Podcasts about Wind power

Crystal Ball tells all about her background at the Bonneville Power Administration, PNUCC's Northwest Regional Forecast, gas-electric coordination, and how power is all about people.

Despite most Australians supporting clean technology, the campaign against wind and solar infrastructure has proven to be effective, striking a chord with many of those living in remote and rural areas. So how do we bring everyone along on the transition to a renewable energy-focused future? And who's putting up roadblocks? The Guardian's environment and climate correspondent Graham Readfearn joins Reged Ahmad to unpack Australia's relationship with renewables

Chair Tawney discusses her path to being a regulator, the challenges and opportunities of meeting rising demand in Oregon, and how it relates to knitting!

Allen covers Energy Capital Partners buying TPI’s blade factories, GE Vernova’s $1.7 billion rescue of LM Wind Power, offshore wind cutting oil burn during a heat wave, Scotland’s Caledonia approval, and 19 states suing the Pentagon over stalled wind reviews. Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly newsletter on all things wind technology. This episode is sponsored by Weather Guard Lightning Tech. Learn more about Weather Guard’s StrikeTape Wind Turbine LPS retrofit. Follow the show on YouTube, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary’s “Engineering with Rosie” YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us! Good Monday everyone. A few months ago, we told you about a Houston bankruptcy court carving up TPI Composites. Well, that story just got a whole lot bigger. On July sixth, TPI walked out of Chapter Eleven. Zero debt. New owners. A private equity firm called Energy Capital Partners picked up TPI’s blade factories in Iowa and Juarez, Mexico for about twenty million dollars. Twenty million, against more than a billion dollars in liabilities. ECP did not stumble into wind blades. They bought Calpine back in twenty eighteen, inherited seventy-seven power plants, and became GE’s biggest private gas turbine customer in the Western Hemisphere. That relationship, forged in gas turbine halls, is what brought them to composite factories. GE Vernova signed a five-year supply deal requiring it to send blade orders to ECP’s factories. GE is ECP’s partner, its customer, and was even the backup buyer if the deal fell through. So TPI lives on, leaner, debt-free, with locked-in demand from one of the biggest turbine makers on earth. But now, the other side of that coin. While ECP picked up two blade factories for twenty million dollars, GE Vernova recently pumped one-point-seven billion dollars into its own blade company, LM Wind Power. LM’s equity had fallen to negative 575 million euros. Revenue dropped ninety-six percent in one year, from 2.1 billion Danish kroner down to just ninety-three million. The Danish workforce, cut to about twenty-five people. LM Wind Power has lost money every single year since GE bought it in twenty seventeen. Nine straight years of red ink. So think about that. Two American blade factories now serve GE Vernova’s onshore business. One in Grand Forks, North Dakota, owned by GE, inside a division losing four hundred million dollars a year. The other in Newton, Iowa, owned by ECP, zero debt, five-year supply deal. The independent contract blade business that TPI Composites built is gone. Vestas took the India and Mexico plants in-house. GE’s supply is locked to ECP. The OEMs and their financial partners now own the factories directly. And that is a new era for wind manufacturing. Now, let us talk about what those blades are doing once they are spinning. Earlier this month, a brutal heat wave hit the eastern United States. Air conditioners running full blast. Grid operators scrambling to keep up. And off the coast of New England, two offshore wind farms stepped up. Vineyard Wind, eight hundred and six megawatts off Massachusetts. Revolution Wind, seven hundred and four megawatts near Rhode Island. Together they pushed hundreds of megawatts into the grid right when people needed it most. And here is the number that matters. Oil-fired power plants met about ten percent of peak demand on July second this year. Last summer, at the height of a similar heat wave, oil plants covered nearly fifteen percent. That is more than a gigawatt less oil burned. The projects that survived lawsuits, survived construction shutdowns, survived lease freezes, are now keeping the lights on in New England. Across the Atlantic, Scotland just approved two massive offshore wind farms. The Caledonia North and South projects in the Moray Firth, up to one hundred and forty turbines spread across one hundred and sixty-five square miles. Enough power for two million homes. Ocean Wind is leading the development with a commitment of about 1.7 billion pounds. And here is what makes this project different. Caledonia South will mix fixed-bottom and floating turbines, up to thirty-nine floaters. That blend of proven and next-generation technology on a single project is something to watch. Back in the United States, nineteen state attorneys general are suing the Department of Defense. The reason, wind project reviews. Federal law says any wind turbine taller than two hundred feet must go through a Defense Department check, to make sure it does not interfere with military radar or flight paths. Last August, the Pentagon stopped reviewing those projects. No explanation. No timeline for starting again. Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown is leading the coalition, joined by attorneys general from eighteen other states including California, New York, and New Jersey. They want a court to force the Defense Department to start doing its job again. And finally, a story from the sea floor. Down in southern New England, lobster populations have been falling for decades. Back in nineteen ninety-eight, there were about fifty million lobsters in those waters. By twenty twenty-two, fewer than ten million. But something else is moving in. Jonah crabs. Fishermen used to throw them back. Now they are hauling them in by the thousands, selling them as a cheaper option to lobster. And researchers at the University of Rhode Island are finding that offshore wind foundations are acting like artificial reefs. Algae grows first, then barnacles and mussels, then fish and crabs follow. The question scientists are working to answer is whether these structures create new marine life, or just pull it in from the surrounding ocean. Either way, the turbines are not just making electricity. They are making habitat. Now, here is what to watch. This Wednesday, July twenty-second, GE Vernova reports second quarter earnings. And the numbers we just talked about will be in the room. One-point-seven billion dollars pumped into LM Wind Power, a blade company that has lost money nine years straight. Twenty million dollars to let ECP walk away with two factories and a five-year supply deal. GE Vernova is guiding for four hundred million dollars in wind segment losses this year. Meanwhile, its Power and Electrification divisions are printing money, nearly five billion dollars in free cash flow last quarter alone. So the question on that earnings call is simple. If you are spending eighty times more to keep your in-house blade maker alive than a private equity firm paid to buy your contract supplier, how long do you keep doing both? Watch for what GE Vernova says about LM Wind Power’s future, about North American onshore blade strategy, and about whether that 1.7 billion dollar injection was a rescue, or a goodbye. The answer could reshape who makes blades in this industry for the next decade. And that is the state of the wind industry for the 19th of July, twenty twenty-six. Join us for the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast tomorrow.

This episode of People in Power features Danielle Hughes, a long-time resident of Lake Tahoe and CEO of Tahoe Spark (Supporting Permanent Affordable Residential Kilowatts). Tahoe Spark is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit regional energy and public policy organization focused on energy affordability, climate resilience, infrastructure transparency, and regulatory oversight in Liberty Utilities' California service territory. According to Hughes, Liberty residential utility customers lack a say in energy planning and procurement, a situation she says state energy regulators are allowing to happen. She also explores issues around the process by which Liberty is going about securing a new energy supply contract after its previous one was canceled by NV Energy.

