Matt Zeitlin

How Trump’s War Could Destabilize the Global Energy Market It starts — but doesn’t end — with the Strait of Hormuz.

The energy market is on edge. Iran was exporting almost its entire daily oil production in the last few weeks, IRGC-linked news outlets say the Strait of Hormuz is "effectively closed," Saudi says the Eastern Province was attakced, the US hit Iranian naval assets heatmap.news/energy/trump...

Even Utility CEOs Are Talking About Electricity Affordability Now It’s either reassure investors now or reassure voters later.

Utilities are in a very funny situation right now: they're bragging to their investors about their high earnings while also saying that they're very concerned about affordability heatmap.news/energy/utili...

Data Center Support Plummets in Latest Heatmap Pro Poll The proportion of voters who strongly oppose development grew by nearly 50%.

new heatmap poll pro: support for data center construction is plummeting

heatmap.news/plus/the-fig...

@bernstein.bsky.social reportermaxxes and journalismmogs, haters' cortisol spikes!!! www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/s...

The Power Grid Just Passed Its Biggest Test in Years Rob and Jesse talk about the big Northeastern freeze.

Today on Shift Key: @jessedjenkins.com and I chat about why the power grid’s performance in winter, and *not* summer, is now its most important test — and we debrief how the Northeastern US grid just did during a relentlessly frigid few weeks. heatmap.news/podcast/shif...

A New Bipartisan Geothermal Bill Is About to Heat Up the House Representatives Jake Auchincloss and Mark Amodei want to boost “superhot” exploration.

The hottest thing in Congress are bipartisan geothermal bills: Jake Auchincloss and Mark Amodei have a superhot rocks bill with milestone-based grants, workforce development, and permitting reform heatmap.news/politics/amo...

Democrats Should Embrace ‘Cleaner’ LNG, This Think Tank Says Third Way’s latest memo argues that climate politics must accept a harsh reality: natural gas isn’t going away anytime soon.

democrats may be willing to sideline some climate coals in pursuit of affordability, but can they actually say "i support oil and gas development"...Third Way is trying heatmap.news/energy/clean...

i guess it's all a matter of perspective. we're just past halfway through the 2020s, and the US is a much larger economy than Australia in the 2000s or Japan in the 1980s, so the scale of investment shown here is still quite large. the shale boom and 90s internet buildout were big deals!

While reporting this, I had something happen that's never happened. A comms rep for one of the co's disputed my reporting and said what I was telling them was untrue because it was not in Grok, xAI's chatbot.

I was looking directly at the files. And this person was using AI to challenge the truth.

Scoop: New Bipartisan House Bill Would Keep President From Yanking Permits The FREEDOM Act aims to protect energy developments from changing political winds.

A bipartisan House group — including Mike Lawler (R-NY) and Don Bacon (R-NE) — have proposed bill text that curtails the president’s ability to yank permits from individual energy projects that have already been approved, @alexckaufman.bsky.social reports: heatmap.news/politics/fre...

The Radical Grid Idea Gaining Traction on the Right — and the Left Maybe utilities’ “natural monopoly” isn’t so natural after all.

everyone knows the grid is a natural monopoly, what the cato institute presupposes is...maybe it isn't? heatmap.news/energy/consu...

queen

this is so important

The 3 Big Unknowns About the EPA’s Biggest Climate Science Rollback Ever What to watch for when the agency releases its final decision on the greenhouse gas endangerment finding.

The EPA is expected to decide the fate of the 2009 “endangerment finding” on greenhouse gases any day now.

Here’s @emilypont.bsky.social on what to watch for in the final determination:

heatmap.news/climate/epa-...

Why the Northeast’s Cap and Trade Market Is Suddenly Controversial Pennsylvania is out, Virginia wants in, and New Jersey is treating it like a piggybank.

The Northeast's cap and trade regime has to adjust to the new era of affordability. Josh Shapiro left and New Jersey is using the money to freeze utility bills. heatmap.news/energy/regio...

Utilities Asked for a Lot More Money From Ratepayers Last Year A new PowerLines report puts the total requested increases at $31 billion — more than double the number from 2024.

Utility rate increase requests doubled in 2025 compared to 2024 heatmap.news/sparks/power...

Why Michigan’s Big Oil Lawsuit Is Not Like the Others Fossil fuel companies colluded to stifle competition from clean energy, the state argues.

Michigan's new fossil fuel lawsuit is fascinating. The state is alleging antitrust violations, arguing that Big Oil colluded to stifle competition. I spoke to experts about the case and the challenge of proving conspiracy vs. independent responses to market pressures. heatmap.news/climate/mich...

there's a fan populism that finds the idea that teams can be cash generating, profitable enterprises fundamentally offensive, instead they should be trophies for billionaire owners and somehow appreciate in equity value but never genrate cash (i guess european soccer is like this?)

The Grid Survived The Storm. Now Comes The Cold. With historic lows projected for the next two weeks — and more snow potentially on the way — the big strain may be yet to come.

the grid by and large survived the storm — what issues we had were poles and wires, not load shedding — but now the grid has to face a week of very low temperatures, which means persistent high demand heatmap.news/energy/winte...

Severin Borestein has spoken:

"if you took California out of the average...the average price in the rest of the country was actually lower in 2024 than in 2014, after adjusting for inflation."

energyathaas.wordpress.com/2026/01/26/l...

messing around with the grid status api on claude code.

New Jersey’s New Governor Froze Electricity Prices During Her First Speech Mikie Sherrill used her inaugural address to sign two executive orders on energy.

Mikie Sherrill's day one executive orders on electricity had something for everyone: rate freezes, tough talk for utilities and pjm, more procurement of solar and storage, looking at nuclear development and permitting reform heatmap.news/sparks/new-j...

How Trump Made an Electricity Price Deal With Democrats The cost crisis in PJM Interconnection has transcended partisan politics.

why did josh shapiro and wes moore have a friendly meeting with trump energy officials at the white house today? it's because their electricity market has been so dysfunctional that it's united both parties to yell at it heatmap.news/energy/pjm-a...

Why Meta’s New Nuclear Deals Pissed Off Even Some Pro-Nuclear People “Additionality” is back.

when is green power really green, when is new power really new, when are data centers really sustainable heatmap.news/energy/meta-...

Why Climate Experts Now Say China Is a Climate Hero While they had some reservations, the sheer scale of China’s decarbonization efforts were undeniable.

China is a climate “hero,” according to an overwhelming majority of insiders.

The biggest reason was China’s manufacturing prowess in solar, wind, and battery technologies — but many also said it’s not so straightforward.

Read @kbrigham.bsky.social for more:

heatmap.news/insiders-sur...

Data Centers Won’t Significantly Slow Decarbonization, Insiders Say Plus, which is the best hyperscaler on climate — and which is the worst?

Two out of three of Heatmap insiders said data centers won’t slow down decarbonization — and some even think data centers will boost renewables.

Google also edged out Microsoft as experts’ best hyperscaler on climate.

Read more from @zeitlin.bsky.social:

heatmap.news/insiders-sur...

The United States needs fewer bus stops - Works in Progress Magazine Bus stop balancing is fast, cheap, and effective. It can turn a service people tolerate into one they’re happy to use.

want buses to be fast? have fewer stops worksinprogress.co/issue/the-un...

The government knows phenylephrine doesn’t work and yet they allow it in our shelves