iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Jesse D. Jenkins

David Roberts @volts.wtf · 25/03/2026

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.

volts.wtf

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.

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Jesse D. Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com · 19/01/2026

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

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Stephen Jarvis @stephenjarvis.bsky.social · 11/01/2026

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.

resources.org

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.

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Stephen Jarvis @stephenjarvis.bsky.social · 11/01/2026

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

youtube.com

What is Hedging? | Oil and Commodities Trading

YouTube video by International Business House

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Reposted by Jesse D. Jenkins

Stephen Jarvis @stephenjarvis.bsky.social · 11/01/2026

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.

npr.org

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...

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Stephen Jarvis @stephenjarvis.bsky.social · 11/01/2026

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.

heatmap.news

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.

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Stephen Jarvis @stephenjarvis.bsky.social · 11/01/2026

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... 🧵

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Heatmap News @heatmap.news · 06/01/2026

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...

heatmap.news

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.

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Heatmap News @heatmap.news · 07/01/2026

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...

heatmap.news

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.

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Tyler Norris @tnorris.bsky.social · 07/01/2026

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

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Jesse D. Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com · 04/01/2026

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/... 🔌💡 🔌🚗

insideevs.com

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.

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Jesse D. Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com · 24/12/2025

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.

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Robinson Meyer @robinsonmeyer.bsky.social · 17/12/2025

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:

heatmap.news

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.

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Heatmap News @heatmap.news · 17/12/2025

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...

podcasts.apple.com

Say ‘Guten Tag!’ to This New Kind of Geothermal Tech

Podcast Episode · Shift Key with Robinson Meyer and Jesse Jenkins · 12/17/2025 · 44m

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Jesse D. Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com · 18/12/2025

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...

wsj.com

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.

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Jesse D. Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com · 17/12/2025

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! 🔌💡

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Jesse D. Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com · 15/12/2025

US demands EU exempt its gas from methane emissions law until 2035, document shows share.google/cDYT3BTSwXw3... This is why the US should not have canned EPA methane reg, and why most big gas players supported the regs. Lower US methane leaks = more globally competitive product

share.google

US demands EU exempt its gas from methane emissions law, document shows

The U.S. has demanded that the European Union exempt its oil and gas from obligations under the bloc's methane emissions law on fuel imports until 2035, a U.S. government document seen by Reuters show...

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Jesse D. Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com · 09/12/2025

Silicon anodes are coming to market! Huge improvement in energy density (400 Wh/kg!) and charge rates (10 min rapid charging) for Li-ion batteries, and an alternative to graphite, which is almost all sourced from China now. This is one area where US could regain leadership in battery tech. 🔗⤵️ 🔌🚗 🔌💡

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Jesse D. Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com · 07/12/2025

The US Department of Energy approved an $8.6 million grant that will allow the nation’s first utility-led geothermal heating and cooling network (in MA) to double in size. www.canarymedia.com/articles/uti... 🔌💡

canarymedia.com

First utility-owned geothermal network to double in size with DOE…

The $8.6 million grant for Eversource’s pioneering project in Framingham, Massachusetts, is a rare win for renewable energy under the Trump administration.

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Jesse D. Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com · 05/12/2025

New Jersey's legislature is considering clarifying E-bikes as motorized vehicles requiring license, registration and insurance. That is nuts and would deny a huge range of people an ideal and affordable mobility solution. A terrible idea. share.google/HGvRZ77w9SqE... 🔌💡

share.google

Critics oppose plan for new e-bike regulations in NJ • New Jersey Monitor

Bike enthusiasts oppose a bill that would do away with the state's three-tier system for classifying electric and motorized bikes.

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Jesse D. Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com · 05/12/2025

How batteries got cheaper and made power grids more reliable www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/b... #upshift 🔌💡

nytimes.com

Once a Gamble in the Desert, Electric Grid Batteries Are Everywhere

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Jesse D. Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com · 05/12/2025

A flexible approach with “bring-your-own-capacity” could connect data centers faster and save hundreds of millions in system supply costs, says a report from Camus, encoord and Princeton | Utility Dive share.google/9HgK3R5h3KYh... 🔌💡

share.google

Flexible connections and BYOC could reduce data center burden: report

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Jesse D. Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com · 05/12/2025

Closed loop (Eavor) and enhanced geothermal (Fervo) technologies, both of which are now operating commercially, can expand geothermal from a gigawatt-scale resource available in just a few places to a terawatt-scale resource available practically everywhere! #Upshift

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Jesse D. Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com · 05/12/2025

The WSJ reports on the historic news yesterday that Eavor has begun operations of the first commercial-scale multilateral closed loop geotherm power project in the world! It's not every day that a new power tech has its "world's first" moment. Don't miss this www.wsj.com/articles/a-g... 🔌💡

wsj.com

Exclusive | A Geothermal Company Wants to Use New Technology to Heat an Old German Town

A project in Bavaria is harnessing high temperatures from deep beneath the earth to provide a community with warmth in the winter and to power the local grid in the summer.

