Joe Daniel

Tri-State says no thanks to federal orders to keep Craig coal power plant open The owners of Craig's coal fired power plant petitioned the federal government to let a unit stay closed as planned.

Tri State is formally challenging DOE’s order to keep the Craig coal plant running. coloradosun.com/2026/01/30/c...

Dave and my colleague Cara Goldenberg had a great conversation about this topic last year!!

Energy nerds! On Friday, I am talking with @electronecon.bsky.social of @rockymtninst.bsky.social about utility return on equity (ROE).

Critics say that ROE has crept up over time & that utilities are basically making too much money, which is distorting their incentives.

Got ROE questions?

Zillow Removes Climate Risk Scores From Home Listings

Lol, Zillow tried to rate the climate risks facing individual properties. The real estate industry *hated* it, precisely because it worked -- it made selling risky properties more difficult. So they rebelled & Zillow caved.

Don't look up!

As the Government Shutdown Freezes Low-Income Assistance Funds, PUCs Can Help - RMI As LIHEAP funding stalls, millions face energy insecurity; PUCs act to prevent shutoffs and protect struggling families.

Some tangible actions PUCs can take durring the government shutdown to assist low-income families, all of which are struggling right now as important support programs are frozen. rmi.org/as-the-gover...

This really hasn’t gotten enough attention this week.

@wired.com #ICE
www.wired.com/story/fbi-wa...

If you’re driving around in unmarked cars, wearing masks, and kidnapping people, you’re not one of the good guys.

Millionaires will continue to live in NYC for the Lincoln Center, and Broadway, for the Opera, and the Met gala. They will continue to seek the status of living on Central Park West or in Tribeca, or billionaires row.

Updating my LEGO White House

In the few contacts I've dug into the price is paid as part of the transportation cost ($) but often reported as an added in the price ($/mmbtu) but would love to know if this is norm or outlier

That's 0.1%. FWIW, In Illinois nearly 1 and 4 adults has a criminal record (thanks to over policing). You best bet kidnapping random adults to goose up the stats is next.

Looking forward to reading the NYC oped "The rise of pro-hitler young republicans is the fault of Democrats not capitulating enough."

Wedding in sleepy hollow in October... Very fun.
Meeting "Bear" at the local coffee shop... Perfect

we need to abolish this shit

www.cnet.com/culture/inte...

Excerpt: “Small businesses could face a rate increase of over $75 million next year, three times what FPL proposed in its original plan, while also bearing additional costs created by data centers.”

Wild fact from the utility/large-business settlement proposal in FPL’s rate case, via @shelbyisgreen.bsky.social.

Every time I hear a politician describe the pro-monopoly, pro-utility, pro-rate hike position as “pro-business,” a part of me dies inside.

energyandpolicy.org/key-decision...

How inverters can stabilize a renewables-heavy grid Daniel Duckwitz and Catarina Augusto explain how we can run stable electricity grids on inverter-based clean energy resources.

Today on Volts: traditionally, electricity grids are kept stable by large spinning masses, usually fossil fuel generators. What will ensure stability when the fossil fuels retire? Enter "grid-forming inverters" attached to solar, wind, & batteries. I dig into the tech & the growing market.

Despite not having representation at the legislature, and despite my city being turned into a police state, I show up today for jury service.

It's time to wake up!

“Because here in DC we deserve leadership that is better… it is time to put them all on notice.”
👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 Afeni Edwards, DC Activist.
#FreeDC #WeAreAllDC

#FreeDC Mass march hitting the streets of DC now.

People are being disappeared! Crime isn't down.

Our utility wildfire staff attorney, Eric Macomber, wrote a long post summarizing changes to utility liability for wildfire that have occurred across the West this year.

With Induction Stoves, Chefs Discover a Foolproof Path to Perfection From Michelin kitchens to home wok burners, induction delivers consistency that gas can’t match.

"As much as I love [gas], I’m never going back to it."

Head chef Jeremy Chan discusses why Ikoyi, a London restaurant with two Michelin stars, uses induction cooking instead of gas burners.

The uneconomic coal dispatch work that HCI has funded at @rockymtninst.bsky.social led by @electronecon.bsky.social relies on the bulk FERC & EIA data that we publish through our Public Utility Data Liberation Project (PUDL). #OpenData #EnergySky

Trump's latest attempt to save coal Frank Rambo joins me to discuss the multi-billion-dollar utility practice of running expensive coal plants and the Trump administration's efforts to prop them up.

Today on Volts: "uneconomic dispatch" is when utilities run coal plants even when there are cheaper options, just to justify keeping them open. Based on a bogus Trump reliability report, that practice is about to get much more common, and worse. I talk with an expert.

This work wouldn't be possible without Catalyst Cooperative. Supporting them supports me, RMI, and countless others in our industry trying to use defensible data to inform policies.

Reality Check: We Have What’s Needed to Reliably Power the Data Center Boom, and It’s Not Coal Plants - RMI A range of clean, resilient solutions can help us meet the electrical needs of our growing digital economy while saving Americans money.

Coal plants present a huge reliability liability for grids where data center loads represent a large portion of demand. rmi.org/reality-chec...

Reality Check: We Have What’s Needed to Reliably Power the Data Center Boom, and It’s Not Coal Plants - RMI A range of clean, resilient solutions can help us meet the electrical needs of our growing digital economy while saving Americans money.

Coal plants present a huge reliability liability for grids where data center loads represent a large portion of demand. rmi.org/reality-chec...

Trump Admin Called Out for Mirroring 'Known White Supremacist' Messaging With 'Disgusting' Image of Colonization The Department of Homeland Security shared an X post with a Manifest Destiny painting that users said referenced Nazi propaganda and "Heil Hitler."

Führer Noem can’t stop Nazi posting. Even AI agrees. Jeez.