Evan Halper
Evan Halper tracks how the energy transition collides with the hard limits of the power grid, the ambitions of big business and the realities of regulation. He reports on business for The Washington Post, but his coverage is shaped less by stock prices than by how corporate strategy, infrastructure constraints and climate policy push against each other in specific places and deals.
Energy transition through the utility and grid lens
Halper treats the power grid as a business story and a bottleneck, not a backdrop. In his reporting on Dominion Energy’s response to surging data center demand, he shows how one utility’s decision to pursue a megamerger flows from mounting load forecasts, rising capital needs and pressure from large technology customers. He uses cases like the data center boom to explain in concrete terms how utilities weigh reliability, decarbonization targets and shareholder expectations when deciding which projects to build and which risks to accept.
Grid capacity, transmission build-out, and the cost of serving power-hungry new industries recur as organizing themes rather than occasional sidebars.
His stories tend to follow the money inside the utility business model: capital expenditure plans, rate structures, regulatory approvals and the negotiations that link all three.
He highlights where utilities seek to socialize the costs of new load among ordinary ratepayers, where regulators push back, and where corporate customers are powerful enough to demand bespoke deals. That focus allows him to surface tensions that are often buried in technical filings, such as who actually pays for the infrastructure that enables growth in data centers, electric vehicles and new manufacturing plants.
Corporate bets on climate technology and new demand
Halper’s business coverage approaches climate and clean energy through the lens of corporate decision-making. He follows how technology companies, industrial firms and energy producers respond to new waves of demand from data centers, electrified transport and government climate incentives. His stories emphasize boardroom choices and risk calculations: when companies double down on fossil-heavy solutions to meet immediate demand, when they place large bets on renewables, storage or nuclear, and how those choices ripple through supply chains and regional economies.
Rather than treating “innovation” as a buzzword, he is attentive to scale and timelines. He breaks down how much new generation or transmission a company’s plans would actually require, what it costs, and how long it would realistically take to build under current permitting regimes.
He often grounds broad themes like “clean tech investment” or “sustainability pledges” in tangible assets - power plants, factories, server farms, pipelines - showing where climate branding aligns with infrastructure on the ground and where it does not.
Policy friction, local impact and political risk
Policy and politics run through Halper’s business beat. He tracks how federal legislation, state utility commissions and local land-use battles shape corporate options, and how companies in turn try to shape the rules. His stories frequently center on the friction points: utility rate cases that become proxy fights over climate goals, local opposition to large energy projects that companies portray as essential, or conflicts between different arms of government over how quickly to approve new infrastructure.
He brings local communities and workers into what might otherwise read as purely corporate or regulatory stories.
Residents facing higher bills, landowners asked to host new lines or facilities, and employees navigating shifts in their industries appear alongside executives and policymakers. That mix of sources underscores the uneven distribution of both the costs and the benefits of big energy and climate decisions, and it gives his coverage a grounded sense of stakes beyond quarterly earnings.
Enterprise style, documents and explanatory depth
Halper’s work is dominated by enterprise pieces that blend investigation and explanation. He makes frequent use of regulatory dockets, financial filings, technical studies and internal planning documents, then translates those materials into clear, non-technical narratives about risk, cost and power. Complex mechanisms - capacity markets, interconnection queues, long-term power contracts - show up in his stories only after he has tied them to everyday outcomes such as reliability concerns, price increases or stalled projects.
He also writes at story length that allows for layered structure. A typical piece will open with a vivid scene - a utility under strain from new data centers, a community confronting a proposed project - then step back to map the broader market or policy trend, returning to specific characters and decisions to keep the stakes concrete. His tone is unsentimental but accessible, with a recurring emphasis on unintended consequences and on the gap between ambitious climate rhetoric and the infrastructure required to deliver on it.
4 more business journalists.
Aaron Karp
Aaron Karp is distinct for connecting airline networks, airport infrastructure, air cargo and policy. He is a senior editor at Air Transport World and has covered aviation since 1999. He has also worked as an editor for cargo-focused and daily aviation publications. His real beat is how airlines and airports respond to growth, regulation, trade conditions, sustainability pressures and technology changes. He covers route planning, network development, airport capacity, infrastructure, cargo flows, trade lanes, safety, air traffic control and future technology. He reports through news, features, opinion pieces, briefings and podcasts. He uses data, executive insight and industry conference reporting to explain market changes. His work links cargo metrics and trade policy to carrier strategy, and connects infrastructure and sustainability decisions to resilience, costs and long-term growth.
Adrienne Roberts
Adrienne Roberts is a business journalist at the Detroit Free Press who covers how policy, regulation and corporate decisions affect Michigan’s cannabis market, jobs, universities and health systems. She has a sustained focus on cannabis taxes, licensing, sales, product rules, consumer safety and local tax revenue. She also reports on unemployment, worker protections, corporate settlements, hiring, higher education, student safety, housing, data centers, health care access and economic forecasts. Roberts joined the Detroit Free Press in 2020 after covering automotive retail, dealers and labor issues for The Wall Street Journal. She explains complex business and regulatory changes with data, legal detail and on-the-ground voices. Her stories focus on practical effects for workers, students, consumers and communities, showing both the numbers and the people behind them.
Alex Bronzini-Vender
Alex Bronzini-Vender is a business reporter who focuses on how economic forces and corporate decisions shape specific communities and industries. He covers business for the Washington Monthly, writing reported pieces at the intersection of commerce and public life. His work reflects the magazine’s emphasis on linking markets and money to power, policy, and everyday experience. He treats business not as balance sheets and deals but as choices that affect local realities. In “Fear and Loathing in Palo Alto,” he uses a city tied to the tech sector to examine how a powerful industry influences a community. He grounds his business beat in on-the-ground consequences rather than treating corporate and financial developments in isolation.
Alex DeMarban
Alex DeMarban stands out for tracking major energy projects over time while showing how economic shifts affect local businesses. He reports for the Anchorage Daily News on business, oil and gas, and general assignments. His coverage focuses on Alaska LNG, long-haul energy projects, mining, ports, transportation infrastructure, and the everyday businesses that keep the state running. He examines financing, tax legislation, labor agreements, regulatory approvals, timelines and costs, and connects government and corporate decisions to workers, communities and consumers. He also reports on restaurant closures, grocery stores, breweries, meaderies, parking and trade disputes. His past coverage includes an open-pit mine near the proposed Ambler road, federal port grants and competitive elections. He reports through dollar figures, project details, public records, business owners and affected workers, showing how policy and resource development play out on the ground.