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Institute for Energy Research

The Institute for Energy Research (IER) is a not-for-profit organization that conducts intensive research and analysis on the functions, operations, and government regulation of global energy markets. IER maintains that freely-functioning energy markets provide the most efficient and effective solutions to today’s global energy and environmental challenges and, as such, are critical to the well-being of individuals and society.

Most Recent Articles by Institute for Energy Research:


Feed-In Tariffs Are Good for Expensive Renewables, But Are They Good for Consumers?

Solar technologies are expensive and require government assistance to turn them into lucrative enterprises, as Germany and Spain have found and as China is now learning. Offshore wind technology is facing the same issue; for example, the wind farm off Cape Cod is costing about twice the average price of electricity in the United States. The assistance, often, is in the form of “feed-in tariffs,” which forces electric utilities to purchase electricity generated from wind or solar technologies at prices high enough to make them viable. Of course, these costs are passed onto consumers through increased electricity prices.
- Friday, September 10, 2010

Is This the Start of a New Trend or Are New Coal Plants Dead?

According to statistics from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), for several decades, there were few new coal-fired plants being built, Owing mainly to environmental opposition and the resulting legal and regulatory challenges, natural gas units and, more recently, wind turbines were being built instead. But that trend may be changing somewhat. In 2009, both the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL)[a] and the EIA[ii] report new coal-fired plants came on line. According to NETL, 3,218 megawatts of coal-fired power plants came on-line in 2009, the most in one year since 1991. Further, NETL reports that 22 units are in the construction pipeline, while EIA reports that 5 new coal-fired units came on line in just the first 6 months of this year.
- Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Spill Commission has Opportunity to “Make it Right”

WASHINGTON – In an attempt to insert facts into the debate about the United States’ offshore drilling policies, the Institute for Energy Research (IER) today prepared testimony for the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling’s public hearing in Washington, D.C. IER President Thomas J. Pyle released the following statement about his testimony.
- Wednesday, August 25, 2010


IER: Administration’s Assault on Energy Continues

WASHINGTON – In response to the U.S. Interior Department’s announcement that it will add even more red tape to the already lengthy permitting process for deepwater oil and gas production, Daniel Kish, Institute for Energy Research senior vice president for policy, released the following statement:
- Wednesday, August 18, 2010

China: World’s Largest Energy Consumer; Surpasses the U.S.

China became the world's largest energy consumer in 2009, surpassing the United States, which held the title for more than 100 years, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).[a] The recession took a toll on U.S. industrial output, adding to a decline in total energy consumption that was almost 5 percent below 2008 levels.[ii] The United States leads the world in oil consumption, consuming more than twice China's level, but China leads the world in coal consumption and hydroelectric capacity, using more than twice the U.S. level of coal and having more than twice the U.S. hydroelectric capacity. Because coal emits twice the level of carbon dioxide as natural gas and because of China's extensive coal use, it surpassed the United States in carbon dioxide emissions in 2007 and continues to hold that lead.
- Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Energy Information Administration Forecasts Domestic Production Losses

The Department of Energy's independent statistical agency is forecasting that the Obama Administration's drilling moratorium will reduce domestic oil production. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates that the drilling moratorium will reduce crude oil production by an average of about 31,000 barrels per day (b/d) in 2010 and about 82,000 b/d in 2011.[a] Recently domestic oil production has been increasing, but the drilling moratorium will likely reverse that trend. EIA estimates a net reduction in domestic oil production of 26,000 b/d in 2011. According to the BP Statistical Review, the United States had the largest increase in domestic oil production of any country in the world in 2009,[ii] and that trend might have continued were it not for the oil spill and subsequent drilling moratorium. The lost domestic oil production as well as any increase in petroleum demand will need to be made up by increased biofuel production and by importing more oil from foreign countries.
- Thursday, August 5, 2010


How Much Will Cap-and-Trade Cost You?

Dear Friends of American Energy, It’s déjà vu all over again in Washington, D.C. Similar to the health care battle, the Administration and its allies in Congress are working to pass legislation that the American people don’t want. This time it’s a national energy tax.
- Friday, July 30, 2010

Video: Voices of Those Harmed by Obama’s Moratorium

Dear Friends of American Energy, There is a new crisis in the Gulf of Mexico. On April 30th, the Obama Administration placed a moratorium on deep water drilling and exploration in the Gulf. This will cause widespread job loss for a region already reeling from the economic effects of the BP oil spill.
- Friday, July 30, 2010

Ding Dong: Carbon Caps are Dead

WASHINGTON, DC – In response to news reports announcing the death of economy-destroying, job-killing legislation to cap carbon, Institute for Energy Research (IER) President Thomas J. Pyle released the following statement.
- Thursday, July 22, 2010

Electricity Generation: Coal’s Share down in 2009, Lowest since 1978

In the electricity-generation market of 2009, coal generation had only a 44 .6 percent share, 3.6 percentage points lower than in 2008 and the lowest level since 1978 when it represented 44.2 percent of the market. Hydroelectric power, wind energy, and natural gas picked up most of the market share coal lost in 2009.[a] Higher water levels helped lift hydroelectric generation, while wind and natural gas boosted their generation levels by adding capacity. Natural gas was also able to compete more effectively against coal, inasmuch as gas's price was about 50 percent lower in 2009 than in 2008.
- Thursday, July 22, 2010


Congress Leaps Before It Looks With The Waxman “Blowout Prevention Act”

The House Energy & Commerce Committee (E&C) — chaired by Representative Henry Waxman (D- Hollywood) — continues to work overtime to make energy harder to produce, more expensive, more imported and more rare. Using the tragic Gulf spill as justification, the committee unanimously passed the “Blowout Prevention Act of 2010” on the same day BP finally achieved some success in controlling its out-of-control Macondo well. With this bill, Chairman Waxman is leaping before he looks, with serious consequences for US energy and national security, as well as for the jobs of not just the hundreds of thousands who work in the offshore energy industry, but their counterparts on land, as well. He is leaping off a cliff while holding onto America’s arm.
- Monday, July 19, 2010


Shouldn’t We Learn from Europe?

Europe's feed-in tariffs have led to higher electricity prices without having positive impacts on emissions reductions, employment, energy security, or technological innovation. In Spain, the feed-in tariff has helped create a rate deficit so great that it imperils the sustainability of Spain's electricity system. Despite these real-world experiences, some believe we should implement the same policies in the U.S. Recently ClimateWire carried the following item, with opening language provided:
- Thursday, July 15, 2010

The White House’s Continuing War on Affordable Energy

The White House has launched a coordinated PR campaign to argue that it is not anti-business. That is a difficult argument to make when we look at the Administration's record on energy. Time after time the Administration has acted to make it more difficult to produce energy domestically and they are actively seeking to make energy more expensive. This only makes an economic recovery more difficult.
- Wednesday, July 14, 2010

IER Statement on the (Second) Obama Drilling Moratorium

Washington, DC – In response to today’s announcement on the new Obama drilling moratorium, Institute for Energy Research Senior Vice President Daniel V. Kish released the following statement:
- Tuesday, July 13, 2010


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