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katie brigham

@kbrigham.bsky.social
12K followers 504 following 418 posts

climate tech reporter (or energy dominance, energy security, resilient infra etc. etc. reporter) at @heatmap.news | signal: katieb.40 📍 Seattle, WA

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Reposted by katie brigham
Emily Pontecorvo @emilypont.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
I wrote about "project certainty" in the new permitting bill, looking at past examples like Obama vetoing the Spruce coal mine and Biden rejecting Keystone XL as case studies to show how the bill would (and would not) constrain executive power over energy projects. heatmap.news/politics/baa...
heatmap.news
What a President Can and Can’t Do Under the Senate Permitting Bill
How the bill would have affected (or not affected) the Keystone XL pipeline, the Lava Ridge wind farm, and other major project proposals.
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katie brigham @kbrigham.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
permitting bonanza continues! i weigh in on the climate tech industries/companies that stand to benefit most from the senate's new permitting bill
heatmap.news
The Climate Tech Winners and Losers of the Senate’s Permitting Bill
Spoiler: They’re mostly winners.
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Reposted by katie brigham
JP @jpbrammer.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
opened chess dot com today. the bots are Halloween-themed. this is a huge relief because if they hadn't been Halloween-themed I would have done something drastic. I would have lost control
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katie brigham @kbrigham.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
it's a good day for good news. last summer i wrote about how plug-in balcony solar is starting to catch on domestically. and lo, just a few mins ago california officially jumped on the bandwagon, clearing the way for residents to install these small-scale systems
bloomberg.com
California Joins Growing Plug-In Solar Boom as Power Costs Surge
The state is the 10th to allow so-called balcony solar as officials grapple with soaring electricity bills.
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katie brigham @kbrigham.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
some of us hoped for that @zeitlin.bsky.social
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Reposted by katie brigham
Costa Samaras @costasamaras.com · 01/10/2026
Katie’s referring to us (laudatory)
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katie brigham @kbrigham.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
hi energy freaks, as you surely know, the senate has a permitting deal! heatmap explains!
heatmap.news
The Senate’s Big Bipartisan Permitting Deal, Explained
The Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act would remove longstanding roadblocks to expanding the power grid and developing new energy infrastructure. Here’s our guide.
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Reposted by katie brigham
Robinson Meyer @robinsonmeyer.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Under the new bipartisan permitting bill, AI data centers and crypto miners would have to report their energy use to the federal government for the first time. This is already required for other large energy users. Has been long sought for data centers by Elizabeth Warren and others.
SEC. 2114. COLLECTION OF DATA ON COMPUTATIONAL
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LOAD ENTITIES.
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(a) DEPINITION OF DATA CENTER ENTITY.-
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(1) IN GENERAL.-In this section, the term
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"data center entity" means an end-user, or group of
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co-located end-users, the primary purpose of which
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is to house computing, networking, or data storage
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equipment used to process, store, or transmit digital
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data, including equipment used for
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(A) artificial intelligence training or infer-
=
ence;
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(B) cloud computing or data hosting; or
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(C) cryptocurrency mining or other distrib-
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uted-ledger or digital-asset computation.
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(2) ExcLUSION.—In this section, the term
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"data center entity" does not include computing or
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data storage equipment that is ancillary to a facility
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the primary purpose of which is commercial or in-
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dustrial activity other than an activity deseribed in
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paragraph (1).
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(b) DATA COLLECTION.—Not later than 90 days be-
22 fore the first April 1 after the date of enactment of this
23 Act, the Administrator of the Energy Information Admin-24 istration shall revise Form 861 of the Energy Information
25 Administration to include load from data center entities.
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Reposted by katie brigham
Kevin J. Kircher @kevinjkircher.com · 30/09/2026
The Senate's permitting bill text is up. It's way too big/complex for anyone who didn't have early access to digest today, so beware hot takes, but this bit (p. 54 line 9) is funny: If an agency misses a deadline, the agency head can't travel >25 miles from their desk til the agency submits the doc.
energy.senate.gov
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katie brigham @kbrigham.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
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katie brigham @kbrigham.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
leaving aside the broader debate about whether it would be a useful or terrible intervention, this is a good piece on the true cost of solar geoengineering and its potential impact on CDR market
climatemoney.substack.com
"Cheap" geoengineering is coming. Here's what it's really going to cost.