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Jesse D. Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com · 04/12/2025

DOE doled out $400 million each to Holtec and TVA today to advance deployment of "small" modular reactors through the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program. 🔌💡

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Jesse D. Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com · 04/12/2025

A huge milestone in new energy technology: as of today, Eavor Technologies is producing clean power (and heat) with the first commercial, utility-scale multilateral closed-loop geothermal project in the world! Congratulations to the whole Eavor team. More details via the link below. 🔌 💡

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Reposted by Jesse D. Jenkins

Heatmap News @heatmap.news · 03/12/2025

New on SHIFT KEY: 2025 has been a wild and wacky year for climate policy. What did @robinsonmeyer.bsky.social and @jessedjenkins.com get right about what to expect — and what did they get wrong? Listen to the full episode here or wherever you get your podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...

podcasts.apple.com

The Biggest Lessons of a Not-So-Great Year for Climate Policy

Podcast Episode · Shift Key with Robinson Meyer and Jesse Jenkins · 12/03/2025 · 1h 1m

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Jesse D. Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com · 04/12/2025

This week on SHIFT KEY, it's 2025 Wrapped. How cold are our old hot takes? What did we get right and wrong on the biggest energy transition news stories of the year? Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

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Jesse D. Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com · 04/12/2025

How do we connect data centers to the grid quickly and avoid driving up costs for other electricity consumers? The solution: a 2-part combo of flexible interconnection agreements & bring-your-own-capacity (BYOC) arrangements, according to a new report out today from Camus, my ZERO Lab, and encoord.

A new report diagrams how Flexible Interconnection and Bring-Your-Own-Capacity (BYOC) can connect data centers to the grid faster while avoiding shifting costs to other electricity consumers.

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Jesse D. Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com · 25/11/2025

The first batteries rolled off the production line at Toyota’s new $14 billion battery plant in Liberty, North Carolina. The plant will produce batteries for hybrid, plug-in hybrid & electric models, which Toyota plans to make up 70% of its sales by 2030 electrek.co/2025/11/17/t... 🔌💡 🔌🚗

electrek.co

Toyota's 1,850-acre EV battery plant is live, but the company says this is just the start

Toyota’s $14 billion US battery plant is now up and running. The mega site spans 1,850 acres, or about 121...

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Reposted by Jesse D. Jenkins

Severin Borenstein @severinborenstein.bsky.social · 25/11/2025

Very interesting episode of the Shift Key podcast on what AI boom is doing to clean energy and what might happen if it is a bubble that leaves bankrupt data center companies and potentially unused grid capacity. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h... 🔌💡

podcasts.apple.com

How Clean Energy Could Prepare for an AI Bubble

Podcast Episode · Shift Key with Robinson Meyer and Jesse Jenkins · 11/19/2025 · 1h 19m

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Jesse D. Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com · 24/11/2025

Nuclear reactor developer X-Energy closed a $700m funding round, bringing its total haul over the past 13 months to $1.4b, as it races to bring online a new reactor design and fulfill offtake agreements with Amazon, Dow etc. www.ft.com/content/59d9... 🔌💡

ft.com

Amazon’s X-energy gets backing from Jane Street as investors bet big on nuclear

Reactor developer closes fundraising round as markets expect atomic energy will power the AI boom

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Jesse D. Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com · 22/11/2025

First Solar just opened a $1.1 billion integrated solar PV manufacturing plant in Louisiana capable of producing 3.5 gigawatts of panels each year. The plant will employ >700 people electrek.co/2025/11/21/f... 🔌💡

electrek.co

First Solar opens a Louisiana factory that’s 11 Superdomes big

First Solar opens a massive $1.1 billion solar factory in Louisiana, adding 3.5 GW of new US capacity and more than 800 well-paid jobs.

