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Ric O'Connell @ricoconnell.bsky.social · 25/06/2025

If only we had something that could transfer power between regions...? Although the map is looking pretty red everywhere - maybe ERCOT could be exporting? 🔌💡

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Ric O'Connell @ricoconnell.bsky.social · 24/06/2025

Gonna be a long hot night on the east coast. @gridstatus.io Check out the prices in NYISO - almost $1,500/MWh.

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Ric O'Connell @ricoconnell.bsky.social · 24/06/2025

@gridstatus.io - great shot of the heat wave driving up prices across the Eastern Interconnect. But Texas? Doing just fine thanks to solar, wind and storage - prices are muted even at 6:00 Central. 🔌💡 Also, war sucks.

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Ric O'Connell @ricoconnell.bsky.social · 18/06/2025

Check out the ERCOT Large Load queue. F*ing wild. 156GW on an 80 GW system, more than *doubled* since December. 20 GW under study (pretty firm!).

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Ric O'Connell @ricoconnell.bsky.social · 16/06/2025

Here's Adam Keech, VP at PJM, stating that inter-regional transmission won't help PJM "because other regions don't have excess capacity" - has he not hear of coincident peak? This is from the FERC conference on Resource Adequacy last week.

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Ric O'Connell @ricoconnell.bsky.social · 09/06/2025

Here's a great visual from EIA on Natural Gas prices in the short term. Check out the upper bound!

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Ric O'Connell @ricoconnell.bsky.social · 05/06/2025

Look at this gorgeous chart from @gridstatus.io on the energy transition in California. Those that said solar would not be able to replace gas were wrong. The drop in gas from 2023 to 2024 is real, but it also includes a change in the way @californiaiso.bsky.social tracks gas generation. 🔌💡

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Ric O'Connell @ricoconnell.bsky.social · 30/05/2025

Transmission Congestion 101. This is the snapshot of the Entergy New Orleans load shed event. Look at the negative pricing (dark blue) just ~200 miles away from the $2,000/MWh (dark red) in Southern LA #EnergySky @gridstatus.io

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Ric O'Connell @ricoconnell.bsky.social · 30/05/2025

A great visualization of how the @californiaiso.bsky.social grid has changed dramatically. Here's the 2020 load shed event (Aug 15-16 - left) compared to the same days 4 years later. Look at how much solar and storage have changed the power mix - so much less imports and gas. @gridstatus.io

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Ric O'Connell @ricoconnell.bsky.social · 22/05/2025

2/ This new accreditation regime was bad for solar and storage, storage got roughly what a gas CT did - 60%. Solar was a measly 13% - this is what happens when the risk moves to winter. Then PJM did an analysis assuming gas winterized. That shifts risk to summer - and behold, ELCC's shoot up

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Ric O'Connell @ricoconnell.bsky.social · 19/05/2025

Affordability of electricity is crucial if we are going to use the grid to decarbonize other sectors. Distribution system capital deployment continues to outstrip other sectors (generation, transmission). Not clear what we are getting for all those $$. #EnergySky

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Ric O'Connell @ricoconnell.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

Great takeaway from Aurora and @douglewin.bsky.social modeling what would happen should TX pass this awful bill. Killing clean energy will drive up prices, and likely more than than this, because more gas demand will also drive gas prices us (h/t to @robinsonmeyer.bsky.social for pointing this out)

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Ric O'Connell @ricoconnell.bsky.social · 10/05/2025

Battersea Power Station. 500 MW of art deco power. Highly recommended if you are in London. Bar in the old control room! Lift to the top of one of the smokestacks! #EnergySky

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Ric O'Connell @ricoconnell.bsky.social · 08/05/2025

Touring Great Britain’s energy sector to learn about Flexibility with seven super sharp state commissioners. Hot takes coming soon. #EnergySky

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Ric O'Connell @ricoconnell.bsky.social · 02/05/2025

🔌💡 #PJM published its final RRI list of "Queue Jumping" projects. Less batteries than the previous (now just 2.2 GW), and less gas upgrades (just 2 GW). 6 GW of new gas. Check out ~900 MW of new nuclear - that's Three Mile Island restart! Nearly 12GW of new resources online by 2030/31.

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Ric O'Connell @ricoconnell.bsky.social · 02/05/2025

🔌💡So nice to see some yellow in #MISO and #PJM energy mix today. 12 GW of solar in each RTO! It's starting to get significant.

