by Jake Millette | Oct 15, 2025 | The Big Why, Uncategorized
As Fall sets in and I debate when to turn on the heat (pump), I think about other ways to efficiently keep homes warm. In addition to upgrading the efficiency of the heating equipment, improving a home’s building envelope (insulation and air sealing) is a great way to...
by Jeff Ihnen | Oct 13, 2025 | Energy Rant
I could write about electricity shortages and data centers every week. Maybe I’ll attempt to keep it to one per month. There are many reasons it’s important, but the big one is that it drives load growth, strains the bajeezus out of the grid, and keeps...
by Stan Nabozny | Oct 12, 2025 | The Decarbonized Cold Chain
When people talk about decarbonization, the usual suspects come up: electric vehicles, solar farms, heat pumps, wind turbines. These are the “celebrities” of the clean energy transition; headline-grabbers with big-ticket investments. But one critical sector is often...
by Jeff Ihnen | Oct 8, 2025 | Energy Rant
Check out this week’s video blog as Jeff goes off-road with South Dakota State University Football Coach Emeritus, John Stiegelmeier, who led the Jackrabbits to their first FCS Championship in his final season of 2022. Learn about the rigors of a seven-day-per-week...
by Jeff Ihnen | Sep 30, 2025 | Energy Rant
I learned some interesting new things as I prepared and updated content for my presentation to the Wisconsin Public Utilities Institute’s Energy Utility Basics in a couple of weeks. Online registration is still open, so get in while you can. First, EVs are...
by Jeff Ihnen | Sep 22, 2025 | Energy Rant
Google is still playing the carbon-free hall of mirrors, this time, claiming Gemini inquiries only result in 0.03 grams of carbon dioxide and five drops of water, less than Jalen Carter’s demonstration of contempt for Dak Prescott, the NFL’s highest-paid quarterback,...
by Jeff Ihnen | Sep 15, 2025 | Energy Rant
You may have seen last week that Consumers Energy sold its 13 hydroelectric dams for $1 each. Elon Musk, nor anyone else for that matter, can compete with that price tag on dispatchable storage. According to my calculations, Consumers’ 13 million MWh annual...
by Liz Haworth | Sep 9, 2025 | Energy Rant
Guest blogger Liz Haworth, VP of Marketing at Michaels Energy That’s right, Jeff handed me the keys to The Energy Rant this week (what could possibly go wrong?)! Don’t worry – I’m not here to argue about kilowatts, rates, or policies. Instead, I’m wading into a...
by Jeff Ihnen | Sep 2, 2025 | Energy Rant
I like to stay ahead of the curve here at the Rant, but I would have needed to call play-by-play like Kirk Herbstreit on a college football game to keep up with the Cracker Barrel makeover fiasco. The CBRL fiasco played out faster than a college football game, which...
by Jeff Ihnen | Aug 26, 2025 | Energy Rant
First, A Branding Whetter. Two weeks ago, I peppered the Big Three Automakers, Ford, General Motors, and the company formerly known as Chrysler, for forgetting their cash-cow customer base, which loves large gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles and big honkin’...