GE Vernova pumps $1 billion into LM Wind Power, and KKR buys EDF’s US and Canada renewables arm. Plus CIP sweeps South Korea’s offshore auction and the CME plans wind derivatives across three continents. Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly newsletter on all things wind technology. This episode is sponsored by Weather Guard Lightning Tech. Learn more about Weather Guard’s StrikeTape Wind Turbine LPS retrofit. Follow the show on YouTube, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary’s “Engineering with Rosie” YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us! The Uptime Wind Energy podcast, brought to you by StrikeTape. Protecting thousands of wind turbines from lightning damage worldwide. Visit striketape.com. And now, your hosts. Allen Hall: Welcome to the Uptime Wind Energy podcast. I’m your host, Allen Hall, and I’m here with Matthew Stead and Yolanda Padron. Rosemary is at GWO training this week. And we have an announcement about Wind Energy O&M Australia 2027. Matthew, you wanna give all the details?  Matthew Stead: Drum roll Um, very pleased to announce that WOMA 2027 will be at the East Pullman Hotel in Melbourne’s east, uh, not the other one, and, uh, 3rd to 5th of March. Um, the first two days will be two days of wind O&M, uh, conferences, [00:01:00] uh, and then the Friday will be a half-day, uh, training session. More information to come.  Allen Hall: Well, she’s not here, so we can probably just announce it, that Rosemary will be giving a terrific four-hour-long seminar on blades and blade repair, so you sign up now. Matthew, where do you go if you wanna just check out what’s happening at WOMA  Matthew Stead: 2027? Uh, well, actually, it’s woma2027.com.  Allen Hall: Uh, over at GE Vernova and LM Wind Power, there’s been a whole bunch of turmoil over the last couple of years if you haven’t been paying attention. Well, GE Vernova just injected about a billion dollars into that company. So although LM recently has shown very little in terms of revenue, it definitely had needed some capital injection in, uh, at least according to the Danish press, the number of employees at the Danish site is about 20 to 30. So it’s really a fraction of what it once was. But [00:02:00] it does seem like GE is paying off all its existing debt and then giving it a little bit of a cash infusion to keep it rolling. The question really is, is what is GE Vernova gonna do with that business now? Are they planning on keeping it? Are they trying to get s- to get it back to health where they can service the other, uh, OEMs that they manufacture blades for? Or is there a larger action that will happen in the near future? What do we think?  Matthew Stead: Yeah, I’m really confused by this one. I mean, a cash injection just so that you’re not bankrupt on paper is, um, that’s just playing with money as far as I’m concerned. Or I’m not sure if it’s a US term, but, you know, shuffling deckchairs on the Titanic. It doesn’t– Does it change anything? Allen Hall: Well, uh, th- they made no announcements about closing facilities. The LM blade facility in North Dakota still appears to be making blades. There’s the TPI factories, which are going through a transition r- right now, appear to be making GE [00:03:00] blades. I, I assume Gaspé up in Canada is still making blades, at least that’s the story. If GE’s gonna rely upon LM to make blades, they’re gonna need to keep them open. Is, is this more of just keeping the factories open with a skeleton engineering crew and possibly moving the blade design group into the States? Is that– Or India or, or somewhere?  Yolanda Padron: And they’re still selling, right? They’re still selling blades. It seems like they’re still planning on manufacturing blades. Do we think that maybe- They’re just trying to avoid that whole TPI bankruptcy deal to not have to kind of scrap for parts?  Allen Hall: Yeah, it’s a great question. I think TPI has been producing parts at high quantity, and some of the Things I’ve heard from the industry folk is that TPI is really busy in producing quality blades, and it’s like the bankruptcy transaction is not happening, which is great to hear because the [00:04:00]industry needs blades, and there’s a lot of repowering going on in the United States and a lot of activity in general, so they need blades. But does LM continue to be a part of that?  Matthew Stead: Yeah, I mean, presumably the TPI, um, whole story only makes LM more important, you know, more important to have, uh, an additional manufacturer and, you know, providing, you know, options for the OEMs.  Allen Hall: It does seem like, though, the GE offshore, GE Vernova offshore is not a thing. Although I’ve heard a couple of rumors that, yeah, GE Vernova is offering some products for offshore, it doesn’t seem like their heart is in it. I can see that happening. So are they just trying to focus on onshore business, and that’s it for the time being? Just let it play out and, uh, wait until the elections in 2028? I know that’s gonna get me blocked on YouTube, but that, that does feel like what’s happening at the moment.  Matthew Stead: Yeah, I reckon it looks completely like that.  Yolanda Padron: I mean, it also looks like they’re [00:05:00] just kind of trying to play everything a little bit more safe, right? So they are scaling up, but not as fast as they used to, so scaling the blade sizes. And then they’re– it seems like they’re, they’re having their FSAs cut quite a bit shorter than they used to, right? So are they maybe just trying to focus on, like, cash up front and just trying to play it safe until they can get their, their footing right again?  Allen Hall: Or is it focus on key customers? I could see GE Vernova actually doing that, that they have a history with certain operators worldwide, and they’re just gonna focus on producing and delivering for those customers. Because you don’t see a lot of announced orders for GE turbines. Vestas is announcing things practically every week. Nordex is doing something similar. Siemens once in a while. But what you really don’t hear anything from in any quantity at [00:06:00] all at the moment is from GE Vernova. When a company needs cash badly enough, even the crown jewels go on the block. And EDF, the French state-owned utility, has to fund the upkeep of 57 aging nuclear reactors and build six new ones, so it is selling. EDF has agreed to hand its US and Canada renewables business, EDF Power Solutions, to the private equity firm KKR. The business runs 5.6 gigawatts of renewable assets across the two countries. Late last year, EDF’s chief executive floated selling anywhere from half to all of the unit in a deal that could be, well, it’s reported to be about $4.2 billion. That’s the latest news I’ve heard. This is a big transaction. KKR is Canadian, right? And is a massive investment firm Uh, which I, I don’t think have a lot of wind at the moment. Uh, what is the [00:07:00] KKR play here?  Matthew Stead: I, I love this because this is, uh… So obviously I’m Australian, and Macquarie is a big Australian. So, um, Macquarie own a whole lot of wind farm, a whole lot of wind infrastructure. So I just see this as a wonderful g- you know, fight between KKR and Macquarie. And so KKR has a whole lot of, um, they o- they’ve got some, you know, stake in Australian wind farms. They’ve got some work, you know, through Europe with wind farms. So I, I, I think this is a good thing, just a bit more global competition and a bit more global growth. And I think it’s all coming from the data centers and, you know, the future increase in growth of, um, demand.  Allen Hall: Yolanda, EDF’s wind fleet is a variety of turbines, right? They have some GE, some Siemens. Anything else in their portfolio?  Yolanda Padron: I think they have a bit of Vestas there too, right? Is it something that we were saying? It’s– I think this is really interesting. Um, I know that there’s not– I mean, of course EDF is the latest, but there’s some [00:08:00] operators that seem to be, um, consolidating into a bit more of those just higher private equity firms, and it’s– Do we think that maybe this is the way that the US is going to lean towards? I know we talked a lot about leaning towards funding the data centers and maybe a bit more the behind the meter things. Uh, but do we think that maybe that’s the future of the US? There’s a couple of companies that kind of just own all the major infrastructures and then- A  Allen Hall: couple Canadian companies.  Yolanda Padron: And what does it mean for, like, asset management and stuff, like, that’s really, really different from what they’re seeing in their desks in New York and stuff, and just the larger financial models versus what’s happening on the ground, and how will they connect everything? Allen Hall: It’s a great question.  Matthew Stead: NextEra and Dominion, you know, things are only getting bigger. Scale’s, scale’s coming.  Allen Hall: Yeah. I wonder how much, uh, this transaction will have to go through regulators in the US, uh, because it scares me when you have a, a– such a [00:09:00] large foreign national company. There’s actually two involved in here, right? So you, you have a, a French company and a Canadian company trying to transact on, in the United States on a lot of assets. Uh, it probably won’t be that quick if there’s any oversight at all. I, I’m guessing that we’ll hear noise about it. So we’re, we’ll have to keep listening to all the news sources about it and, and telling our valued listeners what’s going on. Because there’s, uh, we know a whole bunch of people that work at EDF and like, love those people and are really concerned about what the future holds for them. I, at least it sounds like upfront that KKR is just gonna continue with operations, but I know, uh, uh, it’s a turbulent time, and if you work there, you, you hopefully things continue the way they’re, they’re supposed to because One of the things about EDF historically has been is that they’re really talented people, that they have hired well over time and that they know what they’re doing. And every time we, Weather Guard and [00:10:00] Yolanda and I’m sure Matthew have dealt with EDF quite a bit They are on top of what they’re operating. They know how their assets work, and they know how to manage them, and so you’d hate to lose those people in a transaction like this. It would decrease the value of the assets, I would say. Very interesting transaction.  Matthew Stead: Yeah. But, I mean, what if the counter, what if, um, this is all part of a, a growth strategy? You know, a growth strategy with wind, solar, and battery, you know, providing more power. So it might actually be an opportunity. So, you know, opportunity to do more and some more exciting work across all three disciplines. Allen Hall: Definitely so. Uh, but it’s a little early. The ink hasn’t dried yet on the contract. So while offshore market pulls back in general, in a lot of places like the United States, another one is racing ahead. In, in South Korea’s latest offshore wind auction, one name walked away with the lion’s share, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, CIP. The Danish fund [00:11:00] secured more than one gigawatt of the 1.8 gigawatts on offer, including the single largest project and the only floating wind winner. And the appetite was record-breaking. They had a whole bunch of developers trying to bid on this. You had about 3.7 gigawatts being bid in, more than twice of the capacity available. So for a country that only began competitive offshore bidding in 2022, that’s a few short years ago, that market is coming of age. This is a huge announcement by CIP, right? That, uh, they have bid into the system. They’re, they’re winning, and they’re bringing Siemens Gamesa to the table, which we haven’t heard a lot of Siemens Gamesa’s turbines being selected, but this is a massive order and really gonna help secure at least some portion of, of the Siemens Gamesa business. Matthew, you’re closer to it. In, in South Korea, are you seeing the South Korean industry being built within [00:12:00] the country, or are you seeing, uh, partnerships with surrounding countries like Japan? ‘Cause it doesn’t seem like when– and I’ve looked at some of the South Korea, uh, efforts. It does seem like they’re trying to stand up their own offshore built-in country plan. Is, is that the goal? You think Siemens is gonna end up building a, a factory in, in South Korea for some of these projects?  Matthew Stead: Maybe a couple of things. First of all, I have to apologize. I think, uh, we were talking the other week, and I, I, I sort of implied that floating offshore wind was dead, and I think we copped a bit of flack from that. But, uh, anyway, wrong, wrong on, uh,  Allen Hall: floating offshore is dead.  Matthew Stead: Um, but um, you know, I’ve had a fair bit of interaction with, uh, South Korean, um, you know, Philippines, Japan, obviously. I think they’re all trying to get their industries up, but I, I don’t think they’ve got the scale So, you know, I think they, they really need like the Siemens Gamesas, the Vestas’s, um, to come in and, and partner with them. I just don’t think they’ve got the scale, you know, the, the [00:13:00] installed fleet, the industry to really promote it. And, you know, to get the economies of scale, they’re gonna have to pull in the big existing incumbents. So, you know, good on CIP for, for pulling this off.  Allen Hall: In terms of South Korea industry, I think steel is one of their strongest, uh, industries at the moment, and obviously shipbuilding. Those are the, that go hand in hand, so to speak. There’s a lot of steel in wind turbines, and particularly in floating offshore wind turbines. It would seem ripe for South Korea to get into that marketplace.  Matthew Stead: I’m not sure the intellectual property is in steel tubes. Um, I, I guess what I’m trying to say is the intellectual property is in the turbine nacelle and the blades and, um, you know, I, you know, correct what I said that, you know, obviously the steel and the steel manufacturing in South Korea is, is pretty amazing. Um, but yeah, they’re clarifying what I said before.  Allen Hall: So is this gonna turn into the leading floating project in the world? You know, Greenvolt’s gonna happen in the [00:14:00] UK. There’s some talk of things up in Scandinavia. But in terms of speed, will this be one of the leading candidates in t- in getting things in the water just because of the capability of South Korea to, to build at scale? I  Matthew Stead: think it’s really exciting. Yeah, I, I’m, I’m gonna watch very closely.  Allen Hall: I think this is gonna be amazing. I really do.  Yolanda Padron: I was gonna say, could you imagine, like, a, a turbine and a blade where everything is just perfectly manufactured or close to perfectly manufactured? I g- I went to one farm last week, and there were… I mean, it was in the States, and there were so many patches on new blades. I was just talking to the people in operations like, “What’s, what’s going on here?” You know? Uh, so it’s just really… I don’t know. This is exciting.  Matthew Stead: Do you think, um, they’ll build a blade factory, Yolanda? Do you think they’ll actually take on the blades? Yolanda Padron: I don’t know. Uh, I, I mean, it’d, it’d be great for them, I think, right? It’s a new area of business that they’re diving [00:15:00] into.  Allen Hall: If they don’t have to build the building at the port, I think Siemens would be willing to erect something near the shoreline. And in Korea, there’s a lot of major industry right on the shoreline. It would be relatively easy, I think. You know, ev- it sounds easy now because you’re not actually doing it. But in terms of, you know, building a blade factory on the coastline of United States versus doing it in South Korea, South Korea’s gonna be way easier to do that and at scale quickly. That, that one seems like a win-win. I d- if there’s any place on the planet that could do it quick besides the UK or, you know, Denmark, someone like Netherlands, someplace like that, Germany, it’s gonna be South Korea.  Matthew Stead: Maybe that’s a bet, you know. So prove me wrong again. My money at the moment is that Nacelles blades won’t be coming from South Korea. Allen Hall: Well, if they don’t come from South Korea, they’re gonna be on a South Korea-built ship. We’ll be bringing th- those [00:16:00] blades in country. That’s what will happen. So wind is getting its own set of financial instruments, which sounds weird, right? Wind is wind. It’s in a very legacy style industry. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange is planning to launch wind derivatives across three continents, which are contracts that are tied to the grid in Texas, the markets in the UK and Germany, and just the Victoria state in Australia. So today, most weather hedging happens through one-off over-the-counter deals that are sort of hard to trade and thin on liquidity, so it’s not a commodity you can pass around. A standardized exchange-listed contract changes all that. A utility or a wind farm owner could lock in a hedge in about 15 minutes. The contracts would settle against independent data that models how much power the wind should have produced in a given place, likely supplied by [00:17:00] the Finnish firm, drum roll, Vaisala. Plans are not final, but they could go live within months. So they’re hedging on the wind. Does this sound like a smart move, or w- what are some of the consequences of this? Matthew Stead: I think it goes back to that volatility. W- when there’s volatility, people can make money. Um, you know, and a side note, that’s where, that’s where offshore wind comes in because it’s much more predictable. Um, you don’t get the same lulls with offshore wind. Yeah. So I, I, I love all these, these creative ways of, um, generating, generating demand, financial demand. Allen Hall: It can be played though, right? I mean, that’s one of the things about wind, ’cause each turbine is its own separate little power plant that all connect to a substation, so if you have bought a hedge and the substation goes kaput for 24 hours, you could lose your shirt. It does seem kind of risky, depending on what the scale is here. If you’re doing all of Texas or all of [00:18:00] Victoria, maybe that makes a little more sense, but yikes. That’s gonna be a rough market.  Yolanda Padron: Yeah, the market’s already open, right? Like, you can bid day ahead, um, instead of just real-time prices. But so this, this would be really interesting for owners, right? To be able to track that a lot better than just that gut feeling, which obviously I know people working in trading aren’t just going off of their gut feeling. I know it’s a very, very intense thing. Nobody go against me, please. This is very intense, and it’s better– They do a better job than I could ever do. They do great, 10 out of 10. But this– I think this is really interesting for those of us especially who maybe aren’t super in tune with what, uh, all goes into it. So being able to have something that helps you plan it a bit more for, you know, people like you mentioned earlier, the people that have their home batteries in Australia and are just working on the market itself and maybe [00:19:00] not– don’t have those 10, 20 years of experience of, of actually working on the market. So this is, this is exciting.  Allen Hall: Does that explain all the weather sources and the weather companies when we go to a wind, a larger wind or solar event that there does seem to be a lot of people offering weather insights? Is that what that’s about, is they can hedge? If you have a slightly better weather model, that would give you an advantage in this kind, kind– really kind of market? Is that the, the goal of all those weather firms?  Matthew Stead: Uh, absolutely. And, you know, we’re, we’re part of that because, um, ice, ice, um, you know, reduces power output, and ice forecasting and weather forecasting is, uh, really important in, you know, the Nordics, where you don’t want to be promising certain power and find you can’t deliver ’cause everything’s iced up. So, you know, we, we do work with forecasting companies to improve the, [00:20:00] uh, the quality, and it does have a mer-material difference on, on the financial markets.  Allen Hall: So is that something that we can all get paid for? by these weather companies and these, uh, forecast companies if we provide insights on lightning, so to speak, and icing, uh, is that a revenue chain for at least one of us? Matthew Stead: Absolutely.  Allen Hall: Maybe I like this more and more. I was, I was very hesitant of this exchange, thinking like, “Oh man, not a, not another highly leveraged situation with energy. That doesn’t sound smart.” But, yeah, if we can make a small fortune, Matthew, I think we should do it.  Matthew Stead: Fun fact, there was a flight from, um, yeah, from London to Australia the other week, um, and it’s a direct flight, you know, so 17 hours, and, uh, there was a change in the weather. So there was a change in the weather, and that aircraft didn’t have enough fuel to fly to Perth anymore, so it had to land in the outback of Australia.  Allen Hall: No. Did that happen?  Matthew Stead: Yep, because there was a [00:21:00] change in the weather.  Allen Hall: Are there just, like, kangaroos lined up in a runway shape to get the airplane on the ground? Or how do they– Is there a runway out in the outback that would accommodate a large… That’s a large airplane that’s making a London to Australia trip. Triple 7380? It  Matthew Stead: was a Dreamliner. Um, but, um, it, yeah, it landed in Kalgoorlie. So Kalgoorlie’s a mining town. Yeah, they’ve got, they’ve got big stuff in Kalgoorlie. Allen Hall: In this quarter’s PES Wind magazine, in which there is a whole bunch of great articles, a interesting article about grease. Grease not the country, although I would love to go visit Greece. Grease the lubricant that’s in all our bearings and keeps the world moving at any one particular time. Uh, Sh-Shell was talking about doing a lot of research on grease, and when poor lubrication, uh, happens, it’s one of the leading causes of bearing failure. And so when you see a bearing all tore up, usually the first indication is, is there’s something wrong with the grease. Uh, [00:22:00] so Sh-Shell and bearing maker SKF and the University of, uh, Twente joined forces to answer a deceptively simple question: How do you predict when grease inside a bearing will let go? Well, their answer comes down to film thickness. The microscopic layers of grease that keeps the steel from grinding on each other is the magic variable. The work won a major tribology award and is already feeding into, uh, some of the tools that operators use to schedule relubrication before a bearing fails. And It all comes down to lubrication. That’s the lifetime of a wind turbine. There’s so many pieces that are rotating and are heavily loaded with really complicated bearing surfaces. If you don’t have the grease right, it’s just not gonna work. And what’s happening at Shell is one of those pieces, and we’re [00:23:00] learning so much more. And as we, uh, evolve in the technology and become smarter about the molecules we use and how we use them, uh, this is gonna have a big impact. And I know, Yolanda, you’ve been up to– Well, you’ve been to a couple of wind farms recently. Do you s- see– still see huge grease problems that I usually see when I’m on site? Matthew Stead: Mm-hmm.  Yolanda Padron: I didn’t think that was an issue that was gonna go away anytime soon. But it’s good to know that, that there’s something being done about it that’s more revolutionary than just paying someone to clean the turbine every once in a while.  Allen Hall: And the contaminants that get into the greases are a huge problem, particularly where there’s any sort of sand, dust that climbs in. So keeping those joints clear and those rolling surfaces clear is a major effort. And knowing when to relubricate. And, and Matthew, you guys see pitch bearings and all kinds of problems up on blades that are lubricated that have run out of their lifetime early. It does seem like the first thing you see on particularly pitch bearings [00:24:00] is grease on the side of the turbine from them. Matthew Stead: Yeah. I think that’s– uh, there’s even a special code that the, the visual drone inspection companies have. They’ve got codes for, um, grease and so, yeah, exactly, that’s an early flag. But also dust. You know, sometimes dust from the inserts and from the bolts. Yeah. So it’s, yeah, interesting topic.  Allen Hall: Well, I, I think it’s one of the key pieces to keeping the turbines running. And I know if you travel a lot around wind turbines, the, the grease is the thing that the technicians always talk about, and there’s so many different tools to go out and look at these things. But lubrication, we gotta get to it. And, and Shell, and SKF, and a number of others are, are working at it to make, hopefully, our lives a little bit easier. So if you wanna go check out this article by Shell, go visit peswind.com and download a copy today. That wraps up another episode of the Uptime Wind Energy podcast. If today’s discussion sparked any questions or ideas, we’d love to hear from you. Reach out to us on [00:25:00] LinkedIn, and don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode. So for Yolanda, and Matthew, and an absent Rosie, I’m Allen Hall, and we’ll see you here next week on the Uptime Wind Energy podcast.

