by Jeff Ihnen | Dec 30, 2024 | Energy Rant
Here is my annual scorecard against energy predictions I made 51 weeks ago in Seven Chicken Bones for 2024. Chicken Bone One There would be at least five clean energy curtailments of at least $100 million apiece in 2024. On December 2, 2024, The Wall Street Journal...
by Jeff Ihnen | Dec 17, 2024 | Energy Rant
Last week and many other times, I’ve written about soaring electricity loads and prices climbing even faster. The reality is prices are rising much quicker than load. For example, grid loads in Oregon have increased at a compounded rate of a modest 2%, while...
by Jeff Ihnen | Dec 9, 2024 | Energy Rant
Remember the theory that deregulation in the late 1990s would waive the need for energy efficiency programs? If not, you can read up on the Great Depression in Energy Efficiency, the origins of which began with the 1992 Energy Policy Act. I believe the theory at the...
by Jeff Ihnen | Dec 2, 2024 | Energy Rant
This week, we capitalize on last week’s basics of tire rolling resistance, how it translates to passenger vehicle fuel economy, and non-Newtonian and non-linear nuances. Tires by the Numbers Figure 1 shows the nameplate for one of my tires. Left to right: M+S...
by Jeff Ihnen | Nov 25, 2024 | Energy Rant
Back in the day, when I interviewed engineers for potential employment, I would ask what they’ve done in their lives to study and reduce energy consumption. As an example, this week, I nerded out on tires. As an efficiency nut and passionate driver of our curvy...
by Jeff Ihnen | Nov 19, 2024 | Energy Rant
The race is on to decarbonize the grid, and those states that are forcing it too quickly are seeing soaring electricity prices. This is fabulous for our industry because energy efficiency and load management have become much more cost-effective. But are higher prices...
