Ed. Note: This post excerpts energy and climate material from the Media Balance Newsletter, a free fortnighly published by physicist John Droz Jr., founder of the Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions. The complete Newsletter for this post can be found here.

Greed Energy Economics:
*** The ultimate debunking of “solar and wind are cheaper than fossil fuels.”
*** Wind and Solar Are NOT Cheaper than Coal and Oil
*** World Now Wasting $1 Trillion or More per Year Investing in Useless Renewables
*** Offshore wind has a cost crisis
“Green” Jobs at Ford and GM Will Cost Taxpayers as Much as $7.7 Million Each
Soaring costs are derailing offshore wind projects across the world

Unreliables (General):
*** Renewable Energy Storage Requirements
*** NYISO Report: Power outages coming to NYC by 2025, and maybe upstate too
*** Democrats whine about utility hikes caused by their own dumb policies
*** Batteries
Renewables versus the grid at PJM

Wind Energy — Offshore:
*** How Much Does Offshore Wind Power Threaten Critically Endangered North Atlantic Right Whales?…

“Flush with your cash, utilities tried to build plants with unproven technology; they launched projects with unfinished designs and unrealistic budgets; they misled regulators and the public with schedules that promised bogus completion dates; they hid damning reports from investors and the public; they tried to silence critics and whistleblowers.”

“In the mid-2000s, power companies across the South, including SCANA, NextEra, Duke Energy and Southern Company, had their robust lobbying machines running at full throttle. An energy gold rush had begun…. (- Tony Bartelme, below)

Tony Bartelme, senior projects reporter for the Charleston, South Carolina Post and Courier wrote an interesting exposé that should be revisited for its relevancy to the problem of utility ratebase economics: “Power Failure: How utilities across the U.S. changed the rules to make big bets with your money” (December 10, 2017; updated December 28, 2022).…

Ed. note: This post excerpts energy and climate material from the Media Balance Newsletter, a free fortnightly published by physicist John Droz Jr., founder of the Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions. The complete Newsletter for this post can be found here.

Renewables (General):

*** Illinois Put a Stop to Local Governments’ Ability to Kill Solar and Wind Projects. Will Other Midwestern States Follow? (This is a shameful violation of Home Rule)
*** Renewables: the more you have, the more you pay for backups
*** American Towns Don’t Want To Be Big Cities’ ‘Green Energy’ Graveyards

Wind Energy — Offshore:
*** NOAA and BOEM; Ignorance is Bliss
*** Anti Offshore Wind Project Petition Takes Off, Nearing 300K Signatures
Biden admin scientist raised alarm on offshore wind harming whales months ago
Whale death confusion abounds and some is deliberate
Greenpeace Betrays Founders to Peddle Junk Science

Wind Energy — Other:
NY’s CLCPA Hits First Cost Overrun, with More to Follow

Solar Energy:
How solar development incentives will cost Maine’s poorest the most
Big solar in NYS

Nuclear Energy:
Reactor building internal structures completed at Chinese SMR
Georgia Nuclear facility reaches first criticality

Fossil Fuel Energy:
*** Unstoppable
Biden, White House cited inaccurate ‘9,000 unused permits’ figure numerous times
Biden expected to approve Alaska oil drilling project in blow to climate activists
Delaware Voters Overwhelmingly Opposes Gas-powered Car Ban
Germany to Build 30 New Gas Plants

Electric Vehicles (EVs):
The Troubling Future of the Green Electric Revolution
Clean Car Rule for New York A Messy Case of California Envy

Miscellaneous Energy News:
*** The New Normal?…

“A band of desperate terrorists has taken over the PSC building and is holding the entire staff and all the commissioners as hostages.  The dastardly fiends are threatening to release one regulator every hour until their demands are met.”

Jim Clarkson (above) has a sense of humor (also see his “The Ratepayer’s Prayer). Remaining light-hearted is necessary when regulation-protected utilities take advantage of ratepayers every kilowatt hour of every day. For Clarkson is a a friend of free markets and thus ratepayers. [1]

Clarkson, founder and president of Resource Supply Management, publishes a monthly Georgia Regulatory Update. Clarkson’s fare mixes the inevitable bad news of current events with short explanations why markets protect ratepayers better than bureaucrats and politicians.

A major ongoing saga involves Georgia Power Company (Southern Company) and Vogtle Nuclear Plants #3 and #4, which is still in construction.…