Veteran war correspondent Phil Ittner reports from Ukraine on the Russian attack of Kiev and Zelensky's response on Moscow. Trump wrecks the economy with war, then demands credit for the cleanup. He cheers a Hitler comparison, burns billions to bury wind power, and lets a parasite spread. Also a cute bird momma & babies alert! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In the final part of a four-episode series recorded at the recent WindEurope conference in Madrid, three floating wind specialists spoke to the Wind Power podcast about the prospects for this technology.Windpower Monthly editor Ian Griggs spoke to two developers, Hugh Kelly, CEO of Simply Blue Energy and Knut Vassbotn, CEO of Deep Wind Offshore, about whether the current auction models are fit for purpose for this emerging technology.Meanwhile, Laurent Verdier, chief development officer for the specialist floating wind technology firm, BW Ideol, discussed the likely consolidation of more than 100 players to the most viable companies in the years to come.This episode was produced by Inga Marsden. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Energy and Environmental Economics Partner talks with CEM Associate Editor Abigail Sawyer about the changing shape of resource adequacy in the Desert Southwest as utilities try to thread the needle on reliably meeting a new level of "baseload demand" while striving for affordability and meeting state clean energy goals. 

As parts of the federal government attempt to shut down and defund alternative energy sources, like wind power. I wanted to hear from an expert in the field about where we are and what the state of wind power is. Brought to you by The Good Government Institute, bringing together proven ideas, principled leaders, and real-world solutions to strengthen how we govern—not by reinventing the system, but by advancing what already works. GoodGovernmentShow.com Thanks to our sponsors: HelloNation Ourco Good News For Lefties (and America!) - Daily News for Democracy (Apple Podcasts | Spotify) How to Really Run a City Leading Iowa: Good Government in Iowa's Cities (Apple Podcasts | Spotify) The Context: A Podcast by the Charles F. Kettering Foundation The Good Government Show is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what's broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it. The Royal Cousins: How Three Cousins Could Have Stopped A World War by Jim Ludlow Executive Producers: David Martin, David Snyder, Jim Ludlow Host/Reporter: David Martin Producers: David Martin, Jason Stershic Editor: Jason Stershic

In the third of a four-part series recorded at the recent WindEurope conference in Madrid, RWE's onshore chief, Sopna Sury, spoke to the Wind Power podcast about grid bottlenecks how to engage communities with large energy infrastructure projectsWindpower Monthly editor Ian Griggs also spoke to Sury about the opportunities and challenges of the AI age and what it means for the wind industry – and future electricity consumption.This episode was produced by Inga Marsden. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Wind turbines, pig manure, people power – and one radical idea. Feldheim may look like an ordinary farming village, but it's become world famous for its unique energy system, where residents pay far less for power than most Europeans. So what can the rest of the world learn from the German village that decided to go it alone?

In the second of a four-part series recorded at last month's WindEurope conference in Madrid, Tara Singh, CEO of Renewable UK, talks to the Wind Power podcast about the current global energy crisis and how that makes the case for increasing the focus on renewables.Windpower Monthly editor Ian Griggs spoke to Singh about the political outlook for wind power in the UK and about how the industry should respond to anti-wind narratives.Singh also discussed how she would respond to US president Donald Trump's ‘drill baby, drill' mantra.This episode was produced by Inga Marsden. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mark Carney says Canada can become an energy superpower, given its potential in oil, gas, electricity, solar, and wind. But as we are seeing now, to get there, some old promises need to change. Is that price too high? Just some of the questions and one of the issues for Chantal and Bruce on today's Good Talk. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In the first of a four-part series recorded at last month's WindEurope conference in Madrid, Girish Tanti, co-founder and vice chairman of Suzlon, talks to the Wind Power podcast about returning to the European market with the company's new 'Blue Sky' platform. In an interview recorded only 24 hours after the company launched its new Blue Sky turbine platform, Windpower Monthly editor Ian Griggs spoke to Tanti about how he rated Suzlon's chances of being chosen by developers to power European projects against the bloc's established incumbents.Tanti also discussed the specific challenges in the European market and whether the EU is currently a good trading environment for non-western turbine manufacturers.This episode was produced by Inga Marsden. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This time on the Wind Power Podcast, we focus on women in the wind power industry, speaking with three senior figures about progress on gender inclusion and the challenges that remain in the sector.Firstly, Rebecca Williams, deputy CEO of the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), shares a global view of how gender inclusion is evolving across the industry.Meanwhile, Juliette Sanders, chief communications officer at Energy UK – also known by her ‘windfluencer' alter ego Killah Jules – discusses her career into wind and the day to day challenges women can face.Finally, Jane Cooper reflects on how participation has changed over time and what more can be done to attract and support women in the sector.This episode was produced by Inga Marsden. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of People in Power, California Energy Markets Staff Writer Linda Dailey Paulson dives into Western energy prices, which due to a variety of factors have seen extreme volatility, including negative prices in the triple digits. Along with CEM Associate Editor Abigail Sawyer and CEM Managing Editor Jason Fordney, Linda takes a general look at real-time and 15-minute day-ahead power price trends, exploring topics such as what increased renewables mean, why batteries are not able to take up excess solar, and what's happening with demand.

Get to know PREP: Portable by following their KICKSTARTER. PREP: Portable Wind Power System for Life Off-Grid by PREP — KickstarterPOCLink Radio https://poclink.com/prepperbroadcastingBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/prepper-broadcasting-network--3295097/support.BECOME A SUPPORTER FOR AD FREE PODCASTS, EARLY ACCESS & TONS OF MEMBERS ONLY CONTENT!Red Beacon Ready OUR PREPAREDNESS SHOPThe Prepper's Medical Handbook Build Your Medical Cache – Welcome PBN FamilySupport PBN with a Donation Join the Prepper Broadcasting Network for expert insights on #Survival, #Prepping, #SelfReliance, #OffGridLiving, #Homesteading, #Homestead building, #SelfSufficiency, #Permaculture, #OffGrid solutions, and #SHTF preparedness. With diverse hosts and shows, get practical tips to thrive independently – subscribe now!Newsletter – Welcome PBN FamilyGet Your Free Copy of 50 MUST READ BOOKS TO SURVIVE DOOMSDAY

Highly exposed to volatile fossil fuel prices and intensifying climate change, island nations around the world are starting to ask: could they make a fortune from the gusty seas that surround them? Advances in offshore wind technology are prompting island communities to consider whether they can become energy independent - or even electricity exporters.If you'd like to get in touch with the team, our email address is businessdaily@bbc.co.ukPresented and produced by Tyler DunnBusiness Daily is the home of in-depth audio journalism devoted to the world of money and work. From small startup stories to big corporate takeovers, global economic shifts to trends in technology, we look at the key figures, ideas and events shaping business.Each episode is a 17-minute, daily deep dive into a single topic, featuring expert analysis and the people at the heart of the story.Recent episodes explore the weight-loss drug revolution, the growth in AI, the cost of living, the economic impact of the war in the Middle East, and why bond markets are so powerful.We also feature in-depth interviews with company founders and some of the world's most prominent CEOs. These include Google's Sundar Pichai, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, and the CEO of Canva, Melanie Perkins.(Picture: Offshore wind farm on the edge of an island. Credit: Getty Images)

In this episode of People in Power, Kelly Fukai talks about her new role as CEO of the Northwest Gas Association, the role of natural gas as a firm resource in an era of growing demand, and baseball!

