Registration is open for the POWER Conference on Energy Research and Policy. 3/20/26, Berkeley, CA. See new research on energy markets and regulation and exchange ideas with energy policy and business professionals. Early Bird rates now available. haas.berkeley.edu/energy-insti...

Energy Institute Faculty Affiliate James Bushnell tries to explain why California Carbon Allowances prices are so low. energyathaas.wordpress.com/2026/02/09/w...

A new Energy Institute at Haas working paper models how solar and batteries can use the existing grid to meet the needs of data centers. Research by Duncan Callaway, Emilia Chojkiewicz and Amol Phadke. energyathaas.wordpress.com/2026/02/02/a...

@severinborenstein.bsky.social addresses whether rooftop solar can help reduce California electricity bills.

E&E News talks to @severinborenstein.bsky.social for this story about partisan energy preferences. www.eenews.net/articles/tru...

Energy Institute Faculty Director @severinborenstein.bsky.social quoted in this article about electricity rates. www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...

Locating the Electricity Affordability Crisis. In the U.S., it’s real, but broadly mischaracterized. Energy Institute at Haas Blog post by Severin Borenstein. @severinborenstein.bsky.social energyathaas.wordpress.com/2026/01/26/l...

"But for a country like Venezuela, whose oil reserves are some of the lowest quality oil reserves in the world, that's a really bad thing. Just even producing.." @campbellenergy.bsky.social on Marketplace marketplace.org/story/2026/01/14/what-will-us-control-over-venezuelan-oil-look-like

Carbon-free, dispatchable nuclear power should be part of decarb debate, but we need a clear-eyed view of pros and cons of all options. Meredith Fowlie discusses the waste management issue in the Energy Institute blog today. Then there's the cost issue. energyathaas.wordpress.com/2026/01/12/t...

Berkeley Energy & Resources Collaborative's Alumni Gala is coming up on January 30. I'll be there, as always, to auction off the donated items (including lunch with me). Don't miss this great opportunity to catch up with old friends and network with new ones. www.eventbrite.com/e/2026-berc-...

Unsuprisingly the @ucenergyinstitute.bsky.social blog made it on there too. Here's @campbellenergy.bsky.social's list of their top 10 blogs from 2025. Many of these topics (data centres, rooftop solar cost shifts, refinery closures, electricity rates) came up frequently throughout the course.

New Energy Institute Blog Post: This Nuclear Renaissance Has a Waste Management Problem - by Meredith Fowlie energyathaas.wordpress.com/2026/01/12/t...

The Energy Institute at Haas is seeking an Associate Director to manage financial and research administration for the Institute and C2M. Applications accepted until 2/16 (reviews may be scheduled as soon as 1/20): haas.berkeley.edu/energy-institute/about/announcements/associate-director-search/

“'PG&E could draw it out for a very long time, throw up as many barriers as they could and demand as high a valuation as they could...'” @severinborenstein.bsky.social @sfchronicle.com sfchronicle.com/sf/article/san-francisco-pge-breakup-21268937.php #pge #electricity #outages #electricbills

Check out our Energy Institute Executive Director, @campbellenergy.bsky.social on AirTalk in Los Angeles discussing Venezuelan oil. Starting around 18:00. lnkd.in/gCTMp2J7 @laist.com #venezuela #oil #energypolicy

Problem with claim that Venezuela news may drive up oil prices in short run but increase supply in long run: traders in futures market don't believe it. Yesterday and today, oil prices effectively unchanged for both prompt delivery and many years out. www.ft.com/content/4a21...

In the EI blog today, Lucas Davis explains why the trump admin's proposal to abandon tradability across firms will make auto fuel economy standards less effective and more expensive. Doesn't look conservative or populist to me, just dumb. energyathaas.wordpress.com/2026/01/05/t...

The Energy Institute at Haas is now on Instagram! We’re excited to connect with you on our new page. Follow us for the latest updates, insights, and content. www.instagram.com/ucberkeleyen...

New Energy Institute Blog Post: The Case for Trading Fuel Economy Compliance Credits - by Lucas Davis energyathaas.wordpress.com/2026/01/05/t... #gasoline #transportation #energyefficiency

The Energy Institute blog is on vacation for the next two weeks. It will return with a new blog post on Monday, January 5, 2026. Happy Holidays! Meanwhile, check out our latest post: "Top 10 Energy Institute Blog Posts of 2025" tinyurl.com/465bd9p5

John List has a disturbing LinkedIn post on the job market for economists. Between trump's attack on university/research and his destruction of the government infrastructure for managing and evaluating policy, big hit on economics hiring. www.linkedin.com/posts/johnal...

Pretty exciting news that Amazon is using AI to reduce its total energy use. Makes sense. I hope it will expand to focus on shifting electricity use out of the most constrained hours. www.utilitydive.com/news/amazon-...

Save the date for the POWER Conference on March 20, '26 (registration opens in Jan). Learn about exciting new research on energy markets and regulation from scholars, and engage with energy policy and business professionals. Paper Submissions Due: 1/7/26. tinyurl.com/ydu4wxwh

This is an increasingly challenging problem as the distinction between loads and generation grows murkier. I think economics teaches us that the key will be to make sure new facilities pay at least the incremental cost of the services they receive. www.utilitydive.com/news/ferc-pj...

Interesting that EIA is seeing slower growth of large load aggregate demand , but that is a poor indicator of grid strain. Need to understand peak demand relative to available supply, some of which is intermittent. www.utilitydive.com/news/energy-...

