Nick Bowlin
@nickbowlin.bsky.social
oil and gas reporter for ProPublica and The Frontier
Freelance work in: Harper's, The Guardian, The Nation, The Drift, Outside, etc.
Freelance work in: Harper's, The Guardian, The Nation, The Drift, Outside, etc.
Pinned
Nick Bowlin
@nickbowlin.bsky.social
· Oct 31
Toxic wastewater from oil fields keeps pouring out of the ground. Oklahoma regulators failed to stop it.
Salt water laced with cancer-causing chemicals, a byproduct of oil and gas drilling, is spewing from old wells. Experts warn of a pollution crisis spreading underground and threatening Oklahoma’s drin...
www.readfrontier.org
Every oil state disposes of toxic wastewater underground. But in Oklahoma, it hasn't been staying there, creating large, ongoing pollution events known as "purges."
An investigation a year in the making for @readfrontier.bsky.social and @propublica.org
www.readfrontier.org/stories/toxi...
An investigation a year in the making for @readfrontier.bsky.social and @propublica.org
www.readfrontier.org/stories/toxi...
Reposted by Nick Bowlin
“When you have a market that is unregulated, difficult to assess and evolves very quickly, that is a calling card for nefarious agents to step in and make money.”
How Intoxicating Hemp Seeped Into the First Recreational Marijuana Market in the Country w/ @denvergazette.com
How Intoxicating Hemp Seeped Into the First Recreational Marijuana Market in the Country w/ @denvergazette.com
Smoke and Mirrors: How Intoxicating Hemp Seeped Into the First Recreational Marijuana Market in the Country
Colorado, which once served as the model for marijuana regulation, generated billions of dollars in tax revenue while promising to keep consumers safe. Now it’s scrambling to keep harmful hemp off the...
www.propublica.org
January 29, 2026 at 6:13 PM
“When you have a market that is unregulated, difficult to assess and evolves very quickly, that is a calling card for nefarious agents to step in and make money.”
How Intoxicating Hemp Seeped Into the First Recreational Marijuana Market in the Country w/ @denvergazette.com
How Intoxicating Hemp Seeped Into the First Recreational Marijuana Market in the Country w/ @denvergazette.com
Reposted by Nick Bowlin
"When utilities earn substantial profits, one might expect customers to see some relief in their monthly bills. But as a result of the ownership model of the utilities that serve most Americans, this is rarely what happens."
Treat your customers like captives, expect them to leave when they can.
Treat your customers like captives, expect them to leave when they can.
Power Brokers, by Nick Bowlin
What’s really behind your soaring utility bills
harpers.org
January 13, 2026 at 12:31 PM
"When utilities earn substantial profits, one might expect customers to see some relief in their monthly bills. But as a result of the ownership model of the utilities that serve most Americans, this is rarely what happens."
Treat your customers like captives, expect them to leave when they can.
Treat your customers like captives, expect them to leave when they can.
that's kind of you, thanks, lucy
December 18, 2025 at 11:54 PM
that's kind of you, thanks, lucy
happy to oblige, thanks, Isaac
December 18, 2025 at 11:44 PM
happy to oblige, thanks, Isaac
But to your point – much to scrutinize here, and I think we can reasonably differ in how we weigh the many problems at hand
December 18, 2025 at 9:33 PM
But to your point – much to scrutinize here, and I think we can reasonably differ in how we weigh the many problems at hand
The system is riddled with problems. ROE isn't the only one. But it deserves far more scrutiny IMO, especially given all the evidence that excessively high ROEs are costing ratepayers quite a lot of money. Those high valuations, in practice, haven't had that sanguine downstream effect on consumers
December 18, 2025 at 9:28 PM
The system is riddled with problems. ROE isn't the only one. But it deserves far more scrutiny IMO, especially given all the evidence that excessively high ROEs are costing ratepayers quite a lot of money. Those high valuations, in practice, haven't had that sanguine downstream effect on consumers
Reposted by Nick Bowlin
"Monopoly utilities are supposed to have their profits tightly regulated to protect ratepayers. Yet their stock prices are surging in ways that are totally unmoored from the expectation for a regulated monopoly," write @ddayen.bsky.social and James Baratta: prospect.org/2025/12/18/w... 🔌💡
Why Californians Will Pay $340 More for Electricity Next Year - The American Prospect
The state public utility commission is poised to approve a rate of return that critics say overcharges customers by $4.4 billion per year.