Host Joe DeMare talks about his eco-observations during an epic train/car/train journey to North Carolina. He also describes how his homesteading sister maintains a comfortable lifestyle while having a very tiny ecological footprint. Ecological News focuses on energy this week, with large gains being made in energy storage technology. Also completely blowing apart Trump's lies about China and wind power. China is building and using wind turbines at an incredible rate. 

Greg Mason, Associate Editor of Clearing Up, interviews Larry Bekkedahl, senior vice-president of advanced energy delivery at Portland General Electric, about his retirement from the energy industry after 40 years, his perspective on the region's load projections, and his advice to grid operators on maintaining reliability.

The Founder & CEO of Power the Future, Daniel Turner joins us to answer your questions on the effect of the Iran conflict on gas prices, the rising cost of electricity, climate change, wind, solar & more.Follow Daniel @DanielTurnerPTF

The Environmental Protection Agency recently announced it was rescinding the 2009 endangerment finding, the legal foundation for federal regulation of greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. The administration has called the move the largest deregulatory action in U.S. history. What does it actually do? And what happens next? On this episode of Stanford Legal, Professor Deborah Sivas, an expert in environmental law, joins co-host Pam Karlan to unpack the legal strategy behind the repeal, the role of recent Supreme Court decisions, and what's likely to unfold in the courts. Among other ramifications, they also explore California's authority to adopt its own, more aggressive emissions standards and what this latest move by the Trump administration signals for the future of federal climate regulation. Links: Deborah Sivas >>> Stanford Law page Environmental Law Clinic >>> Stanford Law page Connect: Episode Transcripts >>> Stanford Legal Podcast Website Stanford Legal Podcast >>> LinkedIn Page Rich Ford >>>  Twitter/X Pam Karlan >>> Stanford Law School Page Diego Zambrano >>> Stanford Law School Page Stanford Law School >>> Twitter/X Stanford Lawyer Magazine >>> Twitter/X (00:00:00): The EPA's rescission of the Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding (00:06:43): Climate science consensus and legal strategy (00:16:01): The litigation roadmap: process vs. substance (00:29:53): Wind power on the cusp (00:30:10): Solar economics and federal land authority Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The ongoing efforts of the Trump Administration to walk back climate policy and clean energy development may be handing over the health of the US economy to our chief economic rival. China is outpacing US economic growth by supplying the world with the clean technologies vital today and in the future, including electric vehicles and critical minerals, while the Trump Administration tries to revive a dying coal industry. Also, onshore wind in the US is hitting a cliff, even in the most wind-powered state, Iowa, which generates about 2/3 of its electricity from wind. A combination of local opposition, anti-wind rhetoric and tax credit phaseouts has led to a steep decline in new wind projects. And the young hero of children's book Daisy Rewilds not only likes nature, but she also wants to become nature. Daisy refuses to take baths and reverts the manicured lawn of her family home back into the wild, all with a bit of hilarity. Weeds and worms show her family and neighbors the true beauty in nature, chaotic as it can be. --- Save the date for the next Living on Earth Book Club event! On Thursday, Feb. 26th at 6:30 p.m. Eastern, Terry Tempest Williams will join us live on Zoom to discuss her new book The Glorians: Visitations from the Holy Ordinary. Go to loe.org/events to learn more and register for this free conversation about finding glimmers of hope in the natural world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of People in Power, Abigail Sawyer talks with Peter Ferrell, senior director of government relations for the National Electrical Manufacturers Association, about supply chain challenges and how they are affecting the buildout and modernization of the U.S. electric grid. From tariffs, trade and immigration policy to workforce shortages and natural disasters, supply chain concerns are contributing to numerous other challenges facing electric utilities as they work to improve and expand the complicated system that delivers power to a growing number of end users.

