Energy Archives - The Handbuilt City

Energy Efficiency Policy Energy Utilities

“Electrification Is Not Enough For Decarbonization” – Consumers Energy

April 6, 2021April 6, 2021 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments building decarbonization, carbon transition, decarbonization, demand response, demand-response, distributed generation, electrical grid, electrification, energy efficiency, energy policy, energy transition, energy waste reduction, EWR, Gretchen Whitmer, just transition, michigan, michigan public service commission, MPSC, photovoltaics, policies, policy, pv, rooftop solar, solar panels, state of michigan, utilities, utility, utility infrastructure, utility policy

A new workgroup seeks to address some questions about the future of infrastructure in a state that continues to lag in regulatory and technical innovation.

Policy Energy Infrastructure

Biden Infrastructure Plan: What All Is Included?

April 2, 2021April 2, 2021 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments anna clark, biden administration, biden infrastructure bill, biden infrastructure plan, biden transportation policy, bridges, broadband internet, civilian climate corps, department of transportation, federal budget, federal deficit, federal spending, gretchen bakke, high-speed broadband, high-speed rail, infrastructure, infrastructure investment, joe biden, mdot, mobility infrastructure, nonmotorized infrastructure, nonmotorized transportation, pedestrian infrastructure, policy, port, ports, ports of entry, road safety, roads, USDoT, waterways

We must remind critics of the Biden infrastructure plan what all is included in the term “infrastructure.” It’s a little bit more than just cars.

Energy Efficiency Poverty Energy Utilities

Debt or Asset? How Utility Shutoffs Are About To Be A Big Problem.

March 24, 2021March 24, 2021 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments ACA subsidies, accounts receivable, chevy aveo, debt, double-entry bookkeeping, dr. tony reames, DTE Energy, energy poverty, harvard business school, investor-owned utilities, investor-owned utility, LIHEAP, mercedes g-wagon, michigan public service commission, MPSC, public service commission, public utilities, regulated corporations, regulated entities, Tony Reames, utilities, utility shutoffs, willy wonka, willy wonka rant

Springtime and mounting debt related to COVID19 means utility shutoffs are coming. At least probably. Here are some ideas for how we can fix our broken systems for utility billing– and how we subsidize utilities through programs like LIHEAP without actually moving the needle on energy poverty.

Public transit Transit infrastructure Energy Utilities

BUILD GREEN Act Charges Forward With Electric Transit. Is It The Right Move?

March 22, 2021March 23, 2021 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments alexandria ocasio-cortez, andy levin, AOC, build green act, DC fast charger, decarbonization, decarbonizing transportation, distributed generation, electric buses, electric charging infrastructure, electric vehicles, electrification, electrification of vehicles, electrifying buses, fleet electrification, fleet vehicles, fossil fuels, grid infrastructure, grid modernization, House of Representatives, IOU's, IOUs, michigan, microgrid, modernizing the power grid, power generation, power grid, power grids, public utilities, rashida tlaib, transit, transit electrification, US Congress

Public utilities are apprehensive about vehicle electrification because it’ll require a huge amount of investment in grid infrastructure. A new legislative proposal to electrify transit systems might make this a bit easier by delivering a big economy of scale.

Sustainability Energy Environment

Best Nerds Studio, the UIC SISE Podcast, Launches After Six Years

March 10, 2021March 10, 2021 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments advanced photon source, AFSCME, ANL, APS, argonne national lab, brook abegaz, bry osmonson, cameron mccarthy, cannabis, charles oladimeji, chicago, chicago navy pier, electrification coalition, energy, energy research, george crabtree, hemp, ian munroe, ICF, ignacio bañarez sánchez, JCESR, joint center for energy storage research, junli li, kelly osterman, kelsey zlevor, KPG, kunal sahasrabuddhe, lemont illinois, london school of economics, loyola university chicago, lynn trahey, maram falk, Nat Zorach, o'hare airport, richard j. daley, RMI, robert matthew ireland, rocky mountain institute, SISE, summer institute on sustainability and energy, sustainability, texas instruments, thomas alaan, UIC, UIC SISE, university of illinois chicago, virginia whorley, will drier

