Southwest Power Pool’s expansion into the West marks a major step toward greater regional coordination of the electric grid.

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Earlier this year the Southwest Power Pool, the electric grid operator for much of the central United States, expanded into the Western Interconnection, becoming the first Regional Transmission Organization to operate in both the Eastern and Western grids. The move comes as Western utilities seek to address rising electricity demand, the integration of growing amounts of clean energy, and concerns about future grid reliability, challenges that broader regional coordination may help address.

SPP plans to build on that expansion with Markets+, a new regional market initiative scheduled to launch in 2027. Together, these efforts represent one of the most significant pushes yet toward greater electricity market coordination in the American West. They also come as California’s grid operator pursues its own effort to expand regional market participation through its Extended Day-Ahead Market, or EDAM, giving Western utilities multiple paths toward closer regional integration, each with different approaches to governance and market oversight.

On the podcast, SPP Chief Executive Officer Lanny Nickell discusses SPP’s expansion into the West and the development of Markets+. He explains why Western utilities are becoming more interested in regional coordination, the tradeoffs between independence and larger markets, and what these developments may mean for the future of the electric grid in the American West.

Lanny Nickell is the Chief Executive Officer of Southwest Power Pool.

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Energy Policy Now is produced by The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. For all things energy policy, visit kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu.

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For years, electricity prices broadly tracked inflation. New pressures may be changing that.

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Electricity prices have become a major political issue in the United States, with policymakers increasingly focused on rising utility bills and the costs of meeting growing electricity demand. At the same time, renewable energy has often been blamed for driving prices higher.

But what does the data actually show?

Ryan Hledik of The Brattle Group discusses research conducted with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory on U.S. electricity price trends. The research finds that, nationally, electricity prices have largely tracked inflation, though significant regional differences tell a more complicated story. Hledik explains the factors that really drive electricity prices, the role of renewable energy, natural gas, and infrastructure investment, and why electricity costs vary so dramatically across the country.

Hledik also explores whether 2025, when electricity prices rose faster than inflation nationally, marks the beginning of a new era of rising electricity prices, or a temporary departure from a longer-term trend.

Ryan Hledik is an alumni policy advisor with the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy and a principal with The Brattle Group.

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Congestion in General Equilibrium: Nodal Electricity Pricing, Production, and Welfare https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/congestion-in-general-equilibrium-nodal-electricity-pricing-production-and-welfare/

Boomtowns in the Battery Belt: Risks and Opportunities of Clean Energy Investments in Small Towns of America https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/boomtowns-in-the-battery-belt-risks-and-opportunities-of-clean-energy-investments-in-small-towns-of-america/

How PJM Is Grappling With Data Center Power Demand https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/commentary/podcast/how-pjm-is-grappling-with-data-center-power-demand/

Energy Policy Now is produced by The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. For all things energy policy, visit kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu.

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Clean energy funding under the GGRF remains frozen, with projects on hold and questions over federal spending authority unresolved.

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The $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund has become a focal point of the Trump administration’s efforts to roll back federal clean energy policy. The program was designed to finance clean energy and emissions-reducing projects by channeling public funds through nonprofit financial institutions to attract private investment, including investments that support community resilience.

After taking office in 2025, the administration moved to freeze funding and sought to terminate grant agreements that had already been awarded, citing concerns about oversight, conflicts of interest, and program design. Supporters argue the funds were lawfully appropriated and that the administration is attempting to unwind commitments based on claims that have not been substantiated in court. Roughly $20 billion of that funding now remains in limbo, with projects on hold.

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, ranking member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, discusses how the program was designed to work, the administration’s stated rationale for shutting it down, and what the dispute could mean for clean energy investment and congressional authority over federal spending.

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Governing the Greenhouse Gas Protocol https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/governing-the-greenhouse-gas-protocol/ 

Energy Policy Now is produced by The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. For all things energy policy, visit kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu

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The Greenhouse Gas Protocol, the global standard for corporate emissions accounting, is increasingly embedded in policy, drawing new scrutiny of its governance.

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The Greenhouse Gas Protocol is the global standard for how companies measure and report their greenhouse gas emissions. It is used by most large companies worldwide and increasingly underpins climate disclosure requirements in places like the European Union and California.

Originally developed outside of government, the Protocol filled a gap at a time when policymakers had not agreed on how emissions should be measured. But its role has evolved, and what began as a voluntary reporting tool is now becoming embedded in climate policy.

