SCOTUS grants cert in a case about whether the President can fire an FTC Commissioner, in which it may soon overrule a 1935 case that held the President may not fire and FTC Commissioner. It's possible for the Court to hold the President may fire an FTC com wo technically overturning that case...

God fucking dammit. Marissa Gillett is a hero. She pushed back against piratic, insular, greedy utilities and so they went after her -- badgering her, slandering her in the papers, suing, complaining to her boss. And they won. The utilities won. She has resigned. Fuck this world.

What's taking the DC Circuit so long? They supposedly fast-tracked this case back when they heard oral argument on May 18! The court has already written extensively on these issues earlier this year.

By the way, the excellent group PowerLines is holding a briefing about this election tomorrow, if you're interested:

Meanwhile, those of us on Humphrey's Executor watch, reload the DC Circuit's opinion page everyday in anticipation of a ruling on the merits in Wilcox. (Every DC Cir and SCOTUS opinion on who the President can fire has been about prelim injunctions)

Law skeeps: can someone explain what’s going on with the the lawsuit between EDF/UCS and the DOE. Why did DOE disband the CWG? Was it to avoid having to turn over documents? What are the implications for the report itself?

One year ago, Governor Burgum declared Clean Energy Week in North Dakota and boasted that it was among the top producers of wind energy www.governor.nd.gov/sites/www/fi...

The post-Loper Bright DC Circuit decision about FERC's decision to qualify a 160 MW solar facility under PURPA is finally out. FERC wins again! media.cadc.uscourts.gov/opinions/doc...

Chief Justice Roberts has issued an “administrative” stay allowing President Trump to remove the last Democratic member of Federal Trade Commission while the full Court decides whether to freeze lower-court rulings that had held that her firing was unlawful:

Federal appeals court shakes up transmission line siting. 3rd Circuit holds PA PUC's permit denial based on lack of need is preempted by PJM's regional planning process. Opinion is on PACER but not yet posted by 3rd Circuit on its site

It seem that my article on the history, present, and, potential future of market governance in the meatpacking industry is out! The doctrinal focus is on the Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921 & its use of my white whale: "unfair acts or practices" northcarolinalawreview.org/wp-content/u...

Fellow New Englanders . . .

"No one working two jobs and driving Uber to keep the heat and hope on should bear the cost of increased demand usage by the billionaire data center industry." www.yahoo.com/news/article...

Utilities' speech violates the First Amendment when its paid for by the public. New article by my colleague Eliza Martin shows that a 2018 Supreme Court case prevents utilities from charging ratepayers for advertising and political activity -- www.utilitydive.com/news/unconst...

Come work with us! We're hiring a full-time (remote) research director and a PT (16 hours) database consultant to help with Subsidy Tracker. Get details and apply here: goodjobsfirst.org/jobs-and-int...

Here's what the third day of elementary school looked like in Mount Pleasant, Washington DC.

Lev Menand is blistering here. Must listen. Meeting the moment. Incredible stuff from @weisenthal.bsky.social and @tracyalloway.bsky.social on Odd Lots. overcast.fm/+AA5AWNdOBV0

Ah well.

Outlawing flag burning requires a Constitutional Amendment, as I learned from The Simpsons in 1996 -- www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSAN...

I appreciate the helpful info from Gemini that it highlights below in response to my query looking for a recent RMI paper.

My lab's been attacked by an anti-wind group and their lawyers. They threatened the science funding of my whole university, to shut me and my undergraduate research assistants up. NYT just covered it. 1/n www.nytimes.com/2025/08/25/c...

For those of you on Humphrey's Executor watch, it's noteworthy that the President has not fired the Fed member.

I get it, kind of. But also, c'mon.... www.boston.com/news/local-n...

Are you an attorney with an interest in energy law who yearns for the ultimate white-hat job? If so, let’s talk. Im hiring a staff attorney to litigate alongside me at the NHPUC and elsewhere on behalf of the state’s residential utility customers.

Here's Richard Goldberg, head of the White House Energy DOMINANCE Council, describing their strategy to avoid price spikes. It involves Knuckleheads, a term that I associate exclusively with the Three Stooges.

