C3 Journal on
Essays, evidence, and original arguments from the writers shaping this conversation.
The voices in this section
All essays
Energy
Transmission is one of the most inefficiently regulated forms of infrastructure in the United States. Regulatory flaws reward inefficient projects, underdevelop efficient projects, and underutilize existing infrastructure. This has caused escalating transmission costs to consumers, while the gap between transmission need and infrastructure capacity widens.
Energy
Last November, President Donald Trump launched the Genesis Mission through an executive order (EO) that outlines 26 National Science and Technology Challenges, ranging from autonomous scientific labs to fusion energy to artificial intelligence (AI)-driven grid operations. Embedded in that order is a directive to use prize competitions to get there. This is a smart policy because prizes are a growing but still underutilized tool at the Department of Energy (DOE). Now the DOE needs to run with it.
Energy
The conversation at CERAWeek shifts each year. In 2026, the focus was on surging demand, disruptions to energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz, infrastructure bottlenecks, and a more pragmatic energy posture. The conference showed an industry and policymakers increasingly focused not on abstract narratives about the future of energy, but on the harder questions of security, buildout, reliability, affordability, and competitiveness.
Energy
America has an infrastructure problem hiding in plain sight. Too often, when a storm rolls through, millions of homes dark. Politicians hold press conferences, utility companies apologize, and nothing fundamentally changes. The U.S. power grid is not a modern system under routine stress. It is an aging, fragile patchwork operating well past its design life, and the consequences are landing squarely on ordinary Americans and the natural environment around them.
Energy
A new bill in the Sunshine State’s legislature seeks to streamline the approval process for constructing nuclear reactors.
Energy
In a welcoming milestone, TerraPower received approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for a construction permit for its advanced nuclear power plant in Kemmerer, Wyoming. The review, completed ahead of schedule, provides a hopeful signal that the United States is finally turning the corner on one of the biggest barriers to clean energy innovation: an outdated, slow, and unpredictable licensing and permitting system.
Conservation
Ringing in the new year in Washington is often accompanied by the hope that your “fill-in-the-blank” long-stalled policy priority finally makes headway. When it comes to forest management, Congress can’t afford another year of delay.
Energy
Last fall, Energy Secretary Chris Wright told the audience at Senator John Curtis’ conservative climate summit that “nuclear is going to become sexy again.” For policy wonks and proponents of modernizing outdated nuclear regulation, there may be nothing sexier than reforming ALARA.
Energy
By many measures, the Texas electricity grid was put to the test in 2025. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) reported near-record power demand, with electricity use in the first three quarters of 2025 up about 5 percent from the prior year – the fastest growth of any U.S. grid. Since 2023, wind, solar, and energy storage have been the fastest-growing sources of electricity in Texas, all helping meet rising demand.
Energy
Advocates of large-scale transmission expansion have recited a simple slogan for years: There is no transition without transmission. By this, they mean that the shift to renewable energy will require vast new power lines. Whatever one thinks of climate policy, that argument no longer carries much weight. The relevant question now is whether building more transmission will make electricity more affordable.
