Energy Rant Archives - Michaels Energy

Dec 17

A Better Value of Economic Dispatch

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Rant No Comments

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 prices have risen by a compounded rate of nearly 9% in the same period. Why is that? Wholesale Electricity Supply Curve A year ago, I demonstrated using a typical generation supply stack from PJM, reposted in Figure 1. Each dot shown represents a generator. Refer to one of my concluding questions last week, "Will stakeholders increase,…

Dec 09

Love112

Two Questions for Electric Utility Stakeholders

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Rant No Comments

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 time was that electricity prices would be so low that energy efficiency couldn't possibly compete. Or maybe the theory was, "We're deregulating; efficiency programs are a regulatory thing, so we no longer need them." I've written this blog for over 15 years, producing roughly 700 posts. I can't say that I've written a…

Dec 02

Love110

Tire Shopping for Christmas

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Rant No Comments

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 indicates the tire is suitable for mud and snow. Mud? Don't try it. 225 is the tire width in millimeters, sidewall to sidewall. 225 millimeters is about nine inches. 40 is the sidewall height, from rim to tread, divided by the tire width. 40 means this ratio is 0.4, so that height is 0.4x225 = 90 millimeters.…

Nov 25

Love109

Energy Efficiency and Tires 101

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Rant No Comments

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 paved roads through beautiful Western Wisconsin, I have a thing for tires. They must have decent handling in snow, low rolling resistance for efficiency, and preferably ride like rails. My foray began with an article from Wired.com titled "The Race to Create the Perfect EV Tire." That article propelled me into numerous rabbit holes,…

Nov 19

Love108

Electricity Price Drivers

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Rant No Comments

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 good for customers, industry, and local economies? Probably not. Last week, I attended the Peak Load Management Alliance’s 50th Conference in Brooklyn. In sessions on decarbonization and electrification, practitioners described how the cost-effectiveness of heating with cold-climate heat pumps is already a challenge. Not only are there no savings, but electricity costs are increasing rapidly and are…

Nov 12

Love107

The Future of Automobile Decarbonization

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Rant No Comments

Two weeks ago, I described the chasm before mass-market electric vehicle adoption. The chasm, as shown in Figure 1 and depicted in the EV Rant as a moat, is the gap between enthusiastic nerds and mainstream curmudgeons. I'm often among the mainstream curmudgeons, but not always. I could be considered an early adopter of smart thermostats and cold-climate heat pumps purchased 11 and 7 years ago, respectively. Figure 1 Market Adoption Curve For automobiles, I have gone out of my way for years, decades even, to find ones with manual transmissions – why? Energy efficiency, for one. There is less…

Oct 28

Love106

The Energy Transition’s Reverse Chasm

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Rant No Comments

In September, I wrote a series of five Rants on data centers, a concise and comprehensive collection that might just be the Data Center Digest you never knew you needed! Chip and server power density, cooling, and projected GW load growth. Data center facilities from modular to 200 GW-plus hyperscale. Efficiency ratings and power usage effectiveness scales. Data center HVAC (minus the H because that's not required) options. Future power shortages and power supply complications. The anticipated load growth is due to artificial intelligence, which most professionals believe will explode—and so does Wall Street. Table 1 lists the current…

Oct 22

Love105

Herding Chickens Through Modern Energyscapes

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Rant No Comments

A recent study, Stacked Energyscapes, led by professors at Loyola Marymount University and Penn State University, caught my eye. The paper describes webs of complexities associated with transitions from fossil-fuel-powered economies to clean-energy economies. I burrowed into this paper as a glutton for third, fourth, and fifth-order (and beyond) downstream chain reactions and the universal picture. The Inflation Reduction Act was deployed in part to provide a 10% tax break bonus for clean energy development in communities that have been negatively impacted by decreases or closures of fossil fuel extraction. However, developers in many locations, such as the enormous Permian…

Oct 15

Love105

Bipartisanship: Clobbering Corporate Climate Initiatives

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Rant No Comments

New York Attorney General Letitia James is suing JBS USA Foods, the country's largest beef producer, for misleading the public with its net-zero greenhouse gas emissions plan by 2040. Not to be left behind, Attorneys General from Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, and Tennessee are firing warning shots across the bows of companies like Target, Tyson Foods, and grocery store parent company Ahold Delhaize. Headline: Democrats and Republicans align against corporate climate change plans, particularly net-zero targets. What? Why are those companies targeted while there are all kinds of Hail Mary moonshots fired by governments (local, state, and federal) and other corporations?…

Oct 07

Love104

Data Centers Search for Electricity – Anywhere by Any Means

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Rant No Comments

In the first post in this data center series, I introduced the staggering power density of neural computing systems used for artificial intelligence. At the macro level, in Northern Virginia alone, Dominion Energy projects data center load growth to increase from 3.3 GW today to 50 GW based on requested and projected load additions. Last week, in the fourth post, I described electric loads at the facility level, which reach well north of 200 MW. Only three to five hyperscale data centers, each with the power requirements of an aircraft carrier, can take all the power from a 1,000 MW…

A Better Value of Economic Dispatch

Two Questions for Electric Utility Stakeholders

Tire Shopping for Christmas

Energy Efficiency and Tires 101

Electricity Price Drivers

The Future of Automobile Decarbonization

The Energy Transition’s Reverse Chasm

Herding Chickens Through Modern Energyscapes

Bipartisanship: Clobbering Corporate Climate Initiatives

Data Centers Search for Electricity – Anywhere by Any Means

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