Blair Willcox
@currenttech.energy
Energy nerd, Michigan sports, skiing.
Working to let market signals tell us when to use electricity to electrify and decarbonize process and space heating (including steam!)
Working to let market signals tell us when to use electricity to electrify and decarbonize process and space heating (including steam!)
(Utility scale renewables being compensated by the wholesale market)
November 18, 2025 at 2:29 AM
(Utility scale renewables being compensated by the wholesale market)
Broadly agree that generation costs are minimally important for residential electricity costs but taking about generation — building renewables is in the red in almost all markets. We need to be paying renewables more!
November 18, 2025 at 2:27 AM
Broadly agree that generation costs are minimally important for residential electricity costs but taking about generation — building renewables is in the red in almost all markets. We need to be paying renewables more!
Isn’t that true for any place that has a capacity market?
November 7, 2025 at 7:10 PM
Isn’t that true for any place that has a capacity market?
I worry about throwing out the baby with the bath water of the grid and so I’ve been trying to find grid-connected solutions, but there’s real appeal of the off-grid solutions that don’t require permission.
So grids - do better! Make IX easier and figure out how to pay renewables more than $0/MWh.
So grids - do better! Make IX easier and figure out how to pay renewables more than $0/MWh.
October 20, 2025 at 2:37 PM
I worry about throwing out the baby with the bath water of the grid and so I’ve been trying to find grid-connected solutions, but there’s real appeal of the off-grid solutions that don’t require permission.
So grids - do better! Make IX easier and figure out how to pay renewables more than $0/MWh.
So grids - do better! Make IX easier and figure out how to pay renewables more than $0/MWh.
Taking PV off grid to make interesting things makes sense given the challenges of working with the grid.
I think that’s unfortunate because we still have a long way to go in cleaning up the grid and optimizing individually requires greater buildout than optimizing for a diverse set of users.
I think that’s unfortunate because we still have a long way to go in cleaning up the grid and optimizing individually requires greater buildout than optimizing for a diverse set of users.
October 20, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Taking PV off grid to make interesting things makes sense given the challenges of working with the grid.
I think that’s unfortunate because we still have a long way to go in cleaning up the grid and optimizing individually requires greater buildout than optimizing for a diverse set of users.
I think that’s unfortunate because we still have a long way to go in cleaning up the grid and optimizing individually requires greater buildout than optimizing for a diverse set of users.
I’ve been super interested in www.standardthermal.com who are focusing on balance of plant costs to unlock LDES thermally.
Standard Thermal
www.standardthermal.com
October 20, 2025 at 2:37 PM
I’ve been super interested in www.standardthermal.com who are focusing on balance of plant costs to unlock LDES thermally.
Damn, that is impressively weird!
October 20, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Damn, that is impressively weird!
Agreed. More solar on things! Especially where you don’t need to ask permission or interface with others.
October 20, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Agreed. More solar on things! Especially where you don’t need to ask permission or interface with others.
As Jenny noted, balance of plant and getting it on the grid is the majority of costs in a solar project. So we’re going to start seeing more and more solar in weird places where it can be integrated more cheaply than grid-connected. It used to feel silly but I think it makes sense now
October 20, 2025 at 2:00 PM
As Jenny noted, balance of plant and getting it on the grid is the majority of costs in a solar project. So we’re going to start seeing more and more solar in weird places where it can be integrated more cheaply than grid-connected. It used to feel silly but I think it makes sense now
Reposted by Blair Willcox
1. To opinions! Solar is the cheapest source of bulk electricity in many countries, and the quickest to deploy, and now you couldn't stop it being built if you wanted to. The limits to PV build in most places are grid access, permitting, and sometimes installation labour.
October 20, 2025 at 7:44 AM
1. To opinions! Solar is the cheapest source of bulk electricity in many countries, and the quickest to deploy, and now you couldn't stop it being built if you wanted to. The limits to PV build in most places are grid access, permitting, and sometimes installation labour.
It’s like 2500 customers at 40 kWh per house. Not nothing considering the timeframe but that’s a heck of a valuation considering
October 9, 2025 at 1:10 PM
It’s like 2500 customers at 40 kWh per house. Not nothing considering the timeframe but that’s a heck of a valuation considering
That’s interesting. Basically a scaled up SkyCool (www.skycoolsystems.com)?
Home - SkyCool Systems
We build passive cooling products that reduce energy use for cooling
www.skycoolsystems.com
October 1, 2025 at 2:42 AM
That’s interesting. Basically a scaled up SkyCool (www.skycoolsystems.com)?
Until you electrify things!
September 22, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Until you electrify things!
The C for corporate ppa is common parlance in Europe. Same thing as a virtual power purchase agreement.
September 22, 2025 at 4:39 PM
The C for corporate ppa is common parlance in Europe. Same thing as a virtual power purchase agreement.