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Jun 01
Love31
Image shows graphic of rechargeable electric plug and title of article.

Construction Begins on Idaho Power’s First Energy Storage Projects as it Faces Growing Capacity Shortfall

By Storage No Comments
Original Source: Construction begins on Idaho Power’s first energy storage projects as it faces growing capacity shortfall | Utility Dive Dive Brief: Construction has begun on Idaho’s first utility-scale energy storage installations, which are expected to start to come online this summer, Idaho Power announced March 3. An 80-MW battery energy storage system is being installed at the company’s Hemingway substation in Owyhee County and a 40-MW system is being built adjacent to the 40-MW Black Mesa solar project in Elmore County. Idaho Power told state regulators it identified in May 2021 a capacity deficit of 78 MW by this June, growing each year…
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Jun 01
Love31
Image shows graphic of C02 and text "North Carolina's Carbon Plan Criticized for Lack of Specifics, Energy Reliability and Possible Higher Bills."

North Carolina’s Carbon Plan Criticized for Lack of Specifics, Energy Reliability and Possible Higher Bills

By Carbon Reduction No Comments
Original Source: North Carolina’s Carbon Plan criticized for lack of specifics, energy reliability and possible higher bills (wral.com) A plan to significantly reduce carbon emissions in North Carolina is receiving widespread criticism. Environmental groups believe the state’s first Carbon Plan lacks specifics while other critics are concerned that too much reliance on renewable energy will be costly to the state. Some customers believe increasing renewables will mean a less reliable grid. The passing of House Bill 951 requires Duke Energy and other electric utility providers to reduce carbon emissions by 70% from 2005 levels by 2030 and reach net-zero emissions…
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May 30
Love32
Image shows a wind farm with text "Energy Transition - Four Factors to Watch."

Energy Transition – Four Factors to Watch

By Energy Rant No Comments
We open this week’s Energy Rant with a called shot. Michael and Chantell Sackett are enjoying fresh mulch provided by the SCOTUS as they sent the EPA’s interpretation of “navigable waterways” to the woodchipper as predicted here last October. The energy transition is having problems, as this blog has often predicted. The message is hitting the mainstream. For example, last Friday, The Wall Street Journal featured three articles on the sputtering and wheezing transition in one edition. The first was global with the headline, Your Coming Summer of Blackouts. Faulty Power Markets Some things are working in reliability’s favor. The…
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May 24
Love31
Image shows electricity wires with text "Four Steps for Energy Transition"

Four Steps for Energy Transition

By Energy Rant No Comments
I spent last week in California, where the energy transition is being jammed at a breakneck pace like a square peg in a round hole. I’ll set the stage with just a few things. First, the duck curve, a feature of excessive solar generation that began overgenerating a year or two ago, is now the “canyon” curve. Overgeneration occurs around 10 GW of net load – the amount needed to keep hot resources spinning in case of a fault in the system. The image below shows the current and forecast net loads on CAISO as of Saturday, May 20, 2023.…
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May 16
Love30
Image shows graphic of clouds, trees and a factory with text "CO2 Pipelines and Ethanol- Entropy Factories"

CO2 Pipelines and Ethanol – Entropy Factories

By Energy Rant No Comments
Now and then, a seemingly dumb idea flies through my neocortex like a bat at dusk. Bats have Mr. Magoovian eyesight and rely on radar technology to catch bugs. They are silent in flight. A few weeks ago, one such metaphorical flying rodent got too close for me to ignore. That bat was carbon dioxide pipelines used to sequester CO2. This could be the dumbest idea I have investigated. The pipeline would carry liquid CO2 from ethanol, fertilizer, and “other agricultural industrial plants” from Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, and the Dakotas, to be sequestered under North Dakota or Illinois. Developers…
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Apr 25
Love27
Image shows electric car with text "Electric Vehicle Plans with the End in Mind"

Electric Vehicle Plans With the End in Mind

By Energy Rant No Comments
This week I’m repackaging recent news on electric vehicle (EV) developments – market, technical, and utility impacts. I like to look at scale (macro) rather than ubiquitous siloed micro thinking. Is it realistic to scale rare earth mineral mining, battery manufacturing, and battery disposal? What about charging logistics, third-world labor, and grid impacts? Breaking the Grid? Let’s start with the revelation that force, in the form of mandates, will break things. An aeronautical engineer’s piece in Energy Central, says EVs, at scale, will break the grid. He notes that the Biden regime is developing restrictions requiring the market share of…
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Mar 21
Love19
Image shows a graphic of stacked books with "Energy Rant" on the spine. Next to graphic is text displaying: "The Book of Energy Program Evaluation - Tssssss"

The Book on Energy Program Evaluation – Tssssss

By Energy Rant No Comments
Although, or maybe because Michaels Energy has provided research and evaluation services for about 25 years, I’ve been a consistent critic of evaluation, measurement, and verification (EMV), and I’ll tell you why in several chapters. Chapter 1 Resource Acquisition Evaluation methodologies are predominately based on widget programs, also known as resource acquisition programs. The hypothesis is this: efficient equipment costs more, and that extra cost is the barrier. How to mitigate or remove the barrier? Pay down the incremental cost with a rebate after the purchase or incentive before the purchase. It’s that simple and dumb. The simpleton approach to…
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Mar 13
Love18
Image shows text, "The Anxious Leader and Li-Ion Batteries," along with 2 graphics of electric bicycles.

The Anxious Leader and Li-Ion Batteries

By Energy Rant No Comments
One of the nasty results of the Covid lockdowns was the meteoric growth of electric bikes. I thought, great. Let’s take the only means of exercise for some people and power it with a battery and motor to take away physical propulsion via the human body. Would you like to see a graphical representation of exponential growth? The following chart satisfies your craving to show e-bike fires in New York City alone. In an article published by The Wall Street Journal last week, New York Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh is quoted, “These are incredibly dangerous devices if they are unregulated…
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Dec 27
Love9
Deep Thoughts from a Scatterbrain

Deep Thoughts from a Scatterbrain

By Energy Rant No Comments
With most people off this week, it is a good time to probe the mysteries of life that I have accumulated in recent years. Food Let’s start with a great food mystery; the hamburger. Every other burger has the key ingredient in the name: turkey burger, walnut burger, pork burger. Ham? What would a burger made of ham be called? Next up: Grapes, grape nuts, and grapefruit. What is the common denominator? Orange, lemon, lime, tangerine… Fruit namer: “I’m tired. To hell with it. We’ll call this largest citrus fruit a grapefruit and call it a day.” Steel-cut oats. What…
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Sep 06
Love2
picture with patton

Channeling Patton for Energy Policy

By Energy Rant No Comments
Of 34 personality characteristics, my top strength, according to Gallup CliftonStrengths®, is “context.” What does context mean, according to Gallup? History. Gallup describes the history strength: “You look back. You look back because that is where the answers lie. You look back to understand the present. From your vantage point, the present is unstable, a confusing clamor of competing voices. It is only by casting your mind back to an earlier time when the plans were being drawn up that the present regains its stability. The earlier time was a simpler time. It was a time of blueprints.” Hmm. This…
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All things energy. That’s our jam.

We talk a lot about energy – from the serious to the satirical.

All things energy. That’s our jam.

We talk a lot about energy – from the serious to the satirical.

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