Last time I started to unpack the inherently dismal performance and underlying economics of wind power in Alberta. The whole reason Alberta has started this dysfunctional relationship with wind is because it has a dream that wind will somehow replace…
The cost of wind power in Alberta
I keep watching Alberta’s electricity system operator’s website for new grid-connected wind farms, beyond the 20 ones that existed in mid-2018. As of today, July 9 2019, at 13:53 eastern time (11:53 Mountain time), that number is unchanged—the total capacity…
Buffalo NY: where green energy fantasies go to die, and reality dawns
There’s a thread on Reddit about Tesla’s Solar Roof announcements that is pretty funny if your job isn’t at stake, and pretty unfunny if it is. Here’s what Tesla has said about the alleged product since purchasing solar financing company…
Blather and risk: one short jerk’s take on Tesla’s most important “business model”
Much is written about Tesla’s apparently vastly overvalued stock price. Most commentators are all over the company’s obvious shortcomings—and especially its consistent failure to produce either vehicles or earnings on target. Many commendators, including me, assess Tesla’s valuation as the…
Pipe dream at Moss Landing: another reason Ontario was smart to get out of the Western Climate Initiative
Moss Landing unit 7 was a California steam cycle electricity generator that ran on natural gas. Its nameplate capacity was 739 megawatts. That meant that its operator could have run it at or near capacity, i.e. at 739 MW, for…
e-bikes, energy conservation, and a missed made-in-Ontario opportunity for clean transpo
“Conservation First,” a mantra of the current Ontario government’s predecessor, was in that government’s hands little more than a vacuous new age slogan, which served a dual political purpose: virtue signalling to self-styled greens, i.e. “progressive” voters, for whom energy…