Brendan Pierpont
@brendan.bsky.social
Energy and climate nerd. Electricity @energyinnovation.bsky.social. Views are my own.
Reposted by Brendan Pierpont
Don't forget folks: allowing yourself a vision of the future you'd want for our country and planet - not the one you'd settle for, not the one you fear, but the future of your dreams - isn't naive, it's a vital cognitive skill. That's how we articulate what we most value. What's worth fighting for.
Instead of whatever this is, we should have a government getting lots of new homes and apartments built, lots of clean energy built, lots of high speed rail and transit and bike lanes built, human rights for everyone, economic & healthcare opportunities for all, & innovation that leads the world.
January 4, 2026 at 2:34 AM
Don't forget folks: allowing yourself a vision of the future you'd want for our country and planet - not the one you'd settle for, not the one you fear, but the future of your dreams - isn't naive, it's a vital cognitive skill. That's how we articulate what we most value. What's worth fighting for.
Reposted by Brendan Pierpont
it’s about oil and yet from an energy markets perspective that doesn’t make much sense, unless we assume USG all but seizes control of US oil companies. Karthik Sankaran outlines the doesn’t-make-sense reasons here: responsiblestatecraft.org/venezuela-oil/
When Trump's big Venezuela oil grab runs smack into reality
The White House is proudly embracing an era of fossil-fuel imperialism when global markets are vastly different
responsiblestatecraft.org
January 5, 2026 at 5:51 AM
it’s about oil and yet from an energy markets perspective that doesn’t make much sense, unless we assume USG all but seizes control of US oil companies. Karthik Sankaran outlines the doesn’t-make-sense reasons here: responsiblestatecraft.org/venezuela-oil/
Reposted by Brendan Pierpont
Has AI *really* been a leap forward in science?
I don't think so. Aside from traditional computational methods — which are now being branded as “AI” by marketing folks — generative AI like ChatGPT really hasn't done much for science and medicine, despite the hype.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/26/p...
I don't think so. Aside from traditional computational methods — which are now being branded as “AI” by marketing folks — generative AI like ChatGPT really hasn't done much for science and medicine, despite the hype.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/26/p...
Where Is All the A.I.-Driven Scientific Progress?
www.nytimes.com
December 27, 2025 at 7:39 PM
Has AI *really* been a leap forward in science?
I don't think so. Aside from traditional computational methods — which are now being branded as “AI” by marketing folks — generative AI like ChatGPT really hasn't done much for science and medicine, despite the hype.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/26/p...
I don't think so. Aside from traditional computational methods — which are now being branded as “AI” by marketing folks — generative AI like ChatGPT really hasn't done much for science and medicine, despite the hype.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/26/p...
Reposted by Brendan Pierpont
the inability of public intellectuals in energy to quit the platform owned and shaped by someone who took public pride in condemning the most vulnerable people on earth to death (this year!!!) does not leave me inspired for the future
December 25, 2025 at 8:45 PM
the inability of public intellectuals in energy to quit the platform owned and shaped by someone who took public pride in condemning the most vulnerable people on earth to death (this year!!!) does not leave me inspired for the future
Reposted by Brendan Pierpont
Year 1 data on congestion pricing in Manhattan…
* Vehicle traffic: -11%
* Foot traffic: +3.4%
* Storefront vacancy: -0.9%
* Pollution: -22%
* Revenue for mass transit: $548M
So YES this has been a huge success.
* Vehicle traffic: -11%
* Foot traffic: +3.4%
* Storefront vacancy: -0.9%
* Pollution: -22%
* Revenue for mass transit: $548M
So YES this has been a huge success.
December 23, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Year 1 data on congestion pricing in Manhattan…
* Vehicle traffic: -11%
* Foot traffic: +3.4%
* Storefront vacancy: -0.9%
* Pollution: -22%
* Revenue for mass transit: $548M
So YES this has been a huge success.
* Vehicle traffic: -11%
* Foot traffic: +3.4%
* Storefront vacancy: -0.9%
* Pollution: -22%
* Revenue for mass transit: $548M
So YES this has been a huge success.
Data center loads are driving enormous uncertainty in load forecasts, and utilities and ratepayers are bearing a lot of the risk.
Great resource on large load forecasting - problems with current approaches and ways utilities can do a better job going forward. 🔌💡 www.esig.energy/large-loads-...
Great resource on large load forecasting - problems with current approaches and ways utilities can do a better job going forward. 🔌💡 www.esig.energy/large-loads-...
Large Loads - Forecasting - ESIG
Forecasting for Large Loads: Current Practices and Recommendations reviews utilities’ and system operators’ approaches to forecasting large loads—including from data centers, oil and gas, emerging ind...
www.esig.energy
December 22, 2025 at 9:45 PM
Data center loads are driving enormous uncertainty in load forecasts, and utilities and ratepayers are bearing a lot of the risk.
Great resource on large load forecasting - problems with current approaches and ways utilities can do a better job going forward. 🔌💡 www.esig.energy/large-loads-...
