The first major U.S. heat wave of summer 2026 pushed a heat dome across the Central and Eastern U.S. in the days around July 4th, with temperatures regularly above 100°F. Hourly midday load on PJM, the nation’s largest grid operator, peaked near 160 GW, approaching the all-time record of 165,563 MW set in 2006.
The incremental supply came almost entirely from dispatchable generation. Nuclear, coal, and natural gas delivered 88% of the total, and the ramp concentrated in the two fuels that can be called on demand: coal rose from 14.3 to 24.2 GW (up roughly 69%) week-over-week, and gas from 43.6 to 55.0 GW (up 26%). Solar and wind held flat at 7.5 GW. The load event also triggered DOE’s third Section 202(c) emergency order of 2026, waiving plant emissions limits as wholesale prices topped $2,000/MWh.
On October 8, 2025, Energy Policy Research Distinguished Fellow Ash Shastri was installed as Master of the Worshipful Company of Fuellers in the United Kingdom. The ceremony culminated with a well-attended event and dinner in Drapers’ Hall in London.
More about the Worshipful Company of Fuellers is on their website, and a writeup of the event can be found here and on their LinkedIn page here.
The Energy Policy Research Foundation congratulates Ash and is very excited for him to be taking on this important position at a critical time. EPRINC president Lucian Pugliaresi is set to be a keynote speaker at an upcoming Worshipful Company of Fuellers workshop in London.
Energy Policy Research Asia Policy Research Analyst Dominic Pugliaresi has published the second installment of his Letter from China series. Dominic is based in Nanjing, China, and has spent time researching and analyzing China’s energy policies across a range of issues. This short document focuses on the rise and trending fall of the small scale “Teapot Refiners” in China’s crude refining apparatus.
Read the letter here, or Dominic’s first letter from August.
One of the perennial questions we ask at EPRINC is “What contributes most to electricity prices?” Bad policies, generation mix, or rising demand? This week’s chart takes a closer look at this question by comparing the 20-year increase in average electricity prices across all sectors in the 50 states. This interactive chart answers this question.
On Friday, The Trump Administration cleared the way for oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), in line with the Administration’s policy of aggressive leasing of federal lands, codified in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Around the time of the budget reconciliation process, EPRINC prepared a report modeling how much revenue an increase in federal leasing could bring to the US government. At a static oil price forecast of $70/barrel, the estimated increase in revenue was $100 billion over 10 years, primarily coming from the Continental Lower 48 and Gulf of America.
Read the full report here, or check out EPRINC’s testimony on the matter.
On October 23, 2025, Research Director Max Pyziur presented EPRINC’s research on the reliance of Central European states on Russian petroleum products and implications for the war and post war rebuilding. Pyziur emphasized that despite large European initial reliance on Russian fuels, US maritime exports have played a critical role in displacing Russian products. A swift return of Russian refining capacity any time soon remains unlikely, and Russia is likely to remain with transportation fuel shortages due to wartime interruptions.
The presentation can be found here.
On September 25, 2025, Energy Policy Research Foundation’s President Lucian Pugliaresi provided the scene-setting speech at the Heritage Foundation’s workshop, “Unlocking Affordable Energy: The Plan to Solve America’s Energy Crisis.” “Power markets represent the challenge to the energy trilemma–they’re no longer affordable, reliable, and sustainable,” remarked Mr. Pugliaresi. “Fixing our electric power system is job No.1. I encourage you to join our Power Vision 2030 program.”
Link to the recording of the event can be found here.
His slide deck can be accessed here.
On September 4, 2025, Energy Policy Research Foundation Distinguished Fellow Michael Lynch was published in Forbes. His article, entitled “Shale Oil Pessimism Could Be Overdone“, included a quote from another Distinguished Fellow, Trisha Curtis, in her piece “US Shale Oil Dynamics in a Low Price Environment” published by the Oxford Institute of Energy Studies.
The Energy Policy Research Foundation has written on this topic before, and has released several pieces discussing how forecasting, particularly oil supply forecasting, is fraught with underestimates. A slide from a recent EPRINC presentation that covers this can be found here.
