Fred Stafford @fredstaffordcs.bsky.social · 21/07/2026How can you be left advocate of public power, w/ major emphasis on carbon emissions, and stay totally silent about nuclear power? A major source of clean energy that our largest public power utilities are developing, incl. interest from coops. Is it pressure from funders or what? 150
Fred Stafford @fredstaffordcs.bsky.social · 02/06/2026In 2023 the developers of 86 wind & solar projects in New York warned their projects were endangered by supply chain problems cutting into profitability. Each had won subsidies in annual state auction 2016 to 2021. What happened? Ratepayers covered for many. www.publicpowerreview.org/p/when-new-y... 010
Fred Stafford @fredstaffordcs.bsky.social · 08/03/2026NEW: I digitized a decade's worth (1929-1940) of the Chattanooga newspaper LABOR WORLD, a weekly paper by the local AFL, in order to unearth some New Deal public power history. And I used Claude Code to help me do it. Here's the process details for others to learn from. Links 👇 230
Reposted by Fred StaffordMadalsa @madalsa.org · 31/01/2026Massachusetts's Electric Power Division is hiring for an energy analyst. Ratemaking + electrification + reliability. Super cool job! www.mass.gov/alerts/the-e...mass.gov 111
Fred Stafford @fredstaffordcs.bsky.social · 22/01/2026Request for public power historians, esp in TVA area: Can anyone recommend any articles, dissertations, etc that shines light on the Public Power League of Chattanooga that formed in the 1930s? Please RT to signal boost. 🙏 011
Reposted by Fred StaffordFred Stafford @fredstaffordcs.bsky.social · 18/01/2026See my debunking of many arguments Romm makes in his new paper against new nuclear in New York, a paper full of misrepresentative citations to research literature and a glaring, shameful misfire on one major argument. Of course Green NGO ppl eat it up tho. www.publicpowerreview.org/p/debunking-...publicpowerreview.orgDebunking the Latest Antinuclear Claims From New York's Environmental LeftNew York environmental left groups like Public Power NY and Third Act are touting a new paper that calls New York's plans for new nuclear plants an "anti-affordability fiasco." Here's my rebuttal. 194
Reposted by Fred StaffordYakov Feygin @buddyyakov.bsky.social · 19/01/2026It’s small in get grand scheme but I worry the data center back lash will turn into a broader one against any investment into the electrical grid unless there are major changes in how we fund the system and compensate IOUs. 7515
Fred Stafford @fredstaffordcs.bsky.social · 18/01/2026See my debunking of many arguments Romm makes in his new paper against new nuclear in New York, a paper full of misrepresentative citations to research literature and a glaring, shameful misfire on one major argument. Of course Green NGO ppl eat it up tho. www.publicpowerreview.org/p/debunking-...publicpowerreview.orgDebunking the Latest Antinuclear Claims From New York's Environmental LeftNew York environmental left groups like Public Power NY and Third Act are touting a new paper that calls New York's plans for new nuclear plants an "anti-affordability fiasco." Here's my rebuttal. 194
Reposted by Fred StaffordMatt Huber @matthuber.bsky.social · 07/01/2026It was really fun to go on Vivek Chibber's "Confronting Capitalism" podcast to talk about socialism and abundance. Listen up! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a...podcasts.apple.comAbundance Needs SocialismPodcast Episode · Confronting Capitalism with Vivek Chibber · 01/07/2026 · 46m 1132
Fred Stafford @fredstaffordcs.bsky.social · 22/12/2025The climate left when conservatives trot out an academic who argues anthropogenic climate change isn't happening: "he's an outlier whose work is highly disputed!" When they trot out this guy to argue gas worse than coal: "it's science and you're a fossil fuels shill to disagree" 010
Reposted by Fred StaffordMatt Huber @matthuber.bsky.social · 17/12/2025Decided to post something on substack for the 1st time (partially b/c of dissatisfaction with this place & the other place, it must be said). My first post is a response to @simonpirani.bsky.social's critiques of my work with @fredstaffordcs.bsky.social on electricity politics (link in next post). 161
Fred Stafford @fredstaffordcs.bsky.social · 15/12/2025Now online today, a feature from our latest print issue: Bob Leighninger, author of my fav New Deal infrastructure book, on the administrative and political importance of bureaucratic efficiency in the era of public works. Subscribe to read! $20 digital, $40 btfl print. damagemag.com/2025/12/15/h... 020