Great resource on large load forecasting - problems with current approaches and ways utilities can do a better job going forward. 🔌💡 www.esig.energy/large-loads-...
Reposted by Brendan Pierpont
Great to see this approach to solar, battery and EV charging installation gain steam!
Want to lower 'soft costs' of home solar, battery and EV charging? Meter socket adapters like Tesla's Backup Switch and ConnectDER's IslandDER can save big on labor and equipment. Now, the trick is getting more utilities to let installers to use them:
www.canarymedia.com/articles/dis...
#energysky
www.canarymedia.com/articles/dis...
#energysky
A path to fast, cheap home solar and batteries: go through the meter
New digital meter socket adapters from Tesla and others make home solar, battery, and EV charging installs a snap. But only if utilities let homes use…
www.canarymedia.com
December 22, 2025 at 7:42 PM
Great to see this approach to solar, battery and EV charging installation gain steam!
😡
Breaking news: Trump is citing “national security” to halt all active work on offshore wind projects
Five giant energy projects, countless jobs at risk
My story explains how the argument has legal weaknesses and comes from an anti-wind policy doc I reported in January
Five giant energy projects, countless jobs at risk
My story explains how the argument has legal weaknesses and comes from an anti-wind policy doc I reported in January
Trump Uses ‘National Security’ To Freeze Offshore Wind Work
The administration has already lost once in court wielding the same argument against Revolution Wind.
heatmap.news
December 22, 2025 at 4:51 PM
😡
Hey utility regulatory wonks! Who has done good thinking about the potential of PURPA 111(d) standards to improve state utility regulatory approaches? Any good research / resources out there?
December 21, 2025 at 7:56 PM
Hey utility regulatory wonks! Who has done good thinking about the potential of PURPA 111(d) standards to improve state utility regulatory approaches? Any good research / resources out there?
Reposted by Brendan Pierpont
This bill would trample states' sovereignty over their energy policy, and punish ratepayers, rather than acknowledging premature interconnection of data centers as the real reliability problem:
www.eenews.net/articles/hou...
www.eenews.net/articles/hou...
House approves bill to keep coal plants on the grid
The legislation would give federal regulators new authority to delay power plant retirements in the name of grid reliability.
www.eenews.net
December 21, 2025 at 6:52 PM
This bill would trample states' sovereignty over their energy policy, and punish ratepayers, rather than acknowledging premature interconnection of data centers as the real reliability problem:
www.eenews.net/articles/hou...
www.eenews.net/articles/hou...
Reposted by Brendan Pierpont
This Yglesias piece in the NYT is horrifically bad. Almost every "fact" it cites is provably false. At best it is cocktail party banter from a pundit who knows nothing of energy. At worst, it was cut/paste from oil industry talking points. So, a rebuttal: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/o...
Opinion | Obama Supported It. The Left in Canada and Norway Does. Why Don’t Democrats?
www.nytimes.com
December 20, 2025 at 2:57 PM
This Yglesias piece in the NYT is horrifically bad. Almost every "fact" it cites is provably false. At best it is cocktail party banter from a pundit who knows nothing of energy. At worst, it was cut/paste from oil industry talking points. So, a rebuttal: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/o...
Reposted by Brendan Pierpont
Westlands approves plan to convert a quarter of its California farmland to solar: Growers in the Central Valley see solar panels as a way to keep their business afloat in a more water-strapped future.
☀️🔋 🔌💡 #EnergySky #CAwater subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eene...
☀️🔋 🔌💡 #EnergySky #CAwater subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eene...
This week the Westlands Water District board approved the Valley Clean Infrastructure Plan to develop 21 GW of solar + 21 GW of batteries on 136,000 acres of the west Central Valley into solar farms, with over 400 miles of new transmission lines and substations. ☀️🔌💡 ceqanet.lci.ca.gov/2024020124/3
December 19, 2025 at 9:27 PM
Westlands approves plan to convert a quarter of its California farmland to solar: Growers in the Central Valley see solar panels as a way to keep their business afloat in a more water-strapped future.
☀️🔋 🔌💡 #EnergySky #CAwater subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eene...
☀️🔋 🔌💡 #EnergySky #CAwater subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eene...
Reposted by Brendan Pierpont
This is precisely what natural gas utilities did between 2013 and 2020, when declining gas prices coincided with a significant acceleration of pipeline replacement programs.
December 18, 2025 at 4:14 PM
This is precisely what natural gas utilities did between 2013 and 2020, when declining gas prices coincided with a significant acceleration of pipeline replacement programs.
Personal hypothesis: when gas price spikes retreat, utilities fill the “headroom” in rates with other regulated costs, raising the floor for the next gas price spike.
potentially a concerning partial downside decoupling of gas and electricity inflation
i.e., when the price of gas goes up, so does electricity, when the price of gas goes down, well, electricity isn't really 🔌💡
www.gridstatus.io/insights/311...
i.e., when the price of gas goes up, so does electricity, when the price of gas goes down, well, electricity isn't really 🔌💡
www.gridstatus.io/insights/311...
