The Great Texas Blackout (2021): When the Free Market Electricity Debate Began

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- February 24, 2025 No Comments

Ed. note: The Great Texas Blackout four years ago triggered a social media debate that reconfirmed ‘classical liberal’ Lynne Kiesling as an advocate of centrally planned, highly regulated electricity. It also revealed a cadre of electricity planners who bristled at the argument that government failed, including Eric Schubert and Robert Borlick. The exchanges began a debate that led the author to write a free-market primer, Free Market Electricity, to resurrect the 1960s tradition of such names as Harold Demsetz, George Stigler, Milton Friedman, and Walter Primeaux.

Lynne Kiesling (above) came roaring out the gate on Blackout Day February 16, 2021. But ‘the queen of power markets‘ was wrong. The Electric Reliability Commission of Texas (ERCOT) was government–and at the center of the worst electricity crisis in history.…

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Sunnova Going Solyndra? (Enron-ex John Berger owes taxpayers a bundle)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- February 12, 2025 3 Comments

Ed. Note: Just 15 months after receiving a $3.0 billion loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy (Jigar Shah), Sunnova stock price has cratered with the prospect of bankruptcy. Sunnova founder (and Enron-ex) John Berger’s battle cry–“solar is going to rip apart the energy business as we know it”– is an example of the philosophical fraud committed by political capitalists who are tipsy on taxpayer dollars.

UPDATE: Sunnova is bankrupt several times over. “The company has approximately $1.9 billion in debt that needs to be fully repaid by the end of 2028,” reported Houston Chronicle (02-20-2025). “That includes $975 million in debt due for payment in 2026. In comparison, Sunnova’s market capitalization, or the value of its total shares, is $251 million….” It is also in legal peril (see here).…

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Trump 45 vs. Green New Deal (Trump 47 will be better)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- November 18, 2024 No Comments

This repost from May 2019 is reprinted as a remembrance of Trump’s first try at reversing Green New Deal policy. The second try promises to be much more systemic, coordinated, and better explained.

“The golden era of American energy is now underway.” (President Donald Trump, The White House, May 14, 2019)

… under the Green New Deal, they don’t like clean, beautiful natural gas. They don’t like anything. (President Donald Trump, “Remarks on Promoting Energy Infrastructure and Economic Growth,” Hackberry, LA, May 14, 2019)

Who has been the most free-market energy President in U.S. history? In modern times, Ronald Reagan comes to mind. He decontrolled crude oil and petroleum products in his first week of office (January 1981), although Jimmy Carter’s phase-out of such regulation had just six months to go.…

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“Resilience and Adaptation”: Mitigation Demotion Ahead?

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- October 9, 2024 2 Comments

“Mitigation has had far more attention than adaptation…. So thanks to various people who alerted me to a new guide to the often-ignored subject of adaptation….” (- David Shukman, below)

The failure of climate mitigation policy grows ever more obvious. It was 36 years ago (1988) that the debate began on the front pages of the New York Times and other leading newspapers, and look where we are now. A tripartite fossil fuel boomgrassroot backlash against wind and solar installations … growing federal budget deficits with Green Energy bribes … and a significant divide in regard to nuclear and geoengineering as ‘climate fixers’.

If the crisis is upon us, then the ‘climate dollar’ must go toward resilience and adaptation (R&A), not mitigation that has no effect on global climate for decades.…

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DeSmog “Climate Disinformation” Database: Nominate Yourself!

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- August 1, 2024 2 Comments Continue Reading

Nuclear Consultant Goes Nuclear (Adam Brown for the record)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- July 25, 2024 3 Comments Continue Reading

‘Skeptical Science’ Gets Comeuppance on Social Media

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- June 12, 2024 7 Comments Continue Reading

DeSmog on IEA-UK: Guilty as Charged!

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- April 23, 2024 1 Comment Continue Reading

On the History of IER (for the record)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- April 11, 2024 No Comments Continue Reading

Electricity: Have I ‘Tarnished’ my Reputation and ‘Marginalized’ Myself? (Giberson’s huff)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- March 11, 2024 4 Comments Continue Reading