prospect.org
December 18, 2025 at 7:06 PM
"Monopoly utilities are supposed to have their profits tightly regulated to protect ratepayers. Yet their stock prices are surging in ways that are totally unmoored from the expectation for a regulated monopoly," write @ddayen.bsky.social and James Baratta: prospect.org/2025/12/18/w... 🔌💡
Reposted by Nick Bowlin
“You’re not targeting a criminal; you’re targeting a mom of four.”
Here’s how ICE detained and deported a Tulsa single mother—tailing her after she dropped her kids off at school—and how the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office made it possible.
thepickup.com/ice-separate...
Here’s how ICE detained and deported a Tulsa single mother—tailing her after she dropped her kids off at school—and how the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office made it possible.
thepickup.com/ice-separate...
ICE Separated A Family In Midtown Tulsa - The Pickup
Immigration detentions in Oklahoma are on the rise. One case shows how ICE’s cooperation with Tulsa County makes it possible.
thepickup.com
December 18, 2025 at 7:35 PM
“You’re not targeting a criminal; you’re targeting a mom of four.”
Here’s how ICE detained and deported a Tulsa single mother—tailing her after she dropped her kids off at school—and how the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office made it possible.
thepickup.com/ice-separate...
Here’s how ICE detained and deported a Tulsa single mother—tailing her after she dropped her kids off at school—and how the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office made it possible.
thepickup.com/ice-separate...
New investors are absolutely getting screwed, I agree. I wish I'd had the space to address that in the piece. But to my mind, it's all connected. Capitalization of excess returns into share prices is part of the overall wealth transfer from customers to shareholders, who can then sell at a premium
December 18, 2025 at 7:18 PM
New investors are absolutely getting screwed, I agree. I wish I'd had the space to address that in the piece. But to my mind, it's all connected. Capitalization of excess returns into share prices is part of the overall wealth transfer from customers to shareholders, who can then sell at a premium
I see what you're saying but the inflated market values are one function of the overall regime of excess ROEs, right? Shares are trading double the book value because investors capitalize the excess returns.
December 18, 2025 at 7:13 PM
I see what you're saying but the inflated market values are one function of the overall regime of excess ROEs, right? Shares are trading double the book value because investors capitalize the excess returns.
Power bills are sky-high, and data centers are to blame, right? Well, yes, but there's something else, upstream of the AI boom: a utility sector beholden to financial interests, resulting in massive corporate profits. I looked into this dynamic for @harpers.bsky.social
harpers.org/archive/2026...
harpers.org/archive/2026...
Power Brokers, by Nick Bowlin
What’s really behind your soaring utility bills
harpers.org
December 18, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Power bills are sky-high, and data centers are to blame, right? Well, yes, but there's something else, upstream of the AI boom: a utility sector beholden to financial interests, resulting in massive corporate profits. I looked into this dynamic for @harpers.bsky.social
harpers.org/archive/2026...
harpers.org/archive/2026...
Reposted by Nick Bowlin
This story from @nickbowlin.bsky.social does as good a job as any journalism I've read of explaining how utilities have largely captured their regulators, and why that dynamic is driving skyrocketing utility bills. harpers.org/archive/2026...
Power Brokers, by Nick Bowlin
What’s really behind your soaring utility bills
harpers.org
December 17, 2025 at 11:55 PM
This story from @nickbowlin.bsky.social does as good a job as any journalism I've read of explaining how utilities have largely captured their regulators, and why that dynamic is driving skyrocketing utility bills. harpers.org/archive/2026...
