Time for 2026 updates to my annual “opinions about solar” thread, now with storage. If you like these, you might like edition 2 of my book, Solar Power Finance Without The Jargon. A 30% discount code WSQ0437 is valid on publisher website til end of Nov 2026. www.worldscientific.com/worldscibook...

Crazy stat: Battery storage failure rates declined 99% from 2018 to 2025

Something new from me: the Nameplate podcast. Indepth interviews with the CEOs of the most important executives in the US utility sector. Candid, heads-up, and with an eye on the future and technology wishlists for the next 100 years. Trailer: halcyon.io/blog/machine...

Introducing the Nameplate Podcast

Nameplate, a new Halcyon podcast interviewing US utility CEOs only. First guests: Edison International, ComEd, Puget Sound Energy, APS and Georgia Power.

halcyon.io

The stuff of nightmares for investment bankers. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Morgan Stanley Investment-Bank Deal List Leaked in Email Misfire

A Morgan Stanley staffer accidentally leaked an internal document listing more than 100 investment-banking deals the firm is pitching and monitoring in Asia, revealing details of the bank’s pipeline, ...

bloomberg.com

GS: The AI narrative is increasingly a bank narrative... US banks screen second only to technology on AI mentions ... The AI conversation is concentrated in the largest banks in the US

Diesel hits another record, and the Iran war isn’t the only problem @opinion.bloomberg.com www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

And while crude is high, diesel's spike is being fully half-driven by the highest sustained diesel crack spreads on record. THE CRACK IS THE SAME AS THE FLAT PRICE OF CRUDE (US diesel vs Brent)

At more than $216 per barrel, US diesel futures are now at their highest level in history. We just busted through the prior record set at the height of the 2022 crisis.

Here's longer history for reference.

US diesel now fetching more than $200 per barrel. Highest print of the Hormuz crisis thus far, only two days closed at the height of the April 2022 crisis closed higher.

JPM: Hyperscalers “are issuing so much debt that they may be causing a supply-demand issue at the long end .. Unfortunately for [Bessent], there’s not much he can do .. in the words of FCC Chair Carr, I suppose that hyperscalers can always be informed to do things the easy way or the hard way..”

Pretty indisputably strong recovery in manufacturing/construction job openings: @econberger.bsky.social

Another narrative violation: State of Georgia has approved OpenAI's contract with GeorgiaPower: a $15/month *cost savings* to typical 1,000 kilowatt-hour/month customers.

Official monthly data is in today, and US solar power generation hit a new record high, up 20% compared to this time last year!

Dolly having a 100% approval rating at age 80 is one of the more remarkable things about someone who was in public life for so long.

Happy 30th birthday to one of the all-time bangers from @theonion.com: Somebody Should Do Something About All The Problems theonion.com/somebody-sho...

Somebody Should Do Something About All The Problems

Why isn’t anyone doing anything about all the problems? We’re living in a time with super computers and underwater sea stations and million-dollar laboratories. And still, everyday when I watch the TV...

theonion.com

There are a lot of gas plants under development in the US. 472 of them to be precise, with a combined 270 gigawatts of generation capacity.

I don't trade housing stocks, but I believe that the housing industry provides important signals for the broader economy. So staying on top of the underlying trends that affect the sector via insightful commentary is important to me. Subscribing 👇 was a no-brainer.

Conor Sen@conorsen.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Some personal news... Today I'm excited to announce the launch of the Housing Frame, a Substack where I'll be analyzing the economy through a housing lens. My debut piece is the Housing Recession is Over. Follow and subscribe here: conorsen.substack.com/p/the-housin...

Some personal news... Today I'm excited to announce the launch of the Housing Frame, a Substack where I'll be analyzing the economy through a housing lens. My debut piece is the Housing Recession is Over. Follow and subscribe here: conorsen.substack.com/p/the-housin...

The Housing Recession is Over

The vibes remain bad, the recovery is uneven, but recession is now behind us

conorsen.substack.com

NEW | Battery storage additions could reach 459 GWh in 2026, enough to shift MORE THAN A THIRD of new solar generation to non-sunny hours 🔋 New analysis from @ember_energy 🧵1/5 ember-energy.org/lat...

Conor is a brilliant thinker and writer, and Housing Frame will be fantastic. Subscribe!

Conor Sen@conorsen.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Some personal news... Today I'm excited to announce the launch of the Housing Frame, a Substack where I'll be analyzing the economy through a housing lens. My debut piece is the Housing Recession is Over. Follow and subscribe here: conorsen.substack.com/p/the-housin...

"Water levels have fallen so low that dozens of World War II battle ships are breaching the surface. "

The Historic Danube River Drought Is Getting Weird

A summer of unprecedented heatwaves has led to record-low water levels in the Danube River.

gizmodo.com

Wildfires burning across Washington and Oregon have left Portland with the worst air quality among major cities around the world, edging out Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Wildfires Mean Portland Edges Out Kinshasa for World’s Worst Air

Wildfires burning across Washington and Oregon have left Portland with the worst air quality among major cities around the world, edging out Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

bloom.bg

Good read: www.stlouisfed.org/on-the-econo...

AI and Productivity: What Firms Are Saying on Earnings Calls

The way firms discuss productivity improvements on earnings calls increasingly involves references to AI, even if its effects aren’t clear in aggregate data.

stlouisfed.org

California and Texas are the largest solar power producers in the US, but on a per capita basis, New Mexico and Nevada are far ahead. In Nevada, solar produced ~5,000 kWh per capita in 2025. That's enough to drive an electric car over 15,000 miles, more than the average American drives per year.

Huge crowds of train fans turn out as the 1940s era Big Boy steam locomotive is making a rare trip cross country. n.pr/4pf4Byx

The biggest steam locomotive is whistle-stopping across the U.S.

Huge crowds of train fans turn out as the 1940s era Big Boy steam locomotive is making a rare trip cross country.

n.pr

The Chief Economist at Indeed just posted that software development job posting growth is outpacing overall job posting growth:

Solar's sharp rise continues. As of April 2026, global solar capacity now exceeds 3 terawatt. 1 gigawatt → 1 terawatt: 20+ years 1 terawatt → 2 terawatt: 33 months 2 terawatt → 3 terawatt: 19 months

Happy 4th of July. Me (age 5), my younger brother (age 2), and our mother directing a tiny fife and drum corps (drums by Quaker Oats). Decatur, Georgia, 1982.

Last year the stack dropped 10% to 2.0 TW, as more than 750 GW withdrew. Gas proposals were up, especially in MISO, SPP, and ERCOT, but solar, storage, and wind capacity decreased. The usual caveat: not all projects in the queue will be built! But it is a strong indicator of near-term trends. 3/x