UK used to do pay as bid. It's a terrible system. Incentives are all messed up.

No. But you can hedge consumers against it.

For data centers, a little flexibility goes a long way Why developers are scrambling for off-grid jet engines, and how we could fix our broken grid interconnection process instead.

Today on Volts: how can we get data centers hooked up without screwing over the grid or other ratepayers? Two of my favorite thinkers, @astridatkinson.bsky.social & @jessedjenkins.com, lay out a new model whereby data centers bring some of their own generation & utilities offer flexible connection.

This sounds like some serious hearsay. I put no stock in it and would encourage others not to either.

@emildimanchev.bsky.social specifically did modeling on this years ago.

Finally! Bravo.

Power Flows: Understanding the Barriers to Electricity Transmission, with Catherine Hausman Catherine Hausman discusses the benefits of building new electricity transmission lines, the costs of not building new transmission, and why more transmission is not being built in the United States.

I'm a big fan of the @rff.org Resources Radio podcast - lots of great interviews with researchers talking about their work so the archive is a real gold mine. We ended up discussing this excellent episode with @catiehausman.bsky.social going through her work on electricity transmission.

What is Hedging? | Oil and Commodities Trading YouTube video by International Business House

Hedging and energy trading is always a tricky topic for students that haven't encountered this stuff before. I found this trio of videos gives some useful insights into oil trading that's pretty accessible and worked well. p1: tinyurl.com/3csz73a8 p2: tinyurl.com/2kwbed2x p3: tinyurl.com/3heytjkx

Breaking down the price of gasoline : Planet Money High gas prices have fueled speculation and investigations — is anyone raising prices and keeping prices high for profit? To find out, we break down the price of gas, piece by piece, to show you how w...

Understanding the clean energy transition requires a firm grasp of the fossil fuel markets that still dominate the sector today. @planetmoney.bsky.social has some excellent energy reporting, including this piece on gasoline that features both @severinborenstein.bsky.social and Ryan Kellogg.

Shift Key Summer School: What Is a Watt? Jesse teaches Rob the basics of energy, power, and what it all has to do with the grid.

For a class full of social science students, getting some grounding in how the physics and engineering of the grid interacts with the economics is key. The summer school series that @jessedjenkins.com and @robinsonmeyer.bsky.social put out on their excellent Shift Key podcast was perfect for this.

Finished teaching a new course on energy markets and the clean energy transition last month. Was a blast and have lots of thoughts for next year.

One takeaway is the value of going beyond academic journals/textbooks and incorporating media articles, podcasts, and video. Here's a few we covered... 🧵

Why Trump’s Oil Imperialism Might Be a Tough Sell for Actual Oil Companies Rob talks about the removal of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro with Commodity Context’s Rory Johnston.

This week on SHIFT KEY:

Trump wants U.S. drillers to have Venezuela's oil. But what's really keeping them from getting it? And do they even want it?

@robinsonmeyer.bsky.social checks in with @roryjohnston.bsky.social on all of the above and more:

heatmap.news/podcast/shif...

The U.S. Will Exit UN’s Framework Climate Treaty, According to Reports The move would mark a significant escalation in Trump’s hostility toward climate diplomacy.

BREAKING:

The White House plans to withdraw the U.S. from the United Nations framework climate treaty, according to reports.

Here's @robinsonmeyer.bsky.social with what we know:

heatmap.news/sparks/us-wi...

New @wsj.com: "The Fight Over Making Data Centers Power Down to Avoid Blackouts"

“T​​he pressures of connecting to the grid at the scale and pace that people are talking about is going to push these solutions,”
@jessedjenkins.com said. “There isn’t another option.”

www.wsj.com/business/ene...

7 numbers that explain why the future of buildings is all-electric Key indicators, from the cost of fossil gas to the number of heat pumps sold, signal building decarbonization will march onward in the U.S. despite…

7 numbers explain why building electrification is taking off in the USA, via @canarymedia.com www.canarymedia.com/articles/car... 🔌💡 #upshift

Over 20 New EVs Are Coming In 2026. These Are The Seven I'm Most Excited About We’ve been waiting for the next generation of EVs to arrive—cheaper, faster, better. Next year, they’ll finally be here.