“Cheap” solar geoengineering is coming. Here’s what it’s really going to cost.
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katie brigham @kbrigham.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
dashboard from the Sustainable AI Group here: cleerdash.sustainableaigroup.com
cleerdash.sustainableaigroup.com
CLEER Dashboard | AI Inference Energy+CO2e
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katie brigham @kbrigham.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
great @emilypont.bsky.social story about a new initiative to quantify the energy intensity and emissions of proprietary AI models from Google, Anthropic, and OpenAI
heatmap.news
Which AI Models Use the Most Energy?
A new dashboard from the Sustainable AI Group, founded by artificial intelligence alums, estimates the relative energy intensity of proprietary tools.
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katie brigham @kbrigham.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
in which i talk to a lot of investors and learn a big new word! another successful climate week in the books ✔️✔️✔️ heatmap.news/daily/ai-cli...
heatmap.news
How AI Split Climate Tech in Two
Plus more venture capital musings on Day 4 of New York Climate Week.
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katie brigham @kbrigham.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
we had a big day!! hap NY climate week to all ✌️
heatmap.news
Everything Happened at Heatmap House
Tales from a day of “thoughtful dialogues on energy, climate change, and human lives” on Day 3 of New York Climate Week.
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katie brigham @kbrigham.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
banger graph from @emilypont.bsky.social tracking how democrats' climate languaging has shifted with the release of their new climate policy agenda heatmap.news/politics/dem...
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Reposted by katie brigham
Zeke Hausfather @zekehausfather.com · 14/09/2026
US Energy Data is an awesome new dashboard by @hannahritchie.bsky.social and the @ifp.bsky.social team that takes data from the inimitable DOE EIA and makes it far more accessible to the broader community: usenergydata.org
usenergydata.org
Understanding America's energy system
Track and understand the numbers behind US energy — year by year, and state by state.
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Reposted by katie brigham
Our World in Data @ourworldindata.org · 14/09/2026
📝 New article on Our World in Data: Is organic farming better for the environment than conventional farming? One of the most common questions we’re asked about food systems is whether organic farming is better for the environment than conventional methods.
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katie brigham @kbrigham.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Odyssey Energy Solutions just raised $74 million to help small solar installers in emerging markets like nigeria and india access the financing and equipment they need to build distributed solar — supplementing unreliable national grids as diesel costs climb and energy demand surges
heatmap.news
Odyssey Energy Raises $74 Million to Supercharge Small-Scale Solar
Across the Global South, distributed energy is “leapfrogging a centralized grid,” Odyssey’s cofounder told Heatmap.
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Reposted by katie brigham
Matt Zeitlin @zeitlin.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
It's very very hot in Texas. But the grid is fine. Electricity prices are manageable. What happened? 🔋🔋🔋🔋BATTERIES!!! 🔋🔋🔋 heatmap.news/energy/texas...
heatmap.news
The Texas Grid Has Had a Boring Summer Thanks to Batteries
Temperatures are high, but electricity drama is low.
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katie brigham @kbrigham.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
the US is in the midst of a historic nat gas buildout — with much of it tied to data centers, many of the biggest projects going off-grid, and a meaningful chunk of it dirtier than the last big gas boom in the 2000s
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Reposted by katie brigham
David Roberts @volts.wtf · 25/08/2026
More pushback against the recent "glass half full" analysis of OBBB impacts. "Economy-wide, the GOP tax law eliminates between 67% and 85% of the emissions reductions projected under the IRA, bringing us back nearly to the No IRA world."
heatmap.news
A ‘Glass Half Full’ Isn’t Enough to Fight Climate Change
We have run out of time for half measures, argues the Natural Resources Defense Council’s head of climate science and policy.
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Reposted by katie brigham
Albert Pinto @70sbachchan.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
Imagine if hundreds of people died in hurricane or floods smashing through Europe Heatwaves have already killed that many ppl. They are a silent killer in that they dont generate outrage or fear. Hope this by @economist.com helps save lives as Europeans wake up to danger bsky.app/profile/eate...
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katie brigham @kbrigham.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Pacific Fusion just broke ground in Albuquerque on a $1 billion fusion reactor designed to do what no company or lab ever has before: produce more energy than the entire machine consumes, by 2030
heatmap.news
Pacific Fusion Just Broke Ground on a $1 Billion Test Reactor
The New Mexico facility aims to achieve net energy gain by 2030.
