Skip to main content
search
Jun 10
Love137

Derisking Load Growth and Cost Overruns

By Energy Rant No Comments
If you haven't seen my recent conversation on The False Promises of Electrification with Katherine Johnson on The KJ Show with Dr. KJ, check it out. I received a lot of great feedback from folks. I don't grade my work except for my objective, New Year's Predictions, but I'll take others' word for it on this one. Gaslighting Natural Gas and Electricity Prices Here is something from Food and Water Watch that caught my eye in the middle of the night: Lawmakers, Advocates Rally in Manhattan to Demand Action on Soaring Utility Bills. That is clickbait to me. New York…
Read More
Jun 04
Love136

The Answer to AI is IA and the Three-Pound Organ

By Energy Rant No Comments
Artificial intelligence is reordering society in many ways. Last week, I wrote, "We may not be getting dumber, but we're demonstrably becoming more dependent on technology, less innovative, and less creative." Since then, I have read this interesting article from Bloomberg: Does College Still Have a Purpose in the Age of ChatGPT? College students are kicking back and tasking AI to write term papers and essays while their lazy counterparts, the professors or teaching assistants, feed the papers into AI grinders to evaluate and grade the papers. "It's an untenable situation: computers grading papers written by computers, students and professors…
Read More
May 27
Love135

AI, Nukes, and the Entropic Vortex

By Energy Rant No Comments
Last week, I lamented permanent tax credits that balloon the national debt, drive up interest rates, and exponentially increase borrowing costs. Two things have happened since: The House passed its version of the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" (OBBBA), which took the shears to "clean energy" and storage tax credits (except for sacrosanct ethanol), and Due to the ineffectiveness of the bill in slashing the deficit, the premium on the 10-year treasury over short-term maturity securities has increased to its highest level in 11 years. The rate on the 30-year treasury is at its highest in 20 years. These higher…
Read More
May 27
Love0

Discussing The False Promises of Electrification on The KJ Show

By News No Comments
From the KJ Show The KJ Show offers a mix of breaking news and practical advice on how the energy industry affects the consumer. During this fast-paced show, Dr. Katherine Johnson combines weekly energy updates with conversations with leaders in the energy efficiency community. Today's episode covers a discussion on electrification. Electrification sounds like a good idea. Everything is powered using carbon-free sources, such as wind, solar, and hydro. But electrification isn't practical for everyone or every jurisdiction. In fact, some governments are rethinking their electrification policy as they weigh the costs against the benefits. On today's show, Jeff Ihnen,…
Read More
May 20
Love134

Pants On Fire Fact Pickers

By Energy Rant No Comments
I'll lead with the conclusion: decarbonization will continue if it costs less than conventional sources, with caveats. The caveats are externalities. Thermal sources of electricity, including coal, natural gas, and nuclear, are associated with externalities of carbon dioxide emissions, coal ash (which is rich in exotic rare earth minerals, aka, coproducts), and radioactive waste. At least radioactive waste is contained in tiny secure containment vessels, the cost of which is not socialized over all humans and the broader environment. Renewable sources of electricity and batteries also have externalities that no one wants to discuss. The big ones include production and…
Read More
May 13
Love133

States’ Rights in the TOMB

By Energy Rant No Comments
Trump's world strategy is to flood the zone with tariffs, executive orders, and chaos. Anti-Trump, aka Team Orange-Man-Bad (TOMB, get it?), fires back with temporary restraining orders. I haven't watched newer television or movies for three or four decades because real-life drama is all around if you pay attention. And the outcome is uncertain, like a football game, so that's my jam. The worst part of Trump's chaos is the uncertainty. To honor my mother for Mother's Day, I realized my very first post, and indeed, these 750 or whatever Energy Rants over the past 15.5 years, may have resulted…
Read More
May 06
Love132

Will Musk Derangement Destroy the EV?

By Energy Rant No Comments
To update readers on my 2025 harbingers posted on January 7, the title nails one thing: "2025 in One Word: DOWZH,". Declaration: Victory. Some Fans Turn on Their Man One result is the schism between Elon Musk and his Tesla-buying fan base. However, I will say this: except for the most heinous criminals on the planet, there are always things to admire about people, and the thing I admire in Musk is pressing on with his convictions without fear. I must have some weird or defective gene because I find it amusing when fans turn on their man, like when…
Read More
Apr 29
Love131

A Bridge to Chaos

By Energy Rant No Comments
It is challenging to avoid artificial intelligence and its implications for the electric grid and limit AI-centric blog posts to one per month. This post follows up and doubles down on AI, Manufacturing, and the Bridge Out Ahead, which discussed Trump's tariffs, manufacturing, AI, and the associated soaring electric loads. Trump's Negotiating Tactics Fortunately, I attended a two-hour session with world-class negotiating expert Deepak Malhotra from Harvard Business School. The topic everyone enjoyed the most was his assessment of Trump's "art of the deal" negotiating tactics. It's safe to say Malhotra is no fan of Trump, in his own words.…
Read More
Apr 21
Love131

Fanatical Execution Beats the Box

By Energy Rant No Comments
Did you notice the lights flickering or dimming around noon on Saturday? That was me stomping on the AI gas pedals to inspire this week’s edition of the Energy Rant. I asked ChatGPT for an example of thinking outside the box, which, duh, is precisely what artificial intelligence cannot do worth a hoot. It only brings solutions within the massive data set from which it has to draw. Outside the Box I asked, “Give me an example of thinking outside the box.” It gave me the nine-dot puzzle, which many or most of you have already seen: Challenge: Connect all…
Read More
Apr 15
Love130

Electrified Heating – Thinking it Through

By Energy Rant No Comments
Daylight Savings Rant It's looking bleak for my annual predictions from January. I must come from behind to realize a 50% hit rate. Last week, Trump implored Congress to make daylight saving permanent. Zerohedge provides a comprehensive assessment of issues from economic to safety. I sum it up this way – people like to complain. They don't like to think. If daylight savings is locked in, it will be dark until 9:00 AM in the winter. If standard time is locked in, the sun will rise at 4:00 AM in the summer. Which would you like? I remember when coming…
Read More

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.

Subscribe for Expert Insights
Close Menu