Category Archives: public utility commissions

An Energy Revolution

Professor Mara Prentiss speaks at Harvard on the possibility of an “energy revolution”: Update, 2016-08-16 Although I am not a PhD professor like Professor Prentiss, nor am I associated with an institution as esteemed as Harvard University, I disagree with … Continue reading

Posted in adaptation, Anthropocene, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, clean disruption, climate change, climate disruption, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, demand-side solutions, destructive economic development, disruption, distributed generation, ecology, electricity, electricity markets, energy, energy storage, energy utilities, engineering, fossil fuel divestment, global warming, green tech, greenhouse gases, grid defection, Hermann Scheer, Hyper Anthropocene, investment in wind and solar energy, Joseph Schumpeter, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, Mark Jacobson, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, Michael Osborne, microgrids, public utility commissions, PUCs, Sankey diagram, smart data, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, Spaceship Earth, stranded assets, sustainability, the energy of the people, the green century, the right to be and act stupid, the right to know, the tragedy of our present civilization, the value of financial assets, Tony Seba, utility company death spiral, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon | Leave a comment

Living deliberately in Washington, D.C. (courtesy of The Atlantic magazine)

The adventures of Keya Chatterjee and her family living free of Pepco. Courtesy of The Atlantic magazine.

Posted in adaptation, Anthropocene, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, bridge to somewhere, Buckminster Fuller, clean disruption, climate change, climate disruption, climate justice, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, disruption, distributed generation, Ecology Action, economics, efficiency, electricity, electricity markets, energy reduction, energy utilities, fossil fuel divestment, global warming, grid defection, Hyper Anthropocene, ice sheet dynamics, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, microgrids, public transport, public utility commissions, PUCs, resiliency, Sankey diagram, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, the energy of the people, the green century, zero carbon | Leave a comment

Energy Democracy

I’ve actually written about this before, but John Farrell of the ILSR (“Institute for Local Self-Reliance” a famous Emerson essay, by the way) presents an up-to-date synthesis of developments, incorporating policy as well as Tony Seba-like, Hermann Scheer-like, and Michael … Continue reading

Posted in abstraction, Anthropocene, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, bridge to somewhere, Buckminster Fuller, citizenship, clean disruption, CleanTechnica, climate economics, corporate litigation on damage from fossil fuel emissions, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, demand-side solutions, destructive economic development, distributed generation, economics, efficiency, electricity, electricity markets, energy, energy reduction, energy storage, energy utilities, engineering, evidence, extended supply chains, feed-in tariff, forecasting, fossil fuel divestment, fossil fuels, green tech, grid defection, Hermann Scheer, Hyper Anthropocene, ILSR, investment in wind and solar energy, John Farrell, Joseph Schumpeter, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, liberal climate deniers, life purpose, local generation, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, Michael Osborne, microgrids, open data, public utility commissions, PUCs, rate of return regulation, rationality, reason, reasonableness, regime shifts, regulatory capture, risk, Sankey diagram, solar democracy, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, SolarPV.tv, Spaceship Earth, spatial statistics, statistics, stranded assets, sustainability, temporal myopia, the energy of the people, the green century, Tony Seba, utility company death spiral, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon | 1 Comment

A model of an electrical grid: A vision

Many people seem to view the electrical grid of the future being much like the present one. I think a lot about networks, because of my job. And I especially think a lot about network topologies, although primarily concerning the … Continue reading

