Jesse D. Jenkins
LightNews LightNews
banner
jessedjenkins.com
Jesse D. Jenkins
@jessedjenkins.com
30K followers 2.7K following 4K posts
Macro-energy systems engineering, optimization & policy. Associate professor at Princeton University. Leads the ZERO Lab. Co-hosts SHIFT KEY podcast. Time100 Next & TIME100 Climate honoree. More at linkedin.com/in/jessedjenkins & zero.lab.princeton.edu
Posts Replies Media Videos
Pinned
jessedjenkins.com
Jesse D. Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com · 21d
I recently co-founded Firma Power w/Scott Burger & Brent Alderfer, a new venture assembling portfolios of clean resources to deliver firm, load-enabling power to hyperscale data centers and other large loads.
World-class analytics is our edge, and we want YOU to join the team. 🔌💡
Join Firma on our journey to commercialize load enabling clean firm power.
Reposted by Jesse D. Jenkins
kendrawrites.com
The podcast Article of Interest did a fascinating podcast episode on the zipper. It's a complicated piece of technology whose existence is new and not a given - we had plenty of other fasteners - snaps and buttons. And while YKK is now the world's largest zipper maker the zipper was invented in NJ
November 7, 2025 at 3:10 PM
jessedjenkins.com
SPP (the Southwest Power Pool, serving the central Great Plains states) approved a new regional transmission plan with $8.6 billion in projects, including ~950 miles of ultra-high voltage 765 kV lines, and with estimated benefits 18X the costs www.spp.org/documents/75... More of this please! 🔌💡
November 7, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Reposted by Jesse D. Jenkins
robinsonmeyer.bsky.social
There’s 40 gigawatts of spare capacity sitting around in Americans’ driveways. Why aren’t we using it to keep down electricity rates? On this week’s episode of Shift Key, @jessedjenkins.com and I chat with the cofounder and CEO of a company trying to do just that: heatmap.news/podcast/shif...
How EVs Can Actually Help the Electricity Crisis
Rob and Jesse touch base with WeaveGrid CEO Apoorv Bhargava.
heatmap.news
November 6, 2025 at 6:09 PM
jessedjenkins.com
Hat tip @wilsonar.bsky.social for this! 🤣
November 6, 2025 at 12:49 AM
jessedjenkins.com
How's this for energy abundance? Millions of Aussies will start receiving three hours of free power each day in 2026. This is what happens when you make rooftop solar less than a buck a watt!!

"Rooftop solar installations cost about $840 (U.S.) per kilowatt of capacity before rebates." 🤯
🔌💡
For years, Australians have been been installing solar panels at a rapid clip. Now that investment is paying off. The Australian government announced this week that electricity customers in three states will get free electricity for up to three hours per day starting in July 2026. The Solar Sharer plan will be available to everyone in New South Wales, South Australia, and in the southeastern part of Queensland to start; more regions will be added later. Households won’t need to have solar on their rooftops to qualify, though they will need a smart meter installed. The plan will help those who live in apartments or don’t have a suitable rooftop to benefit from their neighbors’ panels, Bowen said. Although the government hasn’t said which hours in the middle of the day will qualify, the hours between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. are the most likely candidates. Customers will have to opt in to the new plan, which is meant to encourage people to shift their energy use to peak solar-production hours. Smart appliances can help people make the most of this by allowing them to time charging their EVs or running loads of laundry.
November 6, 2025 at 12:46 AM
jessedjenkins.com
Today on SHIFT KEY: will EVs be bad or good for the grid? It all depends on how we coordinate charging (or don't), and today's guest is leading the charge to make charging cleaner, cheaper, and grid friendly. Listen wherever you get your podcasts or @heatmap.news heatmap.news/podcast/shif... 🔌💡
How EVs Can Actually Help the Electricity Crisis
Rob and Jesse touch base with WeaveGrid CEO Apoorv Bhargava.
heatmap.news
November 5, 2025 at 1:43 PM
jessedjenkins.com
Cost estimates for new gas power plants just keep rising! www.utilitydive.com/news/gas-pow... 🔌💡
According to Enverus, capital costs for new natural gas power plants now average $2,200/kW to $3,000/kW. An analysis by GridLab adds another $1,500/kW levelized for the 20-year cost of fuel and $500/kW for pipeline infrastructure, putting the cost of new gas generation at $4,000/kW to $4,500/kW. Kevin Smith, CEO of Arevon Energy, spent years working on natural gas projects alongside nuclear and renewables before transitioning to focus on renewables exclusively. He suggested there was a ceiling to how much gas could be built to meet near-term demand given the prices, pipeline constraints and interconnection queues. “Tens of gigawatts of new generation from natural gas is likely at least five years away, if not more,” Smith said. Table: Comparison of typical cost and flexibility characteristics for various gas generation technologies: Natural Gas Combined Cycle, Natural Gas Combustion Turbine, NGCT Aeroderivative, and Reciprocating Internal Combustion Engine plants. From Ascend Analytics’ report on thermal generation.
November 4, 2025 at 6:26 PM
jessedjenkins.com
A tour of global geothermal power projects under development www.reuters.com/markets/comm... 🔌💡
Going underground: A tour of global geothermal projects in progress
Breakthroughs in drilling methods and heat extraction techniques are widening the appeal of geothermal power systems across the world, and geothermal generation capacity is on track to double once projects currently in development are completed.
www.reuters.com
November 4, 2025 at 11:49 AM
Reposted by Jesse D. Jenkins
kairyssdal.bsky.social
Tariff rate on China is still something like 45%, fyi
October 30, 2025 at 12:22 PM
jessedjenkins.com
Woah. High altitude tethered wind turbines maybe finally a thing? Chinese company Sawes just demonstrated a 1 megawatt turbine operating at 1,000 feet!

