Rob Gramlich

Pres of Grid Strategies LLC, Co-founder @Cleanenergygrid, @WATTCoalition, @PwrMrktsForum. Ex-@ferc, @pjminterconnect, @USCleanPower. #energytwitter

[Rob Gramlich @RobGramlichDC]

Excellent short video explaining #transmission and #cleanenergy! ⁦@Maddie_Marshall⁩ did a fantastic job and I tried to offer some commentary. Closest to an Emmy I will ever get! ⁦@CleanEnergyGrid⁩ ⁦@ACORE⁩ ⁦@TheMacroGrid⁩ ⁦ https://t.co/Ca9tB1zRpf

[Rob Gramlich @RobGramlichDC]

@ChristieFERC I look forward to seeing you. We will surely disagree on some things but we CAN talk college sports. I’m sure the committee won’t mind. PS did you see the Final Four?

[Rob Gramlich @RobGramlichDC]

Key insight from @daniel_wolf1 : the options can work together. You can get a more granular energy market (C) with state-overseen economic hedging (A). You can also find more and more interruptible loads of different flavors working with retail regulators (B).

[Daniel Wolf @daniel_wolf1]

I just finished reading PJM’s seventy-page market design white paper (so now you don’t have to!)

(Thread)

[Daniel Wolf @daniel_wolf1]

I just finished reading PJM’s seventy-page market design white paper (so now you don’t have to!)

(Thread)

[Rob Gramlich @RobGramlichDC]

YES and YES!

[Jeff Dennis @EnergyLawJeff]

🚨Do you enjoy nerding out on transmission cost allocation? Does adding another tab to your "reports to read" window warm your heart?

Well I have good news. ECA, with Grid Strategies and ACEG, is out with a new primer on transmission cost allocation and cost recovery. 🧵 1/

[Rob Gramlich @RobGramlichDC]

When we look back 20 years from now and realize the biggest barrier was contractors’ training and incentives. My experience tracked with this one. ⬇️

[Andy Slye @slye]

Most HVAC contractors in America are trying to keep you in the 1990s.

I had $15,000 cash to spend on a cold-climate heat pump.

Nearly every contractor I contacted tried to talk me out of it or over-quote me an outrageous amount to deter me away.

One guy spent 20 minutes explaining why variable-speed heat pumps are a scam. Another literally said he wouldn’t put one in his own house.

Why? My guess:

1) They are ignorant of the latest technology

2) They don’t have the training to install/service the new systems

3) Their pockets get filled from big box old school HVAC manufacturers if they sell them

Unfortunately, a new HVAC for most homeowners is very urgent so these contractors use this time crunch to overcharge or upsell inferior systems.

Luckily, I bought a couple of $130 window AC units to hold me over for 2 weeks while I reached out to 15+ contractors.

I received quotes ranging from $10,000 to over $24,000. Only 2 of the quotes included a modern cold-climate heat pump.

After price matching and negotiations, I ultimately chose a Daikin Aurora Fit cold-climate inverter heat pump + 97% modulating gas furnace (true dual-fuel setup)

Total cost after rebates = $13,000

This system usually goes for around $20,000.

Here are the key takeaways I wish I had known before I started shopping:

1. Always demand a real Manual J load calculation. Don’t settle for a “rule of thumb” or register count. I had 3 different contractors give me 3 different sizes until one actually ran proper software.

2. True variable-speed inverter technology is worth it especially in a multi-level home. It runs longer at lower speeds, gives much better dehumidification, smoother temperatures, and is noticeably quieter.

3. Dual-fuel (heat pump + high-efficiency gas furnace) is often the smartest move in mixed climates (like my home in Louisville). The heat pump handles most of the year efficiently while the furnace only kicks in on the coldest days (if necessary)

4. Shop aggressively and negotiate hard. Buy yourself some time with some temporary/portable units. I got competing quotes and used them to drive the price down significantly.

5. Duct sealing, correct sizing/tonnage, and proper installation matter more than most people realize especially in older homes.

6. Have a detailed checklist to vet each contractor. An extremely helpful guide I had throughout the process was from @energysmartwv

So why did I insist on cold climate heat pump?

• Way better temperature balance upstairs (even without zoning)

• Excellent dehumidification in humid summers

• Significantly quieter operation

• I’m expecting to save $60/month on electricity

• Less reliance on gas and possibly eliminating the need altogether

Modern cold-climate heat pumps are no longer experimental. They’re one of the smartest upgrades most homeowners can make right now.

Do your homework to make sure you are getting the best system possible for your home. Don’t let old school contractors keep you in the past.

Have you installed (or considered) a heat pump in a cold or mixed climate? Were the contractors helpful or did they try to talk you out of it?

[ABC News @ABC]

This woman just made ultramarathon history in 56-hour, 250-mile run in Arizona.

Rachel Entrekin won the Cocodona 250 outright in a 56-hour, 250+mile effort, beating the entire men’s field, setting a new course record, and marking a landmark moment in ultrarunning history.