Overall inflation slightly declined, but the price of energy has increased, with
Overall inflation slightly declined, but the price of energy has increased, with electricity continuing to become more expensive in America. The BLS finally issued a new CPI release following a period...
www.gridstatus.io
December 18, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Personal hypothesis: when gas price spikes retreat, utilities fill the “headroom” in rates with other regulated costs, raising the floor for the next gas price spike.
Ok the “coal for Christmas” thing is pretty funny but otherwise this is unnecessary and expensive. www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
DOE orders WA coal plant to continue operating despite state ban
A state law requires Washington utilities to stop using coal-fired electricity beginning next year.
www.seattletimes.com
December 17, 2025 at 6:55 AM
Ok the “coal for Christmas” thing is pretty funny but otherwise this is unnecessary and expensive. www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
Why are we bad at building mega-projects? Excellent thread right here! 👇
1. Thread: Why America fails to build public infrastructure cost effectively.
High Costs Are Not an Engineering Problem
They Are a Political–Fiscal Design Problem
Countries like Sweden and Germany do not build transit cheaply because they have better engineers per se. They build cheaply because:
High Costs Are Not an Engineering Problem
They Are a Political–Fiscal Design Problem
Countries like Sweden and Germany do not build transit cheaply because they have better engineers per se. They build cheaply because:
December 13, 2025 at 5:52 AM
Why are we bad at building mega-projects? Excellent thread right here! 👇
Reposted by Brendan Pierpont
NEW: How cheap are grid batteries?🔋🔋🔋
Grid batteries are now only c.$125/KWh connected🤯
This assessment is based on a series of expert interviews and storage auction results as of October 2025. 🧵
Grid batteries are now only c.$125/KWh connected🤯
This assessment is based on a series of expert interviews and storage auction results as of October 2025. 🧵
December 12, 2025 at 1:31 PM
NEW: How cheap are grid batteries?🔋🔋🔋
Grid batteries are now only c.$125/KWh connected🤯
This assessment is based on a series of expert interviews and storage auction results as of October 2025. 🧵
Grid batteries are now only c.$125/KWh connected🤯
This assessment is based on a series of expert interviews and storage auction results as of October 2025. 🧵
Reposted by Brendan Pierpont
In 100 years people are going to look back and marvel that we pumped explosive gas into our homes
Dramatic explosion caught on video destroys homes, injures six, officials say
Dramatic explosion caught on video destroys homes, injures six, officials say
The leak in Hayward, Calif., started after a construction crew struck a Pacific Gas and Electric underground gas line, according to the utility.
www.latimes.com
December 12, 2025 at 5:19 AM
In 100 years people are going to look back and marvel that we pumped explosive gas into our homes
You would think that 100k people under evacuation orders from flooding would feature more prominently in national news? www.kuow.org/stories/go-n...
Live updates: 100,000 evacuated in historic Skagit Valley flood in Washington state
"Catastrophic" conditions continue to threaten Western Washington as an atmospheric river sweeps through the Pacific Northwest. 100,000 people have been placed under evacuation orders from their homes...
www.kuow.org
December 11, 2025 at 10:52 PM
You would think that 100k people under evacuation orders from flooding would feature more prominently in national news? www.kuow.org/stories/go-n...
Reposted by Brendan Pierpont
BloombergNEF: "Lithium-ion battery pack prices have dropped 8% since 2024 to a record low of $108 per kilowatt-hour." about.bnef.com/insights/cle... 🔌💡
December 10, 2025 at 6:54 AM
BloombergNEF: "Lithium-ion battery pack prices have dropped 8% since 2024 to a record low of $108 per kilowatt-hour." about.bnef.com/insights/cle... 🔌💡
Reposted by Brendan Pierpont
Update from EIA confirms a decline in natural gas use in California with 2025 data. www.eia.gov/todayinenerg...
November 25, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Update from EIA confirms a decline in natural gas use in California with 2025 data. www.eia.gov/todayinenerg...
Reposted by Brendan Pierpont
Our infrastructure isn’t ready for what’s coming.
The Bay took over the highway during this morning's #KingTides in Marin.
December 5, 2025 at 12:13 AM
Our infrastructure isn’t ready for what’s coming.
Reposted by Brendan Pierpont
EVs beat petrol cars on lifetime emissions — even on “dirty” grids.
Battery production is carbon-intensive, but EVs quickly repay that debt and end up 21–71% cleaner over 250,000 km.
We can’t wait for perfect grids: electrify transport and clean the grid now.
Battery production is carbon-intensive, but EVs quickly repay that debt and end up 21–71% cleaner over 250,000 km.
We can’t wait for perfect grids: electrify transport and clean the grid now.
December 8, 2025 at 9:00 PM
EVs beat petrol cars on lifetime emissions — even on “dirty” grids.
Battery production is carbon-intensive, but EVs quickly repay that debt and end up 21–71% cleaner over 250,000 km.
We can’t wait for perfect grids: electrify transport and clean the grid now.
Battery production is carbon-intensive, but EVs quickly repay that debt and end up 21–71% cleaner over 250,000 km.
We can’t wait for perfect grids: electrify transport and clean the grid now.