Posted in abstraction, American Meteorological Association, anomaly detection, Anthropocene, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, Boston, bridge to somewhere, Buckminster Fuller, Canettes Blues Band, clean disruption, climate business, climate economics, complex systems, corporate supply chains, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, demand-side solutions, differential equations, distributed generation, efficiency, EIA, electricity, electricity markets, energy, energy reduction, energy storage, energy utilities, engineering, extended supply chains, green tech, grid defection, Hermann Scheer, Hyper Anthropocene, investment in wind and solar energy, ISO-NE, Kalman filter, kriging, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, Lenny Smith, local generation, marginal energy sources, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, Mathematics and Climate Research Network, mesh models, meteorology, microgrids, networks, New England, New York State, open data, organizational failures, pipelines, planning, prediction markets, public utility commissions, PUCs, rate of return regulation, rationality, reason, reasonableness, regime shifts, regulatory capture, resiliency, risk, Sankey diagram, smart data, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, Spaceship Earth, spatial statistics, state-space models, statistical dependence, statistics, stochastic algorithms, stochastics, stranded assets, supply chains, sustainability, the energy of the people, the green century, the value of financial assets, thermodynamics, time series, Tony Seba, utility company death spiral, wave equations, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon | Leave a comment

Natural gas: The Zaphod Beeblebrox of energy

Amber Lin at The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists describes the two-headed character of natural gas plants needed to implement “natural gas as a bridge fuel”, and sketches the stark reality proponents of that argument are embracing if they are … Continue reading

Posted in adaptation, Anthropocene, atmosphere, Bloomberg, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, bridge to nowhere, bridge to somewhere, carbon dioxide, Carbon Tax, Carbon Worshipers, citizenship, civilization, climate, climate change, climate disruption, climate economics, consumption, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, distributed generation, electricity, electricity markets, energy, energy utilities, explosive methane, fossil fuel divestment, fossil fuels, fracking, gas pipeline leaks, global warming, greenhouse gases, greenwashing, Hyper Anthropocene, investment in wind and solar energy, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, methane, natural gas, networks, petroleum, pipelines, planning, politics, public utility commissions, PUCs, rate of return regulation, rationality, reason, reasonableness, regulatory capture, Sankey diagram, solar domination, stranded assets, supply chains, the energy of the people, the green century, the right to be and act stupid, the right to know, the tragedy of our present civilization, the value of financial assets, zero carbon | 2 Comments

Now, if we could only say the same thing about Massachusetts …

Massachusetts is supposed to be a Blue State. Massachusetts is supposed to be concerned about the environment, full of tree-hugging eco-weenies (like myself!), and sprouting solar panels from every other rooftop. Massachusetts is supposed to have aggressive support for zero … Continue reading

Posted in Anthropocene, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, bridge to nowhere, bridge to somewhere, Buckminster Fuller, Cape Wind, Carbon Worshipers, citizenship, clean disruption, climate business, corruption, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, demand-side solutions, destructive economic development, distributed generation, economics, electricity, electricity markets, energy, energy utilities, explosive methane, fossil fuel divestment, fossil fuels, gas pipeline leaks, Green Tea Coalition, greenhouse gases, Hyper Anthropocene, investment in wind and solar energy, ISO-NE, Joseph Schumpeter, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, local generation, MA, Mark Jacobson, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, Massachusetts Interfaith Coalition for Climate Action, Michael Osborne, natural gas, New England, Nikola Tesla, pipelines, politics, public utility commissions, PUCs, rate of return regulation, rationality, reason, reasonableness, regulatory capture, risk, Sankey diagram, solar energy, solar power, Spaceship Earth, supply chains, Texas, the energy of the people, the green century, the tragedy of our present civilization, the value of financial assets, Tony Seba, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon | 1 Comment

BOYCOTT natural gas, American or otherwise

It’s one thing to oppose pipelines and continued use of fossil fuels, but there is little as effective as a boycott of the key product. This is certainly not a new idea. (I don’t do Facebook. See this 2001 article … Continue reading

Posted in Anthropocene, atmosphere, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, bridge to nowhere, Carbon Worshipers, citizenship, civilization, climate change, climate disruption, climate economics, climate justice, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, denial, destructive economic development, distributed generation, ecology, economics, electricity, electricity markets, energy, environment, explosive methane, fossil fuel divestment, fossil fuels, fracking, gas pipeline leaks, global warming, greenhouse gases, greenwashing, Hyper Anthropocene, ignorance, ISO-NE, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, methane, natural gas, New England, politics, public utility commissions, rationality, regulatory capture, Sankey diagram, the energy of the people, the problem of evil, the right to be and act stupid, the stack of lies, the tragedy of our present civilization, zero carbon, ``The tide is risin'/And so are we'' | Leave a comment

Three stories of solar energy domination: Which outcome would YOU prefer?

