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Mar 04
Love123

The Next Energy Frontier in Texas

By Energy Rant No Comments
Pouring Into Texas Money talks, and if states were holding speech contests, Texas would be the frontrunner. While states like California boycott conferences in Florida and Texas over DEI and reproductive policies, those things, unfortunately, don’t matter to some of the most progressive private-sector companies. Last week, Apple announced plans for a new 250,000-square-foot facility to manufacture servers to serve the artificial intelligence market. Per The Wall Street Journal, Austin has the largest concentration of employees outside of Cupertino. I would guess within a decade that Apple will move its HQ to Austin. The Journal also reports Meta moved its…
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Feb 25
Love121

Electrification Gangsters

By Energy Rant No Comments
Last week, I explored the macro impacts of electrifying our heating systems and using ground source (aka geothermal) heat pump (GHP) systems rather than cold-climate air-source heat pumps (CCHPs). In a nutshell, deploying GHPs in the colder regions of the country would reduce necessary electric demand growth by 77 percentage points compared to CCHPs. Ground source heat pumps would also avoid the construction of 43,500 miles of transmission lines, enough to crisscross the United States 16 times. At $2 million per mile, that's $87 billion. That's a rounding error in Washington, but it's a lot of money for the rest…
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Feb 18
Love120

Boring DERs, Saving Billions with Geothermal Heat Pumps

By Energy Rant No Comments
Over the many years I have taught electrification basics for the Wisconsin Public Utilities Institute’s (WPUI) Energy Utilities Basics course, I dive deeply into heat pumps and their impact on the grid. I explain the messy chart in Figure 1 like a palm reader, except I have engineering behind my assertions rather than mystical conjectures. Cold-Climate, Air-Source Heat Pump Performance As outdoor temperatures fall below zero Fahrenheit, as they do from the panhandle of Idaho and Wyoming across the country to Maine and Massachusetts, cold-climate air source heat pump (CCHP) performance and capacity dive while heating loads increase. The chart…
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Dec 09
Love113

Two Questions for Electric Utility Stakeholders

By 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…
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Dec 02
Love110

Tire Shopping for Christmas

By 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.…
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Nov 25
Love109

Energy Efficiency and Tires 101

By 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,…
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Nov 19
Love108

Electricity Price Drivers

By 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…
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Aug 12
Love97

Fishing for Savants Who Understand Attribution

By Energy Rant No Comments
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 (~67 papers) Equity (~75 papers) The end. The ACEEE summer camp covers a stunning number of papers. There are 13 panels or tracks, two sessions per day, each with three papers presented, for five days. Per my math, that's 780 papers. In addition, there are probably 60 posters to make up the total of nearly 850 studies. The papers probably…
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Aug 06
Love96

Ranking States for Clean, Reliable, and Affordable Power

By Energy Rant No Comments
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 week in Electricity Rates and Reliability, I started with a state-by-state analysis of energy efficiency policy, electricity sources, and prices. My research for those two posts tipped off an avalanche of rich data to analyze. This week, I am polishing it off with a grand finale featuring state rankings for composite clean, reliable, and affordable electricity. Electricity…
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Jul 16
Love91

Portfolio Plateaus, Levitating Golf Balls, and Code Zombies

By Energy Rant No Comments
This is the third and final edition of the history of energy efficiency and Michaels Energy over the last 40 years. The first edition, covering the Early Years Through Deregulation, spanned 1984 into the Great Depression of Energy Efficiency. The second edition described the resurgence of energy efficiency and the birth of Portfolio Blowouts in the Great Lake States and beyond. This edition covers the efficiency program plateau of the last decade and projects for the future. Lighting Technology Evolutions During the boom and plateau years from 2000 through today, lighting retrofits cycled through every sector – residential, commercial, and…
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All things energy. That’s our jam.

We talk a lot about energy – from the serious to the satirical.

All things energy. That’s our jam.

We talk a lot about energy – from the serious to the satirical.

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