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Heatmap News @heatmap.news · 19/11/2025

On this week's SHIFT KEY: @robinsonmeyer.bsky.social and @jessedjenkins.com wonk out with @advaitarun.bsky.social about project financing for data centers. Is it a bubble? And if so, what will that mean for clean energy? Listen to find out: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...

podcasts.apple.com

How Clean Energy Could Prepare for an AI Bubble

Podcast Episode · Shift Key with Robinson Meyer and Jesse Jenkins · 11/19/2025 · 1h 19m

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Jesse D. Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com · 20/11/2025

Battery export boom: China has exported approximately $60 billion in battery energy storage systems and components in the first three quarters of 2025, up 24% from last year www.reuters.com/markets/comm... US export comparisons in 2024: Soy, $25b. LNG, $28.9b. Auto exports, $59.2b. 🔌💡

reuters.com

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Jesse D. Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com · 14/11/2025

Excited to share real-world progress from two companies I advise. 1. Eavor is ready to 'fire up' their first of a kind closed loop geothermal combined heat and power plant in Bavaria in December. share.google/3A9DOhmyE0LF... 🔌💡

share.google

Eavor set to begin start-up of closed-loop geothermal pilot

Eavor aims to bring its closed-loop geothermal pilot in Geretsried, Germany online before year-end, marking a cautious step toward next-generation geothermal.

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Jesse D. Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com · 14/11/2025

Solar and wind are covering ALL new power demand worldwide in the first three quarters of 2025 electrek.co/2025/11/13/s... #upshift 🔌💡

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Kendra "Gloom is My Beat" Pierre-Louis @kendrawrites.com · 07/11/2025

The podcast Article of Interest did a fascinating podcast episode on the zipper. It's a complicated piece of technology whose existence is new and not a given - we had plenty of other fasteners - snaps and buttons. And while YKK is now the world's largest zipper maker the zipper was invented in NJ

articlesofinterest.substack.com

New Episode: Zippers

Perhaps the least-likely invention

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Jesse D. Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com · 07/11/2025

SPP (the Southwest Power Pool, serving the central Great Plains states) approved a new regional transmission plan with $8.6 billion in projects, including ~950 miles of ultra-high voltage 765 kV lines, and with estimated benefits 18X the costs www.spp.org/documents/75... More of this please! 🔌💡

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Robinson Meyer @robinsonmeyer.bsky.social · 06/11/2025

There’s 40 gigawatts of spare capacity sitting around in Americans’ driveways. Why aren’t we using it to keep down electricity rates? On this week’s episode of Shift Key, @jessedjenkins.com and I chat with the cofounder and CEO of a company trying to do just that: heatmap.news/podcast/shif...

heatmap.news

How EVs Can Actually Help the Electricity Crisis

Rob and Jesse touch base with WeaveGrid CEO Apoorv Bhargava.

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Jesse D. Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com · 06/11/2025

How's this for energy abundance? Millions of Aussies will start receiving three hours of free power each day in 2026. This is what happens when you make rooftop solar less than a buck a watt!! "Rooftop solar installations cost about $840 (U.S.) per kilowatt of capacity before rebates." 🤯 🔌💡

For years, Australians have been been installing solar panels at a rapid clip. Now that investment is paying off.

The Australian government announced this week that electricity customers in three states will get free electricity for up to three hours per day starting in July 2026.

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Jesse D. Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com · 05/11/2025

Today on SHIFT KEY: will EVs be bad or good for the grid? It all depends on how we coordinate charging (or don't), and today's guest is leading the charge to make charging cleaner, cheaper, and grid friendly. Listen wherever you get your podcasts or @heatmap.news heatmap.news/podcast/shif... 🔌💡

heatmap.news

How EVs Can Actually Help the Electricity Crisis

Rob and Jesse touch base with WeaveGrid CEO Apoorv Bhargava.

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Jesse D. Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com · 04/11/2025

Cost estimates for new gas power plants just keep rising! www.utilitydive.com/news/gas-pow... 🔌💡

According to Enverus, capital costs for new natural gas power plants now average $2,200/kW to $3,000/kW. An analysis by GridLab adds another $1,500/kW levelized for the 20-year cost of fuel and $500/kW for pipeline infrastructure, putting the cost of new gas generation at $4,000/kW to $4,500/kW.

Kevin Smith, CEO of Arevon Energy, spent years working on natural gas projects alongside nuclear and renewables before transitioning to focus on renewables exclusively. He suggested there was a ceiling to how much gas could be built to meet near-term demand given the prices, pipeline constraints and interconnection queues.

“Tens of gigawatts of new generation from natural gas is likely at least five years away, if not more,” Smith said.

Table: Comparison of typical cost and flexibility characteristics for various gas generation technologies: Natural Gas Combined Cycle, Natural Gas Combustion Turbine, NGCT Aeroderivative, and Reciprocating Internal Combustion Engine plants. From Ascend Analytics’ report on thermal generation.

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Kai Ryssdal @kairyssdal.bsky.social · 30/10/2025

Tariff rate on China is still something like 45%, fyi

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