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Joshua Basseches

@joshuabasseches.bsky.social

13K followers 1.8K following 2.8K posts

Renewable energy and climate politics and policy. Assistant Professor at Tulane University. Forthcoming book about utilities and state-level renewable electricity policymaking. More at joshuabasseches.com

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Joshua Basseches @joshuabasseches.bsky.social · Aug 19

In a new Op-Ed for @technologyreview.com, I draw on research from my forthcoming book to suggest a playbook for clean energy advocates in these backwards times:
www.technologyreview.com/2025/08/19/1...

How to make clean energy progress under Trump in the states—blue and red alike

Cheaper energy bills are a nonpartisan issue—no matter where you live.

www.technologyreview.com

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Joshua Basseches @joshuabasseches.bsky.social · 6h

DOE's ridiculous orders to keep uneconomic coal plants operating has brought together strange bedfellows to argue before energy regulators that they shouldn't have to pay to keep them running:
www.utilitydive.com/news/ferc-do...

Groups challenge MISO cost allocation plan for coal power plant

Industrial, business and environmental groups say they should not have to pay to continue running a 1,560-MW, coal-fired power plant that doesn’t benefit them after the DOE ordered it to stay open.

www.utilitydive.com

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Reposted by Joshua Basseches

Jameel Jaffer @jameeljaffer.bsky.social · 1d

MIT's response to the Trump admin's proposed "compact" is excellent and should be a model for other universities. orgchart.mit.edu/letters/rega...

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Reposted by Joshua Basseches

Common Cause @commoncause.org · 1d

When corruption threatened our country under Nixon, Common Cause rose up and demanded accountability—and we prevailed.

Today, as new threats emerge, we’ll do it again. Because no one is above the law.

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Reposted by Joshua Basseches

Josh Moody @byjoshmoody.bsky.social · 1d

MIT rejects "compact" proposed by the Trump administration.
MIT prez wrote: it "would restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution" and "is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone."
orgchart.mit.edu/letters/rega...

Regarding the Compact | MIT Organization Chart

orgchart.mit.edu

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Joshua Basseches @joshuabasseches.bsky.social · 1d

An effort to reduce electric bills (which are skyrocketing in California, as everywhere) while at the same time incentivizing electrification. This is what leadership and state-level policymaking and administrative capacity can get done, under U.S. federalism and under Trump. (2/2)

California’s Big Climate and Energy Package, Explained

How California Quietly Overhauled Its Energy Policy

heatmap.news

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Joshua Basseches @joshuabasseches.bsky.social · 1d

This tweak (or innovation, one might call it) to California's cap-and-trade (now "cap-and-invest") program, as part of its re-authorization, hasn't gotten much attention, so thanks to @emilypont.bsky.social for her reporting on it. (1/)

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Joshua Basseches @joshuabasseches.bsky.social · 1d

Does he really think Americans are that stupid? Does the wind stop in the wintertime? Of course not. What does happen in the winter, as Texans know well, is that gas plants freeze.
www.eenews.net/articles/wri...

Wright says it’s not windy in winter. Data says otherwise.

Stats from South Fork Wind's first year undermine the Energy secretary's assertions that offshore turbines don't operate well in the winter.

www.eenews.net

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Joshua Basseches @joshuabasseches.bsky.social · 1d

The effects from a decarbonization standpoint are unclear, but for those concerned about corporate power, this is unequivocally an ugly development: (3/3)
www.eenews.net/articles/bla...

BlackRock’s $6.2B buyout of Minn. utility gets state approval

The utility commission's vote Friday paves the way for private investors to take control of Allete, the parent company of Minnesota Power.

www.eenews.net

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Joshua Basseches @joshuabasseches.bsky.social · 1d

In Minnesota, one such "public utility" is now going to be truly private, and therefore not only privately owned but less transparent to the public it serves. (2/)

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Joshua Basseches @joshuabasseches.bsky.social · 1d

In statutory codes and elsewhere, "public utility" has actually meant investor-owned utility. This has been the case for decades. (1/)

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Joshua Basseches @joshuabasseches.bsky.social · 1d

There may indeed be an energy emergency, but it is in part a creature of the current administration's policies, which pick winners and losers rather than pursuing an all-of-the-above strategy:
www.eenews.net/articles/tru...

‘Trump is the emergency’: Dems eye second vote on energy order

The Senate will take a second vote in the coming days against President Donald Trump's energy emergency.

www.eenews.net

Joshua Basseches @joshuabasseches.bsky.social · 2d

We need to commend GOP courage wherever we see it. Thank you Gov. Stitt!

Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 2d

“.. the first time a Republican governor has questioned the interstate deployment of National Guard troops over a governor’s objections.”

@nytimes.com #OKgov
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/09/u...

