by Jeff Ihnen | Sep 10, 2024 | Energy Rant
Every day, there is a headline about the explosion of data center growth and associated electric loads that will rapidly deplete reserve capacity on the electric grid. The Energy Rant featured several posts to describe the magnitude of the issue and concern among...
by Jeff Ihnen | Sep 3, 2024 | Energy Rant
I had already selected my topic for this week (most climate policies don’t work) when I had the good fortune to cross paths with a Wall Street Journal article, 7 Years, $700 Million Wasted: The Stunning Collapse of New York’s Traffic Moonshot. The policy...
by Michaels Energy | Sep 3, 2024 | The Big Why
As savings from lighting and other low cost/high benefit opportunities become more difficult to achieve, program administrators need to look closely at different markets to understand where potential savings exist. Baseline or appliance saturation studies are great...
by Jeff Ihnen | Aug 27, 2024 | Energy Rant
Two years after natural gas prices spiked, resulting in a jump in coal consumption for electricity (see Figure 1), natural gas prices have plunged to inflation-adjusted record lows. The Wall Street Journal reports drillers and producers are curtailing activity as...
by Jeff Ihnen | Aug 19, 2024 | Energy Rant
Longtime Rant readers know I keep both feet on planet Earth, capturing all sides (typically two) and explaining, yes, but (fill in the blank). For the next case study, I was recently presented with a slide deck from the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), The Cleantech...
by Michaels Energy | Aug 13, 2024 | Awards
Michaels Energy was awarded a spot on the Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Private Companies in the United States in 2024. In 2024, Michaels achieved nearly 425% growth in revenue and 339% growth in staff compared to 2020! They must be U.S.-based, privately held,...
by Jeff Ihnen | Aug 12, 2024 | Energy Rant
This week, I’m reporting on themes presented at the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) summer camp, also known as the Summer Study for Buildings, from Pacific Grove, California. Here are the themes: Heat pumps (~ 80 papers) Decarbonization...
by Jeff Ihnen | Aug 6, 2024 | Energy Rant
This is the third and final post in a series of Energy Rants on rising electricity prices and unreliability. The first post, Rising Price of Less Reliable Electricity, defined and quantified the problem and discussed some reasons and challenges in the future. Last...
by Michaels Energy | Aug 1, 2024 | The Big Why
Heat pumps present one of the best tools for decarbonization. They are very efficient compared to other heating technologies, are similar in price to air conditioning systems, and rely on an electric grid that is getting cleaner over time. Because of this,...
by Elisabeth Hamilton | Jul 31, 2024 | Awards
Energy Rant, a blog written weekly by our CEO Jeff Ihnen, was awarded the dotCOMM Gold award in 2024. DotCOMM is an international competition honoring excellence in web creativity and digital communication. The competition is unique in that it reflects the role of...