Thread by @electronecon

My new blog post on affiliate transactions went up yesterday. Whose up for a mini-tweet storm about my new research? Thread🚨🚨🚨Here is how utilities like Entergy are using affiliate transactions to block the transition to renewable energy. 1/?
blog.ucsusa.org/joseph-daniel/…

Let's start by recognizing the amazing folks working on this: @SunriseNOLA @votesolar @GNOHA @All4Energy @350 @SierraClub @UCSUSA @DSCEJ @posigensolar @AudubonLA @ThadCulley @RabagoEnergy @ty_fi @ascottkoala @RosalindJxn @SimonMahan +others whose twitter handles I don't have. 2/

@SunriseNOLA @votesolar @GNOHA @All4Energy @350 @SierraClub @UCSUSA @DSCEJ @posigensolar @AudubonLA @ThadCulley @RabagoEnergy @ty_fi @ascottkoala @RosalindJxn @SimonMahan For those that don't know, these folks (+ many more) are fighting for local renewables, storage, efficiency, DR, and local grid tech to help them lower electric bills, increase reliability, and increase resiliency. You can learn more: efno.org

@SunriseNOLA @votesolar @GNOHA @All4Energy @350 @SierraClub @UCSUSA @DSCEJ @posigensolar @AudubonLA @ThadCulley @RabagoEnergy @ty_fi @ascottkoala @RosalindJxn @SimonMahan How will 100% RE x 2040 be able to do all that? Well, NOLA's current situation isn't what we'd call "optimal." They are stuck with high bills b/c of high-cost power from unreliable electric sources. Read more here: blog.ucsusa.org/joseph-daniel/…

@SunriseNOLA @votesolar @GNOHA @All4Energy @350 @SierraClub @UCSUSA @DSCEJ @posigensolar @AudubonLA @ThadCulley @RabagoEnergy @ty_fi @ascottkoala @RosalindJxn @SimonMahan EntergyNO is far too reliant on buying electricity from affiliated companies that own coal and nuclear power plants. And not even the "low cost" ones. They are also unreliable so the utility has to buy energy off the MISO market, typically at 50% over avg.
5/

@SunriseNOLA @votesolar @GNOHA @All4Energy @350 @SierraClub @UCSUSA @DSCEJ @posigensolar @AudubonLA @ThadCulley @RabagoEnergy @ty_fi @ascottkoala @RosalindJxn @SimonMahan therein lies the rub, the affiliate contracts are being held up by Entergy as somehow legally superseding any law that the city would want to pass. They are saying they'd sue if the city passed anything like a 100% RPS. @taitdl write up is chef's kiss: energyandpolicy.org/entergy-threat…
6/

@SunriseNOLA @votesolar @GNOHA @All4Energy @350 @SierraClub @UCSUSA @DSCEJ @posigensolar @AudubonLA @ThadCulley @RabagoEnergy @ty_fi @ascottkoala @RosalindJxn @SimonMahan @taitdl First thing you should know is that affiliate transactions aren't rare in the industry, in 2018 >$5billion worth of electricity transactions were between affiliates. But w/ 20% of the affiliate transaction market share, Entergy is the king of affiliate transactions 7/

@SunriseNOLA @votesolar @GNOHA @All4Energy @350 @SierraClub @UCSUSA @DSCEJ @posigensolar @AudubonLA @ThadCulley @RabagoEnergy @ty_fi @ascottkoala @RosalindJxn @SimonMahan @taitdl It is hard not to notice that affiliate transactions tend to be concentrated in the south and southeast and by many utilities that are laggards when it comes to renewables (though there are some notable exceptions to that). 8/

And, just in case you were wondering, renewable energy doesn't appear to be sold to utilities via affiliates, certainly not as much in $ as compared to coal, nuclear, and gas. 9/

Also worth noting that not all affiliates are a raw deal. But it has become an issue in places like Ohio where it has led to higher electric bills. @KMKowalski's piece from earlier this year covering AEP and FirstEnergy: energynews.us/2019/09/20/mid…
10/

@KMKowalski Another issue, not fully addressed in my blog but worth mentioning, is that it isn't just affiliate transactions for electric sales that are suspect. Gas-Electric affiliate transactions are also a problem and is at the center of some controversy 11/ energynews.us/2019/09/24/mid…

In fact, there was a great paper by @OilChangeUS @SierraClub @Public_Citizen (that I made very minor contributions to) that detailed the pipeline issue: priceofoil.org/2017/09/19/how…
12/

@OilChangeUS @SierraClub @Public_Citizen Back to Entergy: Entergy is now threatening to sue the city council. Well, they already are suing the city, b/c they didn't like the commission fining them $1million. 13/ efno.org/news/entergy-s…

Entergy is nothing more than a bully, trying to make the good people of NOLA feel helpless and powerless. But I've met some of the people down there and they are anything but.
14/

Why does all this matter outside of New Orleans? Well, increasingly utilities are hiding behind contracts as an excuse to not decarbonize, and often that also comes at the expense to the customer. It also could make state and federal policies less effective. 15/

If you got this far then you probably know my work on self-committing coal. This "self-dealing" is similar to self-committing in a lot of ways and the reason I'm talking about both is the same: These are the type of hidden practices that could undermine the energy transition 16/

I'm not saying contracts don't represent a hurdle but Entergy would have us believe that there is nothing we can do. My point is that state and local regulators still have an oversight role and 'contracts' shouldn't be used to undermine state/federal policy 17/17

Addendum: A law professor just reached out to me to point out the similarities between this issue and the Tri-State coal coop issue. The fact I hadn't already connected the two is proof positive that I need a vacation.