Loren Steffy

Data centers are thirsty for Texas’ water, but state planners don’t know how much they will need A wave of massive data centers is expanding across Texas, prompting warnings from experts who say the new water demands could push the state’s already strained supply to the brink.

Tech companies are moving in and sucking up all the water in drought-plagued West Texas? It sounds like something out of a novel...https://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/25/texas-data-center-water-use/ #TheBigEmpty #booksky #drought #tech @stoneycreekbooks.bsky.social

How an Enron Parody Turned Into a Financial Mess of Its Own Some performance artists bought the name for peanuts and concocted an elaborate caricature of corporate excess. It didn’t go as they planned.

So... Enron was a real company that failed, came back as satirical performance art, tried to become a real company, and failed again.

How CenterPoint fleeces Houstonians. And why we still can't rely on our grid. Texas’ Public Utility Commission isn’t a watchdog. It’s an emotional support animal...

Hate to say I told you so, but ... www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/outl...

Hate to say I told you so, but...https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/outlook/article/deregulation-centerpoint-beryl-houston-19579145.php

Texas’ $7.2 billion loan program for gas power plants has approved two projects in two years Experts say the Texas Energy Fund is facing an energy market that makes new power plants more expensive and less profitable.

Our legislator's ability to find new ways to mess up our electricity markets is truly astounding. At this point, what's another $7 billion? https://www.texastribune.org/2025/08/26/texas-energy-fund-natural-gas-power-plants/ #ercot #texasgrid #electricity #infrastructure.

What Declining Cardboard Box Sales Tell Us About the US Economy Box demand touches nearly every industry, from flat-screen TVs to packaged food, all of which see sales fluctuate based on how flush shoppers feel.

I love stories about offbeat economic indicators, like this one about declining box sales as a barometer for consumer spending.

Spending federal recovery funds (Aug. 14, 2025) | Houston Public Media On Thursday's show: Houston City Council has approved spending plans for $315 million in federal recovery funds, going against an initial proposal from the mayor. We find out what that money will be spent on. And we learn what recent comments from President Trump could mean for the future of wind energy in Texas.

Texas windbreakers: I discuss what recent federal changes mean for Texas energy on @houstonmatters.bsky.socialat 7:07 https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/shows/houston-matters/2025/08/14/528286/spending-federal-recovery-funds-aug-14-2025/ #windpower #renewables #environment

Just did my first video interview for radio. [Insert "great face for radio joke here.] @houstonmatters.bsky.social

The numbers we need Political interference will hurt our economy at a time when we can least afford it

Why impartial economic data matters https://open.substack.com/pub/wordmines/p/the-numbers-we-need?r=1cyd76&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true #economy #Trump #unemployment

The crooked tree and me — a Father's Day memory My favorite book is one that you've never read — and never will. It changed my life.

What does a lost story of a crooked tree have to do with Father's Day? https://open.substack.com/pub/wordmines/p/the-crooked-tree-and-me-a-fathers?r=1cyd76&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true #FathersDay #books #shipwrecks #booksky

Richard Steffy was an electrician in a landlocked Pennsylvania town who… | TAMULibraries Richard Steffy was an electrician in a landlocked Pennsylvania town who held no advanced degrees, yet he became a pioneer in the study of ancient shipwrecks — the first person ever to reconstruct an a...

This is pretty cool. My book about my dad's amazing journey from electrician to ancient ship reconstructor is the Texas A&M Libraries' Book of the Month selection. www.linkedin.com/posts/tamuli...

Open for business at the TSHA annual conference in Houston!

What better way to celebrate Texas Independence Day than to host a discussion @bookpeople.bsky.social  about Jack Woodville London's wonderful new book, Dangerous Latitudes, a spy thriller set in the days of the Republic of Texas. Hope you can join us! #texas #atx #atxevents #books #history

Previewing the legislature (Jan. 13, 2025) | Houston Public Media On Monday's show: The 89th regular session of the Texas Legislature begins tomorrow. We preview some of the issues and bills that will take center stage.

I discuss mergers with @houstonmatters.bsky.social starting at 9;13. https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/shows/houston-matters/2025/01/13/509641/previewing-the-legislature-jan-13-2025/
#mergers #energy #layoffs #jobs #economy @stoneycreekbooks.bsky.social

What could tariffs on Mexico and Canada mean for Texas’ economy and consumers? President-elect Trump has announced plans to impose 25% tariffs on goods from the two countries.

“This is going to raise the cost of goods in a lot of different ways.” I discuss tariffs, mass deportation & Texas with @texasstandard.bsky.social. https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/trump-tariffs-mexico-canada-texas-economy-prices/ #tariffs #deportation #immigration @stoneycreekbooks.bsky.social

Trump’s Tariffs Could Upend the “Texas Miracle” If the president-elect follows through on his campaign promises, disruptions in trade with Mexico and Canada would hit businesses and workers in the Lone Star State especially hard.

Trump's policies of tariffs and mass deportations may kneecap two key legs of the state’s robust economy: low taxes and cheap, abundant labor. Why aren't state officials or business leaders speaking up? www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic...
#tariffs #economy #TexasMiracle
@texasmonthly.bsky.social

And homeowners who have paid off their mortgages or inherited their homes are increasingly choosing to opt out of coverage altogether: One in six Texas homeowners, or about 1.1 million households, didn't pay for insurance last year

In response, real estate agents say potential homebuyers are backing out of contracts because they can’t afford to add insurance premiums. Sellers are dropping list prices, citing the cost of insurance as the reason.

‘Never experienced anything like this:’ The new reality of insuring a Texas home Texas homeowners are struggling to keep their homes insured, paying more for less coverage as climate change wreaks havoc on providers.

The Texas Department of Insurance recorded a 21% jump in statewide rates last year, the biggest annual spike in at least a decade. In the last five years, rates in Texas have risen faster than anywhere else in the country. www.houstonchronicle.com/projects/hom... @houstonchronicle.com

The grid problems are so bad in Texas it’s inspiring poetry. I recently received a dystopian novel submission based on the premise of a total grid collapse in Texas. Has electrical infrastructure ever inspired literary angst before?

Poem: To the CEO of Centerpoint Energy, Who Smirks Next to a Thermostat that Reads 70 Degrees I am here on the cold tiled floor with my son...

I am here on the cold tiled floor with my son
who is stripped down to his diaper.
He is learning how to crawl, how to move
in this great big world. Together, we feel
how cool air falls, how the hot air of the morning rises ...

How Uvalde’s Newspaper Kept Going, Despite Unimaginable Loss Craig Garnett, the publisher of The Uvalde Leader-News, opens up about covering a tragedy that was — and is — too close to home.

This is not an easy book to read, but it’s important. I felt privileged to be a peer reviewer for it & pleased to see it’s available. It shows the devastating impact of school shootings on communities & how trauma lingers www.nytimes.com/2024/11/04/b... #booksky @stoneycreekbooks.bsky.social

@texasmonthly.bsky.social

An Ode to Aggieland The College Station of my youth has been transformed, and it’s better positioned than ever to compete with Austin.

Reflections of a College Stationary…
www.texasmonthly.com/arts-enterta...