Tie a Bow on It

The Joule Thief's End of the Year Roundup

Playing with electricity is fun! | Photo by Jasmin Schuler on Unsplash

Good tidings, all! As 2024 draws to a close, it’s time to reflect on the year that was. I started my Substack in January, and I am truly honored to have so many great minds in the energy policy field as my readers and subscribers! I have learned so much from interacting and collaborating with all of you, and I look forward to continuing our discussions in the new year!

Top News of the Year

Now, on to business. Here are my top ten energy stories of the past year (ranked):

10. Proposed gas bans for residential and commercial buildings in Berkeley and other California jurisdictions took a hit when they were ruled unconstitutional by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

9. The federal government was slow to roll out the Inflation Reduction Act’s signature home energy rebate program (and now the administration is scrambling to get the money out the door before Trump takes office…)

8. The Biden Administration announced in January that new approvals for LNG terminals would be paused (We’ll see what happens after Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration)

7. An offshore wind turbine operated by Vineyard Wind crashed into Nantucket Sound in July, sending tons of fiberglass debris onto nearby beaches, and highlighting the precarious nature of offshore wind turbines more generally

6. The Energiewende hit a snag in Germany, with renewable intermittency slashing industrial productivity

5. EV sales are slowing down, as fears about range, safety, and practicality set in

4. U.S. Utilities had a banner year for raising retail electricity rates, with prices in San Diego County overtaking Hawaii as the most expensive utility costs for residential and commercial customers

3. The Supreme Court struck down the Chevron Defense in May, with wide ranging implications for future administrative lawmaking in agencies like the EPA (watch this space in 2025)

2. It was a good year for nuclear, as utilities finally realized that you can’t power AI and uninterrupted power supply to data centers with wind and solar. Which leads us to…

1. 2024 was the year that data centers dominated energy news with their astronomical electricity demand growth projections

Top Ranked Substack Posts of the Year

My three top-read articles of the year were:

3. Offshore Account

2. Turbine Tall Tales (both of which discuss the dangers of California’s ambitious plans to build deep water offshore wind turbines)

1. The Joule-er’s Accountant, Part 2: Energy Density and Nuclear Power (a collaboration with Tuco’s Child Newsletter )

Next Year’s Outlook

In energy news, as in life generally, the only constant is change. And, as the new administration has a radically different vision of what energy policy should look like, and prioritizes vastly different sectors of the economy than the current President, I anticipate that change is very much in the cards for 2025.

Keep an eye on energy policy as national security policy in particular, as energy independence and re-shoring domestic chip and electronics manufacturing were major talking points for the Trump campaign. With growing uncertainty in international trade (China especially), these priorities will likely have broad-based support across constituencies, with strong possibility for bi-partisan cooperation.

With that, I think we can call it a year!

I wish you all a warm and joyous holiday season, and thank you again for supporting my work!

Electrically yours,

K.T.