On August 20, I'll be running a public webinar on the impacts of unconstrained data center growth on affordability, climate, and health - and what we can do about it. Join us here and share around! act.sierraclub.org/events/detai...

It's official. President names Democrat-affiliated FERC Commissioner David Rosner as FERC Chair. Lone Republican Commissioner Lindsay See, who argued WV v EPA at the Supreme Court when she had a different job, gets the shaft. ferc.gov/news-events/...

I kind of cannot believe how much is on the agenda for the California legislature related to energy in the next month. An incomplete list to give a sense of the magnitude:

NEW SHIFT KEY A beginner’s guide to power markets Most US electricity is sold on a market before it goes to homes and businesses. But how can you possibly price an electron? We have @jessedjenkins.com giving a masterclass on this *crucial* US economic institution. shows.acast.com/65bac3af0334...

A big old bubble? 23 utilities are claiming more than 700 gigawatts of data center in their "economic development pipeline" - which smells a lot like a speculation boom. www.sierraclub.org/articles/202...

Many thanks to CBS News for producing the first ad for my research program: youtu.be/gUKX2sv2ivo?...

this is PJM's first load shed notification since 2022 🔌💡

"According to EPA's logic, unless carbon dioxide personally shows up at your door, strangles you in your sleep, and leaves a signed confession, it’s not a 'sufficiently significant' threat." www.regulations.gov/comment/EPA-...

What will FERC release today, the final day of Chair Christie's FERCmanship?

Portal to help support the NASEM fast-track effort to assess the EPA endangerment finding (deadline for submissions, Aug 27) www.nationalacademies.org/our-work/ant...

CA Supreme Court holds that lower court upholding the CPUC's NEM 3.0 order "erred by applying an unduly deferential standard of review." Supreme Court kicks the case back to the lower court w instructions to review the CPUC's order under the correct standard.

Great work by the clean energy trades. They interpret DOE's resource adequacy report as a rule under the Admin Procedure Act bc it is a "statement of general or particular applicability and future effect designed to implement, interpret, or prescribe law or policy." (APA). Litigation to come!

Per RTOInsider, groups have filed comments about DOE's dodgy report on resource adequacy. Is it possible to access comments?

"The prospect that lawmakers might force California’s major utilities to securitize some of their highly profitable grid investments has in recent months weighed down investor expectations for the firms..."

Today on SHIFT KEY: Jody Freeman joins us to unpack Trump's moves to kill regulation of greenhouse gases from vehicles, power plants, and everything else. We unpack how the EPA is attacking the cornerstone finding that underpins all federal GHG regs under the Clean Air Act.

🔌On Aug 20, I'll be hosting a public webinar exploring the scale of data center buildout, how utilities are reacting, and what policymakers and the public can do to protect health, rates, and our climate targets. Register here! act.sierraclub.org/events/detai...

🚨 If you're interested in working on a coordinated response to the DOE climate report, please enter your info on this google form 🚨 Please RT this so as many people see it as possible. forms.gle/BL9xUAfRxA...

Yeah wind farms ruin the view…

My disappointment over the seaweed snacks not being commercially available is offset (somewhat) by my delight learning Samuel L. Jackson studied marine biology as an undergrad.

I've been getting a lot of requests for comments on the DOE report "A critical review of the impact of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions on the U.S. climate". Here are some initial thoughts. More will come later.

does anyone know of a coordinated response? this would take any single person months of work to go through and point out all of the errors, but I think we could have a pretty comprehensive response much sooner if we split up the work.

It's here - www.epa.gov/regulations-...

Here's EPA's press release announcing its intent to rescind the 2009 Endangerment Finding about GHGs. www.epa.gov/newsreleases... The document should be available here -- but [metaphor alert] the link is currently broken... www.epa.gov/regulations-...

The ongoing NARUC conference in Boston -- a meeting of the nation's utility regulators -- has 14 sponsors. 3 of the top 4 sponsors are Big Tech companies. 10 sponsors are industry trade groups, including the Data Center Coalition. The highest-level sponsor is the utilities' trade group (EEI).