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Reposted by katie brigham
Emily Pontecorvo @emilypont.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
The biggest fossil fueled power plant EVER BUILT IN THE US.... will get an environmental assessment, the less rigorous review under the national environmental policy act... and complete permitting in just 7 months, per the Trump admin. yep
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Reposted by katie brigham
Robinson Meyer @robinsonmeyer.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
narrative violation: some left-wing voices have spent the past few days yelling at david crowley to endorse a data center moratorium in response to GOP attacks. but his data center policies are *already* generally far more restrictive than abdul el-sayed’s heatmap.news/daily/data-c...
heatmap.news
The Data Center Trojan Horse
The last week of Wisconsin’s politics show the risks of the data center issue for Democrats — and decarbonization.
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Reposted by katie brigham
Leah Stokes @leahstokes.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Stunning reporting from @ericklinenberg.bsky.social on how climate change driven extreme heat in Europe is reshaping the continent. Must read.
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Reposted by katie brigham
Justin Gerdes @justingerdes.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
"The theoretical potential of California’s demand response strategy has far outpaced the realized grid benefits," writes @kbrigham.bsky.social. “Load flexibility has underdelivered for a long time,” says GridLab's @ricoconnell.bsky.social: heatmap.news/energy/calif... 🔌💡
heatmap.news
Exclusive: How California Could Unlock Its Distributed Energy Potential
A new report from a coalition of energy and data analytics organizations offers recommendations for the country’s demand response leader.
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katie brigham @kbrigham.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
in which @jeva.bsky.social reviews the infamous DAC soda!!!
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Reposted by katie brigham
Elizabeth Picciuto @epicciuto.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
breaking: sometimes the left wins and sometimes the centrists wins: stunning new evidence that voters use more than one criterion to judge candidates
nytimes.com
Hong’s Defeat in Wisconsin Shows the Limits of the Progressive Movement
Francesca Hong’s defeat in the Democratic primary for governor defied expectations and may have shown the democratic socialist wave cannot reach beyond urban centers.
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katie brigham @kbrigham.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
reminder that not everything is terrible courtesy of @robinsonmeyer.bsky.social heatmap.news/daily/batter...
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Reposted by katie brigham
Serena Larkin @serenalarkin.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
the only thing making me ever want to be a homeowner is the possibility of installing these sexy appliances @kbrigham.bsky.social @heatmap.news:
heatmap.news
We’ve Got Sexy Heat Pumps. Now It’s Time for Sexy Water Heaters.
Boston-based startup Reservoir has raised an $8 million seed round to commercialize heat pump-powered water heaters.
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katie brigham @kbrigham.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
ICYMI, nuclear is having a moment. but what’s especially hot is TINY nuclear: scaled-down designs known as SMRs and microreactors intended for data center and military customers. many industry experts warn we’re in a big ol’ hype cycle, and that the economics will never pencil out. i explore!
heatmap.news
Data Centers Are Fueling a Tiny Nuclear Hype Cycle
Money is pouring into small modular and microreactor startups. But there can only be so many winners.
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Reposted by katie brigham
Leah Stokes @leahstokes.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
The conventional wisdom is the Democrats' big climate law failed to deliver votes and then died. That's wrong. My new study finds its factories moved 2.5 million votes—more than Trump's margin. And the law's still alive. My latest in @theatlantic.com. Gift link! www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
theatlantic.com
Bidenomics Was More Successful Than People Think
Conventional wisdom holds that Joe Biden’s bet on climate investment was a bust. The data suggest otherwise.
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Reposted by katie brigham
Jeva Lange 🫎 @jeva.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Unlike the Ontario wildfires, which were mostly burning in the woods, these fires have now burned through urban areas, making the smoke extra, extra toxic. Take the AQI warnings seriously this week, PNW neighbors.
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katie brigham @kbrigham.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
climate tech companies are all trying to cash in on the ai boom— including clean cement startups. but the data center buildout can only take them so far
heatmap.news
How Clean Cement Startups Are Riding the AI Boom
Data centers are a big test for the nascent industry. But they also can’t fill the orderbooks.
