Isaac Orr, Vice President of Research at Always On Energy Research, joined Fox 5’s Good Day D.C. to discuss whether the electric grid can keep up with AI-driven data center growth. Orr said data centers are currently winning the race against new power plant construction, and that the fastest fix is to stop retiring coal […]

When we started in the energy industry over a decade ago, it was very common to hear the claim that “renewables are the cheapest energy sources,” based on Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) metrics. Many advocates added, “even without subsidies!” These claims went largely uncontested for years, with journalists and the mainstream media seemingly eager to parrot common […]

Always On Vice President of Research Isaac Orr joined Good Morning Liberty to explain why grid reliability went from a 2030s worry to a near-term one. AI data centers and electric vehicle mandates are piling new demand onto a system that keeps retiring coal and nuclear capacity, and Orr points to NERC warning of high […]

A few weeks ago, we wrote about how Gallup polling found 66 percent of Americans think the environment is getting worse despite the fact that air quality in the United States has improved dramatically since the 1970’s. This improvement was due in large part to the Clean Air Act and its subsequent amendments, as a reader noted. […]

Always On Energy Research Vice President Isaac Orr joined Brian Nichols on The Brian Nichols Show to dig into the real forces behind America’s surging electricity bills. While data centers and AI get most of the media attention, what’s really inflating your power bill is the cost-of-service regulatory model that governs monopoly utilities in most […]

For the last decade, interconnection queues in regions across the country were largely populated by wind, solar, and battery storage proposals due to federal incentives, state renewable energy mandates, flat power demand, and healthy reserve margins that facilitated the growth of intermittent resources while limiting the perceived need for additional dispatchable generation. However, things have […]

A recent Gallup poll found that Americans’ rating of the environment has reached a new all-time low, with 66 percent of respondents saying the environment is getting worse. The only problem? The data show the exact opposite is happening. Perception vs. Reality According to Gallup, only 35 percent of Americans rate environmental quality as excellent or good, […]

by Isaac Orr and Mitch Rolling We are currently working on an exciting new project called the Social Cost of Blackouts. In this upcoming report, we argue that regulatory agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and utility regulators should be required to determine whether proposed power plant regulations or integrated resource plans (IRPs) will result […]

In a November 8th, 2025, interview with the New York Times, Calvin Butler, the CEO of Exelon, one of the largest utilities in the United States, quipped that the best hack for lowering your electric bill is to turn off your lights. The notion that Americans can save money on their power bills by simply consuming […]

On March 3rd, JPMorgan Chase released its 16th Annual Eye on the Market Energy Paper. This year’s report, written by Michael Cembalest, is titled “Fighting Words,” and it is a 98-page analysis with hundreds of graphs and charts on the state of the energy industry. It spans most aspects of the energy industry, but as with all […]