Here’s a bizarre energy tale out of always bizarre California. Bankrupt PG&E is offering free, carbon free electric power to the state’s burgeoning “community choice aggregator” (CCA) electric distributors – which have already won a major portion of the San Francisco-based power behemoth’s load – for sales to their customers. Among those CCAs to whom … More PG&E offers free carbon-free electricity

Examined carefully, the apocalyptic climate emergency narrative is an empty shell. Just what the looming catastrophe looks like is never explained. There is no there, there. But there is a good reason for this carefully crafted silence, namely no plausible scenario whereby global catastrophe comes from global warming. As the CLINTEL manifesto points out, the … More Commentary: Climate catastrophe not

President Trump, a consummate liar, charges “fake news” anytime a news account challenges his views on any topic. No matter how well-researched and sourced, if Trump doesn’t like it, it’s fake news. My friend David Hahn-Baker suggests a nickname for Trump: Pinocchio. Particularly scary, many of Trump’s cult followers automatically accept his assessment of the … More “Fake news” and skepticism

While electric vehicles get a lot of hype in the U.S. and abroad, they remain very much a niche market. The Institute for Energy Research notes, “Despite exponential growth, with a record 2 million or so electric vehicle sold worldwide last year, only one in 250 cars on the road is electric. Only Norway, which … More Vehicle charging: An EV major problem

Long moribund, President Donald Trump has put the final nail in the coffin known as the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. In a tweet Thursday, Trump wrote, “Nevada, I hear you on Yucca Mountain and my Administration will RESPECT you! Congress and previous Administrations have long failed to find lasting solutions – my Administration is … More Trump pulls financial plug on Yucca Mountain

After 50 years of service, the Tennessee Valley Authority has closed the final unit of what was once the largest coal-fired electric generating station in the U.S. The giant, federally-owned public power system shut down the 1150-MW Paradise unit 3 on Feb. 1, after shuttering the 740-MW units 1 and 2, commissioned in 1963, shut … More Paradise lost: TVA shuts iconic coal-fired power plant

What’s the role of corporate boards of directors? A recent Washington Post op-ed by professor Franklin A. Gevurtz, a specialist in corporate law, caught my attention. Titled “Why do corporations have boards of directors anyway?” In the context of Hunter Biden’s role on the Ukrainian gas company Burisma board – with no apparent qualifications in … More Commentary: Are boards of directors useful?

There is no climate emergency. Preaching doom and gloom is a crime against the young generation. These are the key points of a new manifesto from the Climate Intelligence Group or CLINTEL. CLINTEL is a rapidly growing international group, led by prominent scientists, which opposes ill-founded attempts to scare people into hasty climate policy actions. … More Commentary: Debunking climate scaremongering

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s December order designed to accommodate state-subsidized generation into the PJM capacity market has provoked opposition from non-utility generators in the region, industrial customers seeking competitive prices for power, renewable energy advocates who feel disadvantaged by a rule favoring nuclear and coal plants, and PJM itself. A flurry of rehearing requests … More Rehearing request blizzard follows FERC’s MOPR order

A year after it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, San Francisco-based Pacific Gas and Electric Co. is close to emerging from court protection. But the giant company, facing huge liabilities from utility-caused wildfires that scorched its territory and killed at least 85, still has a major obstacle to overcome: California Gov. Gavin Newsom. The … More PG&E bankruptcy: good news and bad