Jason Kowalski

Overcharged: The Rules Of The Electricity Affordability Crisis Nearly a quarter of adults in the US—or over 52 million people—cannot pay their power bills.

In this new report from me & @rhymeswithocean.bsky.social for @cplusc.bsky.social & @publicgrids.org, we argue the current electricity affordability crisis is caused by the rules of private ownership. To solve the crisis, we recommend banning shutoffs now and using many tools to expand public power!

Lina Khan on stage at the podium

"We have an economy where a handful of modern-day robber barons wield extraordinary power. They hold enormous control over our paychecks, our bills, our time, and our futures.

...But the good news is that nothing about any of this is inevitable." - Lina Khan

At the United for Green Schools panel for NYC climate week.

Great story from a Chicago school board member on how there was a resolution passed in June to do 12 green school pilots, creating a revolving fund for new money for these protects.

Congrats to @jasonkowalski.bsky.social and the @publicrenewables.org for getting off the ground (and, sooner or later, getting onto a rooftop near you!).

Chartbook 409 Beyond the "Marshall Plan": China's solar boom as world-changing industrial policy. In the first six months of 2025 China installed more than 250GW of solar power capacity.

"China is the only large country driving the energy transition at anything close to the necessary speed and scale."

It's also the only one whose energy transition is not hamstrung by reliance on the motive force of renewables profitability.

Coincidence?

I think not.

Financial functionalities for state instrumentalities In our work supporting state financing instrumentalities, state energy offices, and local governments in preparing clean energy deployment plans, we have often found ourselves describing the kinds of ...

In advance of climate week, @publicenterprise.bsky.social published a list of all the kinds of financial tools we've been recommending to our state and local partners.

Get wise:
publicenterprise.org/financial-fu...

Happy to say that @publicenterprise.bsky.social supported the creation of this report and we couldn't be more excited about this project. It's a great spotlight of a really ambitious public energy development program that we could scale up across the country!!

Very happy to share a new report I co-authored with @jasonkowalski.bsky.social and Tish Tablan on a stellar Connecticut Green Bank program.

The report gives you everything on the program and how to replicate it!

Next up: spreading the model across the country with @publicrenewables.org

Public Renewables Project It’s time for publicly financed, publicly developed renewable energy.

9/ Launching a new nonprofit is a leap and a joy. I’m heartened by the growing cadre of talented people across orgs stepping up to hold complementary pieces of this work. If you’re a journalist, funder, organizer, or public finance practitioner, let’s connect. Onward!

8/ I am so grateful for the brilliant crew of strategists and advisors coming together to move the Public Renewables campaigns forward! 🌞⚡️ Hebah Kassem, @isabelestevez.bsky.social, @ben-beachy.bsky.social & Gerardo Bonilla Chavez. 🙏

7/ My sincere thanks to the many allies who offered input along the way: @jbozuwa.bsky.social, @batul.bsky.social @jordanhaedtler.bsky.social, @advaitarun.bsky.social, @buddyyakov.bsky.social, @bennettkb.bsky.social, @isabelestevez.bsky.social, @chelseawatson.bsky.social, @ctulocal1.bsky.social,

6/ Huge thanks to my intrepid coauthors @liskar.bsky.social and Tish Tablan @generation180.bsky.social for your comradeship in telling this important story!

5 - As a public developer, the Connecticut Green Bank moved projects forward that the traditional for-profit development model could not, resulting in more renewable energy, and a powerful coalition of local stakeholders (teachers, schools, solar workers) who materially benefited from the projects.

4 - Public projects advanced where private projects stalled, because the public projects were still viable at lower financial returns. By planning for comprehensive decarbonization rather than profit maximization, the public developer expanded scale and tackled systemic bottlenecks head on.

3/ We’re kicking things off with a new report: Public Option Solar for K-12 Schools. With partners @climaterealityproject.org and @generation180.bsky.social we found that Connecticut publicly developed 27% of the state’s K-12 solar (2015–2023) making CT #1 in the contiguous U.S. for solar schools.

2/ Using the tools of public finance to build public-serving infrastructure is a tried and true concept with 50-state levels of supermajority support. Applying those same tools to decarbonization is a promising way to move clean energy forward amidst federal rollbacks.

1/ 🚨 Big news! Today we officially launched the Public Renewables Project -- a new climate org calling for publicly financed, publicly developed renewable energy. I’m honored to serve as Executive Director. 🌞⚡️

In a world riven by inequality and devastated by climate + ecological crisis, what would it take for "green industrial policy" to empower the working class in Global North + South, and be truly green?

New @cplusc.bsky.social report by me and Isabel Estevez (1/3) t.co/78sQQe4d1g

Blueprint for a Popular Climate Agenda The path forward is climate policy written not about impacted workers and communities, but by them.

Want a blueprint for pivoting from climate rollbacks to a strategic climate offense?

That's my focus in a new article out today in Democracy Journal.

The path forward is a new climate agenda written not about impacted workers & communities, but by them.

democracyjournal.org/magazine/78/...