Municipalization of public utilities, transportation systems, and distribution systems for gas and electricity was all the rage about a century ago. Is it time to bring it back into vogue? A symposium looked at this question.
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The levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of solar and onshore wind power have declined so much in the past decade that we’ve gone from an all-renewable grid being a pipe dream to it being a matter of simple market logic. While there are a couple of challenges ahead, this is at least encouraging as we continue down the road toward decarbonization.
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Dr. Destenie Nock and Shuchen Cong presented from Carnegie Mellon University on a new approach they are taking to assess energy burden in communities around the United States. It is important analysis that will help inform how public service commissions develop better energy efficiency policy for utilities, and how utilities assess the needs of their most vulnerable customers.
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Texas made the conscious decision to cut itself off from the rest of the country. In extreme weather conditions, either its consumers, its energy producers, or its government are going to have to pick up the tab.
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Michigan’s Senate is currently working on an energy bill that would require utilities to adopt a 100% renewable portfolio standard by 2035. It’s a good start, but there are a few holes that need to be plugged.
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I wrapped up a couple of days at the MI Healthy Climate conference. We talked about decarbonization, public health, and innovation. We even got to see some eBikes!
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In my last article, I looked at this question of “dig once” and how it might influence utility affordability and
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In the aftermath of recent power outages that saw as much as 20% of the population of the state of Michigan without power, this article outlines some ideas on what specific things we should be asking about or thinking about in trying to hold utilities accountable.
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The power went out. Then the ice melted. A few days later, the snow came, and the power went out– again. Now that the snow is gone, what’s next?
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To be fair, there’s a lot of weird stuff going on these days. The wealthiest man in the world, with
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