"'When it comes to oil and gas, the market has more than recovered...There has not been much handwringing that it’s holding firms back, driving up costs.'” - @severinborenstein.bsky.social in Politico eenews.net/articles/the-oil-business-is-hurting-but-still-in-love-with-trump/

Top 10 Energy Institute Blog Posts of 2025 - by @campbellenergy.bsky.social energyathaas.wordpress.com/2025/12/15/t...

New Energy Institute Working Paper: Benefits, Costs, and Distributional Outcomes in an Environmental Market, Olivier Deschenes and Paige Weber haas.berkeley.edu/energy-insti...

"'Now that [cost] is many, many times higher because almost all of the fires that have been started are distribution level fires.'” @severinborenstein.bsky.social @kqednews.kqed.org kqed.org/science/1999400/bay-area-electricity-bills-are-some-of-the-highest-where-does-your-money-go

New Energy Institute Blog Post: California Now Allows More Ethanol in Gasoline — Is This Going to Save Drivers Money? - by Aaron Smith energyathaas.wordpress.com/2025/12/08/c... #airpollution #gasoline #naturalgas #oil #transportation

Unfortunate, but common, misinterpretation of grid data. Total hours California's grid has run without natural gas since 2019 is zero. Some hours when renewables>demand, but much exported. FOR NOW, still need gas to balance the system. yaleclimateconnections.org/2025/02/cali... 💡🔌

Very interesting episode of the Shift Key podcast on what AI boom is doing to clean energy and what might happen if it is a bubble that leaves bankrupt data center companies and potentially unused grid capacity. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h... 🔌💡

Dallas Burtraw at @rff.org has an excellent explainer on the climate and energy bills that passed the California legislature and were signed by Gov. Newsom in September. No blog could cover all the critical details, but Dallas hits the major points. www.resources.org/common-resou...

New Energy Institute Blog Post: A Small Beautiful Bill - by Maximilian Auffhammer energyathaas.wordpress.com/2025/12/01/a...

An important, and discouraging, reminder that innovation continues in the fossil fuel industries as well as in renewables. Cheap oil and gas remains a major barrier to decarbonization . www.eia.gov/todayinenerg... 🔌💡

Good update on Kinder Morgan plans for expanding refined product distributions to Arizona, California, and Nevada. This would be a benefit to producers and customers, but not clear there is enough value to shippers for the investment. stillwaterassociates.com/open-season-... 🔌💡

Excellent article in FT on the problem of Phantom data centers making it difficult for utilities and grid operators to plan, and some of the solutions. I think gift link (on.ft.com/4otkC25) works only for first 3 who use it. Sorry. www.ft.com/content/331f... 🔌💡

“‘We’re fundamentally talking about hard tradeoffs between mitigating wildfire risk, managing reliability impacts and managing costs, which often translate...’ Meredith Fowlie in POLITICO politico.com/newsletters/california-climate/2025/11/18/californias-undergrounding-conundrum-00658395

In this week's Energy Institute blog, Andy Campbell digs into the debate over how to use money from California's cap and trade auctions to support clean energy and electrification. energyathaas.wordpress.com/2025/11/17/c... 🔌💡

Update on California's Mystery Gasoline Surcharge: holding steady around $0.50 per gallon. In last 6 weeks, however, mostly due to higher spot prices, not downstream margins. Worrisome given one recent and one impending refinery closure. For context: energyathaas.wordpress.com/2025/08/18/c...

Closely related reporting from OPIS www.opis.com/resources/en...

Fairly detailed update on CA gasoline market. But omits fact that CA spot price was $0.70-$0.90 above NY/Gulf for > 1 month after Chevron El Segundo fire, rather than normal $0.15-$0.30. CA needs more storage to avoid spikes in this new world. Plus end to Jones Act. www.opis.com/resources/en...

“'We’re fundamentally talking about hard tradeoffs between mitigating wildfire risk, managing reliability impacts and managing costs...' said Meredith Fowlie, faculty director of the University of California, Berkeley, Energy Institute at Haas." politi.co/3Kbvd3p

"...price differential is due to taxes and regulatory costs and that there’s a 'mystery surcharge'...a phenomenon first identified eight years ago by @severinborenstein.bsky.social" - Cal Matters calmatters.org/commentary/2025/11/newsoms-gas-price-crusade-refiners/

New Energy Institute Blog Post: Choosing Between Increasing Subsidies or Lowering Rates for Electrification - by @campbellenergy.bsky.social energyathaas.wordpress.com/2025/11/17/c...

Hard-nosed rules for new large load interconnections are catching on across the political spectrum. A good sign for protecting existing customers from rate increases driven by stranded T&D investments. www.utilitydive.com/news/kansas-... 🔌💡

In my EI blog post today, I discuss the CA debate over how to return some of the cap and trade revenue to households and explain why I think a fixed rebate for every household the utility serves should be replace by a discount per-kilowatt-hour. energyathaas.wordpress.com/2025/11/10/s... 🔌💡

“We’re eliminating refineries faster than consumers are switching to electric vehicles...This deepens a paradox: the drive for a cleaner future is colliding with persistent fuel demand." - @severinborenstein.bsky.social in MSN News www.msn.com/en-us/money/...

Canary media correct that MA elec rate is way above MC, bc much of price pays for infrastructure that is not constrained except at peak hour, so high price distorts customer behavior. So true for heat pumps. Also for excessive incentive to install rooftop solar. www.canarymedia.com/articles/hea...

New Energy Institute Blog Post: Spreading the Cap-and-Trade Wealth - @severinborenstein.bsky.social energyathaas.wordpress.com/2025/11/10/spreading-the-cap-and-trade-wealth/ #climatechange #electricity #energyefficiency #naturalgas #solar