Political rhetoric from both sides is more distracting than enlightening. Being an energy economist isn’t as glamorous as it looks. As with any expertise, it takes thousands of hours to … Continue Reading What’s the Matter With Gasoline Prices?
Is cryptocurrency the magical Texas route to resource adequacy? Or just magical thinking? Of all the proposals to avoid another Texas electricity crisis like February 2021, surely the most outside-the-box … Continue Reading Crypto Mining for a More Stable Grid?
A more effective way to help struggling families, without undermining climate goals. You may have heard the growing talk in Washington DC and state capitals of temporarily suspending federal and … Continue Reading Cut the Electricity Tax, not the Gas Tax
The goal should be equitably saving the planet, not growing one industry. California’s residential solar policy may be on the cusp of major change. In mid-December, the California Public Utilities … Continue Reading California’s Misguided Rooftop Solar Debate
Not if you can remember the world before COVID. In 1960, gasoline cost $0.31 per gallon. Isn’t it outrageous that it costs more than $0.31 today? If you think that’s … Continue Reading Is Gasoline Becoming Unaffordable?
One very small public utility in the Sierras tries to implement more cost-based rate design. Kirkwood Meadows Public Utility District – by some measures, the smallest electric utility in California … Continue Reading The Little Utility that Could?
Every energy source has soft costs, some more than others. That doesn’t make them unfair. Here’s a fun party game next time you are hanging out with distributed generation folks. … Continue Reading Soft Costs are Real Costs