This is Not Cool

PJM is the Transmission System Operator that covers the Mid Atlantic area, along with some slices of midwestern states. Expected to strain due to warm weather this week, during a time when utilities have historically had lower demand, and make plans for scheduling needed maintainence on generating units. If that maintenance is not done, could … Continue reading "Emergency Alert Issued for Mid Atlantic Grid"

I was lucky enough that Bob Thompson, President of the Michigan Farmer’s Union, invited me to take part in a small event in rural Michigan where Senate candidate Abdul El Sayed got the Farmer’s Union endorsement, and, flanked by tractors, cornfield, and wind turbines, held a press conference on Ag issues with former long time … Continue reading "Flanked by Wind Turbines, Abdul Receives Farm Endorsement"

It’s called “curtailment”. Explainer above. When there is more than enough energy on the grid, and not enough transmission lines to carry it away, or batteries to store it, what happens is generation gets shut down, “curtailed”, in the language of the industry. Obviously one near term solution is more batteries, but these sometimes get … Continue reading "When There’s Too Much Clean Energy – An AI Answer"

Above, AI uber-critic Ed Zitron interviewed by ABC News. Zitron has been a sharp dissenting voice in the recent storm of apocalyptic ideations following the so-called Hugging Face attack, where AI agents escaped containment and broke into corporate computer systems. Zitron’s sharpest warnings, however, are on the financial side. In a new post, he has … Continue reading "Can Clean Energy Solve Big AI’s Financial and Power Problems?"

It’s called “Conserv-voltaics”, and I’m seeing more examples every week. Go Wild with Annette on X: Ecologists walked matching 200-meter transects across solar farms planted for wildlife in England’s East Anglian Fens and counted 35 birds on each solar pass against 12 on the cropland beside it, corn buntings and yellowhammers among the birds now … Continue reading "Conserv-Voltaics Another Benefit of Solar"