Jonathan Geldof

Good piece! I'm very interested in how much this holds true if we have a Gov. Spanberger in a couple of months.

E&E News: West Virginia eyes new coal plants to power AI Gov. Patrick Morrisey aims to rapidly expand his state's coal- and gas-fired power to fuel the “AI and technology arms race.”

Companies like GE killed their coal businesses in the first Trump administration, because there is no amount of political wish-casting that can make it competitive with solar, wind and gas.

I don't think there are any domestic boiler OEMs left. This stuff is a waste of everyone's time.

There were definitely some of us! Not a huge contingent but a decent number.

Indiana restaurant announces it will no longer serve power company employees A sign was posted outside of the business, with the message written in red.

The politics of utility bills are going to get a lot gnarlier than people expect.

Research note: Evaluating the impacts from reducing equity in investor-owned utility capital stacks in California Read the full report here. Investor owned utilities (IOUs) have often presented concerns that the public development and financing of critical energy infrastructure such as transmission would weake...

Public financing of Tx offers significant savings for ratepayers! In this research note, @buddyyakov.bsky.social & I argue replacing equity in IOU capital stacks won’t harm utility credit ratings. Rather, using cheaper debt will preserve IOU rate-basing capacity.
publicenterprise.org/report/resea...

Many people are saying--

"American Industry Needs Low-Cost Energy and an Expanded Power Grid"

www.realclearenergy.org/articles/202...

Infrastructure for the Next Century: Transmission as a Strategic Asset Transmission is the backbone of America’s energy future, securing national defense, powering AI and industry, and ensuring resilience against economic shocks and adversarial threats.

This is the way. Transmission is as important for new load - much of it critical to economic and national security - as it is for new generation.

nationalinterest.org/blog/energy-...

OBBBA quite literally included an incentive whaling captains

www.politico.com/live-updates...

It's a subcategory of commercial load

And yet certain administration officials will tell you with a straight face their primary policy goal is alleviating African energy poverty with propane and natural gas

More to the point - even if you’re super bullish on AI, hyperscalers are building now without knowing their eventual market share. Don’t need jevons to fail for this to be a real question! Likely outcome is they’ll just sell the DCs but by no means assured.

This is a very funny question. I think we would find out just because most of the relevant companies are public. But very much worth considering what happens to the infrastructure in an overbuilding scenario.

🚨Pretty big news out of MISO this morning. A continuing LOLE error that has existed since 2017 has resulted in a "total financial impact based on net positions [of] approximately $280 million." In other words, load was over-charged.

cdn.misoenergy.org/20250820%20R...

This just massively overdetermines Yglesias' role in anything. There were real people - hundreds of them - making Biden's policy and comms strategy, all of whom spent more time on their niche than Yglesias did. Whether or not you think they did a good job, it's silly to blame it on one talking head.

David Lapp, MD people's counsel

Highlights from AEPs earnings call this morning --
😨 24GW additional contracted load since last quarter, backed by signed LOAs. 18GW data centers (lotta crypto in addition to AI)
🔋 Believe all of $10B in current renewable projects will be credit eligible post OB3
♻️ Disappointing on reconductoring

Fifth graf thing is basically right. There's also an element of stakeholder management: board members, grantors and donors are on the email list and will want to see a statement.

Still true! @jael.bsky.social

PJM leadership openings are an opportunity to chart a new course Rather than addressing the root causes of its problems, the organization blames states for supply and infrastructure shortages, often defending the very policies that are driving up customer costs.

PJM's attitude towards ratepayers and elected officials within its territory has been off-putting to say the least. I'm impressed with this op-ed by David Lapp at the Office of People's Counsel in MD, which I think makes the argument very persuasively:

www.utilitydive.com/news/pjm-ceo...

Really interesting report surveying the folks actually building new data centers. Unsurprisingly, power is the main constraint. I was particularly interested in the below chart that demonstrates how wide the gap is between solar+BESS and second choices:

alphastruxure.com/wp-content/u...

delete this i'm begging you

America's Nuclear Renaissance: How the TVA Can Lead Our Energy Future Senators Blackburn and Hagerty call for leadership reform at TVA to spearhead America's nuclear revival and compete with China through small modular reactor technology.

Sens. Blackburn and Hagerty are correct that TVA's board is unequipped to provide meaningful oversight to the agency. We need a firm hand at the helm, both at the board and in the CEO's office.

www.powermag.com/americas-nuc...

BLM approves Sapphire gen-tie transmission line and facilities | Bureau of Land Management oday the Bureau of Land Management helped Unleash American Energy by approving the Sapphire gen-tie transmission line and facilities project on approximately 40 acres of public lands in eastern Rivers...

‼️ the trump admin today approved a transmission line for a solar project in california and said it would help meet energy security goals

only in trump’s america is this absolutely massive news — but it is that level of surprising

www.blm.gov/press-releas...

Beating China on AI requires all available grid solutions We will need all available transmission tools — including grid-enhancing technologies and high-performance conductors — to meet the growing demand for power from data centers.

Good stuff from former FERC Chair Chatterjee -- www.utilitydive.com/news/ai-data...

The cheapest way to supercharge America’s power grid Advanced transmission technologies could sidestep permitting challenges and clear the bottleneck holding up hundreds of gigawatts’ worth of renewable-energy projects.

www.technologyreview.com/2025/03/10/1...

E&E News: Utility operators go to bat for IRA tax credits The power industry defended green energy tax credits at a House hearing. Lawmakers also focused on grid reliability amid rising demand from data centers.

Regulated utilities--the companies who determine what you pay for electricity--told Congress under oath this week what multiple independent studies have already confirmed: repealing tax credits will "immediately harm rate payers."

subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eene...

This is how officials celebrated the Baltic states' synchronization with continental Europe's power grid.

⚡️⚡️

Pretty awesome:

#GoBirds

Congress urged to reform TVA to improve transparency, decision making • Kentucky Lantern Congress should reform the Tennessee Valley Authority’s governance and planning, a renewable energy group says in a new report.

As power demand rises, TVA board needs information from independent experts, says renewable energy group.
Federally-owned utility serves 9 million people across seven states, including Kentucky.
@liamniemeyer.bsky.social kentuckylantern.com/2025/01/30/c...

This feels like the inevitable outcome of massive sports betting+huge disparities between NIL money between schools and even between players on the same teams. Of course some kids are going to look to cash in.