John Kostyack
@kostyack.bsky.social
4.6K followers 1.8K following 3.2K posts
Consulting on climate change & the energy transition for NGOs & foundations at Kostyack Strategies. Senior Contributor at Forbes.com & Senior Fellow at ceea.us. All opinions expressed here are solely my own.
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kostyack.bsky.social
It's getting hot out there.
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kostyack.bsky.social
Imagine going on $1T infrastructure spending spree, causing irreparable damage to the climate and water supplies, before you know if your product is profitable. Equity investors are now anxious, so here comes private credit & "creative partnerships" to meet the insatiable demand for cash infusions.
carlquintanilla.bsky.social
NVIDIA and OpenAi:

Concerns that their “increasingly complex and interconnected web of business transactions is artificially propping up the trillion-dollar AI boom.“

@bloomberg.com $NVDA 👀
www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
Reposted by John Kostyack
missionvespa.bsky.social
Still awaiting signature - commonsense legislation supported by over 90% of CA voters that will make sure utilities don't pass the costs of their lobbying and image polishing into energy bills.

@gavinnewsom.bsky.social: let’s save people money and sign #AB1167!

earthjustice.org/experts/matt...
kostyack.bsky.social
Education Sec'y McMahon is telling University of Virginia & other universities that they must commit to not "purposefully punish, belittle, and even spark violence against conservative ideas." UVA is now monitoring Truth Social to figure out what conservative means.
Why This Essay Could Cause the University of Virginia to Shut Down
How Linda McMahon’s latest “compact” would do deep and permanent harm to American higher education
newrepublic.com
Reposted by John Kostyack
fieseler.bsky.social
Lots of people think Dems are forcing these dirty coal plants to “retire” with policies and regs.

It’s simply not true!

Coal plants are incredibly inefficient to run compared to gas and renewables. This New England plant didn’t “retire” — the company closed it because it was too expensive!
kostyack.bsky.social
State regulators are charged with protecting ratepayers from the massive cost increases that utilities are incentivized the inflict on them. EEI calls them "partners," but a partnership is the last thing we need right now as electricity rates skyrocket.
kostyack.bsky.social
EEI: utilities will spend $1.1T over the next 5 years, with 91 GW of new capacity under construction, another 488 GW planned or proposed. This is a massive expansion of the grid, currently at 1,250 GW capacity. Yet the trade group is silent on who covers this cost - and the climate implications.
www.eei.org
kostyack.bsky.social
The IEA has updated its projections of renewable power capacity expansion around the world. The forecast for the US is revised downward by 50% thanks to the hostile policy environment.
IEA (2025): Renewable capacity expansion changes from Renewables 2024 to Renewables 2025 in selected countries or regions, 2025-2030
Reposted by John Kostyack
winderful.uk
While you were sleeping, #windEnergy reached 47% of the National Grid's electricity demand. https://winderful.uk
The winderful.uk dashboard showing that wind is generating 9,902 MW. That's enough for 9,902,000 blowdryers!
Reposted by John Kostyack
alexckaufman.bsky.social
Big new feature in @technologyreview.com:

In August, I became the first journalist to visit what could be the first U.S. plant using a much greener, less water intensive process to produce lithium. It's on track to double U.S. lithium production overnight.

