The supposed holy grail for politicians engaged in the energy discussion was the concept of energy independence.  If only we didn't rely on energy from people we don't like very much (and who don't like us very much), we'd be much better off economically and politically. This USA Today cover story on the potential for the United States to become energy independent shows how much has changed in the past five ...

ComEd announced yesterday that it too has joined the app craze by offering a new mobile application for smart phones. According to ComEd, the new mobile application enables customers to: Report an outage and check restoration status View their account summary and history Manage payments, including budget billing, automatic payments and one-time payments Report a meter reading Find a location to make an in-p ...

As the NHL playoffs continue (without our beloved Blackhawks), I'm reminded of the phrase two hockey players say to each other before the gloves hit the ice and the fisticuffs begin -- "You wanna go?" That's kind of what alternative retail electricity suppliers (ARES) are telling communities and residential customers who are looking at having someone else buy their electricity.  Of course they are not threa ...

Today we have a guest blog entry from Loren Dinneen from the Lincoln Park Chamber of Commerce: As the leader of the A-Team, Jim “Hannibal” Smith would say, “I love it when a plan comes together.”  I think we can all agree that anyone who leads a team that includes Mr. T. is a wise man who knows what he’s talking about.  In this case, it’s the value of a well-crafted plan. A new report by the American Counci ...

There’s a great scene in the 1983 movie classic Mr. Mom where Michael Keaton’s character is dropping off the kids at school and they’re yelling at him, “Dad! You’re doing it wrong!”  Keaton doesn’t listen and gets chastised by the volunteer Mom who simply deadpans “You’re doing it wrong.” It’s no surprise that movie memory comes to my mind when it comes to the Obama Administration’s attempt to regulate the ...

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Nothing like a Pink Floyd reference to start the week, right? In his big hit, Money, Pink Floyd sings the lyric about how Money is a gas.  Today we welcome back guest blogger Loren Dinneen from the Lincoln Park Chamber of Commerce.  Loren's entry showcases how government money isn't just a gas, it's now available FOR natural gas (and biofuels) research.  This submission on government participation in new en ...

It seems appropriate to make a baseball movie reference now that Spring Training is in full swing (pun intended, of course).  One of my favorite baseball movies is Field of Dreams.  Its famous line "if you build it, they will come" has become part of our lexicon -- used by many people who probably haven't even seen the movie! However, the line works.  It certainly works in the world of energy transmission b ...