Biden should save existing reactors; More from Madison County.

Biden's inaugural climate move, Diane Fitch on Madison County, I'm on Decouple this week and at UT Energy Institute next week

Happy Friday! Four items in today's blast: 

• My piece in Forbes on saving existing reactors

• Diane Fitch on the Power Hungry Podcast

• I was on Chris Keefer's Decouple podcast

• Tune in next Tuesday for my presentation to the UT Energy Institute 

A few years ago, a friend of mine who had spent decades in the policy and publishing game, told me "never write the same article once." He was saying that if you want to have an impact, you have to repeat yourself. That advice comes to mind because I've been saying the same thing about nuclear energy for more than a decade: that if we are to have any hope of reducing global greenhouse gas emissions, we are going to need a LOT of nuclear energy. Thus, on Wednesday, as Joe Biden was being sworn into office, I banged out a piece for Forbes. I wrote:  

Biden has made it clear that climate policy will be one of his administration’s top priorities.If the new president is serious, he should immediately start working to prevent the closure of 5.1 gigawatts of nuclear capacity slated for closure this year. 

The reason to keep those nuclear plants operating is obvious: they play a critical role in reducing emissions from the electricity sector. Indeed, the three power plants slated for closure produce about the same amount of electricity as all of the solar capacity in California....43 terawatt-hours is nearly three times as much as was produced by all U.S. geothermal plants in 2019. It’s also nearly three times as much electricity as was produced by all the solar capacity in Spain in 2019 and about 1.5 times as much as all the wind energy that was produced in Iowa in 2019. Need another comparison? The reactors slated for closure are currently producing about as much energy as all of the wind turbines in California, or all of the solar capacity in Germany. 

To be sure, there is growing momentum in the domestic nuclear sector. New reactor designs are being developed and some of them show real commercial promise. But as I explain in my piece, the immediate focus of the new administration should be keeping the existing reactor fleet in operation. As you can see in the graphic, the amount of electricity being produced by the three nuclear plants is enormous.  

Will Biden's climate team push to save the three plants? I don't want to be pessimistic, but it will require some serious political fortitude, a commodity that is all too rare in Washington. Further, that courage will have to come from the Democratic Party, which has been reflexively anti-nuclear for decades. I conclude my piece with this: 

 Last summer, for the first time in 48 years, the Democratic Party endorsed nuclear energy in its platform. Today, Democrats control the U.S. House, the Senate, and the White House. Given the looming closure of 5.1 gigawatts of nuclear capacity — and the 43 terawatt-hours of zero-carbon electricity those three plants produce every year — Biden and his climate team need to find a way to keep them pumping out all of that carbon-free juice.

Please give the piece a read. 

(Note: This week, I received copies of the Polish edition of A Question of Power from the Warsaw-based publisher, PWN. It's a thrill to see the book translated into Polish. Thus, I snapped a pic of the books and including it above.)

Madison County Supervisor Diane Fitch explains why her county doesn't want more wind turbines
One of the joys of my job is getting to talk to people from all walks of life, from all over the world. This week, on the Power Hungry Podcast, I had a great conversation with Diane Fitch, a member of the Madison County Board of Supervisors. You may recall that last month, that board approved a spate of new measures that effectively ban wind turbines in the county that is renowned for its covered bridges. I wrote about that ban last week in Forbes.

Fitch is a native of Madison County and a real firebrand. She told me it is "safe to say over 70% of our constituents do not want" more wind turbines in the county. For more than two years, Madison County has been locked in a battle with MidAmerican Energy, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, over a proposal that would put 52 more turbines in the county. Fitch had plenty to say about Warren Buffett, the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. (In 2014, Buffett famously said the only reason to build wind projects is for the tax credits.) She said, "I congratulate you, Warren Buffett, for using the government to do your bidding, I congratulate you. You held out your hand and they filled it with money. You're playing the game and you're doing it very well."

As I said, this talking to people gig is great, great fun. Please give a listen to my podcast with Diane. She's a hoot and a half. 

I joined Dr. Chris Keefer on the Decouple Podcast
On Tuesday, Chris Keefer, a medical doctor who hosts the Decouple Podcast, had me on his show to talk about nuclear energy and energy transitions. Chris is passionate about increasing energy access and nuclear energy. (He's also the president of Canadians For Nuclear Energy.) Chris brings an interesting perspective to his podcast. He's an emergency-room doctor and he made a number of great points about the use of radiation in modern medicine. I learned a lot from him. You can hear our conversation and his other Decouple podcasts by going here. 

Next Tuesday, I will Zoom into the UT Energy Institute
If you are interested in another Zoom webinar—and who isn't these days?—tune in on Tuesday (the 26th) at 12:30p CT for my presentation to the UT Energy Institute.

The caption for my talk: "Electricity and the Wealth of Nations." Regular listeners of the Power Hungry Podcast will remember that back in November, I hosted Carey King, a research scientist and assistant director of the Energy Institute on the podcast. We talked about Carey's new book, The Economic Superorganism: Beyond the Competing Narratives on Energy, Growth, and Policy. Carey graciously invited me to speak to the Energy Institute. I will present a few slides about the global electrification challenge and talk about A Question of Power, and of course, Juice. Details for Energy Institute webinar are available here. 

OK. That's it. Have a great weekend. 

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