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Jesse D. Jenkins

@jessedjenkins.com
31K followers 2.7K following 4K posts

Macro-energy systems engineering, optimization & policy. Associate professor at Princeton University. Leads the ZERO Lab. Co-hosts SHIFT KEY podcast. Time100 Next & TIME100 Climate honoree. More at linkedin.com/in/jessedjenkins & zero.lab.princeton.edu

PostsRepliesMedia
Jesse D. Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com · 08/04/2026
UK used to do pay as bid. It's a terrible system. Incentives are all messed up.
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Jesse D. Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com · 08/04/2026
No. But you can hedge consumers against it.
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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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Jesse D. Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com · 16/01/2026
@emildimanchev.bsky.social specifically did modeling on this years ago.
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Jesse D. Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com · 16/01/2026
Finally! Bravo.
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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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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" “T​​he 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 · 07/01/2026
7 numbers explain why building electrification is taking off in the USA, via @canarymedia.com www.canarymedia.com/articles/car... 🔌💡 #upshift
canarymedia.com
7 numbers that explain why the future of buildings is all-electric
Key indicators, from the cost of fossil gas to the number of heat pumps sold, signal building decarbonization will march onward in the U.S. despite…
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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 · 28/12/2025
Net-Zero America had three PIs and was originated before I joined the faculty at Princeton. None of the funding for my group came from Exxon.
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Jesse D. Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com · 27/12/2025
Never taken a dime from Exxon bro. BP. As explained at length elsewhere, including here x.com/i/status/200... Get your big evil funders straight. All my ZERO Lab funding is listed here zero.lab.princeton.edu/mission-peop...
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Jesse D. Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com · 24/12/2025
🤣🤣🤣
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Jesse D. Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com · 24/12/2025
For more, see my thread in the other place here x.com/i/status/200... and here x.com/i/status/200...
x.com
Jesse D. Jenkins on X: "Okay. I finally read the op ed. @MattYglesias 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 any" / X
Okay. I finally read the op ed. @MattYglesias 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 any
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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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Jesse D. Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com · 24/12/2025
Thanks for your leadership on this paper Nick!
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Nick Mailloux, PhD @nckmllx.bsky.social · 22/12/2025
New preprint up assessing the air quality and health benefits that could have been possible under the Inflation Reduction Act. Huge effort here with Erin Mayfield, Jamil Farbes, @jessedjenkins.com, Ryan Jones, Tracey Holloway, and @jonathanpatz.bsky.social.
zenodo.org
Air quality and health effects of U.S. energy transitions
Transitioning the U.S. energy system has the potential to improve public health by reducing ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) exposure. We develop an integrated modeling framework, coupling ener...
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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
Listen to this week's Shift Key podcast on Eavor's first-of-a-kind geothermal project, which went online in Bavaria this month, @heatmap_news heatmap.news/podcast/shif... or wherever you get your podcasts. 🔌💡
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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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
And ideally treat large loads and generators symmetrically. What's the difference between a data center with a generator and a battery? They both can consume and inject power from/to the grid.
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Jesse D. Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com · 15/12/2025
"PowerChina has launched its 2026 centralized equipment procurement program, issuing tenders covering ... 35 GW of wind turbines, 31 GW of solar modules and 31 GW of solar inverters for 2026 projects, with bids due by Dec. 24, 2025." 🔌💡
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Jesse D. Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com · 15/12/2025
A single Chinese state-owned company is buying more solar panels and wind turbines to deploy in 2026 than the entire US market is likely to build. www.pv-magazine.com/2025/12/15/c... 🔌💡
pv-magazine.com
Chinese PV Industry Brief: PowerChina launches 31 GW solar procurement
China Power Construction Corp. (PowerChina) has launched a 31 GW solar module tender for 2026 projects, split across n-type tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon), heterojunction (HJT) and back-cont...
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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 · 15/12/2025
I think 20% is just their first increment, not a hard ceiling. That's a BIG EavorLoop system already.
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Jesse D. Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com · 15/12/2025
This system is down ~4 km and in >150C temps, so I dont think worrying about freezing is an issue.
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Jesse D. Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com · 15/12/2025
And they dont use heat pumps.
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Jesse D. Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com · 15/12/2025
😂
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Jesse D. Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com · 09/12/2025
insideevs.com/news/781257/...
insideevs.com
This Silicon Anode Breakthrough Could Mark A Turning Point For EV Batteries
A fully graphite-free silicon anode has shown stable performance at high temperatures, potentially paving the way for wider applications.
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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 · 07/12/2025
That is a sensible policy. I use an EU/UK-compliant cargo E-bike (the Urban Arrow), and it is excellent. Unfortunately, that is not what NJ has proposed!
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Jesse D. Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com · 05/12/2025
Classifying not clarifying
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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
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 University’s ...
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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
More here www.energy.gov/ne/generatio...
energy.gov
Generation III+ Small Modular Reactor Program
Generation III+ Small Modular Reactor Program
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Jesse D. Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com · 04/12/2025
Holtec will build a pair of their 300 MW pressurized water reactors at Palisades, MI (which they're also getting loan guarantee support and grant funds to restart) and TVA + GE Hitachi will build a pair of their BWRx-300 MW reactors at Clinch River, TN (which they're also building in Ontario). 🔌💡
energy.gov
Generation III+ Small Modular Reactor Program
Generation III+ Small Modular Reactor Program
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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
More via Eavor press release here eavor.com/press-releas...
eavor.com
Eavor Technologies Achieves First Electricity Production at Geretsried Site - Eavor
Calgary, Alberta, Canada — Revolutionary Project Signals a New Era for Geothermal Energy
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