Inside Energy

Protesters gathered all around the country this week in opposition to a controversial crude oil pipeline. The Standing Rock Sioux, the tribe opposing the Dakota Access pipeline project, are worried that if there was an accident, the pipeline could contaminate their water. Inside Energy’s Leigh Paterson reports on the risks of our massive and largely hidden pipeline network.

Coal country is celebrating Donald Trump's election victory. Support for Trump was strong from Appalachia to Wyoming, and people have high hopes he can reverse coal's recent downturn. But can he?

For weeks this spring, students and teachers at the school in tiny Midwest, Wyoming reported strange smells and headaches. Then, in May, the school shut down after health officials detected dangerous levels of potentially toxic gases. But for months, no one could answer the questions: What were the gases? And how did they get into the school?

Fossil fuel companies have a history of backing Republican candidates. But this year’s unusual presidential campaign appears to be having a strange ripple effect on political giving - at least from the oil and gas industry.

It may not be at the top of the ticket, but key battles are being waged on many state ballots over the future of energy this year. As the influence of solar grows, that industry and the power companies are clashing. Both sides hope to tip the scales in their favor by spending big money to get the right regulators elected. Arizona is ground zero for this fight. For Inside Energy, Will Stone of KJZZ in Phoenix reports.

Peabody Energy paid nearly one point eight million dollars in overdue taxes this week to a rural county in western Colorado, resolving, for now, a serious funding concern for a tiny school district there. Communities all over the country count on revenue from fossil fuel extraction to pay for basics like schools and roads. But with the downturn in coal, oil and gas, that steady stream of energy dollars is no longer assured. Inside Energy’s Leigh Paterson reports.

Trump or Clinton? What's At Stake For Energy States by Inside Energy

The duck curve has become shorthand for the challenges that utilities face as they add more solar power and other renewables to the grid. Why are power regulators across the country talking about it more and more?

Coal has been a major theme this election season, with each side pointing fingers at the other. From the presidential debate stage to local town halls, what to do about lost mining jobs keeps coming up. On Colorado’s western slope, two candidates running for Congress are divided on the issue and are nearly matched in campaign contributions as election day approaches. Inside Energy’s Leigh Paterson reports.

The future for Wyoming’s wind industry is finally looking up. There are few places in the country with more wind energy potential than Wyoming, but the state has seen almost no new wind turbines built in six years, even while wind has boomed in the rest of the country. Depending on who you ask, the challenges have been political, technical or both. But now, the outlook is improving on all fronts.