Allen, Joel, and Yolanda discuss the North Sea Summit where nine European countries committed to 100 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity and the massive economic impact that comes with it. They also break down the federal court ruling that allows Vineyard Wind to resume construction with a tight 45-day window before installation vessels leave. Plus GE Vernova’s Q4 results show $600 million in wind losses and Wind Power Lab CEO Lene Helstern raises concerns about blade quality across the industry. Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly newsletter on all things wind technology. This episode is sponsored by Weather Guard Lightning Tech. Learn more about Weather Guard’s StrikeTape Wind Turbine LPS retrofit. Follow the show on YouTube, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary’s “Engineering with Rosie” YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us! The Uptime Wind Energy Podcast brought to you by Strike Tape, protecting thousands of wind turbines from lightning damage worldwide. Visit strike tape.com. And now your hosts, Allen Hall, Rosemary Barnes, Joel Saxum, and Yolanda Padron.  Speaker 2: Welcome to the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast. I’m your host, Alln Hall. I’m here with Yolanda Padron and Joel Saxum. Rosemary Barnes is snorkeling at the Greek Barrier Reef this week, uh, big news out of Northern Europe. Uh, the Northeast Summit, which happened in Hamburg, uh, about a week or so ago, nine European countries are. Making a huge commitment for offshore wind. So it’s the, the countries involved are Britain, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Iceland, question Mark Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, and Norway. That together they want to develop [00:01:00] 100 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity in shared waters. Uh, that’s enough to power about. 85 million households and the PAC comes as Europe is trying to wean itself from natural gas from where they had it previously and the United States. Uh, so they, they would become electricity in independent. Uh, and this is one way to do it. Two big happy, uh, companies. At the moment, Vattenfall who develops s lot offshore and Siemens gaa of course, are really excited by the news. If you run the numbers and you, you, you have a hundred gigawatts out in the water and you’re using 20 megawatt turbines, then you’re talking about 5,000 turbines in the water total. That is a huge offshore wind order, and I, I think this would be great news for. Obviously Vestas and [00:02:00] Siemens cesa. Uh, the, the question is there’s a lot of political maneuvering that is happening. It looks like Belgium, uh, as a country is not super active and offshore and is rethinking it and trying to figure out where they want to go. But I think the big names will stay, right? France and Germany, all in on offshore. Denmark will be Britain already is. So the question really is at the moment then. Can Siemens get back into the win game and start making money because they have projected themselves to be very profitable coming this year, into this year. This may be the, the stepping stone, Joel.  Joel Saxum: Well, I think that, yeah, we talked about last week their 21 megawatt, or 21 and a half megawatt. I believe it is. Big new flagship going to be ready to roll, uh, with the big auctions happening like AR seven in the uk. Uh, and you know, that’s eight gigawatts, 8.4 gigawatts there. People are gonna be, the, the order book’s gonna start to fill up, like [00:03:00]Siemens is, this is a possibility of a big turnaround. And to put some of these numbers in perspective, um, a hundred gigawatts of offshore wind. So what does that really mean? Right? Um, what it means is if you, if you take the, if you take two of the industrial big industrial powerhouses that are a part of this pact, the UK and Germany combine their total demand. That’s a hundred gigawatt. That’s what they, that’s what their demand is basically on a, you know, today. Right? So that’s gonna continue to grow, right? As, uh, we electrify a lot of things. And the indus, you know, the, the next, the Industrial Revolution 4.0 or whatever we’re calling it now is happening. Um, that’s, that’s a possibility, right? So this a hundred gigawatts of offshore wind. Is gonna drive jobs all up all over Europe. Right. This isn’t just a jobs at the port in Rotterdam or wherever it may be. Right? This is, this is manufacturing jobs, supply chain jobs, the same stuff we’ve been talking about on the podcast for a while here with [00:04:00] what the UK is doing with OWGP and the, or e Catapult and all the kind of the monies that the, the, the Crown and, and other, uh, private entities are putting in there. They’re starting to really, they’re, or this a hundred gigawatts is really gonna look like building out that local supply chain. Jobs, all these different things. ’cause Alan, like you, you mentioned off air. If you look at a hundred gigawatts of offshore wind, that’s $200 billion or was to put it in Euros, 175 billion euros, 170 billion euros, just in turbine orders. Right. That doesn’t mean, or that doesn’t cover ships, lodging, food, like, you know, everything around the ports like tools, PPE, all of the stuff that’s needed by this industry. I mean, there’s a, there’s a trillion dollar impact here.  Speaker 2: Oh, it’s close. Yeah. It’s at least 500 billion, I would say. And Yolanda, from the asset management side, have we seen anything of this scale to manage? It does seem like there’d be a lot of [00:05:00] turbines in the water. A whole bunch of moving pieces, ships, turbines, cables, transformers, substations, going different directions. How, what kind of infrastructure is that going to take?  Yolanda Padron: You know, a lot of the teams that are there, they’re used to doing this on a grand scale, but globally, right? And so having this be all at once in the UK is definitely gonna be interesting. It’ll be a good opportunity for everybody to take all of the lessons learned to, to just try to make sure that they don’t come across any issues that they might have seen in the past, in other sites, in other countries. They just bring everything back home to their countries and then just make sure that everything’s fine. Um, from like development, construction, and, and operations.  Joel Saxum: I was thinking about that. Just thinking about development, construction, operations, right? So some of [00:06:00] these sites we’re thinking about like how, you know, that, that, that map of offshore wind in, in the Northern Atlantic, right? So if this is gonna go and we’re talking about the countries involved here, Norway, Germany, Denmark, France, Belgium, you’re gonna have it all over. So into the Baltic Sea. Around Denmark, into the Norwegian waters, uk, Ireland all the way over, and Iceland is there. I don’t think there’s gonna be any development there. I think maybe they’re just there as a, as cheerleaders. Um, offtake, possibly, yes. Some cables running over there. But you’re going to need to repurpose some of the existing infrastructure, or you’re not, not, you’re going to need to, you’re going to get the opportunity to, and this hasn’t happened in offshore wind yet, right? So. Basically repowering offshore wind, and you’re going to be able to look at, you know, you’re not doing, um, greenfield geotechnical work and greenfield, um, sub c mapping. Like, some of those things are done right, or most of those things are done. So there, I know there’s a lot of, like, there’s a, there’s two and [00:07:00] three and six and seven megawatt turbines all over the North Atlantic, so we’re gonna be able to pop some of those up. Put some 15 and 20 megawatt machines in place there. I mean, of course you’re not gonna be able to reuse the same mono piles, but when it comes to Yolanda, like you said, the lessons learned, Hey, the vessel plans for this area are done. The how, how, how we change crews out here, the CTVs and now and SOVs into port and that stuff, that those learnings are done. How do we maintain export cables and inter array cables with the geotechnic here, you’re not in a green field, you’re in a brown field. That, that, that work. A lot of those lessons learned. They’re done, right? You’ve, you’ve stumbled through them, you’ve made those mistakes. You’ve had to learn on the fly and go ahead here. But when you go to the next phase of Repowering, an offshore wind farm, the the Dev X cost is gonna go way down, in my opinion. Now, someone, someone may fight back on that and say, well, we have to go do some demolition or something of that sort. I’m not sure, but [00:08:00] Yolanda Padron: yeah. But I think, you know. We like to complain sometimes in the US about how some of the studies just aren’t catered toward us, right? And so we’ve seen it a lot and it’s a lot of the studies that are made are just made in Europe where, where this is all taking place. So it’s gonna be really, really interesting to see such a massive growth where everything’s being developed and where the studies are localized from where. You have this very niche area and they can, they’ve studied it. They know exactly what’s going on there. And to your point, they’ve seen a lot of, they’ve minimized the risk, like the environmental risks as much as they could. Right. And so it’s, it’s going to be really, really interesting to have them  Joel Saxum: ensuring and financing these projects should be way easier  Speaker 2: when Europe is saying that the industry has pledged to cut costs by 30% between. 20, 25 and 2040. So you would think that the turbine [00:09:00] costs and the installation costs would have to be really cost conscious on the supply chain and, uh, taking lessons learned from the previous generations of offshore wind. I think that makes sense. 30% is still a lot, and I, I think the, the feeling I’m getting from this is, Hey, we’re making a hundred gigawatt commitment to this industry. You have to work really hard to deliver a efficient product, get the cost down so it’s not costing as much as, you know. Could do if we, if we did it today, and we’re kind of in from an offshore standpoint over in Europe, what a generation are we in, in terms of turbines three? Are we going into four? A lot of lessons learned. Joel Saxum: Yeah. The, the new Siemens one’s probably generation four. Yeah. I would say generation four in the new, because you went from like the two and three megawatt machines. Like there’s like Vesta three megawatts all over the place, and then you went into the directive [00:10:00] machines. You got into that seven and eight megawatt class, and then you got into the, where we’re at now, the 15, the 12 and 15 megawatt units, the Docker bank style stuff, and then I would say generation four is the, yeah, the Siemens 21 and a half machine. Um, that’s a good way to look at it. Alan four we’re on the fourth generation of offshore wind and, and so it’s Generation one is about ready to start being cycled. There’s some, and some of these are easier, they’re nearer to shore. We’ll see what, uh, who starts to take those projects on. ’cause that’s gonna be an undertaking too. Question on the 30%, uh, wind Europe says industry has pledged to cut cost by 30% by 20. Is that. LCOE or is it devex costs or is it operational costs or did they, were they specific on it or they just kinda like cut cutting costs?  Speaker 2: My recollection when that first came about, which was six months ago, maybe a little longer, it was LCOE, [00:11:00] right? So they’re, they’re trying to drive down the, uh, dollars per, or euros per megawatt hour output, but that the capital costs, if the governments can help with the capital costs. On the interest rates, just posting bonds and keeping that down, keeping the interest rates low for these projects by funding them somehow or financing them, that will help a tremendous amount. ’cause if. Interest rates remain high. I know Europe is much lower than it is in the United States at the minute, but if they interest rates start to creep up, these projects will not happen. They’re marginal  Joel Saxum: because you have your central in, in, in Europe, you have your central bank interest rates, but even like the f the, the Indi Individual nation states will subsidize that. Right? Like if you go to buy a house in Denmark right now, you pay like 1.2%. Interest  Speaker 2: compared to what, six and a half right now in the states? Yeah, it’s low.  Speaker 4: Australia’s wind farms are [00:12:00] growing fast. But are your operations keeping up? Join us February 17th and 18th at Melbourne’s Pullman on the park for Wind energy o and M Australia 2026, where you’ll connect with the experts solving real problems in maintenance asset management. And OEM relations. Walk away with practical strategies to cut costs and boost uptime that you can use the moment you’re back on site. Register now at WMA 2020 six.com. Wind Energy o and m Australia is created by wind professionals for wind professionals because this industry needs solutions, not speeches,  Speaker 2: as we all know. On December 22nd, the federal government issued a stop work order. On all offshore winds that included vineyard wind up off the coast of Massachusetts, that’s a 62 turbine, $4.5 billion wind farm. Uh, that’s being powered by some GE turbines. Uh, the government [00:13:00] has, uh, cited national security concerns, but vineyard went to court and Federal Judge Brian Murphy rolled the, the administration failed to adequately explain or justify the decision to shut it down. Uh, the judge issued a stay, which it is allowing Vineyard went to immediately resume work on the project now. They’re close to being finished at a vineyard. There are 44 turbines that are up and running right now and creating power and delivering power on shore. There are 17 that are partially installed. Uh, when the stop order came. The biggest issue at the moment, if they can’t get rolling again, there are 10 towers with Noels on them, what they call hammerheads. That don’t have blades. And, uh, the vineyard wind. Last week as we were recording this, said you really don’t want hammerheads out in the water because they become a risk. They’re not assembled, completed [00:14:00] items. So lightning strikes and other things could happen, and you really don’t want them to be that way. You want to finish those turbines, so now they have an opportunity to do it. The window’s gonna be short. And Yolanda listening to some GE discussions, they were announcing their Q4 results from last year. The ships are available till about the end of March, and then the ships are gonna finally go away and go work on another project. So they have about 45 days to get these turbines done. I guess my question is, can they get it done work-wise? And I, I, I guess the, the issue is they gotta get the turbines running and if they do maintenance on it, that’s gonna be okay. So I’m wondering what they do with blade sets. Do they have a, a set of blades that are, maybe they pass QC but they would like them to be better? Do they install ’em just to get a turbine operational even temporarily to get this project quote unquote completed so they can get paid?  