Devin McDougall

The Disconnection Spiral: How the Trump Administration’s Attack on LIHEAP Risks a Larger Crisis Energy policy research from the University of Pennsylvania

BLOG: Ending utility bill assistance programs like LIHEAP could trigger a deadly “disconnection spiral” — where rising energy bills lead to more disconnections, which in turn drive rates even higher for everyone.

Read more from Undergraduate Fellow Elea Castiglione:

The PA PUC held a public input hearing yesterday on PGW's proposal to raise rates by $105 million annually and turnout was great!

Heat pumps keep widening their lead on gas furnaces 2024 heat pump sales through November show the clean-heat transition is speeding up in the U.S.

Suspect this is largely due to ⬆️ heat pump sales to replace propane and oil heating. AHRI data linked in article shows central AC v heat pump sales constant. Polcies to ensure ACs are replaced with heat pumps are needed low cost interventions that will be critical to decarbonizong heat.

Had a great time at today’s workshop! So many useful takeaways

Pa. Consumer Advocate resigns, alleges pressure from utility companies Pennsylvania’s Consumer Advocate Patrick Cicero — who vigorously opposed for-profit water utilities’ purchases of municipal water and sewage companies — has resigned, effective at the end of this mont...

An unfathomable loss for consumers in PA: www.wesa.fm/environment-...

Lots going on here. I feel like this belongs in a museum.

The cover of the book Parable of the Sower.

Cannot stop thinking about how Octavia Butler wrote a book in 1993 about climate change. It opens with deadly fires in LA in 2025. In the story, a fascist President has just won office with the campaign slogan "Make America Great Again."

She was a modern day Nostradamus. If only we'd listened.

Occasional reminder that there’s no, “it’s too late, its over” for anthropogenic climate change. Every molecule of CO2 that doesn’t go into the atmosphere makes a difference. Preventing 0.1 degree of warming makes a difference. Every bit of climate resilience we build together makes a difference.

Looking back at the #legislativehistory of #NEPA after today's argument. Section 102 provides that subsections (1) and (2) are to be complied with "to the fullest extent possible." The Conference Report accompanying S. 1075 (which would become NEPA) explains that this phrase was meant to replace...

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BIG WIN! New Yorkers can breathe easier knowing that
Gov. Kathy Hochul, NY DOT, and Triborough Authority reached an agreement with Riders Alliance, Sierra Club, and NYC Environmental Justice Alliance to help get Congestion Pricing back on track. The program kicks off Jan 5.

Climate activists condemn exclusion from PGW budget process as undemocratic The Public Advocate joined with a climate justice group to propose rules it says allow full participation in PGW’s budget process without bogging it down.

Great WHYY story out today about PGW's attempt to ban community groups from raising climate issues to regulators — and the groundswell of resistance: whyy.org/articles/phi...

Map shows "astonishing" US drought as fire risk persists in Northeast More than 50 percent of the U.S. was facing drought, with nearly 88 percent considered abnormally dry.

I know there's an surfeit of terrible news right now, but this deserves more attention:
www.newsweek.com/map-shows-as...

Would love to get a community going sharing the lastest on what is happening at their Utilities Commission. Included who I knew was on here, message me to add you. Its all back to the states now! go.bsky.app/9mask8po

PECO agrees to help jump-start largest utility-based solar project in Pa. The project will be just 1% of PECO’s total energy mix, enough to provide electricity to 3,000 homes. But climate activists see it as a win and good first step.

Nice story in WHYY out today on a solar win at the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission by my clients the Energy Justice Advocates (POWER Interfaith, Sierra Club, Clean Air Council, Vote Solar, Physicians for Social Responsibility, and PennEnvironment)

whyy.org/articles/pec...

Mind the Regulatory Gap - RMI A regulatory gap has led to a costly shift in utility investment to local transmission assets, putting the energy transition at risk.

#EnergySky I'm excited to announce my first RMI report, "Mind the Regulatory Gap: How to Enhance Local Transmission Oversight." In this 🧵, I explain why this is such a critical issue harming Tx planning and customer bills across the US. 🔌💡https://rmi.org/insight/mind-the-regulatory-gap/

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Looks like it's time to activate the Grid Status Bluesky account!

Check out this feed for graphs and posts on happenings in the wholesale electricity markets.

Get a view of the grid in real time, make custom dashboards, set alerts, and download data at www.gridstatus.io/live

#energysky 🔌💡

Global Installed Solar Capacity To Blow Past 2 Terawatts, USA Or Not - CleanTechnica The installed solar capacity of the global PV industry is poised for another round of rapid growth, with or without an assist from the US.

Global solar capacity surpasses 2 terawatts.
⭐️ Milestone: Global installed solar capacity hits 2TW
📊 Growth Rate: One terawatt added in just two years
↗️ Future Goals: Aim for 1TW annual installation
💲 Finance: Need to reduce capital costs for projects
cleantechnica.com/2024/11/11/g... #energysky

Experts: What does a Trump presidency mean for climate action? - Carbon Brief The Republican candidate Donald Trump has been elected as the 47th US president, beating his Democratic opponent Kamala Harris in a “historic comeback”.

A compendium of thoughts from the always-excellent @carbonbrief.org, with comments from me and a lot of other people who really should be on Bluesky.