(Updated, 2016-07-14) See Shayle Kann’s great piece at GreenTech media. The choices: “Version one: Aimless transformation” “Version two: The balkanized grid” “Version three: Embracing the transformation” In addition to solar PV, wind energy of all forms (especially underutilized local wind … Continue reading

Posted in adaptation, Anthropocene, biofuels, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, bridge to somewhere, Buckminster Fuller, business, Chris Goodall, citizenship, civilization, clean disruption, conservation, consumption, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, demand-side solutions, destructive economic development, disruption, distributed generation, ecology, Ecology Action, economics, efficiency, electricity, electricity markets, energy, energy reduction, energy storage, energy utilities, engineering, environment, fossil fuel divestment, green tech, grid defection, Hermann Scheer, Hyper Anthropocene, Internet, investing, investment in wind and solar energy, ISO-NE, Joseph Schumpeter, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, local generation, microgrids, public utility commissions, PUCs, rationality, reasonableness, regime shifts, Sankey diagram, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, Spaceship Earth, stranded assets, the energy of the people, the green century, the right to know, the tragedy of our present civilization, the value of financial assets, Tony Seba, utility company death spiral, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon | 2 Comments

Want your democracy back? Take back control of your energy supply

Some progressives lament the loss of Bernie Sanders’ run for President, arguing “we need to get our democracy back.” A necessary step in order to get your democracy back is to take back control of your energy supply. Centralized energy … Continue reading

Posted in adaptation, Anthropocene, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, bridge to somewhere, Buckminster Fuller, citizenship, civilization, clean disruption, climate disruption, conservation, consumption, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, demand-side solutions, distributed generation, ecology, economics, efficiency, electricity, electricity markets, energy, energy storage, energy utilities, environment, Epcot, extended supply chains, fossil fuel divestment, global warming, green tech, grid defection, Hermann Scheer, Hyper Anthropocene, investment in wind and solar energy, ISO-NE, Joseph Schumpeter, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, liberal climate deniers, local generation, microgrids, public utility commissions, PUCs, rate of return regulation, rationality, reasonableness, Sankey diagram, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, SolarPV.tv, Spaceship Earth, the energy of the people, the green century, the right to know, zero carbon | 6 Comments

Massachusetts Bill S.2372 (“An Act to promote energy diversity”), Amendment 1

Ms. Jehlen, Messrs. Keenan, Montigny, Timilty and Joyce, Ms. Creem, Mr. Brady, Ms. L’Italien, Ms. Gobi, Ms. O’Connor Ives, Ms. Chang-Diaz, Messrs. Lewis, Pacheco, Moore and Ross moved that the bill be amended by inserting the following section:- SECTION X. … Continue reading

Posted in Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, bridge to nowhere, bridge to somewhere, citizenship, clean disruption, decentralized electric power generation, destructive economic development, disruption, electricity, electricity markets, energy utilities, explosive methane, fossil fuel divestment, fossil fuels, gas pipeline leaks, greenhouse gases, investment in wind and solar energy, Joseph Schumpeter, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Interfaith Coalition for Climate Action, methane, microgrids, moral leadership, natural gas, pipelines, public utility commissions, PUCs, rate of return regulation, rationality, reasonableness, regulatory capture, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, SolarPV.tv, Spaceship Earth, stranded assets, sustainability, the energy of the people, the green century, the value of financial assets, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon, ``The tide is risin'/And so are we'' | Leave a comment

China as a zero Carbon energy powerhouse

(Click on image for a larger figure, and use your browser Back Button to return to blog.) Figure courtesy of the International Energy Agency. (Click on image for a larger figure, and use your browser Back Button to return to … Continue reading

