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Kevin O’Rourke

@krorourke.bsky.social
1.2K followers 120 following 34 posts

SVP, Development & Public Affairs, ACORE Working with philanthropy to accelerate 🇺🇸 wind, solar, storage deployment Co-founder, lead of ACORE’s Macro Grid Initiative

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Kevin O’Rourke @krorourke.bsky.social · 08/12/2025
ICYMI: new report with Grid Strategies out on the various “queue rationing” proposals. Report finds: “Queue Rationing Often Anti-competitive, Hurts Consumers” and proposes a two-path framework for interconnection queue reform. More: acore.org/wp-content/u...
acore.org
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Joshua Basseches @joshuabasseches.bsky.social · 01/10/2025
The Trump administration's strategy seems to be weaponizing law to achieve ideological and/or material interests, but the legal case is often shallow and not well thought out. That's why legal mobilization rather than caving is critical. heatmap.news/energy/revol...
heatmap.news
How Trump’s Case Against Revolution Wind Fell Apart
The administration argued in the name of national defense — but Orsted had receipts.
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Michael Grunwald @mikegrunwald.bsky.social · 04/09/2025
Note to lefties who think RFK Jr. is terrible on vaccines but makes sense about agriculture: He is terrible on agriculture, too. You should ask yourself why you’re nodding along with the anti-science brain worm guy.
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Clare Fieseler, PhD @fieseler.bsky.social · 25/08/2025
My story about Revolution Wind dropped. Trump just halted construction of the offshore wind farm due to "national security." NEW: Navy, Army Corps, and Coast Guard raised "no major military issues" during a 2009-2015 federal task force that sited Rev Wind where it's now being built, says insider.
canarymedia.com
Trump admin halts construction of nearly finished offshore wind farm
Ørsted's Revolution Wind project off the coast of Massachusetts and Rhode Island is hit with a stop-work order over vague "national security" concerns.
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Joshua Basseches @joshuabasseches.bsky.social · 26/05/2025
Big Tech wants clean energy tax credits. Repealing them would make electricity costs higher, both for them and for you. www.utilitydive.com/news/repeali...
utilitydive.com
Repealing energy tax credits would raise electricity costs, study says
The Clean Energy Buyers Association, which represents big tech companies and other large off-takers, said the Republican budget proposal could hurt their members.
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Kevin O’Rourke @krorourke.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
The U.S. needs more grid capacity. Panel of expert offers bipartisan solutions to ensure reliable, low-cost service. Register here: acore.swoogo.com/SinkorSwim?u...
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John Hanger @jrfhanger.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
Good morning with good news: Solar, batteries, and wind will be 93% of the utility-scale capacity added to US grid in 2025! That does NOT include ~8 GW of small solar. Utility-scale solar will double from 91 GW to 182 GW in 3 years (2023-2026). Great! #energysky pv-magazine-usa.com/2025/04/11/u...
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Macro Grid Initiative @themacrogrid.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
🚨 Join ACORE on April 22 at 1 p.m. ET for a webinar about a new report from The Brattle Group. With demand expected to rise significantly in the coming years, this report showcases how ATTs are an important tool for meeting this load growth. Register here: acore.swoogo.com/ReducingEner...
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Simon Mahan @simonmahan.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
Wind energy providing >60% of the electricity this morning in the Southwest Power Pool region. Parts of Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas have negative power prices thanks to wind. #energysky #arleg #arpx
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Robbie Orvis @robbieorvis.bsky.social · 23/03/2025
www.forbes.com/sites/energy...
forbes.com
790,000 Jobs, $160 Billion GDP: Shocking Costs Of Inflation Reduction Act Repeal
Inflation Reduction Act repeal would harm America's economy, costing 790,000 jobs, cutting $160 billion in GDP, and forcing families to pay $32 billion in energy costs
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Kevin O’Rourke @krorourke.bsky.social · 23/03/2025
“Solar and energy storage accounted for 84% of new electricity generation capacity added to the U.S. power grid last year” www.reuters.com/business/ene...
reuters.com
Solar accounted for 84% of new US power added in 2024, report says
Solar energy accounted for 84% of new electricity generation capacity added to the U.S. power grid last year, but the industry faces a challenging future with the new U.S. administration's energy policies, a report published on Tuesday said.
