Now it's over. That was it. Totally baffling.

We are more than 2 hrs into this hearing and Burgum has only been asked 1 question about the $1B Total offshore deal that was not really framed as a question and did not ask anything specific.

My colleagues and I were just talking about how we got a tiny fraction of the number of pitches we usually get for Earth Day stories. Even the PR machine is done with Earth Day!

(P.S. This is not a solicitation for earth day pitches.)

Anti-Mask Sentiment Is Making It Hard to Protect People From Wildfire Smoke The COVID-era political divide is still having ripple effects.

For @heatmap.news today, I wrote about this problem and how — given the low snowpack and the bad fire season we're almost certainly in for — breaking through that stigma will be life-or-death. heatmap.news/masks-wildfi...

there are so many more hours in the day when you're in california

Really good headline

New Documents Undermine Trump Administration’s Claims About Offshore Wind Deal There was no new investment required from TotalEnergies, according to newly disclosed terms.

Sunday scoop from me before Burgum testifies in the House tomorrow:

heatmap.news/energy/total...

Another way of saying this is that the regulations would have had a cost of zero. They would not have required the power sector to do anything it wasn't going to do already.

Roberts said it would be the most expensive reg ever (because he heard that on Fox). But it cost nothing.

👀

What Went Wrong With Biden’s Big Climate Law According to more than 70 people who helped implement it.

A trio of Biden staffers who worked intimately to implement the Inflation Reduction Act have a big post-mortem out today looking at what worked, what didn't, and how to do it better next time, like...
- fund implementation!
- maybe don't base tax credits on LCA!

more:
heatmap.news/politics/inf...

New Documents Add to Doubt Over Trump’s Deal With TotalEnergies The administration is attempting to buy back the multinational energy company’s U.S. offshore wind leases.

NEW: Documents confirm the Trump admin aims to pay TotalEnergies from the DOJ's Judgement Fund.

But there appears to be little basis for any claim of imminent litigation, which is required to unlock $$ from that fund.

heatmap.news/energy/total...

Cc @shastingssimon.bsky.social

TFW you raise nearly $1 billion in your series A for your fusion company…

I forgot to mention 🤝 these guys

Affordability 🤝 housing 🤝 climate = 💋 zoning reform

I wrote about how popular, pro-density land use reforms like legalizing ADUs and duplexes in single-family zones are spreading to the midwest this year...
heatmap.news/politics/ill...

Choosing a major was an incredibly emotionally fraught process for me in college. I can't imagine what it would feel like to have to do it today. (from www.nytimes.com/2026/04/09/s...)

ah, duh, right. thanks!

interesting! are you describing basically an exterior duct system attaching to vents in each apt? have other buildings in NYC done this?

I hear you. I think there's limited applications.

Exclusive: Merino Energy Launches an All-in-One Heat Pump for $3,800 The startup from Quilt and Gradient alums emerges from stealth today.

There's a new heat pump in town:

The Merino Mono

Retails for $3,800 including installation. Mounts to the wall with two small holes to exchange heat w/ outside, no outdoor unit. Just in SF and LA for now. Founding team is Ex-Quilt, Ex-Gradient.
heatmap.news/sustainabili...

Not directly from the site, but you can email electricity@heatmap.news with data requests

They include the base rate. Full methodology is here:
electricity.heatmap.news/methodology?....

One ex:
PSE&G, the biggest utility in NJ, has higher rates than Georgia Power. But until recently, GA customers had higher bills.

Investigating drivers of high bills reveals diff policies to address affordability — i.e. incentives for insulation and efficient heating.

Why Lower Electricity Prices May Not Mean Lower Electric Bills It may sound like splitting hairs, but the difference matters when it comes to policymaking.

For the launch of our new Electricity Price Hub, I wrote about why rates and bills are not the same.

We talk a lot about why rates are higher in some places than others.

But some places (i.e. the South) have low rates and high bills, and demand different policy fixes
heatmap.news/energy/elect...

More on those "other" charges in @jeva.bsky.social's piece:
heatmap.news/energy/elect...

They include costs associated with pilot programs, electrification, wildfire mitigation etc

Since 2021, “other” grew 41% on average across utilities with complete data in our hub, more than any other category

Our new Electricity Price Hub is packed with useful data on how much rates have changed over time for a given utility, state, or congressional district.

You can also see what proportion of the rate is going to generation, distribution, transmission, or "other" charges.
electricity.heatmap.news

We are launching a big project today with MIT —

The Electricity Price Hub!

You can view monthly electricity prices per kwh and avg. bills for every major utility in the country going back to Jan 2020.

electricity.heatmap.news

The Fastest-Growing Part of Your Power Bill Isn’t ‘Power’ at All It isn’t about the grid either, according to Electricity Price Hub data.

And some of the biggest factors behind bill increases don't have anything to do with the cost of generating or delivering electricity. Here’s @jeva.bsky.social on how all those “other” charges add up:

heatmap.news/energy/elect...

Electricity Price Increases Hit Different in Virginia Electricity Price Hub data helps explain why prices are — and aren’t — increasing in various parts of the PJM Interconnection territory.

The area served by PJM Interconnection has seen some of the fastest rate increases in the country in recent years — but as @zeitlin.bsky.social writes, the story isn’t the same in all parts of the region:

heatmap.news/energy/elect...

Why Lower Electricity Prices May Not Mean Lower Electric Bills It may sound like splitting hairs, but the difference matters when it comes to policymaking.

What can we learn from all this data? For one, policymakers can’t write policy if they don’t know what they’re trying to fix. Here’s @emilypont.bsky.social on why the difference between electricity prices and electricity bills matters:

heatmap.news/energy/elect...