Energy Efficiency Starts At The Bottom, And It’s Our Best Chance To Delay 1.5 C Of Change
How to work around an army of captured regulators.
A series of tweets reminded me that our energy bureaucracy does not work for the rest of us. The revolving door between the public and the private sector has allowed the energy industry to staff the commissions and boards that approve massive energy production projects, with people who would rather see higher profits than a cooler planet. The following tweet has some clues:
Michael Lee is CEO of Octopus Energy in Texas. He’d know the situation well in Texas. So I looked up his company and found the plans they’re offering. It’s not looking very good. For a new contract with Octopus, they’re locking rates at 20 cents a kilowatt-hour. I pay no more than 11 cents per kilowatt-hour here in Utah.
But Texas is special. They pride themselves on innovation. To avoid compliance requirements from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Texas is an energy island. They don’t interconnect with other states to…
