More Juice

Turns out the Big Brains who are supposed to be figuring all this out have miscalculated how much electricity the U.S. will nedd in the coming decades. oops. “Right now everyone’s getting caught flat-footed” by rising demand for electricity, said John Wilson, a vice president at Grid Strategies. Just didn't see it coming, all these new data centers and crypto mines and increased manufacturing. So they will have to biuld many more gas fired plants and keep coal and oil plants running longer than expected. To meet the demand, you see. The growth. If a wave of new gas-fired plants gets approved by state regulators, he said, “it is game over for the Biden administration’s 2035 decarbonization goal.” Turns out Peak demand in the summer is projected to grow by 38,000 megawatts nationwide in the next five years. Like adding another California to the grid. So we see once again that declaring climate goals is a lot like declaring the need for more humanitarian aid to Gaza. Pretty words. The reality is not so pretty as fires burn in the Amazon, as each month sets a new record for high temperature, blah blah blah. In a related article, Brazil has announced it is upping gas and oil production to record levels. “We will not give up that prerogative,” the energy minister said, “because others are not doing their own sacrifice as well.” They look at the hollow promises of rich countries and ask why they should have to lead the effort to de-carbonize.