Yolanda Padron: Yeah. If, if the risk is low, low [00:15:00] enough, it, it should be. I mean a little bit tight, but what, what else can you do? Right? I mean, the vessel, like you might have a shot of getting the vessel back eventually, or being able to get something in so you can do some of the blade repairs. And the blade repairs of tower would require a different vessel than like bringing in a whole blade, right? And so just. You have a very limited time scope to be able to do everything. So I don’t know that I would risk just not being able to pull this off altogether and just risk the, you know, the rest of the tower by not having a complete, you know, LPS and everything on there just because not everything’s a hundred percent perfect. Joel Saxum: There’s a weird mix in technical and commercial risk here, right? Because. Technically, we have these hammerheads out there, right? There’s a million things that can happen with those. Like I, I’ve [00:16:00] personally done RCAs where, um, you have a hammerhead on this was onshore, right? But they, they will get, um, what’s called, uh, Viv, uh, vortex induced vibration. So when they don’t have the full components out there, wind will go by and they’ll start to shake these things. I’ve seen it where they shook them so much because they’re not designed to be up there like that. They shook them so much that like the bolts started loosening and concrete started cracking in the foundations and like it destroyed the cable systems inside the tower ’cause they sat there and vibrated so violently. So like that kind of stuff is a possibility if you don’t have the right, you know. Viv protection on and those kind of things, let alone lightning risk and some other things. So you have this technical risk of them sitting out there like that. But you also have the commercial risk, right? Because the, the banks, the financiers, the insurance companies, there’s the construction policies and there’s, there’s, you gotta hit these certain timelines or it’s just like if you’re building a house, right? You’re building a house, you have to go by the loan that the bank gives you in, you know, in micro [00:17:00] terms to kind of think about that. That’s the same thing that happens with this project, except for this project’s four and a half billion dollars and probably has. It’s 6, 8, 10 banks involved in it. Right? So you have a lot of, there’s a lot of commercial risk. If you don’t, if you don’t move forward when you have the opportunity to, they won’t, they’ll frown on that. Right? But then you have to balance the technical side. So, so looking at the project as a whole, you’ve got 62 turbines, 44 or fully operational. So that leaves us with 18 that are not. Of those 18, you said Alan? 10 needed blades.  Speaker 2: 10 need blades, and one still needs to be erected.  Joel Saxum: Okay, so what’s the other seven?  Speaker 2: They’re partially installed, so they, they haven’t completed the turbine, so everything’s put together, but they haven’t powered them up yet.  Joel Saxum: I was told that. Basically with the kit that they have out of vineyard wind, that they can do one turbine a day blades. Speaker 2: That would be, yeah, that would make sense to me.  Joel Saxum: But, but you also have to, you have 45 days of vessel time left. You said they’re gonna leave in March, but you also gotta think it’s fricking winter in. The, [00:18:00] in the Atlantic  Speaker 2: they are using jackass. However, there’s big snow storms and, and low uh, pressure storms that are rolling through just that area. ’cause they, they’ve kind of come to the Midwest and then shoot up the east coast. That’s where you see New York City with a lot of snow. Boston had a lot of snow just recently. They’re supposed to get another storm like that. And then once it hits Boston, it kind of hits the water, which is where vineyard is. So turbulent water for sure. Super cold this time of year out there,  Joel Saxum: but wind, you can’t sling blades in, in probably more than what, six meters per second’s? Probably your cutoff.  Speaker 2: Yeah. This is not the best time of year to be putting blade sets up offshore us.  Joel Saxum: Technically, if you had blue skies, yeah, this thing can get done and we can move. But with weather risk added in you, you’ve got, there’s some wild cards there.  Speaker 2: I It’s gonna be close.  Joel Saxum: Yeah. If we looked at the, the weather, it looks like even, I think this coming weekend now we’re recording in January here, and [00:19:00] this weekend’s, first week in February coming, there’s supposed to be another storm rolling up through there too. Speaker 2: It was pretty typical having lived in Massachusetts almost 25 years. It will be stormy until April. So we’re talking about the time span of which GE and Vineyard want to be done. That’s a rough period for snow. And as historically, uh, that timeframe is also when nor’easters happened, where the storms just sit there and cyclone off the shore around vineyard and then dump the snow back on land. Those storms are really violent and there’s no way they’re gonna be hanging. Anything out in the water, so I think it’s gonna be close. They’re gonna have to hope for good weather. Don’t let blade damage catch you off guard. OGs, ping sensors detect issues before they become expensive, time consuming problems from ice buildup and lightning strikes to pitch misalignment and internal blade cracks. OGs Ping has you covered The cutting edge sensors are easy to install, giving you [00:20:00] the power to stop damage before it’s too late. Visit eLog ping.com and take control of your turbine’s health today. So while GE Ver Nova celebrated strong results in its Q4 report, in both its energy and electrification business, the company’s wind division told a different story. In the fourth quarter of 2025, wind revenue fell 24% to $2.37 billion. Uh, driven primarily by offshore wind struggles, vineyard, wind, uh. The company recorded approximately $600 million in win losses for the full year up from earlier expectations of about $400 million. That’s what I remember from last summer. Uh, the, the culprit was. All vineyard wind, they gotta get this project done. And with this work stoppages, it just keeps dragging it on and on and on. And I know GE has really wanted to wrap that up as [00:21:00] fast as they can. Uh, CEO Scott Straza has said the company delivered strong financial results, which they clearly have because they’re gas turbine business is taking orders out to roughly 2035, and I think the number on the back order was gonna be somewhere in the realm of 150 billion. Dollars, which is an astronomical number for back orders. And because they had the back orders that far out, they’re raising prices which improves margins, which makes everybody on the stock market happy. You would think, Joel? Except after the, the Q4 results today, GE Renovo stock is really flat,  Joel Saxum: which is an odd thing, right? I talk about it all the time. Um, I’m always thinking they’re gonna drop and they go up and they go up and they go up. But today was just kind of like a, I don’t know how to take it. Yeah. And I don’t know if it’s a, a broader sentiment across what the market was doing today because there was some other tech earnings and things of that sort, but it’s always something to watch, right? So. Uh, there, [00:22:00] there’s some interesting stuff going on on in the GE world, but one thing I want to touch on here, we’re talking like vineyard wind caused them this, these delays right there is a, a, a larger call to understand why there was these delays and because it’s causing. Havoc across the industry. Right. But even the, like, a lot of like, uh, conservative lawmakers, like there were some senators and stuff coming out saying like, we need more transparency to understand these 90 day halts because of what it’s doing to the industry, right? Because to date there hasn’t been really any explanation and the judges have been just kind of throwing ’em out. Um, but you can see what it’s done here to ge. Recording $600 million in win losses. I mean, and that is mostly all vineyard wind, right? But there’s a little bit of Dogger bank stuff in there. I would imagine  Speaker 2: a tiny bit. Really? ’cause Dogger has been a lot less stressful to ge.  Joel Saxum: But it is, yeah. The, the uncertainty of the market. And that’s why we kind of said a little bit, I said a little bit ago, like when this thing is done, when Vineyard [00:23:00] Point is like, and when you can put the final nail in the coffin of construction on that, it is gonna be agh sigh of relief over at GEs offices For sure.  Speaker 2: Our friend Alina, Hal Stern appeared in Energy Watch this week and she’s spent a long time in the wind industry. She’s been in it 25 years, and, uh, she commented that she’s seeing some troubling things. Uh, she’s also the new CEO of Wind Power Lab over in Denmark, and they’re a consultancy firm on wind turbines and particularly blades. Uh, Lena says that she’s watched some. Really significant manufacturing errors in operational defects and wind turbine blades become more frequent. And in 2025 alone, Windpower lab analyzed and provided repair recommendations for over 700 blades globally. And I assume, or Blade Whisperer Morton Hamburg was involved in a number of those. Uh, the problem she says is that the market eagerly, uh, [00:24:00] demanded cheap turbines, which is true. And, uh. Everything had to be done faster and with lower costs, and you end up with a product that reflects that. Uh, we’ve had Lena on a podcast a couple of times, super smart. Uh, she’s great to talk to, get offline and understand what’s happening behind the scenes. And, uh, in some of these conference rooms between asset managers, operators, and OEMs, those are sometimes tough. Discussions, but I, I think Lena’s pointing out something that I, the industry has been trying to deal with and she’s raising it up sort of to a higher level because she has that weight to do that. We have some issues with blades that we need to figure out pretty quickly. And Yolanda, you ran, uh, a large, uh, operator in the United States. We’re dealing with more than a thousand turbines. How locked in is Lena, uh, to [00:25:00]some of these issues? And are they purely driven just by the push to lower the cost of the blades or was it more of a speed issue that they making a longer blades in the same amount of time? Where’s that balance and, and what are we going to do about it going forward as we continue to make larger turbines?  Yolanda Padron: She’s great with, with her point, and I think it’s. A little bit about the, or equally about the OEMs maybe not being aware of these issues as much, or not having the, the bandwidth to take care of these issues with limited staff and just a lot of the people who are charge of developing and constructing these projects at a very short amount of time, or at least with having to wear so many hats that they. Don’t necessarily have the, the bandwidth to do a deep dive on what the potential risks could be in [00:26:00] operations. And so I think the way I’ve, I’ve seen it, I’ve experienced it. It’s almost like everybody’s running a marathon. Their shoe laces untied, so they trip and then they just kind of keep on running ’cause you’re behind, ’cause you tripped. And so it just keeps on, it’s, it’s, it’s a vicious cycle. Um. But, uh, we’ve also seen just, just in our time together and everything, that there’s a lot of people that are noticing this and that are taking the time to just pause, you know, tie those releases and just talk to each other a little bit more of, Hey, I’m the one engineer doing this for so many turbines. You have these turbines too. Are you seeing this issue? Yes. No. Are, how are you tackling it? How have you tackled it in the past? How can we work together to, to use the data we have? Right? That, I mean, if you’re not going to get a really great answer from your OEMs or if you’re not going to get a lot of [00:27:00] easily available answers just from the dataset that you’re seeing from your turbine, it’s really easy now to to reach out to other people within the industry and to be able to talk it over, which I think is something that Lena. Is definitely encouraging here.  Joel Saxum: Yeah. Yeah. It’s, I mean, she, she makes a statement about owners needing to be technically mature, ensure you have inspections, get your TSAs right. So these are, again, it’s lessons learned. It’s sharing knowledge within the market because at the end of the day, this is a new, not a new reality. This is the reality we’re living in. Right. It’s not new. Um, but, but we’re getting better at it. I think that’s the, the important thing here, right? From a, from a. If we take a, the collective group of operators in the world and say like, you know, where were you two, three years ago and where are you today? I think we’re in a much better place, and that’s from knowledge sharing and, and understanding these issues. And, you know, we’re, we’re at the behest of, uh, good, fast, cheap pick. [00:28:00] Right. And so that’s got us where we are today. But now we’re, we’re starting to get best practices, lessons learned, fix things for the next go around. And you’re seeing efforts at the OEM level as well to, uh, and some, some of these consultants coming out, um, to, to try to fix some of these manufacturing issues. You know, Alan, you and I have talked with DFS composites with Gulf Wind Technology. Like there, there’s things here that we could possibly fix. You’re starting to see operators do. Internal inspections to the blades on the ground before they fly them. That’s huge. Right? That’s been the Wind Power lab has been talking about that since 2021. Right. But the message is finally getting out to the industry of this is what you should be doing as a best practice to, you know, de-risk. ’cause that’s the whole thing. You de-risk, de-risk, de-risk. Uh, so I think. Lena’s spot on, right? We know that this, these things are happening. We’re working with the OEMs to do them, but it takes them a technically mature operator. And if you’re, if you don’t have the staff to be technically mature, go grab a consultant, [00:29:00] go grab someone that is to help you out. I think that’s a, that’s an important, uh, thing to take from this as well. Those people are out there, those groups are out there, so go and go in, enlist that to make sure you’re de-risking this thing, because at the end of the day, if we’re de-risking turbines. It’s better for the whole industry.  Speaker 2: Yeah. You want to grab somebody that has seen a lot of blades, not a sole consultant on a particular turbine mine. You’re talking about at this point in the development of the wind industry, you’re talking about wind power labs, sky specs kind of companies that have seen thousands of turbines and have a broad reach where they’ve done things globally, just not in Scandinavia or the US or Australia or somewhere else. They’ve, they’ve seen problems worldwide. Those people exist, and I, I don’t think we as an industry use them as much as we could, but it would get to the solutions faster because having seen so many global [00:30:00] issues with the St turbine, the solution set does vary depending on where you are. But it’s been proven out already. So even though you as an asset manager. May have never heard of this technique to make your performance better. You make your blades last longer. It’s probably been done at this point, unless it’s a brand new turbine. So a lot of the two x machines and three X machines, and now we’re talking about six X machines. There’s answers out there, but you’re gonna have to reach out to somebody who has a global reach. We’ve grown too big to do it small anymore,  Yolanda Padron: which really should be a relief to. All of the asset managers and operations people and everything out there, right? Like. You don’t have to use your turbines as Guinea pigs anymore. You don’t have to struggle with this.  Speaker 2: That wraps up another episode of the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast, and if today’s discussion sparked any questions or ideas, we’d love to hear from you. Reach out to us on LinkedIn and don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode. [00:31:00] And if you found value in today’s conversation, please leave us a review. It really helps other wind energy professionals discover the show for Rosie, Yolanda and Joel. I am Alan Hall, and we’ll see you here next week on the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast.