As its influence has grown, so has scrutiny. Questions about how emissions are counted have persisted. More recently, attention has turned to how the Protocol itself is governed, including how decisions are made, who has influence, how scientific input is handled, and how transparent the process is.

Danny Cullenward, senior fellow at the Kleinman Center and a member of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol’s Independent Standards Board, discusses how the Protocol was developed, how its role has evolved, and the challenges it faces as it takes on a more central role in climate policy. He also examines whether recent governance changes go far enough, and what is at stake as the Protocol continues to shape how emissions are measured and reported.

Danny Cullenward is a senior fellow at the Kleinman Center and a member of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol’s Independent Standards Board.

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Policy Design Issues for Border Carbon Adjustments https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/policy-design-issues-for-border-carbon-adjustments/

Energy Policy Now is produced by The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. For all things energy policy, visit kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu

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Helen Thompson, a political economist at Cambridge, examines how geopolitical conflict has shaped global oil and gas markets, with implications for the current Gulf crisis.

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Geopolitical conflict has long shaped the evolution of global energy systems. Over the past 70 years, periods of relative stability in oil and gas markets have repeatedly given way to disruption, from the Suez Crisis to the oil shocks of the 1970s, and more recently to tensions in the Middle East. These episodes have often prompted governments and markets to rethink how energy is produced, sourced, and used, sometimes reducing vulnerability, and at other times creating new risks that only emerge over time.

But these disruptions have not all played out in the same way. Some have triggered significant shifts in how energy systems are organized, while others have had more limited and short-lived effects. In some cases, efforts to manage risk have led to lasting changes. In others, they have introduced new dependencies that only became visible later.

On the podcast, Helen Thompson, professor of political economy at the University of Cambridge, explores how major geopolitical disruptions have reshaped energy systems in the United States and globally, and the policy and market responses that have followed. She also examines the vulnerabilities and pressure points in today’s oil and gas markets, and what recent tensions in the Persian Gulf may reveal about the resilience of the current system.

Helen Thompson is professor of political economy at the University of Cambridge.

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Energy Policy Now is produced by The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. For all things energy policy, visit kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu.

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Insurance is on the front lines of climate risk, and may help shape how we respond to it.

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Insurance is one of the quiet pillars of the modern economy. It underpins where we build, how we invest, and whether communities can recover after disaster. In many ways, it defines what risks we’re willing, and able, to live with.

But that foundation is under strain. Across the United States, rising losses from wildfires, floods, and other extreme events are driving up insurance costs and pushing insurers out of some markets. In states like California and Florida, homeowners are finding it harder, and more expensive, to secure coverage. When insurance becomes unavailable, the consequences extend beyond individual households, affecting housing markets, local economies, and community stability.

Carolyn Kousky, founder of Insurance for Good and a senior fellow at the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy, explores how climate change is reshaping insurance markets and what that means for the future of risk, investment, and resilience. She explains how insurance doesn’t just respond to risk, but can also influence it by shaping investment in resilient infrastructure, guiding development decisions, and affecting the flow of capital into cleaner energy systems.

Carolyn Kousky if a senior fellow with the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy and founder of Insurance for Good.

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Energy Policy Now is produced by The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. For all things energy policy, visit kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Arctic is emerging as a new front in the global competition over strategic minerals, raising questions about how the supply chains behind the energy transition will be governed.

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In recent months, Arctic resources have moved to the center of geopolitical debate. President Trump has publicly proposed that the United States take control of Greenland, citing its strategic location and mineral wealth, while leaders in Denmark and Greenland have rejected the proposal.

The dispute comes at a time when critical minerals are becoming central to the global energy transition. Electric vehicles, renewable energy systems, and advanced technologies all depend on them. Yet much of the world’s refining and processing capacity is concentrated in a small number of countries, most prominently China. That concentration has intensified concerns about how geopolitical rivalry could shape access to the materials that underpin the transition to cleaner energy.

Saleem Ali, Professor of Energy and the Environment at the University of Delaware and a leading voice on mineral diplomacy, discusses where frontier resources, in the Arctic and beyond, fit into this evolving landscape. He assesses whether emerging resource frontiers can meaningfully rebalance global mineral supply chains, or whether their importance has been overstated.

Ali also discusses a proposal for a governance framework, a Global Minerals Trust, designed to reduce resource nationalism and prevent critical minerals from becoming instruments of geopolitical leverage. He examines whether cooperation is realistic in a period of growing competition for strategic resources.

Saleem Ali is the Blue and Gold Distinguished Professor of Energy and the Environment at the University of Delaware.