Joshua Basseches @joshuabasseches.bsky.social · 2d

Oil and gas companies will often claim to be partners in the clean energy transition, when it is politically expedient to do so, but new research finds their actual contributions are marginal:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Oil and gas industry’s marginal share of global renewable energy

Nature Sustainability - The decarbonization of oil and gas companies may not be as speedy or robust as advertised. This analysis finds that renewable energies make up just a minor fraction of the...

www.nature.com

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Joshua Basseches @joshuabasseches.bsky.social · 2d

U.S. climate and energy federalism at work!
www.eenews.net/articles/col...

Colorado bolsters EV rebates after federal pullback

Electric vehicles are key to Colorado’s climate targets. Gov. Jared Polis (D) told potential EV buyers: "Get out there right now."

www.eenews.net

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Joshua Basseches @joshuabasseches.bsky.social · 3d

Don't think the DOE cuts are just about punishing blue states. This isn't a red and blue state thing. It's a forward or backwards thing. Progress or retreat. Last century's energy technologies or this century's.
heatmap.news/politics/doe...

The Department of Energy’s Latest Cuts Will Hit Red States, Too

A list of terminated grants obtained by Heatmap contains a number of grants that will cost jobs and revenue in Republican-led states.

heatmap.news

Joshua Basseches @joshuabasseches.bsky.social · 3d

#ClimateInTheCourts
www.eenews.net/articles/tru...

Trump admin advances bid to block Michigan climate lawsuit

DOJ wants to stop Michigan from suing the oil industry over climate change before the state actually goes to court.

www.eenews.net

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Joshua Basseches @joshuabasseches.bsky.social · 3d

In Delaware, a single data center mega-project is projected to use TWICE the electricity per hour as ... wait for it ... every single home in the state. (2/2)
www.eenews.net/articles/del...

Delaware eyes limits on data centers as megaproject looms

A data center development known as Project Washington could use twice as much electricity as is consumed by every home in the state.

www.eenews.net

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Joshua Basseches @joshuabasseches.bsky.social · 3d

Data centers are all the rage these days, but there are also very strong economic and environmental arguments for placing limits on their growth, as Delaware is considering in an era of skyrocketing electric bills. (1/2)

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Joshua Basseches @joshuabasseches.bsky.social · 3d

Demand-side management is a winning issue politically. One can guess who the "unregistered opposition" might have been ... (2/2)

Joshua Basseches @joshuabasseches.bsky.social · 3d

What's interesting to me isn't the governor's decision to veto this bill (one would have to imagine some behind-closed-doors conversations to be responsible for that), but rather that the bill enjoyed bipartisan support and no "registered opposition." Wow! (1/2)
www.eenews.net/articles/cal...

California governor nixes bill on demand-side electricity savings

Gov. Gavin Newsom said in his veto message that AB 44 would create uncertainty around energy planning and procurement.

www.eenews.net

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Joshua Basseches @joshuabasseches.bsky.social · 5d

Union of Concerned Scientists report out with some nice recommendations for how to avoid captive residential customers paying for the infrastructure needs of data centers owned by tech giants (which is currently happening):

Customers in 7 PJM states paid $4.4B for data center transmission in 2024: report

Transmission lines built for data centers fall into a "regulatory gap,” with utility customers on the hook for the costs, the Union of Concerned Scientists said.

www.utilitydive.com

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Joshua Basseches @joshuabasseches.bsky.social · 5d

Another instance of a Trump-appointed federal judge ruling against his current administration's lawlessness:
www.politico.com/news/2025/09...

Judge orders Trump administration to preserve $233M in FEMA grants it attempted to pull from blue states

The administration’s abrupt effort to repurpose the funds mere days before the end of the fiscal year appears to be illegal, the judge said.

www.politico.com

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Reposted by Joshua Basseches

AG Rob Bonta @agrobbonta.oag.ca.gov · 5d

TODAY at 5:00: Watch live as I make an announcement about a legal action challenging Trump’s redeployment of California National Guard troops to Portland.

Tune in at oag.ca.gov

State of California - Department of Justice - Office of the Attorney General

oag.ca.gov

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Joshua Basseches @joshuabasseches.bsky.social · 6d

“They’re way better at capturing politicians than they are at capturing emissions." -Al Gore
www.eenews.net/articles/al-...

Al Gore: Fossil fuel industry exploiting Europe’s energy crisis

The former U.S. vice president warned that the EU risks locking into long-term dependence on dirty energy.

www.eenews.net

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Joshua Basseches @joshuabasseches.bsky.social · 6d

... governors lack the full toolkit they'd need to get electric utility bills under control. FERC indeed should play a more active role in RTO governance, which is all the more reason for FERC to maintain its independence! (2/2)