Today, POLITICO Energy host Josh Siegel sits down with West Virginia Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito for an extended interview. They discuss how high utility bills could hurt Republicans during the upcoming midterm elections, if President Donald Trump's anti-renewable energy strategy undercuts the GOP's message on affordability, what Congress can do to support the U.S. power grid amid rising energy demand, and the future of congressional permitting reform negotiations. Josh Siegel is a congressional energy reporter for POLITICO.  Stefan Todorovic is the video producer of POLITICO Energy. Nirmal Mulaikal is the co-host and executive producer of POLITICO Energy.  Matt Daily is the energy editor for POLITICO. Cyril Zaneski is executive editor of E&E News. Joe Schatz is the deputy editor-in-chief of POLITICO. Follow POLITICO here:    ➤ X: https://x.com/politico/ ➤ Instagram:   / politico      ➤ Facebook:   / politico   For more reporting on energy and the environment, subscribe to Power Switch, our free evening newsletter: https://www.politico.com/power-switch And for even deeper coverage and analysis, read our Morning Energy newsletter by subscribing to POLITICO Pro: https://subscriber.politicopro.com/newsletter-archive/morning-energy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ayla Burnett and Abigail Sawyer chat with Sarah Edmonds and Rebecca Sexton of the Western Power Pool on their backgrounds and the paths that led them to be leaders in the Western energy world. They also discuss the inception of two groundbreaking initiatives: the Western Resource Adequacy Program and the Western Transmission Expansion Coalition.

