by Jeff Ihnen | Jan 20, 2026 | Energy Rant
I was planning to write about toothpaste this week. Instead, data centers hijacked my inbox—and the headlines. Opposition to data centers is accelerating fast enough that one of my six-pack predictions came true almost immediately: they’re becoming as politically...
by Jeff Ihnen | Jan 13, 2026 | Energy Rant
Models are useful tools. They simplify complex systems, quantify trade-offs, and provide decision-makers with concrete arguments to support their decisions. But models also share a weakness: they assume cooperation from reality. In energy, electrification, and climate...
by Jeff Ihnen | Jan 5, 2026 | Energy Rant
My annual predictions are always popular with Rant readers. One reason may be that I go off-road and provide an eclectic and bold set of predictions, some of which have very low odds. In 2025, I went from the baby balance bike to training wheels on the artificial...
by Jeff Ihnen | Dec 15, 2025 | Energy Rant
This Energy Rant examines the retraction of a high-profile climate economics study from Germany’s Potsdam Institute, which projected catastrophic global economic losses by mid-century. The episode illustrates how implausible modeling assumptions, confirmation bias in...
by Jeff Ihnen | Dec 9, 2025 | Energy Rant
Shortly after the Russia-Ukraine war kicked off, I quoted a panelist from the Wisconsin Public Utilities Institute. He said, “Watch what the Germans do and do the opposite.” My quote referred to the war, but the WPUI gentleman was discussing energy policy....
