by Jeff Ihnen | Jan 22, 2018 | Energy Rant
On the subject of electricity generation sources and price, I’ve been reading numerous articles from various bona fide sources and started connecting dots. Public Utilities Fortnightly (PUF) has written about historically low electricity prices, as a percent of GDP or...
by Jessica Wagner | Dec 7, 2017 | Videos & Webinars
The healthcare sector, though ripe with opportunity. faces many barriers as they seek to address energy efficiency in theirfacilities. Michaels Energy recently conducted a pilot exploring two different approaches to engaging outpatient medicalfacilities in energy...
by Jeff Ihnen | Dec 4, 2017 | Energy Rant
Last week several of us at Michaels bemoaned the hazards of operations and maintenance (O&M), controls, and behavioral programs. The specific discussion was about the ubiquitous rooftop unit, like those shown on the box-store roof below. The discussion could have...
by Jeff Ihnen | Nov 20, 2017 | Energy Rant
Last week’s post about utility innovation and the need for legislative reform for a modern grid was a big hit. Thank you. This week, as promised, I will advance the discussion to provide some ideas for modernizing legislation and utilities to catch up with the times....
by Jeff Ihnen | Nov 6, 2017 | Energy Rant
This year ACEEE published a three-part series on why people and companies invest in energy efficiency. First, they provide some guesstimates of energy efficiency investment in the United States. Their researched estimates vary from $60 billion to about $120 billion,...
by Jeff Ihnen | Oct 16, 2017 | Energy Rant
A couple weeks ago in Renewable Energy, Bad Parents, and Strawberries, I wrote that the value of an electrical generating resource depends a little on how cheaply it can produce energy (kWh), but a LOT on when and the (new word alert) dispatchability of the resource....
by Jeff Ihnen | Oct 9, 2017 | Energy Rant
Author’s Note: Mike Frischmann here. I’m doing my best Jeff Ihnen impression and filling in for the Rant this week. Your regular dose of Jeff will return next week. Nuclear power plants have fallen on hard times. There has been a dearth of new builds in this country...
by Jeff Ihnen | Oct 2, 2017 | Energy Rant
If you enjoyed the greatest modern decade of sports, when MJ went six for six in the NBA finals, you would remember this McDonald’s commercial nearby. In it, Larry challenges Michael to a game of trick shots for Michael’s Big Mac and Fries. (I don’t know why my...
by Jeff Ihnen | Sep 25, 2017 | Energy Rant
In my Personal Finance class as an undergraduate, our instructor used the term diworsification[1] for large stalwart companies. Diworsification occurs when a company buys another company it knows nothing about and isn’t complimentary to the core business. Utilities...
by Jeff Ihnen | Sep 18, 2017 | Energy Rant
Last week, in a moment of weakness, I was on my Pinterest board (is that what it’s called?), when I came upon this excellent tip sheet from a marketing blog[1]. I noted that the “emotional” alternatives to the “intellectual,” bloated phrases were simpler with fewer...