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Ric O'Connell @ricoconnell.bsky.social · 21/03/2025

Here come the batteries! 26 GW of batteries! This installation curve is steeper than the early 2000's gas boom. It's the battery boom! #EnergySky

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Ric O'Connell @ricoconnell.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

#ERCOT screaming away at over 85% Carbon free again today, with negative prices. Fun to be in Austin for #ESIG when the grid is flexing like this. @gridstatus.io #EnergySky

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Ric O'Connell @ricoconnell.bsky.social · 12/03/2025

5/ Generation and Distribution are roughly equivalent at about 45% of the customer bill (each). Rooftop solar does not provide significant distribution deferral value. It can only defer the generation portion of the bill, but it receives full retail credit under NEM. This is the major issue with NEM

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Ric O'Connell @ricoconnell.bsky.social · 10/03/2025

@californiaiso.bsky.social - has only 16 GW of utility scale solar online, almost 10 GW less than #ERCOT (but if you add rooftop back in, CA is probably close to TX?). CA's record utility scale solar is ~19GW. But Solar is 60% of load in CA - only 50% in TX. #EnergySky @gridstatus.io

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Ric O'Connell @ricoconnell.bsky.social · 10/03/2025

Hot Damn. 25 GW of solar in #ERCOT. Over 50% of generation. @gridstatus.io #EnergySky

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Ric O'Connell @ricoconnell.bsky.social · 09/03/2025

This is such a great chart from @wilson-energy.bsky.social, @robgramlichdc.bsky.social and team. Let's remember where we came from so we can navigate the future. We have dealt with load growth before, and it's a good thing. Flat load wasn't great for customer bills. #EnergySky

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Ric O'Connell @ricoconnell.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

#ERCOT has been running at 85% clean today: 75% wind and solar and 10% nuclear. You would have been laughed out of the room if you predicted this 10 years ago. But the smallest interconnection in North America is cranking away at 75% variable resources. Beautiful sight. @gridstatus.io #EnergySky

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Ric O'Connell @ricoconnell.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

Look at that incredible #ERCOT market today. Nice to have good news in these crazy times. 60% wind and solar. 70% carbon free. 100% awesome. May be even better for TX Independence Day tomorrow. Oh, 20GW of thermals offline. #EnergySky

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Ric O'Connell @ricoconnell.bsky.social · 27/02/2025

Wind, Solar and Batteries (look at those 18 GW!) are going to make up most of the new capacity installed this year. Thanks #EIA www.eia.gov/todayinenerg... 🔌💡

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Ric O'Connell @ricoconnell.bsky.social · 27/02/2025

#PJM solar is going hockey stick. In winter. This is huge. Let’s hope batteries follow. @gridstatus.io #EnergySky

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Ric O'Connell @ricoconnell.bsky.social · 24/02/2025

Distribution costs are closing in on Generation in California, in terms of revenue requirement. My sense is once the high cost legacy RE contracts drop off in the next 5+ years, Distribution will be more than generation. Wires > Electrons. #EnergySky

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Ric O'Connell @ricoconnell.bsky.social · 24/02/2025

The rent is too damn high. And by "rent" I mean distribution costs. #EnergySky (from the DOE VPP Liftoff report)

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Ric O'Connell @ricoconnell.bsky.social · 19/02/2025

Hey look at that solar in MISO! It's the middle of winter and MISO is breaking solar records. Over 10GW in MISO, look at the steep adoption curve. Can't wait for what we see this summer. #EnergySky @gridstatus.io

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Ric O'Connell @ricoconnell.bsky.social · 13/02/2025

This slide from NextEra is the roadmap for how we move forward during this administration that is open hostile to clean energy. It's about speed and savings. Clean energy is the only thing that is ready to deploy now, and is low cost. #EnergySky

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Ric O'Connell @ricoconnell.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

Thank goodness someone is working on this #EnergySky

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Ric O'Connell @ricoconnell.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

Hey - @iso-ne.com is here on BlueSky and look at that grid right now! almost 25% BTM solar, 30% nuclear, and 8% wind - that's roughly 2/3 clean energy! Prices are...zero!

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Ric O'Connell @ricoconnell.bsky.social · 20/01/2025

#EnergySky #ERCOT looking good this morning thanks to 3.3 GW of storage dispatching before solar came ramping up, also - 20% of energy from Wind doesn't hurt! Prices below $60/MWh. Nice work Texas - Batteries save consumers $$ and keep the lights on even when it is COLD. @gridstatus.io

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Ric O'Connell @ricoconnell.bsky.social · 07/01/2025

#ERCOT made it through a winter peak morning, almost 70 GW, with the help of nearly 3 GW of Battery Storage. This is the way. @gridstatus.io #EnergySky

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Ric O'Connell @ricoconnell.bsky.social · 17/12/2024

Why does Australia get a renewable energy Agency and the US can’t manage? #EnergySky

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Ric O'Connell @ricoconnell.bsky.social · 17/12/2024

Powerwall sighting. Watsons bay, Sydney. Love me some Australian Distributed storage.

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Ric O'Connell @ricoconnell.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

This is gas generation for a CAISO peak solar day in 2023 compared to 2024. 2024 has more solar, and a lot more BESS. Striking how the gas dispatch looks almost flat. @bpbartholomew.bsky.social would make a nicer graph. (CAISO changed gas gen reporting in late 2023 - but I don't think material)

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Ric O'Connell @ricoconnell.bsky.social · 03/04/2024

You must provide *this* much voltage support to inject real power. UK version.

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Ric O'Connell @ricoconnell.bsky.social · 15/01/2024

Here’s a great visual on what cold weather does to power demand. This is ERCOT load today (green line) vs the last 30 days. Blue line is average. Thanks Grid Status!

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