www.linkedin.com/posts/kaiser...
🔌💡
Sawes Energy breaks record with airborne wind turbine | Kaiser Yang posted on the topic | LinkedIn
In September, a wind turbine the size of a basketball court floated 1,000 feet above the Xinjiang desert and generated 1 megawatt of power. It wasn't mounted on a tower. It was suspended in the air b...
www.linkedin.com
October 30, 2025 at 1:29 PM
jessedjenkins.com
There's an important battle going on behind the scenes that will change how big companies buy clean energy and report their emissions. @wilsonar.bsky.social & @energykillian.bsky.social explain what's at stake and why these changes are important on @volts.wtf www.volts.wtf/p/the-escala... 🔌💡
The escalating battle over renewable energy certificates (RECs)
Wilson Ricks and Killian Daly on the wonky but crucial shift to hourly accounting for clean energy claims, which will better reflect the fact that being "100 percent clean" is genuinely difficult.
www.volts.wtf
October 29, 2025 at 5:30 PM
jessedjenkins.com
In the spirit of Halloween: nuclear reactors are rising from the dead!
Google & NextEra working restart Duane Arnold in IA. Santee Cooper looking to sell site of incomplete VC Summer reactors. 🧟‍♂️⚛️ 🔌💡
www.utilitydive.com/news/santee-...
Google-NextEra, Santee Cooper announcements signal new life for defunct nuclear projects
“Restarting a once fully operational plant is the fastest path to unlock large-scale nuclear power to meet AI growth in the near-term,” Google said Monday.
www.utilitydive.com
October 29, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Reposted by Jesse D. Jenkins
jburwen.bsky.social
And one more reason to support the GHGP Scope 2 proposal for time- and location-matching of clean energy deliveries for emissions inventories #energysky

You can comment on proposals here: ghgprotocol.org/blog/release...
October 26, 2025 at 1:46 AM
jessedjenkins.com
This adds to a growing body of literature that very clearly shows the use of short run marginal emissions rates is NOT a credible measure of consequential emissions impacts of various actions. Here, it's rooftop solar... 🔌💡
October 25, 2025 at 12:48 PM
Reposted by Jesse D. Jenkins
robinsonmeyer.bsky.social
On this new episode of Shift Key, @jessedjenkins.com and I talk to Dulcie Madden, the CEO of Dig Energy, which is building small rigs to build geothermal heat pumps for single-family homes and businesses.

Listen at Heatmap: heatmap.news/podcast/shif...

Or wherever: shows.acast.com/65bac3af0334...
The Startup Trying to Put Geothermal Heat Pumps in America’s Homes
Rob and Jesse hang with Dig Energy co-founder and CEO Dulcie Madden.
heatmap.news
October 22, 2025 at 9:04 PM
jessedjenkins.com
Google will buy power from what may be the first large-scale gas power plant with CCS in the US blog.google/outreach-ini...
Google has previously backed enhanced geothermal, advanced nuclear and long duration storage.
🔌💡
Our first carbon capture and storage project
An overview of our support for a first-of-its-kind gas power plant with carbon capture and storage.
blog.google
October 24, 2025 at 1:21 PM
jessedjenkins.com
Electra announces deals with Meta, Nucor to scale its clean iron tech www.canarymedia.com/articles/gre...
"The Colorado-based startup unveiled its new demo plant and announced agreements with major steel users. The facility could start churning out clean iron by mid-2026." 🔌💡
Electra announces deals with Meta, Nucor to scale its clean iron tech
The Colorado-based startup unveiled its new demo plant and announced agreements with major steel users. The facility could start churning out clean iron…
www.canarymedia.com
October 22, 2025 at 1:34 PM
jessedjenkins.com
💡🔌
jessedjenkins.com Jesse D. Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com · 19d
Today on SHIFT KEY: we talk with the intrepid CEO of a company on a quest to slash the cost drilling boreholes for ground source heat pumps (aka geothermal heating & cooling). The prize? How we heat & cool every building! Listen @heatmap.news or wherever you get your pods. 🔗⤵️
Simply operating America’s buildings uses more than a third of the country’s energy. A major chunk of that is temperature control — keeping the indoors cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Heating eats into families’ budgets and burns a tremendous amount of fuel oil and natural gas. But what if we could heat and cool buildings more efficiently, cleanly, and cheaply? On this week’s episode of Shift Key, Rob and Jesse talk to Dulcie Madden, the founder and CEO of Dig Energy, a New Hampshire-based startup that is trying to lower the cost of digging geothermal wells scaled to serve a single structure. Dig makes small rigs that can drill boreholes for ground source heat pumps — a technology that uses the bedrock’s ambient temperature to heat and cool homes and businesses while requiring unbelievably low amounts of energy. Once groundsource wells get built, they consume far less energy than gas furnaces, air conditioners, or even air-dependent heat pumps.
October 22, 2025 at 12:13 PM
jessedjenkins.com
Today on SHIFT KEY: we talk with the intrepid CEO of a company on a quest to slash the cost drilling boreholes for ground source heat pumps (aka geothermal heating & cooling). The prize? How we heat & cool every building! Listen @heatmap.news or wherever you get your pods. 🔗⤵️
Simply operating America’s buildings uses more than a third of the country’s energy. A major chunk of that is temperature control — keeping the indoors cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Heating eats into families’ budgets and burns a tremendous amount of fuel oil and natural gas. But what if we could heat and cool buildings more efficiently, cleanly, and cheaply? On this week’s episode of Shift Key, Rob and Jesse talk to Dulcie Madden, the founder and CEO of Dig Energy, a New Hampshire-based startup that is trying to lower the cost of digging geothermal wells scaled to serve a single structure. Dig makes small rigs that can drill boreholes for ground source heat pumps — a technology that uses the bedrock’s ambient temperature to heat and cool homes and businesses while requiring unbelievably low amounts of energy. Once groundsource wells get built, they consume far less energy than gas furnaces, air conditioners, or even air-dependent heat pumps.
October 22, 2025 at 12:06 PM
Reposted by Jesse D. Jenkins
jrfhanger.bsky.social
Good morning with good news: China's coal generation and gas generation fell 5.4% in September 2025. compared to September 2024!

