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Mark Dyson @mehdyson
, 16 tweets, 10 min read Read on Twitter
Reflecting on truly amazing year in the US electricity industry on a long plane ride across the country, I thought I might share some thoughts in the form of a seasonal poem (h/t @DanFinnFoley @greentechmedia for the inspiration)...
Twas a busy December, and all through the grid
Transformers were quietly buzzing amid
The transition affecting the industry whole
And spreading quite fast through each wire and pole
On the bulk power system and below the substation
Leaders moved quickly and drove innovation
Upstarts and incumbents, all on a mission
To turn up the pace of low-carbon transition
Out on the plains, wind turbines were spinning
Coal boilers were silent (they'd long since stopped winning) [about.bnef.com/blog/u-s-coal-…]
Batteries flexed, quickly off, quickly on
And heat pumps pre-heated to welcome the dawn
[rmi.org/insight/the-ec…]

@BloombergNEF @michaelhenchen
The prices were falling, rapidly dipping
[lazard.com/perspective/le…]
Assumed economics quickly were flipping
[vox.com/energy-and-env…]
It caught some off guard, some even denied it
Yet the industry moved, for the good of the climate
[greenbiz.com/article/what-u…]

@drvox @Lazard
With playbooks aplenty to guide fair reform
[rmi.org/finding-value-…]
And collaborative efforts becoming the norm
[rmi.org/our-work/elect…]
The stakeholders came, expertly convened
[utilitydive.com/news/13-projec…]
They looked to the sky, and together they screamed:

@GavinBade
"Now NIPSCO! Now Xcel! Consumers and Pac!*
Show us how we can transcend the smokestack!
Take your best shot at new resource plans,
And bring low-cost power to all in the land."

utilitydive.com/news/even-in-i…
rmi.org/saving-colorad…
rmi.org/michigan-is-th…
utilitydive.com/news/as-pacifi…
The utilities knew they were getting disrupted
Incumbent revenue streams interrupted
Decades of pressure, and now the last yard
To move fast before their shareholders were scarred
[rmi.org/insight/econom…]

@leiaguccione
Sparked with new life, the utilities flew
To imagine their business models anew
[rmi.org/insight/reimag…]
So on, PIMs and decoupling! On, "steel for fuel"!
[rmi.org/insight/naviga…]
There are means to transition; just pick your tool:
[rmi.org/insight/managi…]

@crosscall
Are there values to stack? Is your grid growing tired?
You can seek to deploy solutions non-wired!
[rmi.org/insight/non-wi…]
Do your prior investments deserve a citation?
Then pay down that debt with securitization!
[sierraclub.org/press-releases…]

@J_I_Fisher
Duck curve got you down? In need of agility?
Look no further than demand flexibility!
[rmi.org/demand-flexibi…]
Are your customers sad with the range of their Leaves?
Deploy infrastructure to charge their EVs!
[rmi.org/insight/from_g…]

@chrisnelder @CaraRGoldenberg
But there are risks, too, now clean energy's landed
[denverpost.com/2018/10/17/uti…]
Those slow to evolve might see their assets stranded
[rmi.org/insight/the-ec…]
So plan carefully now, and don't overshoot
[rmi.org/billion-dollar…]
Lest your investors give you the boot
Progress in wind, batteries, and solar
Ensures that our industry's in for a roller
And it won't stop next year; on it will race
[about.bnef.com/blog/batteries…]
We're in for hard work to keep up with the pace
At times it's been hard, not fun nor breezy
Learning by doing is seldom that easy
But from harsh examples come moments of brilliance
[rmi.org/insight/public…]
And whole-system designs to enable resilience
[rmi.org/solar-under-st…]
There's much to be done yet in twenty-nineteen
Plenty to analyze, test, and convene
But 'eighteen helped us temper future emissions
So happy New Year to all, and a Merry Transition!
cc @oboylemm
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Today, @RockyMtnInst released a new study on the economics of "clean energy portfolios" versus new gas plants. We find that gas loses, and it's a $350 billion and 10 GT CO2 prize for customers, investors, and the planet. Read on for more: 1/ rmi.org/insights/repor…
First, the situation: about half of the thermal capacity on the US grid is likely to retire by 2030. That represents a ~480 GW investment need for new capacity to replace it - and the default choice is new gas-fired capacity, which would cost ~$500B through 2030. 2/
Actually running those new CCGTs and CTs would cost another $400-500B, and emit 16 GT of CO2 through plant lifetimes. 3/
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