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2 months ago | 
energybadboys.substack.com | Isaac Orr |Robert Bryce |Jason Hayes |Jason Isaac
Last week, a Polar Vortex enveloped much of the Eastern United States, with temperatures in Boston approximately 13 degrees below normal for the coldest stretches. During the event, the Independent System Operator of New England (ISO-NE) saw its peak demand pass 18,000 megawatts (MW) at 8 a.m. on January 22nd, approximately 2,000 MW below its estimated winter peak forecast under normal conditions and 3,000 MW under below-average temperatures.
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2 months ago | 
energybadboys.substack.com | Robert Bryce |Jason Hayes |Stu Turley
This week marked a significant shift in the political landscape in the United States. Donald Trump’s comeback victory in the presidential election, which included carrying all seven swing states and winning the popular vote, along with Republican majorities in the Senate and potentially the House of Representatives, means big changes are coming to our nation’s energy policies. Here are 5 quick takeaways for what might change in the next administration.
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Jan 15, 2025 | 
washingtonexaminer.com | Jason Hayes
Forget climate change. The devastating fires in California should spark an honest debate about policy change. Rather than prepare for the state’s extreme (but unfortunately predictable) weather variations, elected officials in the Golden State have chosen to ignore tried and true fire-prevention policies.
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Jan 9, 2025 | 
detroitnews.com | Jason Hayes
Michiganians are witnessing a classic case of environmental policy gone awry. The state Department of Natural Resources has just approved a solar developer’s plan to clear-cut 420 acres of forest near Gaylord to make room for a planned solar development. Whether this project will continue remains up in the air, but Michigan residents should stop misleading ourselves about the economic and environmental value of wind and solar developments.
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Oct 3, 2024 | 
mackinac.org | Joshua Antonini |Jason Hayes
| Font size: 75% 100% 125% 150% “Personally, nuclear power makes me a bit nervous,” Ken Sasaki, a construction ministry official in Japan, told the Los Angeles Times at the height of the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear catastrophe. “But as a nation, I still think we need it.” Sasaki’s patriotic instinct turned out to have a longer half-life than his personal misgivings. Although the Fukushima plant was hit by a tsunami and underwent partial meltdowns, the emergency caused no cases of radiation...
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Oct 1, 2024 | 
mackinac.org | Jason Hayes
| Font size: 75% 100% 125% 150% If Michigan legislators pass Senate Bill 275, the bill’s new “low carbon fuel standard” will increase costs for drivers by $350 per person annually. Our new report, Low Carbon, High Costs: How a Clean Fuel Standard Would Increase Gas Prices and Living Costs in Michigan, shows how the standard will impact the statewide economy, provide almost no environmental benefit, and enrich rent-seeking businesses rather than helping the people of Michigan. The proposed...
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Aug 9, 2024 | 
wsj.com | Joshua Antonini |Jason Hayes
WSJ Opinion: Can Trump Counter Harris's Sudden Momentum? Your browser does not support HTML5 video. 0:00Paused0:00 / 6:23WSJ Opinion: Can Trump Counter Harris's Sudden Momentum?Play video: WSJ Opinion: Can Trump Counter Harris's Sudden Momentum? Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz last year signed one of America’s most aggressive climate laws, mandating that 100% of the state’s electricity come from carbon-free sources by 2040.
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Aug 6, 2024 | 
mackinac.org | Thomas M. Doran |Jason Hayes
The American people are taking part in a massive beta test of so-called green energy technology that is extremely buggy and unreliable, while infrastructure the public knows and trusts, including old-fashioned electricity, is increasingly devalued by leaders and activists. Ordinarily, beta testing allows users to work with a product in real-world conditions, uncovering bugs before the product is released to the marketplace. That’s not what is happening today.
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Jul 3, 2024 | 
mackinac.org | Jason Hayes
| Font size: 75% 100% 125% 150% “Activist, far-right justices have once again abandoned the Supreme Court’s bedrock commitment to precedent,” Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., announced after the Supreme Court’s June 28 decision in Loper Bright v. Raimondo. “With this ill-advised decision, judges must no longer defer to the decisions about Americans’ health, safety, and welfare made by agencies with technical and scientific expertise in their fields. MAGA extremist Republicans and their big business...
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Jun 25, 2024 | 
mackinac.org | Joshua Antonini |James David Dickson |Jason Hayes
An upcoming Mackinac Center report will explore the danger posed to Michigan’s energy grid by the state’s rushed transition to weak alternative power sources. But we can already see a looming disaster in projections from the Midcontinent Independent Systems Operator. MISO’s 2023 Regional Resource Assessment depicts what the system operator calls a “resource gap” between accredited capacity (supply) and future load (demand) for most of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula.