Posted in adaptation, Anthropocene, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, bridge to somewhere, Buckminster Fuller, clean disruption, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, distributed generation, economics, electricity, energy, engineering, environment, fossil fuel divestment, green tech, Hermann Scheer, Hyper Anthropocene, investing, investment in wind and solar energy, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, public utility commissions, PUCs, regime shifts, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, SolarPV.tv, Spaceship Earth, the energy of the people, the green century, the right to be and act stupid, the right to know, the tragedy of our present civilization, the value of financial assets, Tony Seba, zero carbon | 2 Comments

Hermann Scheer in California, at Google, hosted by MIT and GABA

I am increasingly thinking of myself as a solar revolutionary or, at least, a solar evangelist in the spirit of Hermann Scheer, whose advocacy for solar and renewable energy is as much a social revolution as it is a technological … Continue reading

Posted in adaptation, Anthropocene, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, Buckminster Fuller, clean disruption, Debbie Dooley, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, demand-side solutions, destructive economic development, disruption, distributed generation, ecology, economics, electricity markets, energy, energy reduction, energy utilities, exponential growth, feed-in tariff, fossil fuel divestment, green tech, grid defection, Hermann Scheer, Hyper Anthropocene, investing, investment in wind and solar energy, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, local generation, microgrids, planning, public utility commissions, PUCs, rate of return regulation, rationality, reasonableness, regime shifts, regulatory capture, RevoluSun, Sankey diagram, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, SolarPV.tv, Spaceship Earth, sustainability, the energy of the people, the green century, the tragedy of our present civilization, the value of financial assets, Tony Seba, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon | 4 Comments

Where’s NY-REV today?

This is a video and link from The Rocky Mountain Institute about New York State’s Reforming the Energy Visions or “REV”. I have written about REV before.

Posted in adaptation, Anthropocene, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, bridge to somewhere, Buckminster Fuller, citizenship, civilization, clean disruption, climate change, climate disruption, conservation, consumption, corporate litigation on damage from fossil fuel emissions, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, demand-side solutions, distributed generation, Ecology Action, efficiency, EIA, electricity, electricity markets, energy, energy reduction, energy storage, energy utilities, feed-in tariff, fossil fuel divestment, global warming, Green Tea Coalition, greenhouse gases, grid defection, Hermann Scheer, Hyper Anthropocene, investment in wind and solar energy, ISO-NE, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, Life Cycle Assessment, local generation, long-term contract for differences, marginal energy sources, Mark Jacobson, microgrids, mitigation, optimization, planning, prediction, public utility commissions, PUCs, rate of return regulation, rationality, reasonableness, regulatory capture, RevoluSun, risk, Sankey diagram, solar domination, solar energy, Solar Freakin' Roadways, solar power, SolarPV.tv, Spaceship Earth, stranded assets, sustainability, the energy of the people, the green century, the value of financial assets, Tony Seba, utility company death spiral, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon | Leave a comment

Why Salem Harbor Power — or any methane-powered electricity — is a big mistake

Dan Dolan of the Massachusetts Power Generators association wrote an op-ed lauding the Salem Harbor Power Station, an explosive methane-powered monstrosity located just 16 feet above sea level, and built with the implicit assumption sea level rise in Salem will … Continue reading

Posted in adaptation, Anthropocene, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, bridge to nowhere, bridge to somewhere, Carbon Worshipers, citizenship, clean disruption, climate, climate change, climate disruption, coastal communities, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, demand-side solutions, denial, distributed generation, economics, efficiency, electricity, electricity markets, energy, energy reduction, energy utilities, environment, fossil fuel divestment, fossil fuels, fracking, gas pipeline leaks, global warming, grid defection, Hermann Scheer, Hyper Anthropocene, ignorance, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, local generation, methane, natural gas, pipelines, public utility commissions, PUCs, rate of return regulation, regulatory capture, Salem, Sankey diagram, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, SolarPV.tv, stranded assets, the energy of the people, the green century, the problem of evil, the right to be and act stupid, the tragedy of our present civilization, the value of financial assets, Tony Seba, utility company death spiral, waves, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon | 2 Comments