Reposted by Fred StaffordYakov Feygin @buddyyakov.bsky.social · 12/12/2025I’ll just add the NYPA lost fewer of their projects to tax credit cuts than most developers which should say something. 2172
Reposted by Fred StaffordFred Stafford @fredstaffordcs.bsky.social · 03/12/2025My case for Kathy Hochul as the champion of public power today: www.publicpowerreview.org/p/new-york-g... 031
Fred Stafford @fredstaffordcs.bsky.social · 03/12/2025My case for Kathy Hochul as the champion of public power today: www.publicpowerreview.org/p/new-york-g... 031
Fred Stafford @fredstaffordcs.bsky.social · 15/11/2025In which I got two Cuomo-endorsing industrial unions to praise Zohran Mamdani on something he said about the state's energy needs, and it's exactly what Governor and NYPA want too. Unfortunately it's also the thing the environmental left he's been close to refuses to budge on!👇 151
Reposted by Fred StaffordHeatmap News @heatmap.news · 04/11/2025It's election day in New York City. Should he win, writes @fredstaffordcs.bsky.social, frontrunner Zohran Mamdani will have the chance to buck the left's increasingly nonsensical stance against nuclear energy development. Read more in this piece from our Ideas section ⤵️:heatmap.newsZohran Mamdani Should Embrace NuclearThe New York mayoral frontrunner has an opportunity to shift the left’s increasingly nonsensical position on a critical carbon-free energy source. 553
Reposted by Fred StaffordAlexander C. Kaufman @alexckaufman.bsky.social · 04/11/2025Really good op-ed by @fredstaffordcs.bsky.social on why Zohran Mamdani should embrace nuclear power. heatmap.news/ideas/zohran...heatmap.newsZohran Mamdani Should Embrace NuclearThe New York mayoral frontrunner has an opportunity to shift the left’s increasingly nonsensical position on a critical carbon-free energy source. 011
Reposted by Fred StaffordMatt Huber @matthuber.bsky.social · 11/09/2025I've been profoundly depressed seeing so many leftists either joke about or celebrate the murder of someone for political speech. Glad to see this political clarity from @benburgis.bsky.social and Meagan Day in @jacobinmag.bsky.social. jacobin.com/2025/09/char... 10214
Fred Stafford @fredstaffordcs.bsky.social · 10/08/2025Some thinkers on the left have convinced everyone there's nothing to see here, the ideas expressed in Abundance are just neoliberalism rebranded, etc. They're wrong. Read our review essay to understand what left critics miss, what problems they conspicuously refuse to recognize. 120
Reposted by Fred StaffordSeaver Wang @wang-seaver.bsky.social · 07/08/2025Recommend @matthuber.bsky.social @leighphillips.bsky.social @fredstaffordcs.bsky.social in @jacobinmag.bsky.social as a key intervention on abundance. Both private market interests + an NGO-govt-legal bureaucracy hinder abundance. Class struggle must overcome both to deliver a plentiful future. 162
Reposted by Fred StaffordMatt Huber @matthuber.bsky.social · 07/08/2025A really nice engagement with our Abundance piece (in the context of a stale/toxic debate). "I’ve seen so much online discourse devolve into purity tests, tactical pessimism, and knee-jerk hostility. This piece cuts through that." stephnakhleh.substack.com/p/jacobins-s...stephnakhleh.substack.comJacobin's socialist case for abundanceWith notes and astonishments from a reader who expected to disagree 172
Reposted by Fred StaffordOlivia Gonzalez Killingsworth 🌹🦾 🐜 @oliviakillingsworth.com · 03/08/2025"Those of us... who come from the Left and remain connected to industrial labor — can tell you plainly: it’s both unaccountable markets *and* an unaccountable NGO-academia-legal bureaucratic class that are stalling public progress." 063
Reposted by Fred StaffordMatt Huber @matthuber.bsky.social · 03/08/2025I was confused by the wholesale Left rejection of "Abundance" both bc it's central to the general socialist project & bc the book itself has valuable insights. So here finally is our sympathetic/critical review of the book & its critics (w @leighphillips.bsky.social & @fredstaffordcs.bsky.social). 2227
Reposted by Fred StaffordJacobin @jacobinmag.bsky.social · 02/08/2025Abundance is the precondition of socialism, but socialism is also the precondition of abundance.jacobin.comAbundance for the 99 PercentAbundance is the precondition of socialism, but socialism is also the precondition of abundance. 0307
