Jigar Shah
@jigarshahdc.bsky.social
husband, dad, focused on elevating American entrepreneurs and innovators to achieve energy abundance by deploying at scale. It's simple, not easy. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jigarshahdc/
Utilities’ guaranteed-return regulatory model drives rising bills. Fix incentives via competitive markets, storage, and TOTEX ratemaking instead of letting utilities regain monopoly control over new generation. Data Centers are an opportunity to force major changes in how Utilities run.
Data centers didn't jack up your bill—utility greed did | Opinion
Data centers didn't break the grid—A regulatory model that rewards building over optimizing did.
newsweek.com
This is an easy story to tell, but it is hard to get done. The electric utilities and the data centers have seemingly unlimited resources and they are constantly trying to confuse everyone. Governors need good staff with the persistence to force big changes. substack.com/home/post/p-...
Every Governor Is Going to Pause Data Centers Through The Election.
Governor Abbott put in place a moratorium today. On last week's Volts crossover with Energy Empire, Dave Roberts, Arnab Pal, and I said this was coming. Here's why it happened.
substack.com
Governors can take the lead on making data centers better neighbors. "Require every project to have what amounts to a Community Benefit Plan." - Jigar Shah
Jigar Shah@jigarshahdc.bsky.social · yesterdayTrue. But countries are greenlighting longer term solar programs to cut import exposure — Pakistan’s 10,000MW initiative. But projects approved now mostly break ground 2027+, so that demand isn’t what drove March’s export spike.
Jenny Chase@solarchase.bsky.social · yesterdayNot to dunk on this but it isn't really true that the Hormuz oil crisis is driving a solar boom. Here's this chart updated to June of China solar exports, showing that the March spike in exports has subsided and was therefore mostly just export tax rebate effects.
Everyone talks about batteries as “firming” wind and solar. In this conversation we talk about why batteries make fossil better. Storage makes the ENTIRE grid run better fossil, nuclear, everything and treating it as a renewables-only cost is the wrong mental model. 🧵
Energy Empire Podcast@energyempire.bsky.social · 3w agoNobody buys backup power because they care about your carbon footprint — they buy it because the lights stay on and the fuel bill drops. Jigar Shah on why climate progress is just better products winning on the merits.
Everyone talks about batteries as “firming” wind and solar. In this conversation we talk about why batteries make fossil better. Storage makes the ENTIRE grid run better fossil, nuclear, everything and treating it as a renewables-only cost is the wrong mental model. 🧵
Energy Empire Podcast@energyempire.bsky.social · 3w agoNobody buys backup power because they care about your carbon footprint — they buy it because the lights stay on and the fuel bill drops. Jigar Shah on why climate progress is just better products winning on the merits.
This is possible to achieve but the EU has to fix its requirements to make sure the technology on the content is used. Require local content requirements on specific components, particularly battery cells, rising % through 2030 forces genuine manufacturing investment.
Ember@ember-energy.org · 3d agoDelivering on the EU's 2030 EV goals could avoid an extra 190 million barrels of oil per year, saving roughly €12 billion annually 🇪🇺 ember-energy.org/lat...
Jigar Shah @jigarshahdc.bsky.social is Making Sense of Data Center Madness - and his podcast #EnergyEmpire is mandatory listening if you are in this space. Thanks for the swag, btw thinc.blog/2026/07/30/j...
Jigar Shah is Making Sense of AI Madness
Since ending his tenure as Director of the Department of Energy’s Loan Program Office under Joe Biden, Jigar Shah has been producing hands down the most useful and informed energy transition …
thinc.blog
AJR doing several orders of magnitude more community outreach than the entire Democratic party* *Hopefully none of these initiatives such
Jigar Shah@jigarshahdc.bsky.social · 5d agoAJR played Phoenix at 109 degrees and turned the show into a petition drive — 1,000+ signatures later, the city council unlocked funding for extreme heat relief. Concerts as civic infrastructure, apparently.
AJR played Phoenix at 109 degrees and turned the show into a petition drive — 1,000+ signatures later, the city council unlocked funding for extreme heat relief. Concerts as civic infrastructure, apparently.
“Affordable” and “invest in the grid” get treated as opposites. They’re not — if you get the sequencing right. A thread on how growth, efficiency, and smarter equipment can lower bills instead of raising them. 🧵
Evergreen Action@evergreenaction.bsky.social · 2w agoAffordability vs. climate is a false choice, and 11 states are already proving it. Cheaper power. More homes. Cheaper ways to get around. Less pollution. New from Evergreen Collaborative, a cross-state playbook for legislators, govs, and regulators: 🔗
Higher electricity, natural gas, and gasoline bills add up to a trifecta of failure. And the American entrepreneurs that could fix it are being mocked instead of supported.
We Were Promised 50% Cheaper Energy, What We Got Was 18% More Expensive
Higher electricity, natural gas, and gasoline bills add up to a trifecta of failure. And the American entrepreneurs that could fix it are being mocked instead of supported.
open.substack.com
"Solar tax credits create haves and have-nots. We need an alternative way to bring down the cost. If we matched the cost of solar in Germany and Australia, both of which require union labor, then solar would by less than 8 cents per kWh in this country." -- @jigarshahdc.bsky.social #CCLinDC
Our 2026 Summer Conference is underway! So far, we've heard inspiring messages from our keynote speaker @jigarshahdc.bsky.social and our own Executive Director Ricky Bradley. Thanks to our Champion Sponsor, @climatize.bsky.social, for helping make this year's event possible!