Energy Policy Research Asia Policy Research Analyst Dominic Pugliaresi has penned a “Letter from China (August 2025): China Revises Incentive Structure for LNG Receiving Terminals and Oil and Gas Pipeline Networks“. Dominic is based in Nanjing, China, and has spent time researching and analyzing China’s energy policies across a range of issues. This short document focuses on LNG and oil and gas pipelines in China, as well as the impacts of the U.S.-China Trade War tariffs on both countries.
Energy Policy Research Foundation Director of Research Max Pyziur wrote an op-ed for The National Interest entitled “How Mozambique LNG Enhances Global Energy Security and Supports the US Economy“. In the article published July 30, 2025, he begins: “An export powerhouse such as Japan has a phalanx of government-backed entities to support its own country’s trade and economy. So, why shouldn’t the United States do likewise?”
This article is available with no paywall at this link.
Batt Odgerel, Director of Energy Transition Research at Energy Policy Research, was interviewed for a Reuters article entitled Tesla’s easy money from regulatory credits set to dry up amid weakening sales. “They are making conventional ICE vehicles more competitive while making EVs less competitive,” said Odgerel, referring to the U.S. Congress, the Trump administration, and the U.S. federal government. Tesla risks losing revenue from the credits as well as market share, he added.
The Energy Policy Research Foundation has partnered with the Hellenic Association for Energy Economics (HAEE) for the 10th HAEE Energy Transition Symposium, which took place on the 3rd–5th of June 2025 at the Maroussi Plaza Centre in Athens.
The purpose of this symposium was to drive dialogue, research, and action in energy transition and sustainability. Speakers included influential thought leaders, government officials, and top executives from across the energy world leading the Plenary Sessions. A full list of the speakers as well as other information about the event can be found here.
A recording of the highlights is here.
On May 29th 2025 at the Energy Policy Research Foundation offices in Washington DC, a joint workshop was cohosted by the Energy Policy Research Foundation and the Institute for Energy Research on the North American Energy Production Platform.
Energy policy has taken center stage, and the United States is at a pivotal moment in shaping its energy future. Cross-border trade of oil, natural gas, and electricity has made North America one of the most dynamic energy markets in the world. As each country responds to market dynamics and geopolitical shifts, the role of energy imports and exports across the three countries has never been more critical to understand.
With panels moderated by IER President Tom Pyle and EPRINC President Lucian Pugliaresi, energy policy experts participated in an in-depth look at the evolving landscape of energy development across the continent. The event provided a forum for candid dialogue on shared opportunities and challenges in shaping sustainable, secure, and economically sound energy strategies for North America.
The discussion, focused on North American energy trade, covered specifically:
The agenda of the workshop can be found here, and the presentations given can be downloaded here and here.
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Dominick Blue
Distinguished Fellow
Dominick Blue is a Distinguished Fellow at the Energy Policy Research Foundation (EPRINC), where his research focuses on energy resilience, reliability, and the secure integration of emerging technologies into the power sector. His current work examines the intersection of advanced computing, infrastructure planning, and national energy security.Dominick’s research portfolio includes analysis of AI and data center electricity demand-forecasting regional load growth, reliability implications, siting dynamics, and market coordination. He also leads studies on grid modernization and energy security, assessing resilience investments, interconnection constraints, and federal–state coordination under higher load scenarios. His additional work explores the revival of the U.S. nuclear sector, financing and licensing pathways for advanced reactors, and rebuilding domestic manufacturing capacity to support the nuclear supply chain.Further research areas include gas-to-power infrastructure, pipeline and turbine capacity, and the role of gas in maintaining reliability within a diversified generation mix. Across these topics, Dominick focuses on translating complex technical findings into accessible policy insights for decision-makers at DOE, FERC, and state regulatory agencies.Before joining EPRINC, Dominick held senior leadership roles in infrastructure, technology, and risk management, including Managing Partner and Director of Client Innovation for private investment and global critical infrastructure firms, respectively. A former U.S. Marine Corps Chief Warrant Officer Two in CBRN Defense, he brings a mission-driven perspective to energy resilience and safety. He holds a Masters of Business from the University of Southern California and has completed graduate studies in Computer Science at Georgia Tech, with research interests in AI systems, resilient infrastructure, and energy transition security.
