The large load queue in ERCOT continues to be... large... www.ercot.com/files/docs/2...

What do real landowners and local officials think about wind and solar projects? We asked them in our last report that focused on Texas: txrenewables.net See below for what they said.

“We’re in an energy crunch,” said Joshua Rhodes, an electricity expert and research scientist at the University of Texas at Austin. “We should be doubling down on everything we can build right now. Making things more expensive is antithetical to that.” www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

It's AI vs. Al for cheap power “Ultimately, this is about energy,” said Matt Meenan, VP of external affairs for the Aluminum Association. “I think we’re going to have a hard time becoming fully self-sufficient for primary Al in the U.S.” www.canarymedia.com/articles/cle...

On why the cheapest form of energy does well in Texas: “[Texas] set up its markets to be cut-throat,” says Joshua Rhodes, a research scientist at [UT Austin] By contrast, in many other parts of the US, there is no competition at all, says Rhodes. www.telegraph.co.uk/gift/80aac07...

Oh hey, IdeaSmiths CTO @joshdr83.bsky.social did this analysis! The short version: voting to attack wind and solar is a vote to raise electricity prices and escalate chances of outages and shortfalls.

Engineer mountain was just calling out to me!

It’s official: Texas bills targeting solar and wind power are dead. Here's a recap of the arguments that worked, as the renewable energy industry tries the same appeals to lobby against Trump's "big, beautiful bill." www.houstonchronicle.com/business/ene...

Investing in US technology and US supply chains delivers benefits that reach far and wide. "I'm a husband, father, and softball coach, and welding puts food on the table, smoked ribs on the grill." – Lee Evans, Welder, Grenzebach, Newnan, GA. Learn more: bit.ly/43vszfW #AmericasSolarCompany

Happy Texas Sine Die to those who celebrate!

“The same sun that heats up buildings, that drives air conditioning, that drives peak (electricity) demand in Texas, is the same sun that's producing electricity for solar panels,” said Joshua Rhodes www.houstonchronicle.com/business/ene...

“The electricity grid is looking to grow with new loads, like AI and data centers…” “Building new [infrastructure] takes time and money. ->, “it would be good to continue to be efficient in places where we can, [Rhodes] said. www.marketplace.org/story/2025/0...

Sometimes it feels like it's just us, but it's not. While Virginia is holding on to the title of data center capital of the world, this industry has the ability and incentive to go where the power is, not just where the initial infrastructure was laid.

“It's like expecting a trumpet to play a drum line — it's just not going to work. It's not the right tool. But if you put all the tools together, then you can get an orchestra,” Rhodes said. via @clairehao.bsky.social @houstonchronicle.com www.houstonchronicle.com/business/ene...

Super cool map showing electricity, data, and datacenter infrastructure from NREL has been updated: www.nrel.gov/docs/gen/fy2...

Been out for a bit to welcome this new addition to our family, really excited to be a dad! He is doing great, just working on what sleep means now ;)

ICYMI: amazing and timely map by Billy Roberts at NREL showing electricity and data infrastructure across the US!

lolz

Rhodes: “And that can make a big difference for a rancher or a landholder to have that revenue. … A lot of landowners talked about wind and solar being like a drought-proof crop. It doesn’t have to rain to still get paid.” yaleclimateconnections.org/2025/03/Clea...

A huge jump in the ERCOT solar peak generation record today at 12:20 pm. New record = 26,321 MW Old record = 25,015 MW - set just 10 days ago. Note: Solar share of total generation was 56.3% when the record was set. Crazy! Source: www.gridstatus.io/records/erco... #energysky

Can you believe these wind turbines? 🤣

“AI is not going to wait for 2030 to come. It is going to be won or lost in the next few years,” Rhodes said. “And the things you can build today are wind, solar and storage.” www.houstonchronicle.com/business/ene...

We just hit 25 GW of solar power output for the first time! ☀️☀️☀️ #yetanotherrecord

Figure 1: Figure showing the percent net electricity imports (imports less exports) as a percentage of regional annual demand for regions that border Canada. Note that positive values denote imports. data: www.eia.gov/electricity/...