Reposted by Nick Bowlin
The problem for Trump is that the US government doesn't drill for oil and Big Oil generally doesn't think its worth investing in Venezuela right now: www.politico.com/news/2025/12...
December 17, 2025 at 9:43 PM
The problem for Trump is that the US government doesn't drill for oil and Big Oil generally doesn't think its worth investing in Venezuela right now: www.politico.com/news/2025/12...
lol this explains so much
December 16, 2025 at 8:15 PM
lol this explains so much
Reposted by Nick Bowlin
NEW: One of the most significant accomplishments of the Trump Admin: Decimating the US's humanitarian aid.
We went to S. Sudan to see the effects.
Rubio says no one has died from the cuts.
Spoiler: That's not true.
@annamaria.bsky.social & Brett Murphy:
www.propublica.org/article/usai...
We went to S. Sudan to see the effects.
Rubio says no one has died from the cuts.
Spoiler: That's not true.
@annamaria.bsky.social & Brett Murphy:
www.propublica.org/article/usai...
Trump Officials Celebrated With Cake After Slashing Aid. Then People Died of Cholera.
Behind closed doors in Washington, top advisers made a series of decisions that had devastating repercussions for the poorest country on earth. We went to South Sudan and found people who died as a re...
www.propublica.org
December 15, 2025 at 12:10 PM
NEW: One of the most significant accomplishments of the Trump Admin: Decimating the US's humanitarian aid.
We went to S. Sudan to see the effects.
Rubio says no one has died from the cuts.
Spoiler: That's not true.
@annamaria.bsky.social & Brett Murphy:
www.propublica.org/article/usai...
We went to S. Sudan to see the effects.
Rubio says no one has died from the cuts.
Spoiler: That's not true.
@annamaria.bsky.social & Brett Murphy:
www.propublica.org/article/usai...
Reposted by Nick Bowlin
December 10, 2025 at 7:10 PM
Reposted by Nick Bowlin
A wave of big data centers is triggering a scramble for new electricity generation. OG&E and PSO are pushing to charge ratepayers more as they race to keep up.
Oklahoma’s data center boom Is about to hit the grid — and your power bill
A wave of big data centers is triggering a scramble for new electricity generation. OG&E and PSO are pushing to charge ratepayers more as they race to keep up.
www.readfrontier.org
December 11, 2025 at 2:43 PM
A wave of big data centers is triggering a scramble for new electricity generation. OG&E and PSO are pushing to charge ratepayers more as they race to keep up.
Reposted by Nick Bowlin
We've got 2 great stories today in our series about drivers of the affordability crisis.
First up by James Baratta: Electricity rates are set by public utility commissions. But that process has become captured, with corporate utilities pushing through rate hikes and extracting profits.
First up by James Baratta: Electricity rates are set by public utility commissions. But that process has become captured, with corporate utilities pushing through rate hikes and extracting profits.
Lightning in a Bottle - The American Prospect
Regulatory capture is at the root of the affordability crisis in electricity. Public power could offer a way out.
prospect.org
December 3, 2025 at 1:30 PM
We've got 2 great stories today in our series about drivers of the affordability crisis.
First up by James Baratta: Electricity rates are set by public utility commissions. But that process has become captured, with corporate utilities pushing through rate hikes and extracting profits.
First up by James Baratta: Electricity rates are set by public utility commissions. But that process has become captured, with corporate utilities pushing through rate hikes and extracting profits.
Reposted by Nick Bowlin
An Oklahoma expert investigating toxic gas and oil wastewater brine migration and “surges” of waste injected at high pressure quit after 3 years when regulators refused to act. Now he’s speaking out.
@nickbowlin.bsky.social @readfrontier.bsky.social: bit.ly/4oh7KMc
@buckeyeenviro.bsky.social
@nickbowlin.bsky.social @readfrontier.bsky.social: bit.ly/4oh7KMc
@buckeyeenviro.bsky.social
Toxic Wastewater From Oil Fields Keeps Pouring Out of the Ground. Oklahoma Regulators Failed to Stop It.
