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.

A whale surfaces on July 8, 2018, just east of Montauk, New York in the Block Island Sound. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

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

By: - February 28, 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 […]

Pike Electric service trucks line up after a snow storm on Feb. 16, 2021, in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)

After a series of winter storms, regulators approve new standards for power plants

By: - February 22, 2023

Two years after Winter Storm Uri, which caused a massive power failure in Texas that caused more than 200 deaths, and just two months after another storm, Elliott, forced blackouts in parts of the South, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has approved new extreme cold reliability standards for power plants.  However, the vote last week […]

A no trespassing sign is posted in front of a Pacific Gas & Electric electrical substation on Jan. 26, 2022, in Petaluma, California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Federal-state task force grapples with grid protection

By: - February 16, 2023

A federal task force wrestled with the costs and benefits of better shielding the nation’s tens of thousands of electric substations from a growing number of attacks, like a neo-Nazi plot the FBI says it foiled earlier this month in Maryland, another that knocked out power to thousands in North Carolina in December and more […]

Wind turbines in Hardin County, Ohio, on Feb. 3, 2023. (Robert Zullo/ States Newsroom)

Across the country, a big backlash to new renewables is mounting 

By: - February 15, 2023

BUCYRUS, Ohio — In four terms as a county elected official in northern Ohio, it was the most contentious issue Doug Weisenauer had ever seen. The state legislature had newly empowered county governments to drastically restrict wind and solar power development, a process formerly overseen by the Ohio Power Siting Board, and the meetings of […]

Wind turbines in Schlewswig, Iowa. (Photo by Christopher A. Jones/Getty Images)

How did renewables fare during Winter Storm Elliott

By: - January 27, 2023

A day after Christmas, as parts of the country were still digging out from Winter Storm Elliott, the Wall Street Journal’s editorial page, undeterred by the absence of much concrete data, already knew where to cast the blame for rolling blackouts implemented in parts of the South to keep the grid from collapsing.  “While there […]

A rendering of Dominion Energy's offshore wind installation vessel, which is expected to be completed this year. (Dominion Energy)

Offshore wind will need major investments in transmission, supply chain, reports say

By: - January 26, 2023

Achieving the aggressive offshore wind power goals of the federal government and individual states will require billions of dollars in spending on transmission infrastructure, “unprecedented” cooperation between grid operators and federal and state agencies, and would be aided by major buildout of a domestic supply chain, per a pair of reports released this week.  Coastal […]

Utility employees work on downed power lines after Hurricane Laura passed through the area on Aug. 27, 2020, in Lake Charles, Louisiana. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Affordable, reliable and sustainable: report compares utility performance

By: - January 19, 2023

A nationwide comparison of electric utility performance by an Illinois consumer advocacy group found that customers in states that are heavily reliant on fuel oil and natural gas, as in the Northeast and South, tend to pay more than those with larger amounts of carbon-free generation, among other findings.  The report by the Illinois-based Citizens […]

Detroit residents were among those who experienced frigid temperatures over the holidays. The winter storm dropped temperatures to single digits in much of the country and led to controlled power outages to prevent grid failure. (Photo by Matthew Hatcher/Getty Images)

As another winter storm strains the electric grid, it’s time to fix transmission, experts say

By: - January 1, 2023

The deadly winter storm, christened Elliott by the Weather Channel, that tore through much of the United States over the Christmas weekend placed a huge strain on the American electric grid, pushing it past the breaking point in some places. Frigid temperatures, in some places setting records, drove a surge in electric demand while also […]

Executives at the Shell Chemical petroleum refinery in Norco, Louisiana, agreed to install $10 million in pollution monitoring and control equipment in 2018 to settle allegations it was violating the Clean Air Act. The Biden administration was expected to increase EPA enforcement, but that hasn’t happened, says a national environmental group. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Environmental enforcement has fallen off under Biden, report says

By: - December 22, 2022

Federal environmental enforcement, as measured by Environmental Protection Agency civil cases closed against polluters, hit a two-decade low in 2022, per a report released last week by a national environmental group that blames budget cuts, staff shortages and the U.S. Senate’s failure to confirm key leaders. The Environmental Integrity Project said the 72 civil enforcement […]

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last week called for a review of the physical security of the utility’s power systems. The order comes after attacks on substations in North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon and Washington state. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

After substation shooting, federal regulator orders review of security standards

By: - December 20, 2022

Less than two weeks after gunfire damaged two Duke Energy substations in Moore County, N.C., knocking out power to about 45,000 people, federal regulators ordered a review of security standards at electric transmission facilities and control centers. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Thursday ordered the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), which sets and […]

To create fusion ignition, the National Ignition Facility’s laser energy is converted into X-rays inside the hohlraum, which then compress a fuel capsule until it implodes, creating a high temperature, high pressure plasma. (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

Scientists announce a fusion breakthrough with big implications for clean energy 

By: - December 13, 2022

Scientists at a U.S. national laboratory announced Tuesday that they achieved fusion ignition, a breakthrough decades in the making that could have major implications for clean energy.  Researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory near San Francisco said that on Dec. 5, for the first time anywhere in the world, they managed to produce more […]

The regulatory body that sets and enforces reliability standards in parts of the U.S. power system warns that if certain regions experience extreme weather this winter they may not have sufficient energy supplies. (Photo by iStock/Getty Images Plus)

Reliability watchdog warns of potential electric shortfalls this winter

By: - December 2, 2022

The nonprofit regulator charged with helping ensure the reliability of the North American electric grid is warning of potential electric supply shortfalls during severe weather this winter in several regions of the country. Earlier this month, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, which sets and enforces reliability standards for the bulk power system in the […]