coal at 45,842 MW; nuclear power at 35,514; and natural gas at 25,927. Renewables provided 3,086 MW. Coal, nuclear and natural gas are the three dominant sources of 24-hour power on the grid.

And renewable energy? In MW:

• coal: 45,842 (42%)
• nuclear: 35,514
• natural gas: 25,927
• renewables: 3,086 (2.8%)
• total: 110,369

It would be interesting to get the nameplate capacity / percentages for the energy mix. Something tells me the renewable folks would tell us that nameplate capacity for renewable energy was close to 25%. There's a huge difference between nameplate capacity and what renewables actually produce.

This is very, very early in the season. Cold weather like this generally does not appear until mid- to late-January and February. A lot of folks in the northeast are going to be spending their Trump tax savings on expensive spot electricity made more expensive by renewable energy initiatives.

By the way, this is interesting: were it not for coal, some localities may have been in deep trouble. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry has a good case for allowing coal utilities to claim a premium for maintaining "emergency" supplies of coal (previously reported).

Meanwhile, in North Dakota, record cold weather is being reported:

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This Should Give You A Charge

If you want to read some great comments to a very "strange" article, read this short article, and then read the comments.