Salt water laced with cancer-causing chemicals, a byproduct of oil and gas drilling, is spewing from old wells. Experts warn of a pollution crisis spreading underground and threatening Oklahoma’s drin...
bit.ly
December 3, 2025 at 11:10 AM
An Oklahoma expert investigating toxic gas and oil wastewater brine migration and “surges” of waste injected at high pressure quit after 3 years when regulators refused to act. Now he’s speaking out.
@nickbowlin.bsky.social @readfrontier.bsky.social: bit.ly/4oh7KMc
@buckeyeenviro.bsky.social
@nickbowlin.bsky.social @readfrontier.bsky.social: bit.ly/4oh7KMc
@buckeyeenviro.bsky.social
Reposted by Nick Bowlin
This is so bleak dude
November 24, 2025 at 3:38 PM
This is so bleak dude
Reposted by Nick Bowlin
New story from me and our summer intern Katie about how the state opted out of regulating bitcoin mines, leaving counties and municipalities to deal with them on their own: thepickup.com/data-centers...
Data Centers Got You Worried? Wait Until You Find Out About The Bitcoin Mines - The Pickup
A state law that quietly passed in 2024 with help from a crypto advocacy group has already created a headache for one Oklahoma town.
thepickup.com
November 20, 2025 at 3:29 PM
New story from me and our summer intern Katie about how the state opted out of regulating bitcoin mines, leaving counties and municipalities to deal with them on their own: thepickup.com/data-centers...
This is tonight: Anthem Brewing, 6 pm. OKC folks, c'mon by
Will you be in OKC tomorrow? Come get a beer and talk about oil&gas pollution. We'll have a good time.
Signup here: www.readfrontier.org/overpressured/
And here's my story on Oklahoma's oilfield waste crisis
www.readfrontier.org/stories/toxi...
@readfrontier.bsky.social @propublica.org
Signup here: www.readfrontier.org/overpressured/
And here's my story on Oklahoma's oilfield waste crisis
www.readfrontier.org/stories/toxi...
@readfrontier.bsky.social @propublica.org
Toxic wastewater from oil fields keeps pouring out of the ground. Oklahoma regulators failed to stop it.
Salt water laced with cancer-causing chemicals, a byproduct of oil and gas drilling, is spewing from old wells. Experts warn of a pollution crisis spreading underground and threatening Oklahoma’s drin...
www.readfrontier.org
November 18, 2025 at 4:36 PM
This is tonight: Anthem Brewing, 6 pm. OKC folks, c'mon by
Will you be in OKC tomorrow? Come get a beer and talk about oil&gas pollution. We'll have a good time.
Signup here: www.readfrontier.org/overpressured/
And here's my story on Oklahoma's oilfield waste crisis
www.readfrontier.org/stories/toxi...
@readfrontier.bsky.social @propublica.org
Signup here: www.readfrontier.org/overpressured/
And here's my story on Oklahoma's oilfield waste crisis
www.readfrontier.org/stories/toxi...
@readfrontier.bsky.social @propublica.org
Toxic wastewater from oil fields keeps pouring out of the ground. Oklahoma regulators failed to stop it.
Salt water laced with cancer-causing chemicals, a byproduct of oil and gas drilling, is spewing from old wells. Experts warn of a pollution crisis spreading underground and threatening Oklahoma’s drin...
www.readfrontier.org
November 17, 2025 at 8:14 PM
Will you be in OKC tomorrow? Come get a beer and talk about oil&gas pollution. We'll have a good time.
Signup here: www.readfrontier.org/overpressured/
And here's my story on Oklahoma's oilfield waste crisis
www.readfrontier.org/stories/toxi...
@readfrontier.bsky.social @propublica.org
Signup here: www.readfrontier.org/overpressured/
And here's my story on Oklahoma's oilfield waste crisis
www.readfrontier.org/stories/toxi...
@readfrontier.bsky.social @propublica.org