Reposted by Fred StaffordYakov Feygin @buddyyakov.bsky.social · 16/07/2025@fredstaffordcs.bsky.social knocks it out of the park with this. The NYPA nuclear announcement should be celebrated as one of the most critical experiments in rebuilding state capacity in the country. The way we win is with big public investment at all scales: jacobin.com/2025/07/hoch...jacobin.comAtomic Abundance and Its EnemiesWrangling over the construction of nuclear power in New York State has revealed the priorities of some of the state’s biggest environmental lobbies. For them, creating bureaucratic procedures they can... 1307
Reposted by Fred StaffordSeaver Wang @wang-seaver.bsky.social · 03/06/20252. Decarbonization as a longterm goal = eventually need to replace the gas (nuclear, geothermal, gas+CCS, hydrogen). That something’s big competitor is precisely the solar/storage/gas combo. Establishing the clean alternative to gas probably requires reshaping market rules favoring solar/gas today. 141
Reposted by Fred StaffordSeaver Wang @wang-seaver.bsky.social · 03/06/2025For more neoliberal center-left Abundance stans: 1. Private independent solar power producers’/asset managers’ interests are not going to be neatly aligned with clean, reliable energy abundance. Be warned. 193
Reposted by Fred StaffordSeaver Wang @wang-seaver.bsky.social · 03/06/2025Part of me has been feeling the time is approaching for a reckoning with the implicit solarmaxxing of both much of the Abundance movement *and* its critics. The next 10 yrs is when these political groups must grapple deeply with the grid and power markets. 🧵 242
Reposted by Fred StaffordAlexander C. Kaufman @alexckaufman.bsky.social · 01/05/2025Scoop on @latitudemedia.bsky.social: Utah is betting on a new developer to revive its nuclear dreams a year and a half after the NuScale deal collapsed. Holtec is setting up a permanent hub in the state to train a workforce and deploy projects to build its SMR-300 reactor across the Mountain West. 163
Reposted by Fred StaffordFred Stafford @fredstaffordcs.bsky.social · 28/04/20251/ NEW from me & @matthuber.bsky.social from the new Damage Magazine print issue, Responsibility: WON'T SOMEBODY PLEASE THINK OF THE GRID? Now online for all to read. 🧵 damagemag.com/2025/04/28/w... 284
Reposted by Fred StaffordSeaver Wang @wang-seaver.bsky.social · 28/04/2025Great new piece from @matthuber.bsky.social @fredstaffordcs.bsky.social in @damagemag.bsky.social Are we optimizing for GW of wind/solar by 2030, CO2 by 2050, or degrees C by 2100? Rather we strive for a society more fair, just, free + prosperous, now + in the future. damagemag.com/2025/04/28/w...damagemag.comWon’t Somebody Please Think of the Grid?Liberals and the Left tend to ignore the importance of a reliable electricity system, pushing visions of rooftop solar and 100% renewables out of line with the reality of our electrical grid. A respon... 132
Fred Stafford @fredstaffordcs.bsky.social · 28/04/20251/ NEW from me & @matthuber.bsky.social from the new Damage Magazine print issue, Responsibility: WON'T SOMEBODY PLEASE THINK OF THE GRID? Now online for all to read. 🧵 damagemag.com/2025/04/28/w... 284
Reposted by Fred StaffordFred Stafford @fredstaffordcs.bsky.social · 12/11/2024A generation of liberals have abandoned the core financial tool that America's flagship public power system uses to grow, seeking privately procured renewables instead. For America and for its own decarbonization, it's time for TVA to go nuclear again. www.thenation.com/article/envi...thenation.comThe Case for Public Nuclear PowerWith additional funding, the Tennessee Valley Authority could provide union jobs, kick-start American industrial production, and help the world go green. 0104
Reposted by Fred StaffordMichael McLean @michaelmclean.me · 05/04/2025Democrats have spent a lot of political capital to restart Palisades nuclear plant in Michigan. The Environmental Law and Policy Center, based in Chicago, is trying their hardest to slow it down. Why? www.nrc.gov/docs/ML2506/...nrc.gov 1162
Reposted by Fred StaffordXiao Wang @xiaowang1984.bsky.social · 17/02/2025I want to preface by saying that broadly I agree with Tyler's aim that if the datacenters can connect to the grid with a far greater amount of volumetric sales than infrastructure upgrades that they drive, then they can be greatly beneficial to all ratepayers and the costs of the system. 191
Fred Stafford @fredstaffordcs.bsky.social · 03/04/2025Unpopular post below but it needs to be pointed out to all the liberals rightfully angry that Trump and GOP are futzing with TVA in a way that may - emphasis on *may* - be precursor to breaking it up somehow. Your fav industry has been ready for it. 000