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Kevin O’Rourke @krorourke.bsky.social · 13/02/2025
Glad to see PJM and FERC adopt our recommendations. Devil will be in details of implementation, but an important step forward. Kudos to colleagues @gabetabak.bsky.social and Melissa Alfano at SEIA, as well as the team at Gabel Associates. Our report: acore.org/resources/re...
acore.org
ReSISting a Resource Shortfall: Fixing PJM's Surplus Interconnection Service (SIS) to Enable Battery Storage
PJM risks a shortfall of electricity, yet continues to apply processes that discourage the deployment of battery energy storage.
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Jesse D. Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com · 04/02/2025
The US’s largest solar cell factory is now online in South Carolina electrek.co/2025/02/03/u... 🔌💡
electrek.co
The US's largest solar cell factory is now online in South Carolina
ES Foundry will become the largest producer of crystalline silicon solar cells in the US with the launch of its new factory in South Carolina.
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Brendan Pierpont @brendan.bsky.social · 24/01/2025
In today's earnings report, NextEra Energy makes the case for renewables and storage as least-cost resource to meet growing US electricity demand. www.investor.nexteraenergy.com/~/media/File...
Slide from NEE earning deck showing relative cost of firmed generation resources from wind+storage, solar+storage, combined cycle gas and nuclear SMR, showing renewables and storage as "least cost energy and capacity resources". Also shows a graph of expected demand growth and diagram of technology availability by timeframe.
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Kevin O’Rourke @krorourke.bsky.social · 26/01/2025
Energy dominance requires non-discriminatory efforts to promote all forms of low-cost domestic energy. Senator Capito (R-WV) is right to question the efficacy of this EO.
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Kevin O’Rourke @krorourke.bsky.social · 24/01/2025
“the idea that you would have a pro-business administration trying to stop private companies from taking economically appropriate action on private land is just so out of step with the role of government that we’re expecting they’re going to clarify their intent.”
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Kevin O’Rourke @krorourke.bsky.social · 20/01/2025
Thank you for your service. Important point embedded here: American energy dominance depends on low-cost, reliable power. Continuing to utilize public-private partnerships is necessary to rapidly scale the infrastructure necessary to bring that power online.
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Macro Grid Initiative @themacrogrid.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
The DOE has finalized $1.5 BILLION in capacity contracts for four major transmission projects 💰 Made possible in part by Grid Deployment Office funding, these projects will bolster the grid’s capacity and reliability across the U.S. ⚡️ subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eene...
subscriber.politicopro.com
E&E News: DOE finalizes major power line contracts
The deals commit $1.5 billion to transmission projects as the Biden administration races to finalize clean energy funding before Donald Trump's inauguration.
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James Hewett @jameshewett.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
LPO has announced 3 additional transmission-related commitments for nearly $6B: • $3.52B to PacifiCorp, 700 miles of new lines in ID, OR, & UT • $1.6B to AEP to finance reconductoring 5,000 miles of transmission in IN, MI, OH, OK, & WV • $716M to JCP&L to help fund the NJ Clean Energy Corridor 🔌💡
energy.gov
Deal Digest: LPO’s Latest Conditional Commitments Help Keep Power Affordable Through New Generation and Expanded Transmission for Utility Customers in Twelve States
On January 16, 2024, LPO announced eight conditional commitments through its Title 17 Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment (EIR) program, comprising $22.92 billion to utilities serving more than 14.78 m...
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Macro Grid Initiative @themacrogrid.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
Sec. of Energy nominee Chris Wright to Sen. Martin Heinrich: "I'm aligned with you and will seek to find the best ways to improve our transmission grid, including expansion and new lines." The U.S. must build regional and interregional lines while deploying GETs and HPCs to meet growing demand.
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Kevin O’Rourke @krorourke.bsky.social · 13/01/2025
“The nation’s infrastructure is once again at a critical juncture. Strategic competition with China on artificial intelligence is straining the U.S. power grid, as new data centers are struggling to come online due to challenges in connecting to new power generation.”
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Miles Farmer @mfarmer.bsky.social · 08/01/2025
MISO is leading the path forward in building new transmission to drive economic growth and grid reliability: www.utilitydive.com/news/midwest... @ferc.gov
utilitydive.com
Midwest to lead in ‘build, baby, build’
MISO has proven itself as a national leader in regional transmission planning — and other regions should take note.
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Kevin O’Rourke @krorourke.bsky.social · 08/01/2025
“Whether it was James Monroe's advocacy for new roads, canals, and bridges; Abraham Lincoln’s leadership enabling transcontinental railways; or the federal highway system championed by Dwight D. Eisenhower, public-private infrastructure partnerships have reliably served as an economic catalyst.”