On the simple pleasures of Solar

(To see a larger figure, click on image. To return to blog, use your browser’s Back Button.) RevoluSun installed our SunPower solar panels late last year, and they came online on 31st December 2015. We have made a number of … Continue reading

Posted in adaptation, Anthropocene, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, bridge to somewhere, clean disruption, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, disruption, distributed generation, efficiency, electricity, electricity markets, energy utilities, engineering, fossil fuel divestment, grid defection, Hermann Scheer, Hyper Anthropocene, investment in wind and solar energy, ISO-NE, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, local generation, Massachusetts, microgrids, New England, optimization, public utility commissions, PUCs, rate of return regulation, rationality, reasonableness, RevoluSun, Sankey diagram, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, SolarPV.tv, Spaceship Earth, SunPower, sustainability, the energy of the people, the green century, the value of financial assets, Tony Seba, zero carbon | Leave a comment

videos of the week, the blocking pattern edition

(This is another new, weekly feature, like the 8:00 a.m. mashup recently introduced, intending to collect a group of videos together for your enjoyment.) Don’t know how many realize it or not, but New England weather is blocked. That’s why … Continue reading

Posted in American Petroleum Institute, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, Buckminster Fuller, Cape Wind, Carbon Worshipers, citizenship, civilization, clean disruption, conservation, consumption, Debbie Dooley, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, destructive economic development, disruption, distributed generation, economics, electricity, electricity markets, energy, energy reduction, energy storage, energy utilities, engineering, feed-in tariff, fossil fuel divestment, grid defection, investment in wind and solar energy, local generation, mesh models, microgrids, public utility commissions, PUCs, rate of return regulation, rationality, reasonableness, regulatory capture, Sankey diagram, solar energy, Solar Freakin' Roadways, solar power, SolarPV.tv, Spaceship Earth, Tony Seba, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon | Leave a comment

“Solar power is contagious. These maps show how it spreads.” (from Vox)

Brad Plumer at Vox writes on take-up patterns of rooftop solar based upon a large dataset from SolarCity. The full article is available at the SolarCity site. Mr Plumer combines it with a report on other studies of solar adoption … Continue reading

Posted in Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, business, clean disruption, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, demand-side solutions, destructive economic development, diffusion, diffusion processes, disruption, distributed generation, economics, electricity markets, energy, energy utilities, exponential growth, grid defection, investment in wind and solar energy, local generation, Peter Diggle, point pattern analysis, public utility commissions, PUCs, rate of return regulation, regulatory capture, sociology, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, SolarPV.tv, spatial statistics, statistics, stochastics, the energy of the people, the green century, utility company death spiral, zero carbon | Leave a comment

REV-NY

So, Massachusetts, why can’t you do this instead of proposing to build new explosive pipelines?

Posted in adaptation, Anthropocene, Arnold Schwarzennegger, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, bridge to somewhere, civilization, clean disruption, climate, climate change, climate disruption, coastal communities, conservation, corporate litigation on damage from fossil fuel emissions, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, demand-side solutions, destructive economic development, disruption, distributed generation, economics, efficiency, electricity, electricity markets, energy reduction, energy storage, energy utilities, engineering, environment, feed-in tariff, fossil fuel divestment, global warming, greenhouse gases, grid defection, Hyper Anthropocene, investing, investment in wind and solar energy, ISO-NE, Life Cycle Assessment, local generation, Mark Jacobson, mesh models, meteorology, methane, natural gas, networks, Our Children's Trust, pipelines, public utility commissions, PUCs, rate of return regulation, rationality, reasonableness, regulatory capture, resiliency, Sankey diagram, solar domination, solar energy, Solar Freakin' Roadways, solar power, SolarPV.tv, Spaceship Earth, sustainability, the energy of the people, the green century, the tragedy of our present civilization, the value of financial assets, utility company death spiral, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon | 1 Comment