Another sentiment check on our neighbors to the North torontosun.com/news/provinc...

ICYMI: Texas issues its first deep geo-pressured, geothermal well. #drillbabydrill www.rigzone.com/news/rrc_ann...

ERCOT got 99 problems and figuring out fact from fiction is one www.ercot.com/calendar/022...

Great read from @joshdr83.bsky.social

#EnergySky - Over the past decade, ERCOT has managed to both GROW its electricity generation by 36% and CLEAN it up, nearly doubling its share of carbon free energy from 23% to 42%! This is the way - load growth and clean growth. If Texas can do it, so can the rest of the US.

ERCOT fuel mix from 2006 to 2024 now available: - Natural gas above its 19-year running average of 43% to 44% in 2024. - Solar hitting 10% of total energy generated. - Wind holding steady %-wise, but up in absolute terms. - The ERCOT grid is now 42% clean energy!

Huge Benefits! TX wind, solar & battery plants (current & expected) will pay: $29.5 billion to landowners $20.2 billion in local taxes 75% of TX counties get taxes. @joshdr83.bsky.social authored a great report documenting benefits. static1.squarespace.com/static/652f1... #energysky #greensky

Hey y'all! Check out our latest report on the impact of renewables & storage in TX! tl;dr - The current & expected fleet of renewable & energy storage projects is expected to pay almost $50B in lifetime landowner payments & local taxes! 👇 static1.squarespace.com/static/652f1...

Excited to be joining @volts.wtf & Julian Spector along w/ @douglewin.bsky.social, & Dr. Emily Beagle @ the LBJ School @utaustin.bsky.social to talk energy @ the Canary Media x Volts at UT-Austin event on January 28! See free registration link👇🏼 if you can make it! www.eventbrite.com/e/canary-med...

High Speed Charging Stations spread across the USA. Installation of new charging stations in Q4 2024 (766) were nearly 100% higher than in Q4 2022 (386). More EV stations encourage EV sales, which encourage more EV stations. Wonderful! #energysky www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

ERCOT demand looking like a fun roller coaster tomorrow*! *things should be fine

“Right now the big energy story is how are we going to power these data centers,” said Joshua Rhodes, a research scientist at [UT] Austin who studies the power sector. “Drill baby drill might turn into power baby power.” Look I tried, ok? 🤣 www.eenews.net/articles/soa...

ERCOT hit a new wind record yesterday! via @gridstatus.io

This is an important point. Slow chargers are useless in places where you’ll park occasionally (malls, libraries, etc.). But at work or home, even a 120V outlet can be all you need to make the leap to an EV.

Sort of neat! Basically methane pyrolysis with a microwave, and you get graphene! Pretty interesting way to avoid point source capture with a (potentially) high value byproduct! Wonder how capital intensive the process will ultimately be. www.bbc.com/news/article...

For Maths fans, 2025 is a square. 45² = 45 x 45 = 2025 Also, 9² x 5² = 2025 40² + 20² + 5² = 2025 My favourite? 1³+2³+3³+4³+5³+6³+7³+8³+9³ = 2025 #Mathematics #teaching #education

Happy Birthday, world! 😘

Check out my latest op-ed in the @dallasnews.bsky.social — lmk what you think! “As the world faces growing uncertainty, the U.S. has a unique opportunity to reinforce its position as a reliable, influential energy provider.” www.dallasnews.com/opinion/comm...

Come on dude

ChatGPT is down, does anyone remember how to work?

Merry Christmas y’all!

Batteries are reshaping ERCOT’s ancillary services procurement Battery generation capacity has made up 50%+ of awards for reg up and responsive reserves since 2022. In these, coal and gas regularly account for <20% of capacity. #energysky 🔌💡

Members of Congress should get an annual pay raise. Better yet, raise their salaries to match the President’s salary ($400k/yr), prohibit any individual stock purchases or sales while in office, and put in a lobbying ban after office.

Salsa is a vegetable. #HillsIWillDieOn

I love data.