Energy policy & economics
Manager, Carbon-Free Electricity @RockyMtnInst
Avatar via @jenniferdaniel
Views expressed are my own
RT ≠endorsements
Jul 6, 2022 • 13 tweets • 5 min read
ICYMI, ERCOT has reformed its commitment procedures in an attempt to ensure reliability. I think this is going to backfire in the long run and actually increase the risk of outages. 🧵🚨
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First, some required reading: 1) @TeamWetDog's article 2 weeks ago covering the change and the IMM's analysis that shows the new protocols are costing customers ~$1billion a year. utilitydive.com/news/texas-gri…
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Nov 16, 2021 • 18 tweets • 5 min read
📣 @UCSUSA is releasing our fact sheet on wind curtailment today. Thanks to some numbers crunching by @SynapseEnergy, we are able to help debunk the myth of "wind oversupply" and detail the real reason wind gets curtailed. 🧵🚨 1/x
1st things 1st: I see a lot of respected analysts and academics using the term wind oversupply to describe current conditions in ERCOT, SPP, or MISO. Let me assure you all, that is not the case. If anything, we need more wind in those regions. 2/x
Okay, this opinion piece by @SecBrouillette is so full of errors I am afraid to even try to point out all of them. So here is the deal: I'll try and you can tell me which ones I miss... Thread 🚨🚨🚨 1/x
@SecBrouillette starts w/ suggesting coal is “rock solid” and renewables aren’t reliable. A lot to unpack here. 1) coal plant reliability (both forced and unforced outage rates) has been on the incline. Coal is actually getting less reliable with each passing year. 2/
I'm proud to present: Used But How Useful. How Electric Utilities Exploit Loopholes, Forcing Customers to Bail Out Uneconomic Coal-Fired Power Plants.
It represents the culmination of years of work on behalf of myself and my co-authors.
Thread alert 🚨 1/?
First off, I have to thank my manager at UCS (Jeff Deyette). I started analyzing the issue of uneconomic coal before I came to UCS and even though analyzing the issue wasn't in my work plan Jeff gave me the agency and autonomy to pursue this work. 2/?
Feb 24, 2020 • 8 tweets • 3 min read
New blog alert 🚨🚨🚨: The Real Reason Coal Plants Have to Cycle.
TL/DR: the current rhetoric of renewables scapegoating is unjustified. Coal plants have to cycle but not b/c of renewables but b/c economics, they are now a load-following resource. 1/x blog.ucsusa.org/joseph-daniel/…
This new blog was supported by great new data assembled by UCS associate analyst Ashtin Massie. It shows clearly that coal plants are cycling daily to follow load. 2/x
Jan 16, 2020 • 12 tweets • 6 min read
My latest blog went up yesterday and I'll admit, it is on the longer side. So, here is a TL/DR summary tweetstorm.
Thread alert 🚨🚨🚨 1/ blog.ucsusa.org/joseph-daniel/…
I'll start off acknowledging there have been a number of attempts (state and federal) to bailout "baseload coal plants" for all sorts of specious reasons. This is no bogus excuse takedown. I wanted to figure out: is coal even baseload anymore? 2/
10 years ago was the height of the great recession, unemployment had just hit 10%, and yet 10 years ago today is when I chose to quit my job. So, here is why I left the oil and gas industry, a thread.
Thread 🚨🚨🚨 1/???
That morning started like most morning, got to the refinery before 8AM, put on my Nomex coveralls and hard hat and went to go find the senior staffer to give him the news...
Jan 10, 2020 • 11 tweets • 3 min read
Apparently, folks love them threads on utility dockets. So here is another one you might have missed you beautiful energy nerds: The issue of self-commitment coal has gone west and comes up in this PacifiCorp case in CA!
(Docket No. A.19-08-002)
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The @SierraClub hired @StrategenNews to review the fuel cost recovery request from PacifiCorp. Now I'm not that familiar with the rules of the wild west but so far as I can tell this isn't much different than a regulated fuel cost recover docket for an IOU in a reg state... 2/
Jan 7, 2020 • 12 tweets • 5 min read
Okay, a short filing gets a short thread... for now.
Here is how Xcel's Minnesota customers are poised to save millions thanks to this clever trick (clickbait thread alert 🚨🚨🚨). 1/
First off, a bit tip of the hat to @MCEA1974, @CUB_MN, @FreshEnergy, & @SierraClubMN. Not to mention the whole Midwest Office of @UCSUSA that have been laying the amazing groundwork for years, pushing Xcel to do what the company should rightfully be doing on its own... 2/12
Dec 14, 2019 • 8 tweets • 7 min read
@bradplumer@noahqk@BeyondCoal Oh, so many things that you have to overlook to assume it was "just economics" that drove the transition. So let's start with a little reminder that only 1/3 of generation is IPP/Merchant so traditional economics only applies to that particular group of power generators. 1/@bradplumer@noahqk@BeyondCoal And gas prices are impactful on the ops margin but the forecast of gas prices is what impacts the build margin. And utilities regularly overestimated gas prices and are just now starting to catch up to mainstream projections. 2/
Getting on a plane for New Orleans to present a primer on Renewable Portfolio Standards. DC and New Orleans are the only two cities that can pass such a law so it is exciting to work on this effort. Here's a preview of the presentation. thread 1/x
RPS policies have been around for 36 years and have been regularly updated by those states that have passed them. @UCSUSA has been helping craft and analyze these policies since 1991! 2/x
May 28, 2019 • 15 tweets • 12 min read
Morning #energytwitteer. Hope you had a great memorial day weekend. I had a really great time doing this @Forbes Q&A with @oboylemm from @EnergyInnovLLC. In it, we discuss my @UCSUSA research on uneconomic coal dispatch in competitive markets.
THREAD1/x forbes.com/sites/energyin…@Forbes@oboylemm@EnergyInnovLLC@UCSUSA For me, it started in a state PUC proceeding while working with @SierraClub@BeyondCoal, a utility made commented that it had changed its "operational paradigm" from “self-commitment” to “market-commitment.” Thus began my adventure looking into @SPPorg market rules. 2/
May 3, 2019 • 9 tweets • 4 min read
There were two interesting stories that have come out in the past month that I haven't seen connected or contextualized very well so I thought I'd give it a try. It has to do with two different subsidiaries of Southern Company and two different federal agencies. Thread 1/8
About a month ago, DOE announced an increase to the loan guarantee for GAPower's Nuclear plant Vogtle. An additional $3.7 billion on top of the existing billions. @JackieTothDC from @MorningConsult wrote a great story on the subject you should read. morningconsult.com/2019/04/08/doe… 2/8
Oct 2, 2018 • 11 tweets • 5 min read
@EIAgov Thread--> Interesting work, for sure, but I fear that these conclusions might be overstated. Also, at least one assertion is flat out wrong. The data is informative but the analysis is lacking perhaps even misleading. Here is why: (1/?)
@EIAgov Coal in SPP is definitely cycling but I’m not sure we can conclude the cycling is because of wind integration. The assertion that only SPP coal cycles (and coal in other markets does not): well that simply isn’t true. 2/