“Oil’s Big Dive” (by Peter Sinclair)

Originally posted on Climate Denial Crock of the Week:
I posted last week the news that Saudi Arabia seems to have recognized that the age of Oil is drawing to an  end. Below, Amory Lovins Whale oil analogy might have…

Posted in American Petroleum Institute, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, bridge to nowhere, Carbon Worshipers, Chevron, citizenship, clean disruption, conservation, consumption, corporate litigation on damage from fossil fuel emissions, corporate supply chains, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, demand-side solutions, destructive economic development, disruption, distributed generation, economics, energy, energy reduction, energy utilities, engineering, extended supply chains, Exxon, fossil fuel divestment, fossil fuels, fracking, Gulf Oil, investing, investment in wind and solar energy, local generation, methane, natural gas, petroleum, pipelines, public utility commissions, PUCs, rate of return regulation, rationality, reasonableness, regime shifts, regulatory capture, resiliency, risk, Sankey diagram, solar domination, supply chains, Texaco, the tragedy of our present civilization, the value of financial assets, utility company death spiral | Leave a comment

Karl Rabago at the Rhode Island state legislature

(There was a glitch in the original link of this video, leaving it about 11 minutes long. The full hour and 10 minutes is now available.) Karl Rabago is an expert on the value of renewable energy. This talk examines … Continue reading

Posted in adaptation, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, citizenship, civilization, clean disruption, conservation, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, demand-side solutions, destructive economic development, disruption, distributed generation, electricity, electricity markets, energy, energy reduction, energy utilities, engineering, environment, fossil fuel divestment, grid defection, investment in wind and solar energy, ISO-NE, local generation, marginal energy sources, microgrids, New England, planning, politics, public utility commissions, PUCs, rate of return regulation, rationality, reasonableness, resiliency, Sankey diagram, solar domination, solar energy, Solar Freakin' Roadways, solar power, SolarPV.tv, sustainability, temporal myopia, the energy of the people, the green century, Tony Seba, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon | 3 Comments

Germany’s Energiewende aims to make baseload power obsolete

In a December 2015 article in Forbes, William Pentland seeks to answer the question “What is so revolutionary about Germany’s Energiewende?” Mr Pentland begins: Germany’s energy revolution has become the perennial punching bag of American energy policy. In particular, American … Continue reading

Posted in adaptation, Anthropocene, Arnold Schwarzennegger, bifurcations, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, bridge to somewhere, Buckminster Fuller, citizenship, civilization, clean disruption, conservation, consumption, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, demand-side solutions, destructive economic development, disruption, distributed generation, Ecology Action, efficiency, EIA, electricity, electricity markets, energy, energy reduction, energy storage, energy utilities, engineering, Epcot, feed-in tariff, FERC, fossil fuel divestment, grid defection, Hermann Scheer, Hyper Anthropocene, investing, investment in wind and solar energy, ISO-NE, Joseph Schumpeter, liberal climate deniers, local generation, marginal energy sources, mesh models, microgrids, optimization, planning, politics, public utility commissions, PUCs, rate of return regulation, rationality, reasonableness, regime shifts, regulatory capture, Sankey diagram, solar domination, solar energy, Solar Freakin' Roadways, solar power, SolarPV.tv, Spaceship Earth, sustainability, the energy of the people, the green century, the value of financial assets, Tony Seba, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon | 1 Comment

Our Children’s Trust

Washington State Climate Lawsuit has a second win for the plantiffs. Detailed complaint here. The details are available at Our Children’s Trust. In granting the youth a remedy, Judge Hill noted the extraordinary circumstances of the climate crisis, saying, “this … Continue reading

Posted in Anthropocene, bridge to somewhere, carbon dioxide, case law, citizenship, climate, climate change, climate disruption, climate justice, corruption, Ecology Action, environment, environmental law, ethics, fossil fuel divestment, geophysics, global warming, greenhouse gases, Hyper Anthropocene, James Hansen, MA, Massachusetts, organizational failures, Our Children's Trust, politics, public utility commissions, PUCs, rate of return regulation, rationality, reasonableness, regulatory capture, science, Spaceship Earth, sustainability, the energy of the people, the right to be and act stupid, the tragedy of our present civilization, zero carbon | 1 Comment

