Author

Robert Zullo

Robert Zullo

Robert Zullo is a national energy reporter based in Southern Illinois, focusing on renewable power and the electric grid. Robert joined States Newsroom in 2018 as the founding editor of the Virginia Mercury. Before that, he spent 13 years as a reporter and editor at newspapers in Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Louisiana. He has a bachelor's degree from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va. He grew up in Miami, Fla., and central New Jersey.

An oil refinery

Report faults EPA for not enforcing limits on toxic benzene emissions at oil refineries

By: - September 10, 2023

The federal Environmental Protection Agency must do a better job ensuring that oil refineries that exceed emissions limits for benzene, a toxic, carcinogenic pollutant, cut those concentrations, the agency’s inspector general found. “Thirteen of the 18 refineries we reviewed had benzene concentrations above the action level in 20 or more weeks after the initial exceedance,” […]

The Blue Creek wind farm in Ohio consists of 152 wind turbines with a total capacity of 304 megawatts

Federal regulators approve new rules to ease power connection backlogs 

By: - July 30, 2023

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Thursday finalized long-awaited new rules intended to reform how power generation projects get connected to the electric grid, seen as a major step in smoothing the path for thousands of mostly renewable power projects currently waiting to plug in. “This rule will ensure that our country’s vast generation resources […]

Several fossil fuel plants went offline during recent winter storms either because their equipment froze or because they couldn’t get fuel, leading to blackouts in some regions.

Winter is coming and the U.S. grid remains vulnerable to power plant failures

By: - July 25, 2023

From winter storms to sweltering summer heat, there’s a consensus among experts that increasing extreme weather, a shifting electric generation mix, delays in getting new power generation projects connected and the difficulties in getting new transmission lines and other infrastructure built all pose an increasing risk to the grid. At U.S. Senate committee hearings as […]

The 10-port charging station at JFK airport in New York is part of a joint initiative by the New York Power Authority and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey

Statehouses debate who should build EV charging networks

By: - June 18, 2023

Though they only make up a fraction of cars and trucks on the road now, many projections — from Wall Street firms, trade groups and automakers themselves — predict an imminent surge in electric vehicles over the next decade. S&P Global estimates that the nearly 2 million electric vehicles on U.S. roads today will grow […]

Two loons swim with their chick on Clear Lake in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

Decarbonization ambitions ignite debate over mining, permitting

By: - June 2, 2023

The decarbonized, electrified future envisioned by the Biden administration, state governments, automakers, utility companies and corporate sustainability goals depends to a huge degree on minerals and metals. Lots more lithium will be needed for car and truck batteries, as well as the big banks of batteries that are increasingly popping onto the electric grid to […]

With summer coming fast, regulator issues electric reliability warning

By: - May 20, 2023

As much as two thirds of North America could face shortages of electricity this summer in the event of severe and protracted heat, according to the regulator in charge of setting and enforcing standards for the electric grid.  “Increased, rapid deployment of wind, solar and batteries have made a positive impact,” said Mark Olson, manager […]

A coal-fired power plant in Romeoville, Illinois

EPA again proposes power plant carbon rules

By: - May 14, 2023

The Obama administration’s 2015 Clean Power Plan — intended to cut carbon emissions from power plants — was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court. The Trump administration’s much-criticized replacement, the Affordable Clean Energy rule, derided as a “tortured series of misreadings” of the U.S. Clean Air Act, was also tossed by a federal court. […]

A no trespassing sign is posted in front of a Pacific Gas & Electric substation on Jan. 26, 2022, in Petaluma, California

After shootings, regulator doesn’t recommend additional substation security standards

By: - April 22, 2023

The organization in charge of setting and enforcing reliability standards for the U.S. electric grid isn’t recommending new physical security requirements for thousands of electric substations following a rash of shooting attacks that have knocked out power in parts of several states. Jim Robb, CEO of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, told the Federal […]

A gas flare from a petroleum refinery in Norco, Louisiana

EPA sued over failure to set, update pollution limits 

By: - April 15, 2023

More than a dozen environmental groups are suing the federal Environmental Protection Agency over its failure to set water pollution limits for some industrial contaminants as well as its reluctance to update decades-old standards for others, arguing that the agency’s inaction amounts to a “free pass to pollute” for hundreds of chemical and fertilizer plants, […]

Electric Reliability Council Of Texas Warns Of Ultra High Demand On State's Power Grid

Inside the battle over who gets to build the grid of the future

By: - April 10, 2023

The U.S. Department of Energy issued a draft report in February that found a “pressing need” for new electric transmission infrastructure across the country to improve reliability, connect a rapidly growing number of solar, wind and battery storage projects, supply increasing electric demand and alleviate scattered pockets of consistently high prices across the country. To […]

Solar and wind are expected together to account for 16% of total U.S. electric power generation in 2023, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Here’s where renewable power is increasing (and where it’s not)

By: - April 1, 2023

Despite supply-chain problems amid the lingering effects of the pandemic, 2022 saw major increases in solar and wind power in the United States, though that growth varied by state, according to a report released last month by a nonprofit focused on climate change. Nationally, electricity generated from solar and wind grew 16% from 2021, with […]

Waters Off Rhode Island Host First Marine-Based Wind Farm In The U.S.

Wind and whales: ‘No evidence’ links projects to deaths

By: - March 2, 2023

The U.S. offshore wind power industry is in its infancy, with just a handful of turbines installed along the Atlantic coast. But they’re already being blamed for the deaths of whales that have washed up on beaches in New Jersey, New York, Virginia and elsewhere. A Fox News story on Feb. 13 made strenuous attempts […]