Grid Brief

Energy. Power. Politics. A newsletter on fossil fuels, renewables, nuclear, and the grid. Read by investors, executives, engineers, policymakers, and more.

[Grid Brief @GridBrief]

Energy is an ingredient in everything. Subscribe to learn how the world gets made. https://t.co/S70PwCiUU5

[The Dispatch @thedispatch]

"America is best when it looks to increase access to resources, not throttle technological growth." | Marc Oestreich

https://t.co/1GSLrJ2YAM

[Grid Brief @GridBrief]

If we continue apologizing for demand, we're doomed. The big tech theatrics of last week are a sign of a broken capacity culture. And it's time we turn it around.

https://t.co/pN9U29dS8b

[Grid Brief @GridBrief]

If we continue apologizing for demand, we're doomed. The big tech theatrics of last week are a sign of a broken capacity culture. And it's time we turn it around.

https://t.co/pN9U29dS8b

[Emmet Penney @nukebarbarian]

NIMBY NGO-ism is largely divorced from the classes they claim to "represent."

To them, the "working class" is not labor, but a cohort of victims who need to be served with state handouts, not work.

Thus, these orgs support industrial policy for lawyers, not workers.

[americancapacity @amcapproject]

There’s no shortage of power in America.

There are roughly 2,000 GW of proposed generation sitting in interconnection queues ... far more than the electricity U.S. data centers currently use.

The problem isn’t availability.
It’s red tape.

[Emmet Penney @nukebarbarian]

Still bleakly funny to me that New England shutdown nuclear plants only to rely on oil in winter.

[Grid Brief @GridBrief]

Rate freezes are spreading as electricity prices rise.

Today’s @GridBrief chart shows why that approach rarely works: portfolios that restrict firm supply push long-run system costs higher, even under favorable assumptions.

Suppressing prices may buy time politically. It doesn’t create capacity.
https://t.co/ISgpUxzKlU

[Marc Oestreich @marcoestreich]

New Jersey is freezing bills, pushing VPPs, and telling itself the problem is pricing.

Meanwhile, today’s @GridBrief chart shows renewable-heavy systems raise long-run costs unless you add firm supply.

This isn’t complicated policymaking.

Open the supply gates. Shorten timelines. Let plants get built. Recommission what works. Get out of the damn way.

Prices don’t fall because politicians ask nicely. They fall when electrons show up.

https://t.co/e0iWUmKAel

[Jamie @jamiesloc]

Nice piece from @GridBrief today:

State Electricity Prices vs. the U.S. Average
This map shows average all-sector electricity prices by state from January–August 2025, with blue shading indicating prices above the national average and red shading indicating prices below it. The national average over the period was 13.54¢/kWh, but state outcomes vary widely, from under 9¢/kWh to well above 25¢/kWh.

What stands out is not a single cause, but a pattern: states with higher prices tend to combine tighter generation constraints, higher capital costs, and more policy-driven resource mandates, while lower-price states generally rely more heavily on dispatchable generation and simpler regulatory structures.

Why It Matters
Electricity prices are increasingly shaping where data centers, manufacturers, and new housing can locate. As demand rises nationally, these state-level cost differentials become economic signals, not just household budget issues.

Grid Take
Price dispersion across states isn’t an accident of geography alone. It reflects long-run policy and market structure choices colliding with a period of accelerating demand.

[Grid Brief @GridBrief]

Special Issue: The Venezuelan Grid. Hydro is old, output has cratered, and demand already beats supply. The U.S. just inherited a grid crisis before the lights even go out.

https://t.co/oC2Afy28Cv

[Grid Brief @GridBrief]

This is what policymakers miss when they treat data centers like a nuisance.

AI dominance runs through the grid.
And China is building.

[Grid Brief @GridBrief]

This pricing panic didn’t come out of nowhere.

More detail in today’s GridBrief.
https://t.co/umbgdUQ0jo

[Grid Brief @GridBrief]

Politicians yelling at AI data centers about power prices is like blaming FedEx for the cost of gasoline.

Demand didn’t fail. Regulators fumbled supply.

[Grid Brief @GridBrief]

https://t.co/0SJCnSK4iC

[Grid Brief @GridBrief]

https://t.co/PNTR8KW9bJ

[Grid Brief @GridBrief]

Here's today's Grid Brief:

⚛️ @TerraPower plans to start building its reactor
🟩 America's lithium mining push sapped by regs

and more!

https://t.co/65HeBOrLDZ

[Grid Brief @GridBrief]

Today's Grid Brief is a guest op-ed from @mitchrolling and @TheFrackingGuy.

Check it out!
https://t.co/qt8D3HRig9

[Grid Brief @GridBrief]

https://t.co/o1O0yjWI7q

[Grid Brief @GridBrief]

Today's premium post takes a look at the history and development of wind energy and what's vexing the industry today.

https://t.co/ZrPHx1LUnZ

[Grid Brief @GridBrief]

Today's Grid Brief International delves into Qatar's master plan to corner the LNG market.

https://t.co/eAzdWBxKMk