This is what the future looks like, for towns and villages — and utilities

Welcome to Minster, Ohio. (Hat tip to Clean Technica.) Check One: A 4.3 MW solar array. Check Two: A history of being supportive to local residents, and a plan for making them more efficient and reducing their electrical energy needs. … Continue reading

Posted in adaptation, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, bridge to somewhere, Buckminster Fuller, business, clean disruption, conservation, consumption, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, demand-side solutions, destructive economic development, distributed generation, economics, electricity markets, energy, energy reduction, energy storage, energy utilities, engineering, grid defection, Hyper Anthropocene, investment in wind and solar energy, local generation, microgrids, politics, public utility commissions, PUCs, rate of return regulation, rationality, reasonableness, regime shifts, regulatory capture, risk, Sankey diagram, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, SolarPV.tv, Spaceship Earth, sustainability, the energy of the people, the green century, the value of financial assets, Tony Seba, wind energy, zero carbon | 8 Comments

Bye, bye Kinder-Morgan! Spectra, hey, listen up: Why don’t you do the same?

(Click on image to see larger picture, and use browser Back Button to return to blog.) Energy giant Kinder Morgan Inc. has pulled the plug on its controversial natural gas pipeline proposed through parts of Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire, … Continue reading

Posted in Anthropocene, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, bridge to nowhere, Carbon Worshipers, citizenship, clean disruption, climate, climate disruption, climate justice, consumption, corruption, destructive economic development, FERC, fossil fuel divestment, fossil fuels, fracking, global warming, greenhouse gases, grid defection, Hyper Anthropocene, ignorance, lobbying, local generation, Massachusetts, methane, pipelines, public utility commissions, PUCs, rate of return regulation, rationality, reasonableness, regime shifts, regulatory capture, Sankey diagram, supply chains, the energy of the people, the green century, the right to know, the tragedy of our present civilization, the value of financial assets, zero carbon | Leave a comment

“Preserving the climate can also save you money.”

“Can you power a business on 100% renewable energy? Ikea wants to try.” From Guardian sustainable business The new bottom line. I also monitor Bloomberg New Energy Finance. (Update: 2016-04-20) And not preserving the climate will be very, very expensive, … Continue reading

Posted in Anthropocene, Arnold Schwarzennegger, Bloomberg, bridge to somewhere, Buckminster Fuller, carbon dioxide, citizenship, clean disruption, climate, climate change, climate disruption, corporate litigation on damage from fossil fuel emissions, corporate supply chains, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, destructive economic development, disruption, distributed generation, economics, efficiency, electricity, electricity markets, energy, energy reduction, energy storage, energy utilities, environment, extended supply chains, fossil fuel divestment, global warming, greenhouse gases, grid defection, Hyper Anthropocene, ignorance, investment in wind and solar energy, local generation, meteorology, microgrids, mitigation, public utility commissions, PUCs, rate of return regulation, rationality, reasonableness, regime shifts, regulatory capture, Sankey diagram, solar domination, solar energy, Solar Freakin' Roadways, solar power, SolarPV.tv, supply chains, temporal myopia, the energy of the people, the green century, the right to know, the tragedy of our present civilization, the value of financial assets, Tony Seba, utility company death spiral, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon | Leave a comment

FERC requires energy storage plans

Energy Storage Participation in the Energy, Capacity, and Ancillary Services Markets On April 11, 2016, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) announced that it will expand its evaluation of ISOs/RTOs policies that could lead to revolutionary changes in the energy … Continue reading