Despite headwinds, over 20 new EVs are coming to the US market in 2026, including several more affordable vehicles. Can any thrive without federal tax credits? insideevs.com/news/782572/... 🔌💡 🔌🚗

Net-Zero America had three PIs and was originated before I joined the faculty at Princeton. None of the funding for my group came from Exxon.

Never taken a dime from Exxon bro. BP. As explained at length elsewhere, including here x.com/i/status/200... Get your big evil funders straight. All my ZERO Lab funding is listed here zero.lab.princeton.edu/mission-peop...

🤣🤣🤣

Jesse D. Jenkins on X: "Okay. I finally read the op ed. @MattYglesias is right. (98% right at least, which is an A+ for a NYT op ed). Don't @ me. It's the holidays and I don't have the appetite. But Matty's position is pragmatic, substantively sound, and the only way we have a chance of making any" / X Okay. I finally read the op ed. @MattYglesias is right. (98% right at least, which is an A+ for a NYT op ed). Don't @ me. It's the holidays and I don't have the appetite. But Matty's position is pragmatic, substantively sound, and the only way we have a chance of making any

For more, see my thread in the other place here x.com/i/status/200... and here x.com/i/status/200...

I finally read the op ed. Matt Yglesias is right. (98% right at least, which is an A+ for a NYT op ed). Don't @ me. It's the holidays and I don't have the appetite. But Matty's position is pragmatic, substantively sound, and the only way we have a chance of making progress on climate in this moment.

Thanks for your leadership on this paper Nick!

New preprint up assessing the air quality and health benefits that could have been possible under the Inflation Reduction Act.

Huge effort here with Erin Mayfield, Jamil Farbes, @jessedjenkins.com, Ryan Jones, Tracey Holloway, and @jonathanpatz.bsky.social.

Say ‘Guten Tag!’ to This New Kind of Geothermal Tech Rob and Jesse catch up with Mark Fitzgerald, CEO of the closed-loop geothermal startup Eavor.

There’s a lot of excitement about the growth of next-gen geothermal in the US.

But geothermal is *already* competing at price parity in Europe. On this week’s episode of Shift Key, @jessedjenkins.com and I chat with Mark Fitzgerald, the CEO of a geothermal firm that is now powering a German town:

Say ‘Guten Tag!’ to This New Kind of Geothermal Tech Podcast Episode · Shift Key with Robinson Meyer and Jesse Jenkins · 12/17/2025 · 44m

NEW SHIFT KEY:

It's not every day we get to celebrate a successful first-of-its kind climate tech — but that's exactly what @robinsonmeyer.bsky.social and @jessedjenkins.com did this week with Eavor's Mark Fitzgerald.

Listen (and rate and subscribe!) here:

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...

Trump Media to Merge With Nuclear Fusion Firm in $6 Billion Deal Shares in the president’s media company jumped premarket after it agreed to a tie-up with TAE Technologies in an all-stock deal.

Well, we've officially jumped the shark. This is probably the most bonkers real headline I've read in forever. Reads like an Onion satire. But no. This is real. www.wsj.com/business/dea... I want out of this branch of the metaverse...

Say ‘Guten Tag!’ to This New Kind of Geothermal Tech Rob and Jesse catch up with Mark Fitzgerald, CEO of the closed-loop geothermal startup Eavor.

Listen to this week's Shift Key podcast on Eavor's first-of-a-kind geothermal project, which went online in Bavaria this month, @heatmap_news heatmap.news/podcast/shif... or wherever you get your podcasts. 🔌💡

It's not every day we get to welcome a totally new clean energy technology into commercial operation. Today on Shift Key, we talk with Eavor Technologies CEO Mark Fitzgerald about how the company brought online the first-ever closed-loop geothermal heat & power project this month in Germany! 🔌💡

And ideally treat large loads and generators symmetrically. What's the difference between a data center with a generator and a battery? They both can consume and inject power from/to the grid.

"PowerChina has launched its 2026 centralized equipment procurement program, issuing tenders covering ... 35 GW of wind turbines, 31 GW of solar modules and 31 GW of solar inverters for 2026 projects, with bids due by Dec. 24, 2025." 🔌💡