The keynote speaker for the Citizens’ Climate Lobby @cclusa.org conference this year is Jigar Shah. I am psyched. You can hear him on the livestream on Monday. Register here: citizensclimatelobby.org/climate-chan... 1/
CCL's Summer Conference & Lobby Day
The Path to Clean Energy Runs Through D.C. Join us July 26-28.
citizensclimatelobby.org
Residential rates should be fixed at a rate increase of 50% of inflation. We have the technology to make this happen. Force culture change within the Utility to make this happen.
Joshua Basseches@joshuabasseches.bsky.social · 2w agoIllustration of the "dance" that regularly occurs b/t monopoly electric utilities & state PUCs throughout the country. Utility comes in w/ high ROE number, then lowers is - which seems like a concession - but who really knows other than the utility itself? www.utilitydive.com/news/ncuc-qu...
“Affordable” and “invest in the grid” get treated as opposites. They’re not — if you get the sequencing right. A thread on how growth, efficiency, and smarter equipment can lower bills instead of raising them. 🧵
Evergreen Action@evergreenaction.bsky.social · 2w agoAffordability vs. climate is a false choice, and 11 states are already proving it. Cheaper power. More homes. Cheaper ways to get around. Less pollution. New from Evergreen Collaborative, a cross-state playbook for legislators, govs, and regulators: 🔗
Residential rates should be fixed at a rate increase of 50% of inflation. We have the technology to make this happen. Force culture change within the Utility to make this happen.
Joshua Basseches@joshuabasseches.bsky.social · 2w agoIllustration of the "dance" that regularly occurs b/t monopoly electric utilities & state PUCs throughout the country. Utility comes in w/ high ROE number, then lowers is - which seems like a concession - but who really knows other than the utility itself? www.utilitydive.com/news/ncuc-qu...
Hell yes. So much is done at the city & state levels! By just showing up to city meetings, @dariaphoebe.com @melthemartian.bsky.social, I, and others had a big impact on #Providence RI’s Comp Plan, zoning, and housing. You can have a huge impact with limited time commitment.
Jigar Shah@jigarshahdc.bsky.social · 2w agoOne letter saved a wildlife budget from getting zeroed out. Data center siting, electric school buses, EV rules: all decided locally, and almost nobody shows up. Five minutes a month is all it takes to be the voice they're extrapolating from.
One letter saved a wildlife budget from getting zeroed out. Data center siting, electric school buses, EV rules: all decided locally, and almost nobody shows up. Five minutes a month is all it takes to be the voice they're extrapolating from.
A podcast not about generation tech or market rules, but what actually changes infrastructure decisions: politics
David Roberts@volts.wtf · 2w agoToday on Volts: a crossover with @jigarshahdc.bsky.social's "Energy Empire" podcast! Jigar, Arnab Pal of @deployaction.bsky.social, & I discuss the data center backlash--how widespread it is, what's driving it, why utilities & hyperscalers are being so dumb about it, & how governors might respond.
Today on Volts: a crossover with @jigarshahdc.bsky.social's "Energy Empire" podcast! Jigar, Arnab Pal of @deployaction.bsky.social, & I discuss the data center backlash--how widespread it is, what's driving it, why utilities & hyperscalers are being so dumb about it, & how governors might respond.
Making sense of the data center backlash
A crossover with Jigar Shah's "Energy Empire" podcast!
volts.wtf
Sheldon Kimber deferred his development fee so everyone else got paid first, betting the power was worth more than a fixed 20 year PPA. He was right. Same logic now applies to battery storage. Merchant risk, not guaranteed returns, is how this scales.
Arizona's AI data center boom is cauasing rates to go up. APS (and TEP has the same number) wants regulators to approve a 45% rate hike for data centers and ~14.5% for households with a ruling expected right around Election Day, locking in rates for years. 🧵
Arizona lawmakers, show your work on lowering our APS bills | Opinion
Every candidate promises to lower your APS bill. The Arizona Corporation Commission is deciding a huge rate case. Demand specifics, not promises.
azcentral.com
Great piece by @jigarshahdc.bsky.social and @spears.bsky.social
Jigar Shah@jigarshahdc.bsky.social · 3w agoArizona's AI data center boom is cauasing rates to go up. APS (and TEP has the same number) wants regulators to approve a 45% rate hike for data centers and ~14.5% for households with a ruling expected right around Election Day, locking in rates for years. 🧵
Arizona's AI data center boom is cauasing rates to go up. APS (and TEP has the same number) wants regulators to approve a 45% rate hike for data centers and ~14.5% for households with a ruling expected right around Election Day, locking in rates for years. 🧵
Arizona lawmakers, show your work on lowering our APS bills | Opinion
Every candidate promises to lower your APS bill. The Arizona Corporation Commission is deciding a huge rate case. Demand specifics, not promises.
azcentral.com
Separate the load from the generator and everything changes. eBOSS runs the full load off the battery, using the generator only as an automatic charger when it's low. That alone cuts fuel costs up to 80%. Basically the series hybrid model applied to backup power, and the math is obvious.
Sheldon Kimber's point on Energy Empire this week: our industry got too good at tax equity tuning and forgot how to build growth businesses. Intersect ties domestic supply chain, merchant revenue, and cheaper capital into one bet. Not a stack of policy hacks. A growth premium, earned on purpose.
