Author

Robert Zullo

Robert Zullo

Robert Zullo is the energy transition reporter for States Newsroom. He has spent 13 years as a reporter and editor at weekly and daily newspapers, beginning at Worrall Community Newspapers in Union, N.J., where he was a staff writer and managing editor. He spent five years in south Louisiana covering hurricanes, oil spills and Good Friday crawfish boils as a reporter and city editor for the The Courier and the Daily Comet newspapers in Houma and Thibodaux. He covered Richmond city hall for the Richmond Times-Dispatch from 2012 to 2013 and worked as a general assignment and city hall reporter for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from 2013 to 2016. He returned to Richmond to cover energy, environment and transportation for the Richmond Times-Dispatch. He grew up in Miami, Fla., and central New Jersey. A former armored car guard and a graduate of the College of William and Mary, he has received numerous first-place awards for editorial, feature and column writing as well as breaking news coverage and investigative reporting.

Wind turbines in Schlewswig, Iowa. MISO, which manages the flow of electricity in all or part of 15 U.S. states, was able to export power to its southern neighbors in part because its wind turbines produced enough energy during the storm. (Photo by Christopher A. Jones/Getty Images)

How did renewables fare during Winter Storm Elliott

By: - January 31, 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 […]

With three hurricanes in 2020, Louisiana had the worst performance among states for getting the power back on after a major event, according to a new report that compared how utilities ranked in three areas: reliability, affordability and environmental responsibility. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Affordable, reliable and sustainable: report compares utility performance

By: - January 23, 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, MI - DECEMBER 23: Detroit residents brave the frigid temperatures and heavy gusts of wind in downtown Detroit on December 23, 2022 in Detroit, United States. A major winter storm swept over much of the midwest on Friday, dropping temperatures to single digits and windchills up to -35 degrees Fahrenheit. (Photo by Matthew Hatcher/Getty Images)

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

By: - January 3, 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 […]

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 26, 2022

Less than three 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 December 15 ordered the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), which sets […]

The target chamber of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's National Ignition Facility, where 192 laser beams delivered more than 2 million joules of ultraviolet energy to a tiny fuel pellet to create fusion ignition on Dec. 5, 2022. (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 […]

As utilities spend billions on transmission, support builds for independent monitoring

By: - November 21, 2022

An aging electric grid, fossil fuel power plant retirements and a massive renewable electricity buildout are all contributing to a boom in transmission and distribution wire projects by electric utilities across the country.  In 2020, investor-owned electric utilities spent $25 billion on transmission, up from $23.7 billion in 2019, figures that the Edison Electric Institute, […]

CHICAGO, IL - JULY 21: A fleet of Rivian Electric Delivery Vehicles (EDV) are seen connected to electric chargers during a launch event between Amazon and Rivian at an Amazon facility on July 21, 2022 in Chicago, Illinois. This unveiling is major milestone towards Amazon's goal of having 100,000 Rivian EDVs on the road by 2030, and Amazon has made a Climate Pledge commitment to reach net-zero carbon by 2040 and has also pledged to guarantee 50% of all shipments reach net zero carbon by 2030. (Photo by Mustafa Hussain/Getty Images)

Amid a major federal investment in electric cars, it’s time for states to step up, advocates say

By: - November 8, 2022

For years, electric vehicles posed something of a chicken-and-egg problem.  Mass adoption, seen as critical to cutting the largest single source of U.S. carbon emissions, couldn’t happen until the infrastructure to allow drivers to recharge wherever they were heading was in place. And those charging stations weren’t coming until more drivers switched to plug-in electric […]

A general view during the inauguration of a green-tech "REFHYNE" hydrogen production plant at the Shell Energy and Chemicals Park Rheinland on July 02, 2021 in Wesseling, Germany. The REFHYNE plant is to produce sustainable fuel for aircraft. (Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)

States are vying for money to start ‘hydrogen hubs.’ What are they?

By: - October 25, 2022

Across the country, states are inking agreements with neighbors or striking out on their own to pursue billions in federal funding to set up “hydrogen hubs,” clustered centers for production, storage and use of the gas that many see as a crucial piece of the puzzle for decarbonizing the U.S. economy. How broad a role […]

A hopper car on a train filled with coal to be delivered to a TVA coal-fired plant.(Photo: John Partipilo)

Report says many utilities are slow-walking clean energy goals

By: - October 6, 2022

DENVER – A report released this week by the Sierra Club faults dozens of utilities that provide a major chunk of U.S. electric generation for failing to speed up their decarbonization efforts.  “For the sake of our communities and planet, we must do everything in our power to create a clean, renewable electric grid by […]