Posted in BNEF, clean disruption, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, distributed generation, efficiency, electricity, electricity markets, energy, energy reduction, energy storage, energy utilities, FERC, fossil fuel divestment, grid defection, Hermann Scheer, investment in wind and solar energy, local generation, microgrids, public utility commissions, PUCs, rate of return regulation, reasonableness, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, SolarPV.tv, the energy of the people, the green century, Tony Seba, utility company death spiral, zero carbon | Leave a comment

Ray Kurzweil predicts dominance of energy industry by Solar in 12 years

Read it and weep, Carbon Worshippers. Facts are, with so much cheap solar electricity around, even if its supply is uneven in any particular locale, (a) the energy storage business will have big incentives to roll out, and roll out … Continue reading

Posted in Anthropocene, Bill Nye, Bloomberg, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, bridge to somewhere, Carbon Worshipers, citizenship, civilization, clean disruption, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, demand-side solutions, destructive economic development, distributed generation, economics, efficiency, electricity, energy, engineering, environment, exponential growth, forecasting, fossil fuel divestment, fossil fuels, grid defection, Hermann Scheer, Hyper Anthropocene, investment in wind and solar energy, liberal climate deniers, local generation, planning, politics, population dynamics, public utility commissions, PUCs, quantitative ecology, rate of return regulation, rationality, Ray Kurzweil, reasonableness, regime shifts, regulatory capture, Sankey diagram, solar domination, solar energy, Solar Freakin' Roadways, solar power, SolarPV.tv, Stanford University, sustainability, the energy of the people, the green century, the value of financial assets, Tony Seba, utility company death spiral, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon | Leave a comment

ComEd: Enabling a smarter (utility) platform

Commonwealth Edison is reinventing itself as a smart energy platform, amidst New York State’s reforming the energy vision (“REV”) initiative.

Posted in Anthropocene, bridge to somewhere, causal diagrams, citizenship, civilization, clean disruption, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, demand-side solutions, destructive economic development, distributed generation, economics, efficiency, electricity, electricity markets, energy, energy utilities, engineering, extended supply chains, fossil fuel divestment, grid defection, investing, investment in wind and solar energy, local generation, microgrids, planning, public utility commissions, PUCs, rate of return regulation, rationality, reasonableness, regime shifts, regulatory capture, Sankey diagram, solar domination, solar energy, Solar Freakin' Roadways, solar power, SolarPV.tv, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon | Leave a comment

Pipeline Forum, Sharon, MA High School, Thursday, April 7th, 7:00 p.m.

(Click on image to see a larger version. Use browser Back Button to return to blog.) Handout. Please post where applicable.

Posted in Anthropocene, bollocks, bridge to nowhere, carbon dioxide, Carbon Worshipers, causal diagrams, citizenship, civilization, climate change, climate disruption, coastal communities, consumption, corporate litigation on damage from fossil fuel emissions, corruption, electricity, electricity markets, energy, energy utilities, environment, fear uncertainty and doubt, fossil fuel divestment, fossil fuels, fracking, global warming, greenhouse gases, greenwashing, Hyper Anthropocene, methane, mitigation, natural gas, pipelines, planning, politics, public utility commissions, PUCs, rate of return regulation, rationality, reasonableness, regulatory capture, risk, Sankey diagram, sustainability, zero carbon | Leave a comment

‘Utilities facing a mortal threat from Solar’

Hey, Mr Eversource, Mr National Grid, Mr Associated Industries of Massachusetts, still think you have an energy future? Meet the Green Tea Coalition. It’s about the right to be self-sufficient, and self-sustainable. It’s about big government and big corporations and … Continue reading

Posted in adaptation, bridge to somewhere, citizenship, clean disruption, corruption, Debbie Dooley, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, demand-side solutions, distributed generation, economics, efficiency, energy reduction, energy utilities, fossil fuel divestment, Green Tea Coalition, greenhouse gases, investment in wind and solar energy, liberal climate deniers, public utility commissions, PUCs, regulatory capture, Sankey diagram, solar domination, solar energy, Solar Freakin' Roadways, solar power, SolarPV.tv, sustainability, Tea Party, the energy of the people, the green century, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon | 1 Comment