They're down 1.2% in first 9 months of 2025.

Huge wind, solar & battery deployment continues. Hydro & nuclear grow too.
www.reuters.com/business/ene... #energysky
October 22, 2025 at 10:23 AM
jessedjenkins.com
I recently co-founded Firma Power w/Scott Burger & Brent Alderfer, a new venture assembling portfolios of clean resources to deliver firm, load-enabling power to hyperscale data centers and other large loads.
World-class analytics is our edge, and we want YOU to join the team. 🔌💡
Join Firma on our journey to commercialize load enabling clean firm power.
October 20, 2025 at 7:25 PM
jessedjenkins.com
This is utterly unconstitutional and un-American. Journalists identify 170 US citizens detained by immigration enforcement actions (~20 children), at least two dozen were prevented from contacting lawyers for at least a day. Blatant violations of Bill of Rights.
www.propublica.org/article/immi...
Americans have been dragged, tackled, beaten, tased and shot by immigration agents. They’ve had their necks kneeled on. They’ve been held outside in the rain while in their underwear. At least three citizens were pregnant when agents detained them. One of those women had already had the door of her home blown off while Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem watched. About two dozen Americans have said they were held for more than a day without being able to phone lawyers or loved ones. Americans Detained: The government doesn’t track how many citizens are held by immigration agents. We found more than 170 cases this year where citizens were detained at raids and protests. Held Incommunicado: More than 20 citizens have reported being held for over a day without being able to call their loved ones or a lawyer. In some cases their families couldn’t find them. Cases Wilted: Agents have arrested about 130 Americans, including a dozen elected officials, for allegedly interfering with or assaulting officers, yet those cases were often dropped.
October 20, 2025 at 7:11 PM
jessedjenkins.com
Rondo Energy begins commercial operations of the world's largest industrial heat battery — 100 MWh — capable of converting low-cost electricity from wind & solar into heat at >1000°C and supply constant heating needs for industrial processes. 🔌💡

share.google/rniuYqTcGHfo...
'World’s largest' industrial heat battery is online and solar-powered
Rondo Energy launches the world's largest industrial heat battery in California, delivering 24/7 steam and heat powered by renewables.
share.google
October 17, 2025 at 4:54 PM
Reposted by Jesse D. Jenkins
maxbergmann.bsky.social
This was a great conversation and highly recommend to depressed climate wonks in the US. Despite some performative anti-green politics, the EU has no choice but to move forward with the transition.
bmcwilliams.bsky.social Ben McWilliams @bmcwilliams.bsky.social · 27d
🗣️ A pleasure chatting with @maxbergmann.bsky.social and @donatienneruy.bsky.social on the state of play for European climate policy.
erep.csis.org CSIS Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program @erep.csis.org · 27d
🎧 On the #Eurofile: Czech election results, European security, and a climate agenda under pressure.

@donatienneruy.bsky.social & @maxbergmann.bsky.social break down the latest on EU climate and energy policy with @bmcwilliams.bsky.social.

Tune in below.
www.csis.org/podcasts/eur...
October 15, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Reposted by Jesse D. Jenkins
bistline.bsky.social
Favorite reads: the ERL paper, plus new work showing EV adoption induces clean capacity builds (www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...), and that V2G can even push net emissions negative in some cases (pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10....). 9/
October 13, 2025 at 6:01 PM