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Reposted by katie brigham
Matt Zeitlin @zeitlin.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
big @jael.bsky.social scoop: developer clearway isn't going forward with its data center and gas plant proposal (that had already been swapped out for an existing solar proposal) heatmap.news/sparks/clear...
heatmap.news
Scoop: Clearway Cancels Plan to Swap Solar Farm for Data Center and Gas Plant
The energy developer is backing off after a Heatmap report.
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katie brigham @kbrigham.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
more $$ for commonwealth fusion systems! the company just brought in a slew of new institutional investors, with sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, and the like betting that fusion is finally for real
heatmap.news
Commonwealth Fusion Systems Wins Over New Class of Investors With $1 Billion Raise
Risk-averse but deep-pocked institutional investors join the party.
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Reposted by katie brigham
jae holzman @jael.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
The first data center approved on federal lands was greenlit through backroom talks, questionable legal arguments and uncertainty around who even engaged with the Trump administration in the first place. What’s happening in Nevada is a national story.
heatmap.news
How the Trump Administration Turned a Solar Farm Into a Data Center
The local government of Boulder City, Nevada had previously rejected a proposal for the computing facility, which would draw power from the existing electricity supply.
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katie brigham @kbrigham.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
🤖🤖🤖
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katie brigham @kbrigham.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
climate tech VCs are pouring $$ into quantum computing startups. but is quantum really climate tech? i asked around to see why climate VCs are betting on qubits — and if the case holds up...
heatmap.news
Is Quantum Computing Climate Tech?
Investors are piling into startups that promise to solve hard problems using little energy. But that doesn’t mean the answer is ‘yes.’
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Reposted by katie brigham
Heatmap News @heatmap.news · 23/07/2026
The dream of feeding power back onto the grid from EVs has long remained stubbornly out of reach. Now, Massachusetts is running a new pilot program to make it a reality. @kbrigham.bsky.social has the exclusive: heatmap.news/electric-veh...
heatmap.news
Exclusive: Massachusetts EV Owners Can Now Get Paid to Power the Grid
A new 60-home pilot program aims to expand vehicle-to-grid charging.
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katie brigham @kbrigham.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
good one from @emilypont.bsky.social on a new effort to calculate companies' AI emissions, including both model training and inference. turns out that's a really really hard thing to do (largely because AI providers are keeping relevant data a secret!)
heatmap.news
A New Guesstimate for Corporate AI Emissions
Frontier model developers still keep their energy use largely a secret, but Watershed is proposing a new formula that will at least get you close.
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Reposted by katie brigham
Mr. Joshua @pantspants.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
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katie brigham @kbrigham.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
heatmap.news/daily/data-c...
heatmap.news
AI Data Centers Are a Good Problem for Blue States to Have
New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania advance a flurry of new ideas to manage the boom.
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katie brigham @kbrigham.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
👇👇👇 by @robinsonmeyer.bsky.social
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Keith D. Patch @keithdpatch.com · 14/07/2026
Much progress since 2024 when I attended a Symposium at MIT on #GeologicHydrogen, including #OrangeHydrogen, where manmade catalysts speed production. Katie @heatmap.news updates us on geologic hydrogen startups Anning and Hydrify, as well as Brint Tech. #WhiteHydrogen #hydrogen #H2
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Reposted by katie brigham
David Roberts @volts.wtf · 14/07/2026
An amazing quote from Lindsey Graham in this Atlantic story. It really captures an essential truth about politics that too few people ever really come to terms with. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
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katie brigham @kbrigham.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
green hydrogen costs $4–12/kg to produce. hunting for natural hydrogen has attracted $400 million+ with little to show for it. now, a new class of startups says it can engineer the subsurface to generate hydrogen for under $1/kg -- no electrolyzers, fossil fuels, or natural deposits required
heatmap.news
The Next Big Thing in Hydrogen
“Geologic hydrogen” companies make up a hefty portion of the latest Activate Fellowship class, announced Tuesday morning — a reliable harbinger of investments to come.
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Reposted by katie brigham
Matt Zeitlin @zeitlin.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
all energy generation is getting more expensive in LCOE terms and it's even hitting gas....in part because demand is so high heatmap.news/energy/lazar...
heatmap.news
Solar Is Still Pretty Cheap — But Everyone Wants Natural Gas
Five takeaways from the latest Lazard Levelized Cost of Energy report.
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