Thanks for covering this issue with a focus on the ways utility incentives (including those coming from grid regulator rules and incentives for cost recovery) favor the building of more plants over grid enhancements, the additions of storage etc. There have been some incremental regulatory improvements over the past few years, and the steep battery cost decline helps too. There are also some tech-aligned industry groups like this one that are pushing for an “expand utilization before building” model: https://www.utilizecoalition.org
I strongly agree with this. And there’s a variety of approaches and behaviors in the sector ranging from pretty good to frankly very bad in terms of energy use, pollution, community engagement and impact etc.
But there’s a long way to go in terms of develop better regulatory structures and incentives that are well-suited for the generation, storage, and transmission technologies that are most economical today. The current administration’s pointless, if largely unsuccessful, attempts to strangle renewable generation expansion certainly don’t help either.
Thanks for covering this issue with a focus on the ways utility incentives (including those coming from grid regulator rules and incentives for cost recovery) favor the building of more plants over grid enhancements, the additions of storage etc. There have been some incremental regulatory improvements over the past few years, and the steep battery cost decline helps too. There are also some tech-aligned industry groups like this one that are pushing for an “expand utilization before building” model: https://www.utilizecoalition.org
That doesn’t change the fact that data centres also need to behave themselves especially when they are spinning up turbines.
If we want more data centers in the long term, we can’t burn up good will
I strongly agree with this. And there’s a variety of approaches and behaviors in the sector ranging from pretty good to frankly very bad in terms of energy use, pollution, community engagement and impact etc.
But there’s a long way to go in terms of develop better regulatory structures and incentives that are well-suited for the generation, storage, and transmission technologies that are most economical today. The current administration’s pointless, if largely unsuccessful, attempts to strangle renewable generation expansion certainly don’t help either.
I really enjoyed this article. Thank you for doing a lot of the deep research and aggregating information. You make it easier to read. Cheers!
You should trade notes with Matt Stoller, he's covering this similarly at https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/wheres-all-the-f-and-ing-money-going