As @apple releases software to let their Airpods Pro mimic hearing aids, I hope they see the opportunity to completely disrupt the hearing aid market just as they did cell phones. A 🧵 from someone whose wife uses aids. #HearingAids Current hearing aid tech is sufficient. For several thousand dollars, you get a device that is relatively unobtrusive, has decent battery life, and you can get professional support tuning it.

I have a few thoughts about this fascinating choice by three news outlets not to publish leaked emails from the Trump campaign, with its implications for journalism, anti-competitive behavior, and democracy. 🧵

https://twitter.com/AP/status/1823288426239561972

What @AP flags is, of course, the big difference between publishing Hillary's emails in 2016 and refusing to publish Trump's in 2024. At the very least, news organizations should be extremely clear on why they're making this choice.

Does rooftop solar actually help the climate? Yes. –– A response to the Shift Key podcast discussion between @JesseJenkins and @emilypont that gets a lot wrong about #RooftopSolar. THREAD. #SolarEnergy @robinsonmeyer 1. Rooftop and community solar have comparable costs to utility-scale solar. Jenkins’s argument is based (in part) on a common misunderstanding caused by trying to compare the generation costs of these resources. ilsr.org/investor-owned…

After what I’ve learned in the past year, here’s my pitch: we’re going about finding new grid capacity for clean energy and electrification all wrong. A thread. (And one caveat) #transmission #cleanenergy The switch flipped when listening to the @drvolts Volts podcast with @JasonTSConduct1 and Emilia Chojkiewicz. The current approach to high-voltage #transmission capacity is like building broadband with new copper wires and 56K modems. volts.wtf/p/one-easy-way…

ILSR has found that community solar and utility-scale solar have comparable costs to #Minnesota electric customers. So what's happening here? 🧵 #SolarEnergy

https://twitter.com/walkerorenstein/status/1729870360563364252

1) Xcel Energy hates the community solar program because it directly competes with utility-owned power generation that generates profits for shareholders. ilsr.org/why-does-one-m…

How do we maximize clean energy benefits, including wealth building, jobs, and lowering costs? Local, local, and local ownership, baby! 🧵 If you want more money for folks who have local solar, give them ownership of the system! >> Greater lifetime savings and wealth >> This applies to community solar, as well! ilsr.org/report-advanta…

Minneapolis passes its Climate Legacy Initiative, juicing its local climate action funding by $10 million per year. A short thread on how other cities can similarly advance clean energy: #cities #ClimateAction #CleanEnergy @theUSDNstartribune.com/minneapolis-hi… The revenue for Minneapolis comes from a utility franchise fee, basically a pass through from electric and gas bills to the city government. In about 40 states, cities can similarly negotiate and set these fees: ilsr.org/energy/utility…

A few thoughts on "permitting reform" from an avowed local renewable energy advocate: 🧵 My understanding of "reform" is that several components are actually "preemption" of local decision making (based on how every article mentions multi-jurisdiction permitting), but I've not made a study of it.

#Minnesota 's community solar program got an overhaul this session, thanks to great work by the #mnleg. Here's a few highlights: #solarenergy #communitysolar Community solar access was big -- several new provisions support low- and moderate-income opportunities, including a more generous rate, carve outs for participation (30%), and removal of credit scoring for participants.

This @bradplumer @nytimes covers a super important issue for the clean energy transition: being able to connect to the grid. I have a few addenda... 🧵 nytimes.com/2023/02/23/cli… One reason we can't get transmission built for large scale solar and wind projects is that utilities have gamed the planning system to favor their own interests. @AriPeskoe covers this chapter and verse in his work on the "utility transmission syndicate" ilsr.org/electric-trans…

If you are writing a cover letter or resume, make the connection between the job skills required and your background, don't make the reviewer hunt for it. If you're an "expert program director" don't SAY it, SHOW it. Your cover letter should have a sentence like this: "I have four years experience as a program director supervising XX staff and managing a budget of XX." Don't make me find it!

American electricity customers are likely overpaying #monopoly electric utilities by $2 to $20 billion per year, says a white paper from UC Berkeley's Energy Institute at HAAS: google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j… Regulators charged with protecting the public interest have systematically failed to align the actual risk and reward of utility capital investments, allowing utilities to earn too much money on very low risk investments. Result: "a sizeable transfer from consumers to investors"

On #energytwitter, I see plenty of talk about time-of-use pricing, but I wonder if electricity being a monopoly has us overlooking the time value of action on climate change, and the opportunity to tap a much wider array of participants in our energy systems. With energy efficiency, for example, there are several “cost tests” that regulators will use to determine if a particular measure (wall insulation, window replacement) is worthwhile: a participate cost test, a utility cost test, and a societal cost test.

What would you rather drive - gas or electric - in an epic traffic jam? A short thread to emphasize that running either type of car for cabin heating will use a lot of fuel, and that neither vehicle is designed for unlikely scenarios. (*napkin math warning*)🧵 To heat your gas car, you have to run the engine (your heating is actually from the wasted energy from the inefficient combustion of gas). Most Americans buy SUVs, which use roughly 1/2 gallon of gas per hour idling (I rounded up from "large sedan"). energy.gov/eere/vehicles/…

You might have heard about the campaign to Save Solar in California, due to deliberations by state regulators to reduce compensation for solar producers. We're being played by utility lobbyists, my friends. Here's a thread 🧵 #solarenergy #NEM If you haven't heard about the "utility death spiral," read the infamous Edison Electric Institute report that identified customer-owned solar as an existential threat to the profits for utility shareholders. drive.google.com/file/d/1tsF2Hq…

More than half of households have at least two cars, more than half have a garage or carport. With used electric cars available for under $10k, I'd say there are ways to avoid gas lines without owning a Tesla. #DriveElectric Data on car ownership: cnbc.com/2014/11/18/two…

THREAD on comparing utility-scale and rooftop solar, sparked by a good question from @jeffsaintjohn on LinkedIn about this post on jobs from solar.

https://twitter.com/johnffarrell/status/1389230435587211264

While my original post compares utility-scale and rooftop solar, we ought to spend less time comparing them because a) they aren't subject to reasonable comparison and b) it's the utility's playbook. Here's a few examples:

How do you build a pro-climate electric utility like @xcelenergy? Here's a helpful timeline: 1994: then separate state-based companies, the Minnesota company asks the legislature for permission to store more nuclear waste at its nuclear power plants. The Legislature agrees, in exchange for 400 megawatts of wind (x2 if cost-effective)...

Key finding in Minnesota decarbonization study: the local strategy––maximizing distributed energy resources––saves customers (nearly) the most money. Higher rates but lower use. mcknight.org/programs/midwe… #distributedenergy #renewableenergy #local Bonus: the inexpensive Local Decarbonization scenario also includes 13 gigawatts of rooftop solar PV in Minnesota!

Let’s take a minute to vividly illustrate why monopoly power in the electric business is bad, by way of Va. 1/ roanoke.com/news/politics/… In 30 states, utilities get government-granted monopolies subject to public oversight by a regulatory commission. See below.. 2/