On Sunday, I had the opportunity and privilege to co-host the inaugural podcast of the Summer Institute on Sustainability and

Mobility Energy

The “Mobility” Council’s Report: Buy A Car, Peasants

February 26, 2021February 26, 2021 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments alisyn malek, big gretch, bob babik, borgwarner, canals, cavnue, CFME, cory connolly, council on future mobility and electrification, electrification, electrified vehicles, emily frascaroli, energy innovation business council, Ford, ford motor company, general motors, google, governor whitmer, Gretchen Whitmer, infrastructure, international trade, leland stanford, liberapay, london crossrail, luo yang, mark de la vergne, mdot, MEDC, mobility initiatives, mongol invasion of japan, monumental infrastructure, moon landing, moon landing hoax, NASA, panama canal, patreon, paul ajegba, sidewalk infrastructure partners, sidewalk labs, siege of constantinople, siege of tyre, supercruise, trade, transcontinental railroad, tremaine phillips, trevor pawl, tupac shakur, wsp

The Michigan Council on Future Mobility and Electrification said that Google’s Cavnue project is “one of the most ambitious mobility initiatives in history.” We looked through the history books and picked our top four competitors.

Energy Efficiency Sustainability Energy Housing

In Search Of Cheap, Scalable Solutions For Grid Resiliency

February 16, 2021February 16, 2021 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments AGM battery, air conditioning, air source heat pump, battery storage, carnot cycle, electric reliability council of texas, elon musk, energy efficiency, ERCOT, ERCOT texas, heat pump, home battery storage, li-ion battery, lithium-ion battery, lone star, market transformation, mini-split, mitsubishi, mr. slim, off-grid, power grid, powerwall, reduce energy bills, save money on energy, sorcery, split system heat pump, Tesla, tesla powerwall, texas, texas interconnection, texas power grid, texas storm, texas winter storm, thermodynamics

The extreme weather event affecting about two thirds of the United States right now suggests the need for small-scale interventions that can be scaled over an entire market.

Energy Efficiency Energy

This Doesn’t Happen In A Normal Climate– Or Power Grid

February 15, 2021February 18, 2021 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments coal, coal power, dallas, electric reliability council of texas, electrical generation, electricity, ERCOT, galveston, gas, gas-fired, gas-fired turbine, generation mix, gulf coast, houston, load following, microgrid, mid-merit, NERC, peaker, peaker plant, PJM, power generation, power grid, power grids, power plant, texas interconnection, texas power grid, texas storm, texas storms, texas winter storm

An unusual winter storm in the Lone Star State is prompting the grid operator to orchestrate voluntary blackouts– asking people to shut off power voluntarily. Climate change, power reliability, and the state of infrastructure in the United States in 2021.

Business & Economics Mobility Energy

EV Charging Infrastructure: From Demand To Reality

February 8, 2021February 8, 2021 Luo Yang 0 Comments akio toyoda, carbuzz, DC charger, DTE, electric vehicle adoption, electric vehicles, EV charging infrastructure, ICE, infrastructure, internal combustion engine, investor-owned utilities, investor-owned utility, IOU, jay traugott, michigan public service commission, modernizing the power grid, power grid, power transmission, prius, public utility, public works, Toyota, toyota prius, undervoltage, who is responsible for building EV charging infrastructure

One of our readers asked us to write a piece about how electric vehicle chargers even get installed at scale.

Mobility Energy

ACEEE Scorecard: Michigan is Behind The Times? Again!?

February 4, 2021February 4, 2021 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments electric vehicles, electric vehicles by state, electrification, EV, EV adoption, EVs

ACEEE scored 30 states based on a variety of metrics around electric vehicle adoption and electrification. Michigan is again behind the times.

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