In “Owning the Green Grid,” @joshuabasseches.bsky.social examines how corporate ownership of the electricity grid affects state-level renewable energy policymaking and interest group preferences: mitpress.mit.edu/978026205358...

Today is the day! My book, Owning The Green Grid, is officially out in the world! *For orders placed today, June 23, only* use the discount code "MITP30" at checkout to receive 30% off. 20% off with the code "READMIT20" anytime after. www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/814358...

The Trump administration's *energy* policies are stifling EV adoption, but its *foreign policy* is perversely helping: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

RGGI for the win. Threading the needle between emissions reductions incentives and ratepayer costs. There are numerous tools available to control electricity costs without undermining one of the few effective cap-and-trade programs in the world: www.eenews.net/articles/a-g...

In debate b/t incumbent utilities and non-incumbent transmission owners, each side argues they can do it faster and/or cheaper. Big tech and industrial customers, which are both savvy and highly sensitive to both speed and cost, seem to prefer competition: www.eenews.net/articles/ai-...

Heatmap News poll: 61% of American voters "somewhat support" or "strongly support" a nationwide moratorium on data centers: heatmap.news/plus/the-fig...

Spent some time recently in Europe. Solar panels are everywhere: rooftops (not just in urban and suburban areas but also very rural areas) and massive utility-scale arrays, seen mostly nearby to highways. People should ask themselves why things are so different in the USA. 🤔

Still waiting for someone, anyone, to offer a statement to a news outlet that Meets the Moment on this horrifying un-American bullshit that keeps happening. (Also yes I realize the lawsuits and investigations are more important.) www.latimes.com/environment/...

Spent Trump’s birthday hiking in the Italian Dolomites. Very happy with that choice.

"But the filings also highlight how the utility’s cost-recovery structure allows it to pass along climate-driven expenses while still generating returns for their shareholders." (1/2) insideclimatenews.org/news/0506202...

Maybe, but Dems should be aware of Gen Z ... At least the ones I've taught are unlikely to tolerate politicians who ignore what's happening to the planet they'll have to live on for many more years: www.politico.com/news/2026/06...

"Both proposed plants would feed data centers that have yet to be built, and the funding pales in comparison to the cost of new plants." The forces that drove coal's decline are larger than the president can control, but that doesn't stop him from trying: www.eenews.net/articles/new...

"'It’s part of a deliberate scheme to raise costs for ratepayers by driving the grid to more expensive plants. It is a massive money pump from ratepayers to Trump's corrupt fossil fuel donors,' said EPW ranking member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.)." www.eenews.net/articles/tru...

"Advocates hope that Rhode Island’s experience offers a counterpoint to a broader Democratic retreat from climate policies in states such as New York, Massachusetts and California." www.eenews.net/articles/rho...

I'm sure industries host a diversity of viewpoints on this question, but important to note how much these industries have "matured" over time. Yes, they were helped by public policy ... virtually all energy technologies (certainly incl. fossil fuels) are: www.eenews.net/articles/dem...

Gas industry commissions report concluding we need more gas. 😲 www.utilitydive.com/news/electri...

"We have built projects under both models, and our experience is clear: speed and competition are not mutually exclusive. In fact, they are complementary and necessary for meeting our country’s energy challenges." www.utilitydive.com/news/speed-t...

While the fossil fuel industry has gotten very cushy with the GOP and the renewable energy industry has tied its fate more to the Dems (generalizing, of course), the electric utility industry has long mastered coziness with both parties. (1/2)

The sort of thing we don't need to worry about with renewables: www.eenews.net/articles/tan...

Worth listening on clash between data centers and old fashioned grid governance. Some interesting suggested reforms: www.texasenergyandpower.com/p/price-the-...

State air regulators are doing the best they can to protect the air we breath. But the conversion of the EPA from "Environmental Protection Agency" to "Environmental Polluter Advocate" under Trump 2.0 is hamstringing their best efforts: www.eenews.net/articles/sta...

This illustrates why having utility parent companies operating across multiple states gives them an unfair advantage. Southern Co. doesn't like outcome of Georgia PSC elections, so it uses its influence to change rules of the game in neighboring Alabama: insideclimatenews.org/news/0306202...

