Questions over the country’s energy future surfaced in the Presidential debate Sunday night. It was a surprising 5 minutes of actual policy discussion in an otherwise tense debate focused mainly on character assassinations. For Inside Energy, StateImpact Pennsylvania’s Susan Phillips takes a look at how the facts stack up to the candidates comments on energy.

Electricity prices typically move in one direction: up. But for the first time in more than a decade, residential electricity prices have dropped nationwide.

Electricity prices typically move in one direction: up. But for the first time in more than a decade, residential electricity prices have dropped nationwide.

In 2014, a massive explosion tore through the Williams natural gas processing plant in Opal. It forced the evacuation of the southwestern Wyoming town and caused a spike in the price of natural gas. Wyoming’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration conducted an investigation in the aftermath and found a number of safety violations. But the agency never collected the corresponding fines and never released a final report about the investigation.

Researchers are starting to draw a straight line between ozone and oil and gas development. A recent study out of the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration found that 17 percent of new ozone on an average summer day in Colorado's front range comes from oil and gas emissions.

Pipeline Drama Casts Shadow Over Oil Industry by Inside Energy

Native American leaders from all over the country are traveling to Washington to meet with President Obama on Monday at his last Tribal Nations Conference. Meanwhile in North Dakota, protesters remain camped out in opposition to a controversial oil pipeline. Inside Energy’s Leigh Paterson reports that the Standing Rock Sioux tribe- and others- are bringing issues from the prairie all the way to the capital.

Legislators see the increase as a way to raise revenues in the face of a massive budget shortfall due to a drop in coal, oil and gas production. But wind developers say it's a dangerous gamble for a state that has some of the best wind power potential in the nation.

One thing we can say about this year's presidential election...it's not following the usual rules. Take the oil and gas industry for example. It has given more to Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton than it has to Republican nominee Donald Trump. With Trump planning to address Shale gas drillers this week (Thursday 9/22) at a conference in Pittsburgh, StateImpact Pennsylvania's Susan Phillips reports for Inside Energy on another twist in this odd campaign season.

Fight Feels Familiar For Tribes At Pipeline Protest by Inside Energy