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Kevin O’Rourke @krorourke.bsky.social · 07/01/2025
Presidents Monroe, Lincoln, and Eisenhower all delivered 🇺🇸 economic prosperity through enabling infrastructure investment. Winning in strategic competition with China will once again require a leap forward in infrastructure. My column: nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A...
nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com
Infrastructure Investment: The Key to Energy Dominance & Economic Prosperity
A common thread among these seemingly disparate challenges is a lack of adequate transmission lines connecting America’s balkanized power grids.
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Kevin O’Rourke @krorourke.bsky.social · 31/12/2024
As 2024 comes to a close, here’s to pursuing hard challenges with integrity and persistence. May 2025 yield even greater personal and professional heights for those that pursue that path.
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Kevin O’Rourke @krorourke.bsky.social · 20/12/2024
Important work by regional clean energy orgs on moving transmission policy forward often goes unnoticed. Shout out to Francis Pullaro of RENEW Northeast (who isn’t on this platform) for leading this work. And thanks to @aripeskoe.bsky.social for flagging.
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Kevin O’Rourke @krorourke.bsky.social · 14/12/2024
ICYMI: Huge win for business in the Midwest last week. Infrastructure enables economic opportunity. And nice coverage of our webinar. www.rtoinsider.com/93855-miso-b...
rtoinsider.com
MISO Board Endorses $21.8B Long-range Transmission Plan
The MISO board approved a landmark, 24-project, mostly 765-kV collection of transmission lines and facilities at a cost of $21.8 billion.
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Kevin O’Rourke @krorourke.bsky.social · 11/12/2024
Happening tomorrow: webinar to cover what could be a historic transmission expansion to enable the lowest-cost power - which is now renewable energy - in the Midwest. With lots of headwinds for US renewable energy growth, this is a very bright spot worth amplifying.
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Kevin O’Rourke @krorourke.bsky.social · 07/12/2024
Economic prosperity depends on infrastructure to enable low cost energy. We’re convening leading wind, solar, and transmission experts to discuss a potentially historic expansion of the Midwest grid. If approved, it will enable more low-cost renewable power than any approval in 🇺🇸 history.
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Michael Thomas @michael-thomas.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
From a new report released this morning: The U.S. added 9.3 GW of solar manufacturing capacity in Q3. Total capacity is now ~40 GW, which is about how much solar we'll deploy in 2024. This is the result of smart climate/industrial policy under the Biden administration. seia.org/news/us-sola...
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Kevin O’Rourke @krorourke.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
Next week the Board of Directors for the Midwest grid operator will vote to approve the largest transmission expansion in U.S. history. If approved, the 24 high voltage lines will deliver more than $23B in net benefits in their first 20yrs in service. Register: www.eventbrite.com/e/midwest-do...
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Governor Tony Evers @govevers.wisconsin.gov · 04/12/2024
Democracy is not a prophecy; it is self-actuating. We must choose every day to continue this grand experiment. We must choose every day to accept the duty our forebears entrusted to us. We must choose every day to affirm the certainty of this legacy for future generations.
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Adam Kinzinger @adamkinzinger.substack.com · 01/12/2024
Insane article. The vast majority of this increase is because we were exposed to burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan. It’s our generation’s agent orange. As a burn pit veteran myself, the economist is absolutely wrong here. My guess is there were no burn pit vets on the board that wrote this
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Jesse D. Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com · 24/11/2024
Crypto: it's >90% speculation. Not an alternative currency. It's tulips (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulip_m...).
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Kevin O’Rourke @krorourke.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
Lots of great opportunities in this thread, including one on our team (last post).
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Kevin O’Rourke @krorourke.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
Additional panelist added from CSIS. America can only win in strategic competition with China if we have a power grid that delivers low-cost, reliable power.
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Kevin O’Rourke @krorourke.bsky.social · 19/11/2024
The 🇺🇸 economy depends on reliable infrastructure. And keeping the power grid reliable means building more interregional transmission. Join ACORE & other policy experts on 11/25 to talk prospects for interregional transmission expansion. All-Star lineup: www.eventbrite.com/e/acore-webi...
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Tyler Norris @tnorris.bsky.social · 16/11/2024
To anyone in the energy/power space who isn't on this list but wants to be, lmk and I'll add you! #EnergySky 🔌💡
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