If only we had something that could transfer power between regions...? Although the map is looking pretty red everywhere - maybe ERCOT could be exporting? 🔌💡
Ric O'Connell
@ricoconnell.bsky.social
ED of GridLab dot org. Clean=reliable. Earnest cyclist.
Gonna be a long hot night on the east coast. @gridstatus.io Check out the prices in NYISO - almost $1,500/MWh.
China just surpasses 1 TW of solar - installed nearly 100 GW just last *month* 🔌💡 @jmijin.bsky.social War is evil.
@gridstatus.io - great shot of the heat wave driving up prices across the Eastern Interconnect. But Texas? Doing just fine thanks to solar, wind and storage - prices are muted even at 6:00 Central. 🔌💡 Also, war sucks.
Check out the ERCOT Large Load queue. F*ing wild. 156GW on an 80 GW system, more than *doubled* since December. 20 GW under study (pretty firm!).
The Spanish authorities circulated a report yesterday that brings some conclusion to the Spanish blackout story. Turns out it was a voltage problem, not a frequency problem. urldefense.com/v3/__https:/... 💡🔌 🧵
Se presenta el informe del Comité de análisis de la crisis eléctrica del 28 de abril
Se presenta el informe del Comité de análisis de la crisis eléctrica del 28 de abril
urldefense.com
Now that we know the Spanish grid instability was a voltage control issue, will Bjorn Lomborg retract his terrible OpEd in the WSJ where he blamed solar and wind and a lack of inertia? I doubt it. 🔌💡 www.wsj.com/opinion/the-...
Opinion | The Physics Behind the Spanish Blackout
Madrid knew solar and wind power were unreliable but pressed ahead anyway.
wsj.com
Here's Adam Keech, VP at PJM, stating that inter-regional transmission won't help PJM "because other regions don't have excess capacity" - has he not hear of coincident peak? This is from the FERC conference on Resource Adequacy last week.
Here's a great visual from EIA on Natural Gas prices in the short term. Check out the upper bound!
Darn. Doesn't seem like an energy emergency? US produced more energy than it ever had in 2024..yet we have an "energy emergency" Executive Order? www.eia.gov/todayinenerg...
In 2024, the United States produced more energy than ever before - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)
eia.gov
I know there's a lot going on right now, but NYMEX natural gas futures for January are $5/MMBtu. This is going to mean price increases for electricity for Americans, and is the worst possible time to be slowing down wind and solar deployment by taking away tax credits. 🔌💡
Hello Journalists! Please stop calling curtailed energy "wasted." Curtailment is a feature, not a bug, of high RE systems and a signal we need more transmission and/or batteries. This article says "3,400 GWh" which sounds big, but its only 7% of solar gen. 🔌💡 www.canarymedia.com/articles/sol...
Chart: California is wasting more and more clean energy
The state produces more clean energy than its grid can handle, forcing it to curtail the extra wind and solar power it can’t use. There are ways to fix…
canarymedia.com
Look at this gorgeous chart from @gridstatus.io on the energy transition in California. Those that said solar would not be able to replace gas were wrong. The drop in gas from 2023 to 2024 is real, but it also includes a change in the way @californiaiso.bsky.social tracks gas generation. 🔌💡
Does anyone care about Bjorn Lomborg anymore? It is worth pushing back against this horrible WSJ OpEd he just wrote on Spain? I love this title - "the physics behind the Spanish Blackout" - last time I checked, Bjorn was not a physicist. #EnergySky governorswindenergycoalition.org/the-physics-...
The Physics Behind the Spanish Blackout - Governors' Wind Energy Coalition
governorswindenergycoalition.org
Five years ago we released our 2035 Report, laying out a roadmap for getting the US Power sector to 90% carbon free by 2035. It was a simple and pragmatic approach, keep existing carbon free generation like nuclear and hydro, add a lot of wind, solar and batteries, #EnergySky 2035report.com
h2035report.com
Transmission Congestion 101. This is the snapshot of the Entergy New Orleans load shed event. Look at the negative pricing (dark blue) just ~200 miles away from the $2,000/MWh (dark red) in Southern LA #EnergySky @gridstatus.io
A great visualization of how the @californiaiso.bsky.social grid has changed dramatically. Here's the 2020 load shed event (Aug 15-16 - left) compared to the same days 4 years later. Look at how much solar and storage have changed the power mix - so much less imports and gas. @gridstatus.io
I remember when it was 0.1%. That wasn't so long ago!
Nicolas Fulghum@nicolasfulghum.bsky.social · last yr.April was the first month where solar power generated more than 10% of US electricity ☀️🇺🇸 Solar's share is growing rapidly and is accelerating further: April 2019: 3.3% April 2022: 6.2% April 2025: 10.7% 🏆 from our latest @ember-energy.org data
Was camping in the Feather River last weekend. The 300 MW hydro system is called the "staircase of power" This is where PG&E lines sparked both the Camp and Dixie fires, two incredibly destructive wildfires. All the transmission facilities routed from the 5 hydro powerhouses are now all rebuilt.
Jesus. Let's hope SunZia and TransWest Express meets the placed in service date to qualify for tax credits. I'm sure folks at both companies are stressed about project timelines at this point. #EnergySky
Capacity accreditation is deep and nerdy and super important. What happened last PJM auction cycle was an ironic shift: gas underperformed in winter storm Elliot, so PJM assigned much lower capacity values to gas - dropping from ~90% to %60%. Now we had less capacity, so prices shot up #EnergySky
Affordability of electricity is crucial if we are going to use the grid to decarbonize other sectors. Distribution system capital deployment continues to outstrip other sectors (generation, transmission). Not clear what we are getting for all those $$. #EnergySky
@nathanielbullard.com and team at Halycon made a cool new data product - helping all of us understand what the "real" cost of a new natural gas turbine is. Super important - if you are using NREL ATB or EIA data you would be 100-150% low in your cost estimate. #EnergySky halcyon.io/blog/gas-pow...
Our First Data Product
Nat Bullard introduces Halcyon AI's first data product for energy professionals: a regularly updated US gas power plant cost tracker
halcyon.io
Great takeaway from Aurora and @douglewin.bsky.social modeling what would happen should TX pass this awful bill. Killing clean energy will drive up prices, and likely more than than this, because more gas demand will also drive gas prices us (h/t to @robinsonmeyer.bsky.social for pointing this out)
I wrote a short piece on lessons learned (so far, given what we know) from Spain on that other site. #EnergySky www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-h...
What happened in Spain?
The comprehensive post mortem regarding the blackout on the Iberian peninsula, impacting Spain and Portugal, will take months. The media coverage has largely moved on, particularly considering the spe...
linkedin.com
Battersea Power Station. 500 MW of art deco power. Highly recommended if you are in London. Bar in the old control room! Lift to the top of one of the smokestacks! #EnergySky
Touring Great Britain’s energy sector to learn about Flexibility with seven super sharp state commissioners. Hot takes coming soon. #EnergySky
Elons $50B pay package is equivalent to $333,000 per employee. It’s just obscene.
🔌💡 #PJM published its final RRI list of "Queue Jumping" projects. Less batteries than the previous (now just 2.2 GW), and less gas upgrades (just 2 GW). 6 GW of new gas. Check out ~900 MW of new nuclear - that's Three Mile Island restart! Nearly 12GW of new resources online by 2030/31.