www.technologyreview.com/2025/10/07/1...
kostyack.bsky.social
@ember-energy.org: Global electricity demand grew by 2.6% in the first half of 2025. This increase was more than met by increases in solar (+31%) and wind (+7.7%). Fossil generation fell 0.3%, driven by reductions in China & India. Fossil generation increased in the EU & US.
Global Electricity Mid-Year Insights 2025 | Ember
Solar and wind outpaced demand growth in the first half of 2025, as renewables overtook coal’s share in the global electricity mix.
ember-energy.org
Reposted by John Kostyack
kevinjkircher.com
Winds tend to blow faster at night and in the winter, which is why wind is pretty great in electrified future scenarios - it aligns well with demand for space heating, the main driver of electricity demand peaks in grids with deep electrification. Also why wind nicely complements solar.
kostyack.bsky.social
Nope, Energy Sec'y Wright, offshore winds in fact blow in winter. 1st year of operational data from NY's South Fork Wind project shows a 47% capacity factor in the year ending June 2025, with performance highest in the winter. Coal's avg capacity factor: 42%.
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
kostyack.bsky.social
Nope, Energy Sec'y Wright, offshore winds in fact blow in winter. 1st year of operational data from NY's South Fork Wind project shows a 47% capacity factor in the year ending June 2025, with performance highest in the winter. Coal's avg capacity factor: 42%.
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
kostyack.bsky.social
New analysis from @jeremysymons.bsky.social: Electricity bills are going up across Virginia because the Commonwealth has tripled its dependency on natural gas for electricity over the past decade. Without intervention from regulators, consumers are left at the mercy of big gas and tech companies.
Virginia's Energy Crossroads - Center for Energy and Environmental Analysis
By 2040, electric and gas bills for a typical Virginia household could go up by $1,115 annually above inflation due to a collision of inflationary trends, including the rapidly rising price of natural...
ceea.us
kostyack.bsky.social
Exciting to see the shift to impact investing by Japan's $1.8 trillion Gov't Pension Investment Fund, the world's largest. Using GHG emissions reductions & similar impact metrics is how investors tackle the corporate externalities that represent the biggest threat to portfolio value (& society).
World’s Biggest Pension Fund Puts Impact Investing on the Agenda
A decision by Japan’s $1.8 trillion pension fund, the world’s biggest, to consider a shift into impact investing has triggered a wider adjustment among the country’s money managers.
www.bloomberg.com
kostyack.bsky.social
Monitoring Analytics: data centers in PJM, the largest U.S. regional power grid, are adding $billions to ratepayers’ electricity bills & increasing risks of inflation & power shortages. www.eenews.net/articles/dat...
Data center boom sparks sticker shock for PJM ratepayers
New analyses show that costs passed on to utility customers to guarantee future electricity demand are rising rapidly.
www.eenews.net
kostyack.bsky.social
As the tech industry prepares for a massive data center buildout across the US, it's helpful to see the sights and sounds of Data Center Alley in northern VA - and the "steep, often unseen price" our "seemingness limitless demand for digital connection" exacts.
Opinion | The data center capital
Among cemeteries, baseball fields and homes, these Northern Virginia buildings power the internet.
www.washingtonpost.com
kostyack.bsky.social
@bcmerchant.bsky.social: At a time when political tensions are pitched, OpenAI's release of Sora 2 and its deepfake videos is "nakedly reckless." Not surprising due to its desperate need to show "progress" on GenAI. But why are the major media companies sitting idle as their content is pilfered?
The incredible arrogance of OpenAI
With Sora 2, OpenAI is betting it can spit in the face of workers, creators, and the biggest media conglomerates on the planet — and win
substack.com
kostyack.bsky.social
A strong case for reduced EU dependence on the big US tech firms. This is no small task though. Details matter - how to build an information technology sector that aligns with environmental sustainability as well as democracy and human rights?
abenewman.bsky.social
1/Striking speech by Macron: The future of European democracy depends on taking back its digital information space. A remarkable turn from Silicon Valley as source of enlightenment to being a purveyor of slop. And the stakes aren't just ad revenue but the nation.
defenddemocracy.eu/macron-democ...
"Europeans, let's wake up!" — Defend Democracy
“We have been incredibly naive in entrusting our democratic space to social networks.” President Macron on the occasion of German Unity Day, 3 October 2025.
defenddemocracy.eu
Reposted by John Kostyack
justinhendrix.bsky.social
Macron remarks are notable- some quotes: "We have been incredibly naive in entrusting our democratic space to social networks that are controlled either by large American entrepreneurs or large Chinese companies, whose interests are not at all the survival or proper functioning of our democracies."
defenddemocracy.bsky.social
President Macron: “Europeans, let's wake up!

We have been incredibly naive in entrusting our democratic space to social networks.”

defenddemocracy.eu/macron-democ...
kostyack.bsky.social
@ucs.org analysis finds that in just one year (2024), the tech industry incurred $4.3B in grid upgrade costs for its data centers in Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. Who covered these costs? Not the tech industry. blog.ucs.org/mike-jacobs/...
Data Centers Are Already Increasing Your Energy Bills. We Have the Receipts.
Electric bills are going up around the country and some of those increases are due to an outdated practice that requires consumers to pay billions for tech giants’ grid connections. Our new analysis t...
blog.ucs.org
Reposted by John Kostyack
suesturgis.bsky.social
“It’s certainly a regressive vision for North Carolina’s energy future,” said Josh Brooks, chief of policy strategy and innovation for the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association.
Duke Energy backs off renewables after North Carolina cuts climate…
The state repealed the utility’s 2030 emissions target in July. Duke’s response? A plan to slash solar and wind, double down on gas — and burn more coal.
www.canarymedia.com
kostyack.bsky.social
Duke Energy, citing data centers: "We're seeing energy needs over the next 15 years that are expected to grow at 8 times the growth rate of the past 15 years." Ratepayers get noisy, otherwise you may soon be forced to pay for very costly new gas & nuke projects & delayed coal retirements.
Duke Energy considers nuclear reactors and coal extensions in Carolinas energy plan
U.S. power company Duke Energy is considering adding large nuclear reactors to its fleet and extending the life of some coal plants as part of a long-term energy plan aimed at meeting sharply rising electricity demand in the Carolinas.
www.reuters.com
kostyack.bsky.social
Nvidia's business plan is key to understanding the AI bubble. Are the big US tech companies really building a fortress where they reap monopoly profits, or are AI products going to be just another commodity? How much of US tech & real estate valuations are based on the assumption it's the former?
kostyack.bsky.social
The US data center boom is being sold to us by the Trump administration as necessary for the US to win the race with China for global AI dominance. Yet, Nvidia's Huang, the "foremost ambassador" for Trump's AI Action Plan, prioritizes selling AI chips to other nation states.
How Nvidia’s Jensen Huang became AI’s global salesman
Chipmaker’s chief is urging countries to build their own AI ecosystems — but using its tech
www.ft.com