I began researching this book more than 8 years ago, before data centers shifted so much of the public conversation around the electricity grid. Yet the book's broader lessons about the politics governing the grid apply today as ever. (1/2)

An important lawsuit. We cannot normalize the federal government paying off private corporations with taxpayer money to alter their business plans because the president's donors don't want competition: www.nytimes.com/2026/06/02/c...

The administration is pursuing a whole-of-government approach to helping its oil and gas industry friends, including flouting congressional intent and ultimately harming energy affordability for low-income households: www.eenews.net/articles/doe...

A great idea! Electricity consumption transparency! www.utilitydive.com/news/access-...

An inspiring story out of Philly: www.utilitydive.com/news/philade...

👏👏👏 www.bostonglobe.com/2026/05/31/n...

"On artificial intelligence, we still have a chance to move before similar damage is done, but that window is closing faster than most people realize." commonwealthbeacon.org/opinion/cong...

There are pros and cons to direct election of state regulators (as opposed to gubernatorial appointment). But this case demonstrates a clear con. Winner of election for oil and gas regulator runs a campaign all about social issues (specifically, Islamophobia and immigration).

SEC climate disclosure rule was just about making *publicly-traded companies* more transparent-- just providing *information* about impacts of their activities on planet. Pretty benign & reasonable for a gov't to do, no? Not according to the current crowd: www.eenews.net/articles/sec...

"In a statement, the Institute for Policy Integrity at New York University's School of Law said the move violates the Administrative Procedure Act ..." www.eenews.net/articles/doe...

"The president has made combatting offshore wind a hallmark of his second term.... In December, he attempted to halt construction of five offshore wind projects... in the name of national security. Courts rejected the argument... But Trump was undeterred." www.eenews.net/articles/it-...

New gas plants are being fast-tracked to serve data centers. They're concentrated in Entergy's service territories, in Mississippi and Louisiana: www.utilitydive.com/news/entergy...

New Mexico is a model for DER interconnection policy: www.utilitydive.com/news/new-mex...

At a time when electric bills are already sky high, monopoly utilities are seeking to bypass competitive bidding for long-range transmission lines (the cost of which is borne by ratepayers): www.utilitydive.com/news/ferc-co...

“And when someone we love needs therapies that could have emerged but didn’t or when other countries now investing in science can launch new science-based industries …America will wish it sustained its leadership in scientific research here and now.” www.statnews.com/2026/05/27/s...

For a party that not long ago prided itself on being pro-"free market," the congressional GOP is sure going out of its way to stifle competition from offshore wind, through discriminatory government intervention: www.eenews.net/articles/hou...

At 4am, Senate Republicans gave the greenlight for the IRS to drop ALL investigations into Trump and his family. That means if Trump is evading taxes, we’ll never know. I have a bill to make this illegal. And I won’t stop fighting to get it done.

Big Tech is learning fast, but nobody "speaks FERC" like the utilities do: www.eenews.net/articles/how...

"Thirteen states now have energy storage deployment targets, according to SEIA ..." www.utilitydive.com/news/us-ener...

I've tried to stay in my lane and limit my posts to mostly climate and energy policy related matters, but occasionally I can't help but remark on whole-of-government things. This is horrifying and unprecedented: www.eenews.net/articles/tru...

Climate change is bad for business: www.eenews.net/articles/bus...

Related content: heatmap.news/politics/new...

At a time when several states are reflexively retreating from climate and clean energy policy, Illinois provides a model of continued state-level leadership: www.utilitydive.com/news/illinoi...

So, too, was the push to break up vertically-integrated monopolies during the era of restructuring/electricity market liberalization, as my forthcoming book shows:

The push to prevent further monopolization of electric utilities is bipartisan: www.eenews.net/articles/sta...

Very interesting that same crowd that has complained for years about renewables "needing subsidies" (all energy technologies are/were subsidized at some point) seemingly has no problem with *taxpayer money* being used to "buy off" private energy companies: www.eenews.net/articles/tru...

This is obviously a tragedy, yet what we would expect from the current crowd in DC. Even more shocking is that states (like NY) that were early climate policy leaders are now backtracking as well: www.eenews.net/articles/cli...

There is a lesson here for other states searching desperately for new sources of revenue: www.bostonglobe.com/2026/05/25/m...