Energy Rant
Cut through the fluff with candid, expert takes on energy policy, programs, and industry trends. Written by our CEO, Jeff Ihnen, the Energy Rant is a blog that challenges assumptions, questions status quos, and delivers sharp insights with just the right dose of irreverence.
Programs Designed to Be Evaluated, Not Effective
I spent last week in HOT San Diego at the AESP Annual Conference. It was 20 degrees above average, hanging out in ...
The Lightning Strikes Out: The Hype Cycle Collides with the Load Curve
A year or two ago, around the time Hertz flooded the market with its fleet of electric vehicles, I heard from EV ...
AI Supremacy Meets the HVAC Systems — Deferred Maintenance Prevails
Everyone Wants to Rule the World (With AI)
Everyone wants artificial intelligence to solve a big problem. Nations ...
Audits Before Advice
R Value Costs, Climate Specificity, and Why Business Outcomes Matter
In this week's unusual Rant, I am stepping ...
A Million Btu per Hour: Notes from a Glacial Chicago Hotel Room
Comfort, Customer Satisfaction, and the Things Energy Metrics Miss
This week's post was inspired by the Midwest ...
When Antitrust Loses the Plot: Toothpaste Tubes, ESG, and Scale Blindness
Last week, I mentioned I planned to write about toothpaste, only to be overtaken by more urgent headlines around ...
Silence Exposes Grid Problems but Offers No Solutions
I was planning to write about toothpaste this week. Instead, data centers hijacked my inbox—and the headlines. ...
Six Predictions for 2026 the Models Won’t Like
Models are useful tools. They simplify complex systems, quantify trade-offs, and provide decision-makers with ...
DOWZH, Kickoffs, and the Art of Ruining Things
My annual predictions are always popular with Rant readers. One reason may be that I go off-road and provide an ...
When Climate Forecasts Break the Bookends: The Potsdam Projection and Its Fallout
This Energy Rant examines the retraction of a high-profile climate economics study from Germany’s Potsdam ...
Case Studies In Bad Energy Policy
Shortly after the Russia-Ukraine war kicked off, I quoted a panelist from the Wisconsin Public Utilities ...
Efficiency Unbraided – Don’t Kill It, NTG Prisoner
Wanting to take a break from data centers, load growth, and grid stress, I went to my Google Alerts feed in search ...
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- Energy Rant: This weekly blog, written by our CEO Jeff Ihnen, cuts through the fluff with candid, expert takes on energy policy, programs, and industry trends.
- The Big Why of Evaluation: This monthly blog, found in our e-newsletter The Hopper, explores the purpose, process, and impact of energy program evaluation.
- The Decarbonized Cold Chain: This new blog series provides insights on how the global cold chain can reduce emissions, increase efficiency, and build a low-carbon future.
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