[Katherine Argent @effthealgorithm]

Search is full of ads and wrong answers. Every other email is an ad. Prime Video charges you and shows ads. Paramount? Ads. Peacock? YouTube? Hulu? Ads followed by more ads. Netflix full of ads. Meta and X, every other thing is an ad. Pinterest is nothing but ads. AI is in everything. AI finishes sentences incorrectly and won’t stop. AI reads your email and search history to target you with more ads. Every time you open an app or visit a site there’s an update making it worse. In a hurry? First, click here to agree to terms you don’t have time to read and must accept. You need an account to do that. Change your temporary password. Enter your 2FA code. Check your email and enter that code. Now use a passkey. Your password is too simple to remember. Change it. No, not like that. Now log on. Enter your 2FA code. Check your email for a code… Welcome back! We’ve updated our terms of service and privacy policy (you have none). Subscribe to the site. Subscribe to Netflix. Subscribe to toilet paper. Subscribe to these groceries. Pay a membership fee for the right to subscribe then tip your driver who delivers the subscriptions your membership lets you subscribe to. Time to work? We’ve got to update your laptop and will slow down everything you do until you agree to update. But first, click here to agree. Update installed — your laptop’s broken now. It doesn’t matter, since your boss just replaced you with AI. Go to your phone to complain on social media. Wait, your phone needs an update so we can add more AI. Click here. Oh sorry, your phone can’t handle this update. Now it’s useless. Go get the newest phone. Here’s a text from a friend, an email, a voice mail they left three days ago but you didn’t see until now because of sync problems with the cloud. It’s their GoFundMe. Their MLM. Their Patreon. Never mind, you didn’t respond to their text within 9 minutes and now you’re no longer friends. They blocked you. Make new friends. Download this app to find people in your area. In your neighborhood. On your street. Two doors down from you. Do you know this person yet, we think you’d get along. You need an account to use this app. That username is taken. Enter a password. Not that one, you used it on another site. You need to be connected to WiFi to download the app. Allow the app to connect to other devices on your network. Allow the app to access your contacts, know your precise location, store your credit card details. Oops, sorry, we got hacked now all that info is available on the web. There’s a class action suit. You can join. It’ll take a decade to get your $3.73 share of the ten billion settlement. We’ll send it via PayPal or deposit it to your bank, just tell us those details. Oh no, another hack. That info is circulating now, too. Here’s a spam call, a spam email, a spam text. Why are you angry? Why are you talking about getting rid of your phone? Why don’t you like AI, it lets us make all of this easier? Do you know how ridiculous that sounds? This is progress. You’ll be left behind. Do you want to be left behind? Do you???

[California ISO @CaliforniaISO]

BIG NEWS: Our first Frequency Band podcast episode is LIVE! 🎙️ Rob Gramlich (@RobGramlichDC) from Grid Strategies and Kyri Baker (@kyrib) from CU Boulder join us to talk grid innovation. ⚡

🎧 Stream it now and let’s power up energy conversations: https://t.co/uELXgJt3wE

[Thomas Hochman @ThomasHochman]

Vibe shift: @NRDC just called for permitting reform

[Rob Gramlich @RobGramlichDC]

Go blue! Freshman daughter thinks this is normal.

[Rob Gramlich @RobGramlichDC]

@ChristieFERC Missing in this story (and almost all discussions about this topic) is restructuring lesson #1 from California 2000-2001: small retail customers should be hedged. A state can and should direct LSEs to procure power and capacity bilaterally. Rate base is not the only way to hedge.

[StockMarket.News @_Investinq]

The world's largest utility company just eliminated one of the most dangerous jobs on earth.

China's State Grid which controls power for 1.1 billion people has deployed robotic electricians across 26 provinces and counting.

These machines work on live, 10,000-volt wires while the power stays fully on.

Before this, the workers who did this job wore full conductive armor and understood that one wrong move was fatal.

Now the robot takes that risk instead.

The machines strip insulation, tighten connections, and splice wires with millimeter precision, all while hanging at altitude on a live grid.

They complete tasks 50 percent faster than a human crew and report a 98 percent success rate.

This is already the operating standard in more than two dozen Chinese provinces.

China is about to spend $554 billion upgrading its power grid between now and 2030.

That is a war chest for building the most automated, AI-powered energy infrastructure in human history.

Meanwhile, the United States has a shortage of 40,000 electricians and the gap is getting worse every year.

China's answer to that problem is not a trade school, it is a fleet of machines that never sleeps or quits.

Every other country still arguing about whether robots will replace workers is watching the answer get deployed in real time.

[Rob Gramlich @RobGramlichDC]

Oh no! US airlines are no longer hedged against oil price shocks. Now we will all be paying in higher fares. Just like PJM states who didn't hedge against the recent increase. And California in 2000-2001. Hindsight is 20-20 but some hedging is smart. https://t.co/XRkYCktqO2

[Rob Gramlich @RobGramlichDC]

@JigarShahDC Love OSW, high capacity factor and capacity value. Still need a grid though. 70-90% isn’t even one 9.

[Rob Gramlich @RobGramlichDC]

3000 crazy people decided to ski 50km in the cold northwoods of Wisconsin yeaterday. I was one. Thousands more, even crazier, stood in the cold to cheer us on. Gorgeous day, highest possible endorphine high achieved.

[WATT Coalition @WATTCoalition]

On the #CatalystPodcast, @RobGramlichDC of Grid Strategies LLC joined @shaylekann to discuss why #GETs are key to meeting ⚡ demand growth: “Those things are relatively inexpensive and they’re speedy.” Listen on @_LatitudeMedia: https://t.co/ncl1srgdR0

[Rob Gramlich @RobGramlichDC]

Appreciating @FERC hiring, @LauraSwettFERC promoting the agency, @LaCerteDA and other Commissioners' testimony about the quality of FERC staff. Nothing works in this space without good FERC staff. https://t.co/eDCjJBdqHe

[Rob Gramlich @RobGramlichDC]

@PaulSegal12 100% agree, Paul. Competitive generation markets have been a huge benefit to consumers. Signals are strong to keep whatever generation is needed to stay on line, and to attract more. They are a work in progress for sure but better than the alternative.

[Rob Gramlich @RobGramlichDC]

@PaulSegal12 @gtpwr My spending on cars was low and flat for ten years until the car was old and then spending rose dramatically. Why is this surprising?

[Rob Gramlich @RobGramlichDC]

@ShanuMathew93 @JesseJenkins https://t.co/oCSGQDlWRC