Reposted by Fred StaffordFred Stafford @fredstaffordcs.bsky.social · 03/04/2025As fate of TVA hangs in the air, consider one group that might be licking their chops at prospect of breaking it up: the renewables industry & cheerleading enviro nonprofits. In recent report on TVA, industry group ACORE floated privatization of TVA transmission as good for renewables. 11/ 111
Reposted by Fred Staffordryan cooper @ryanlcooper.com · 03/04/2025traveling in and reporting on the Nordics has really soured me on American style subcultural bohemian leftism. actually existing egalitarian institutions rely on a lot of dutiful, virtuous, boring ass bureaucrats 813363497
Reposted by Fred StaffordFred Stafford @fredstaffordcs.bsky.social · 02/04/2025TVA has submitted SEC filing about this 2nd Board member departure and about the lack of quorum. They summarize what this means below. If GOP called on TVA to do something new with nuclear, then they cannot do any such thing until Trump appoints and Senate confirms someone. 9/ 181
Reposted by Fred StaffordFred Stafford @fredstaffordcs.bsky.social · 02/04/2025Unclear why Trump is breaking TVA; he's said nothing this term. But local GOP argued, absurdly, TVA Board cared more about DEI than building new nuclear needed by Valley. Is it about nukes? Or do they just want to break up our largest public power? 2/ bsky.app/profile/fred... 3176
Reposted by Fred StaffordFred Stafford @fredstaffordcs.bsky.social · 02/04/2025On the flip side, liberals & the left have ignored TVA entirely, except for misleading accusations that it's a bad, dirty, monopoly utility, thanks to environmental NGOs and those concerned more with rooftop solar individualism than electricity grids. 2/2 www.publicpowerreview.org/p/why-tvas-g...publicpowerreview.orgWhy TVA's Grid is Greener than Greens GrantThe Tennessee Valley Authority is "one of the dirtiest utilities" according to many environmental nonprofits and to their sympathetic journalists, politicians, and wonks. They're all wrong. 011
Reposted by Fred StaffordFred Stafford @fredstaffordcs.bsky.social · 02/04/2025It'll take months for Trump to appoint, Senate to confirm, a new TVA Board member for quorum. Any decisions about new projects, nuclear or o/w, won't happen soon. Hopefully in meantime, hostile GOP & disinterested Dems in Congress will pass leg enabling TVA to build again. 8/ 1102
Reposted by Fred StaffordFred Stafford @fredstaffordcs.bsky.social · 02/04/2025🚨 Trump has now broken the Tennessee Valley Authority 🚨 Having now fired 2 board members & after starting with only 6 of 9 seats filled, Trump has decimated TVA's independent board of directors. They no longer have quorum needed to decide anything. 1/ www.knoxnews.com/story/news/p...knoxnews.comTrump fires TVA board chair, stripping power from governing body of largest US public utilityAfter the Trump administration fired another TVA leader without a stated reason, the board was left without a quorum to conduct business. 1014980
Fred Stafford @fredstaffordcs.bsky.social · 02/04/2025🚨 Trump has now broken the Tennessee Valley Authority 🚨 Having now fired 2 board members & after starting with only 6 of 9 seats filled, Trump has decimated TVA's independent board of directors. They no longer have quorum needed to decide anything. 1/ www.knoxnews.com/story/news/p...knoxnews.comTrump fires TVA board chair, stripping power from governing body of largest US public utilityAfter the Trump administration fired another TVA leader without a stated reason, the board was left without a quorum to conduct business. 1014980
Fred Stafford @fredstaffordcs.bsky.social · 01/04/2025GOP continues its attack on TVA and TVA Board independence. This local Congressman is neglecting to mention that the independent Board hiring a CEO to manage the utility is precisely the arrangement his party set up in 2000s. 072
Reposted by Fred StaffordAlexander C. Kaufman @alexckaufman.bsky.social · 31/03/2025Big milestone: X-energy -- the reactor company Amazon backed -- and Dow Chemical just submitted a construction permit to build what could end up being the first nuclear-powered industrial site in North America. x-energy.com/media/news-r...x-energy.comDow and X-energy Submit Construction Permit Application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for Proposed Advanced Nuclear Project in Texas — X-energyProject supported by U.S. DOE’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program Represents a key milestone toward bringing advanced nuclear energy to fruition in the U.S. MIDLAND, Michigan ... 244