Why Regulate Electricity? Two Exchanges (Giberson, Borlick)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- June 3, 2025 1 Comment

The intellectual and practical case for separating government and electricity is strong. The historical record offers little support for “market failure”–quite the opposite. The laws of physics do not preclude private ownership and control of assets in this area unless you assume mandatory open access–Lynne Kiesling’s Ostrom trick–to make private operation of control areas problematic. [1]

So I labor against faux classical liberals/think tanks that offer suggestion after suggestion to try to make government planned ISO/RTO’s work. But the fix is in with the guilty who refuse to seriously consider a free market in electricity.

Two exchanges with my critics follow. One is with Michael Giberson, a “Right” central planner; the other with Robert Borlick, a Progressive Left central planner.

Michael Giberson Exchange

Giberson posted on his regulatory filing:

The DOJ Anticompetitive Regulations Task Force requested comments on how state and federal regulations act to impair competition.

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Exposing Alaska’s Green New Deal (Part II)

By -- May 29, 2025 2 Comments

Editor’s Note: Trump Administration beware! This two-part backgrounder warns DOE Secretary Chris Wright, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin that their June 3, 2025, participation at Governor Mike Dunleavy’s fourth annual Sustainable Energy Conference is a set-up for Alaska’s Green New Deal. A course reversal for this state’s energy policy is in order.

Part II walks through my own testimony (Part I) against Alaska’s proposed Renewable Portfolio Standard; the hoops I had to jump through just to get my written remarks added to the public record; and the telling exchange I had with one of the main activists pushing this nonsense.  Spoiler: there’s been no official response or acknowledgement to the damning context they asked for—just the usual dodge-and-disappear routine.

After checking the Alaska Legislature website under the bill documents, I discovered my testimony was not posted. 

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Exposing Alaska’s Green New Deal (Part I)

By -- May 28, 2025 No Comments

Ed. Note: Alaska policymakers are selling out the state’s hydrocarbon abundance for a Green New Deal foisted by special interests that do not have consumers, taxpayers, or prosperity in mind. Trump Administration Officials visiting Alaska in two weeks are warned by energy expert Kassie Andrews in two parts (Part II tomorrow).

“… this isn’t about affordability or ‘sustainability’- it’s about control, green grift, and forcing Alaska into a ‘transition’ nobody voted for.”

The political class in Alaska is trying to sell the public on “cheap” renewables as the centerpiece of the state’s energy policy. We’ve all heard the line: Solar and wind are the cheapest sources of electricity on Earth. It’s the Green New Deal gospel repeated ad nauseam, designed to steamroll dissent and shut down debate.…

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Kiesling Likes Government Electricity Planning

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- April 16, 2025 No Comments

“Kiesling intellectually resides in the government sandbox, where dilute, intermittent, fragile, government-dependent wind and solar is coordinated by ISO/RTO planners. Add (subsidized) storage, then whatever is left on the supply side can be equilibrated on the demand side with ‘smart meters’ (another government play) in your home or business.”

She fancies herself a classical liberal, a free-market type fully conversant with the arguments against central economic planning (Mises, Hayek, Lavoie). But when it gets to government planning of the electricity market, her specialty, the veneer comes off. It is ‘market processes’ within the rigged, governmental market. Welcome to the woman of system, technocrat Lynne Kiesling.

Consider this exhibit:

Kiesling intellectually resides in the government sandbox, where dilute, intermittent, fragile, government-dependent wind and solar are coordinated by ISO/RTO planners. Add storage (another government play), and then whatever happens on the supply side can be equilibrated on the demand side with ‘smart meters’ (another government play) in your home or business.…

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Nuclear Subsidies in Texas? Ouch!

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- March 25, 2025 No Comments Continue Reading

Peak Air Pollution: The Increasing Sustainability of Fossil Fuels

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- March 11, 2025 No Comments Continue Reading

“Save NOAA Stop DOGE” Climate Protest

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- February 28, 2025 12 Comments Continue Reading

The Great Texas Blackout (2021): When the Free Market Electricity Debate Began

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- February 24, 2025 No Comments Continue Reading

The Great Texas Blackout Revisited: Market Failure Not

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- February 14, 2025 2 Comments Continue Reading

Wind, Solar, Batteries: The High Cost of Duplicative Energy

By -- February 10, 2025 1 Comment Continue Reading