Joshua D. Rhodes
@joshdr83
Energy | Research Scientist @UTAustin & @ColumbiaUEnergy | CTO @ideasmithsLLC | Electric Commissioner @austintexasgov | husband | dad | views my own
Stopping projects like the Grain Belt Express is the exact opposite of what we need to do for Energy Dominance, Abundance, and to win the AI race with China. nytimes.com/2025/07/17/cli…
TX is a national leader in solar & wind power generation. These energy resources are making the grid more reliable and keeping costs down. "It could be an example for other grids in how to create reliability at a low cost,” @joshdr83 explains. reuters.com/sustainability…
It’s true that fossil fuels have enabled an insane level of development, but we now have better options. These options need less destructive mining, reduce air pollution, and mitigate climate change. It’s just human progress.
.@SecretaryWright tells it like it is: Climate change is a by-product of human progress—not an existential threat. We do not apologize for American energy; it is the foundation of EVERYTHING! economist.com/by-invitation/…
It has been fun watching @OpenAI's Stargate project develop at @Lancium's campus in Abilene, TX. It reminded me of work we (@ideasmithsLLC) did for them in 2021 looking at the impact of 5GW of data centers in ERCOT. I remember thinking 5GW was crazy high, my how times change!
New @ideasmithsLLC, funded by @Lancium, report just dropped looking at the impacts of large flexible data center loads, including even bitcoin mining, on the evolution of the grid. lancium.com/press/flexible…
This is Energy Incontinence, not Energy Dominance. nytimes.com/2025/07/23/cli…
Total U.S. #LNG capacity could surpass 206 MMtpa by early next decade, cementing its global role-@RBNEnergy. @ColumbiaUEnergy chart shows LNG trade has caught up w/ pipeline gas, marking a historic shift in global energy dynamics. @barissanli @kutalmisersoy @fbeirao @SStapczynski
If you’re looking to help out the flood victims in Central Texas, here is a good place to donate, I just did: cftexashillcountry.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/cre…
Terrible flood in central Texas this July 4th weekend 😢 axios.com/2025/07/05/tex…
Excited to be giving the kickoff keynote at the Texas Wildlife Association (@texaswildlife) Private Lands Summit next week in San Antonio to talk about demand, renewables, and the Texas grid! texas-wildlife.org/membership/wil…
Solar does not have the location or transmission constraints wind did. Solar can go anywhere and everywhere — right where the demand is. And now we *finally* have cheap battery storage. I don’t know how anybody thinks solar isn’t going to grow to be bigger than wind. It’s…
ERCOT fuel mix (through May 2025) showing some interesting milestones! - The ERCOT grid ran on ~50% clean energy for the first 5 months of the year - Solar caught up with coal generation at ~13% each so far
Some active accounts to start with (not exhaustive whatsoever, omissions not intentional, no particular order!): @JessePeltan @JesseJenkins @douglewinenergy @isabelleboemeke @JigarShahDC @duncan__c @curious_founder @grid_status @ShanuMathew93 @joshdr83 @vsiv @ClaireWayner…
It’s not well understood that there are communities across the US that have improved local schools, libraries, clinics and other community services based on taxes from local wind & solar generation & storage. And that’s before the jobs that were created building them. @noahqk
Reminder that renewables and storage are set to pay approximately $50,000,000,000 in local taxes and landowner payments, IN TEXAS ALONE, if we don’t mess it all up!
I think the real energy policy issue we should be discussing rn is the Jones Act..
Reminder that renewables and storage are set to pay approximately $50,000,000,000 in local taxes and landowner payments, IN TEXAS ALONE, if we don’t mess it all up!
Hey y'all! Check out our latest @ideasmithsLLC report on the impact of renewables & storage in TX! tl;dr - The current & expected fleet of renewable & energy storage projects is expected to pay almost $50B in lifetime landowner payments & local taxes! 👇 static1.squarespace.com/static/652f1dc…
You have to be willfully ignorant to believe that solar power is useless for serving air conditioning demand. (which is driven by sunlight) Peak demand yesterday was 77 GW Peak net of solar was 71 GW Net of solar and storage was 68 GW Without solar and storage, we would have…