Articles by Steve Huntoon

Steve Huntoon | Steve Huntoon Texas: Two Imperatives There are two imperatives at work: (1) interregional reliability value and (2) interregional renewable integration value. We saw the first most recently in February. Massive power flows across regions aided grid reliability (except for Texas, see "average flow" chart below). [1] And...

Every couple years I critique Big Transmission. My original long-play version from 2015 is here.[1] And updates are here.[2] Just to be clear at the outset, by Big Transmission I mean long extra-high-voltage lines (typically DC voltage) — not incremental expansions like MISO’s MVP Projects and SPP’s Priority Projects, which...

Steve Huntoon | Steve Huntoon If you blinked the other day, you may have missed news of an important study. Important on many levels — not least that it’s a huge hunk of good news. The Lawrence Berkeley Lab study is titled "Halfway to Zero: Progress towards a Carbon-Free Power...

Steve Huntoon | Steve Huntoon In my last column I suggested that Texas pass on Berkshire Hathaway’s offer to give Texas 10 GW of new emergency generation to be fueled by liquefied natural gas, at a cost of $8.3 billion, in exchange for a guaranteed return on that $8.3 billion.

In case you missed the headlines, Berkshire Hathaway Energy wants to give Texas 10 GW of new emergency generation to be fueled by liquefied natural gas, at a cost of $8.3 billion, in exchange for a guaranteed return on that $8.3 billion. Got it? BH bills this as a "TOTAL...

Does anyone need more evidence that things are out of whack (as if GameStop, SPAC and NFT frenzies aren’t enough) than that the head of one of the world’s most valuable companies has just declared himself "Technoking"? Oh, and his son’s name is X Æ A-12? And he wants to...

To paraphrase Jack Palance in City Slickers, winter ain’t over yet. Weather Underground says March is the craziest weather month.[1] Judging from the pair of marathon two-day hearings before the Texas House and Senate, the Texas tragedy has infinite complexities for everything connected to our industry. But for now,...

Steve Huntoon | Steve Huntoon Nobody outside our industry understands our industry. And we see ourselves  through a glass, darkly. So with the tragedy in Texas (more specifically ERCOT, which is 90% of Texas’ load), there are plenty of politicians and talking heads spinning what happened and who or what is...

Coming out of semi-retirement for two reasons. First, to thank all our front-line utility folks who have kept electricity and all other vital utility services running through the pandemic. You’ve received little recognition, but where would we be without you? Thanking not only everyone on the lines — our front...