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Energy Policy Now is produced by The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. For all things energy policy, visit kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu.

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Two Penn legal experts discuss the strategy behind EPA’s rescission of the Endangerment Finding and the court challenges ahead.

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On February 12, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency formally rescinded the endangerment finding, the 2009 determination that established the legal basis for federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions. For 16 years, that finding has underpinned EPA climate policy, reflecting the agency’s conclusion that greenhouse gases pose a threat to human health and that, under the law, it was required to regulate them.

The move represents a major shift in federal climate policy. But agencies cannot simply reverse themselves without making a legal case that can withstand court review. Cary Coglianese of the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School and Shelley Welton of the Kleinman Center and Penn Carey Law examine the legal rationale behind the rescission and how it draws on recent Supreme Court decisions that have narrowed federal agency authority.

Rather than disputing climate science, the EPA’s argument rests on a more limited reading of its powers under the Clean Air Act. Welton and Coglianese explain how that argument fits within the Court’s evolving approach to administrative power, and what it could mean for the future of federal climate regulation.

Cary Coglianese is Director of the Penn Program on Regulation at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School.

Shelley Welton is Presidential Distinguished Professor of Law and Energy Policy with the Kleinman Center and Penn Carey Law.

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Energy Policy Now is produced by The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. For all things energy policy, visit kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Oil sanctions have given rise to dark shipping, reshaping global energy flows and producing far-reaching economic consequences.

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In recent years, oil export sanctions have become a central tool of U.S. foreign policy, targeting major producers including Russia, Iran, and, until very recently Venezuela. These sanctions were designed to limit oil revenues, apply economic pressure, and create geopolitical leverage. But their real-world effects have proven more complex than many anticipated.

A growing “shadow fleet” of oil tankers now operates alongside the conventional global shipping system. These vessels, often older and operating with opaque ownership and shifting registrations, transport sanctioned oil through networks designed to evade restrictions. Despite extensive sanctions, large volumes of this oil continue to reach global markets. 

In this episode, Penn economist Jesús Fernández-Villaverde examines how oil sanctions have contributed to the rise of dark shipping, and have become a lever in global great power competition. Drawing on new research funded by the Kleinman Center, he explains how shadow oil flows reshape global markets, influence prices and industrial activity, and generate unintended outcomes.

Jesús Fernández-Villaverde is a professor of economics and Director of the Penn Initiative for the Study of Markets at the University of Pennsylvania.

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Energy System Planning: New Models for Accelerating Decarbonization https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/energy-system-planning-new-models-for-accelerating-decarbonization/

Energy Policy Now is produced by The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. For all things energy policy, visit kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The nation’s largest electric grid operator outlines its plan to manage rapid growth in data center electricity demand.

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PJM Interconnection, the nation’s largest grid operator, is preparing to file a wide-ranging proposal with federal regulators aimed at managing the rapid growth of electricity demand, including AI-driven data centers. The plan stands out as one of the first comprehensive efforts by a grid operator to address surging load from new technologies while maintaining system reliability and limiting cost impacts on consumers.

The proposal arrives at a moment when the electric grid is under growing stress. Tightening power supply-demand balances, high-profile grid failures, and a series of narrowly avoided outages have raised concerns about whether the power system can continue to meet demand reliably. At the same time, those pressures have increasingly shown up in electricity prices, which have increased sharply in many areas.

PJM’s proposal tries to answer a question grid operators across the country are now facing: how to say “yes” to large new loads without turning reliability into a gamble or costs into an afterthought. The plan lays out a structured approach to integrating data centers and other large loads, with an eye toward keeping commitments realistic and aligning responsibility with impact.

Abe Silverman is an assistant research scholar with the Ralph O’Connor Sustainable Energy Institute at Johns Hopkins University and a former general counsel to the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities. Tom Rutigliano is senior advocate for climate and energy at the Natural Resources Defense Council, where his work focuses on PJM. Both participated in the policy discussions surrounding PJM’s proposal, and provide their perspective on its potential impacts on grid reliability, consumers, and the potential rate of datacenter growth.

Abe Silverman is an assistant research scholar with the Ralph O’Connor Sustainable Energy Institute at Johns Hopkins University and a former general counsel to the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities.

Tom Rutigliano is senior advocate for climate and energy at the Natural Resources Defense Council, where his work focuses on PJM.

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Energy System Planning: New Models for Accelerating Decarbonization https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/energy-system-planning-new-models-for-accelerating-decarbonization/

Energy Policy Now is produced by The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. For all things energy policy, visit kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.