Ten European countries bordering or close to the North Sea, including Germany, France, the UK and Norway, have pledged $11.3 billion to expand offshore wind capacity by 2030. They describe it as a historic deal that will wean Europe off dependency on Russian energy.Plus, France starts debating a ban on social media for under-15s in the wake of a similar move in Australia.And India and the EU are poised to conclude a trade deal.

Geopower, Energy Realpolitik with Todd Royal – Wind power is promoted as clean, reliable, and affordable, yet evidence tells a different story. Intermittency weakens electric grids, environmental damage is widespread, costs continue to rise, and offshore wind projects face mounting failures. This episode examines the technical, ecological, and economic realities behind industrial wind energy and questions its role in a sustainable future...

Tara brings in a recovering meteorologist to explain why weather forecasts have felt so wrong lately — and why this storm is no joke. What looks like “just another winter system” could turn into widespread freezing rain, power outages, impassable roads, and dangerously cold temperatures — all across a massive region at once. This episode breaks down what's really happening in the atmosphere, why models struggle with winter storms, and why preparation right now matters more than ever.

Wind power is often seen as inherently sustainable. But as the industry scales, new questions emerge about materials, design, and what happens to wind turbines at the end of their life.In this episode, Intertek experts explore how circular economy thinking is reshaping wind energy, from the use of low-carbon and recycled steel to advances in recyclable turbine blades and the role of artificial reefs in supporting marine biodiversity. The conversation looks at how innovation, engineering, and circular design can help the wind sector reduce environmental impact while building long-term resilience.Speakers:Richard Sargeant- Subject Matter Expert for Offshore Wind, IntertekDavid Muil- VP ATIC Sustainability, Intertek Business AssuranceFollow us on- Intertek's Assurance In Action || Twitter || LinkedIn.

A federal judge cleared the way for construction to resume on an offshore wind power project in New York. It's the second time this week a court ruled against the Trump administration's efforts to kill new wind power facilities. Wind is responsible for producing about 10% of all electricity in the U.S., but the uncertainty is having an impact. Miles O'Brien reports for our series, Tipping Point. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

This Day in Legal History: Williams v. FloridaOn January 15, 1970, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Williams v. Florida, a significant case interpreting the Sixth Amendment's guarantee of a trial by jury. The petitioner, Johnny Paul Williams, was convicted in a Florida court by a six-member jury and argued on appeal that his constitutional rights had been violated because the jury did not consist of twelve members. The Court, in a 6-2 decision authored by Justice Byron White, rejected this argument and held that the Constitution does not require a twelve-person jury in criminal cases.The ruling marked a turning point in how procedural aspects of jury trials were viewed under the Constitution. Drawing on historical analysis and functional reasoning, the Court concluded that the number twelve was a “historical accident” rather than a constitutional mandate. It emphasized that what mattered was whether the jury could fulfill its essential purpose: promoting group deliberation, guarding against government overreach, and representing a fair cross-section of the community.The Court's opinion opened the door for states to use smaller juries in certain criminal trials, leading to greater procedural flexibility. However, the ruling was not without its critics, including dissenting justices who warned that reducing jury size could dilute the quality of deliberation and increase the risk of wrongful convictions. The Court later clarified in Ballew v. Georgia (1978) that juries smaller than six members were unconstitutional, setting a lower boundary on size.Williams v. Florida continues to shape discussions around the structure and fairness of criminal jury trials. It reflects a broader judicial approach that balances historical tradition with evolving interpretations of fairness and efficiency in the criminal justice system. The decision also illustrates how constitutional protections, while deeply rooted, are not frozen in time but subject to ongoing judicial scrutiny.On January 17, 2026, a U.S. District Court will hear a request from Norwegian energy company Equinor to resume construction on its Empire Wind offshore project off the coast of New York. The company is suing the Trump administration after it suspended offshore wind development in federal waters, citing national security concerns related to radar interference. Equinor argues that the $4 billion project, now 60% complete, faces cancellation if construction doesn't continue by January 16. The case follows a recent decision allowing Danish company Ørsted to resume work on its own halted project off Rhode Island.The legal challenge is one of several confronting the Trump administration's broader effort to stall offshore wind development. Trump officials have paused work on five federal wind leases, citing a classified Defense Department assessment. Offshore wind companies say these actions threaten billions in investment and the viability of long-term energy goals. Empire Wind is projected to power about 500,000 homes once completed.US court to weigh New York project challenge to Trump offshore wind halt | ReutersThe Trump administration has reversed its decision to lay off nearly all employees of the Justice Department's Community Relations Service (CRS), an agency created by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to mediate racial and ethnic conflicts. In a recent federal court filing in Boston, the DOJ stated that it rescinded the September layoff notices issued to 13 CRS staff members, citing “administrative discretion.” Civil rights groups, including two NAACP chapters and the Ethical Society of Police, had sued to block the terminations, arguing they were part of an unlawful attempt to dismantle the agency.Though the employees have been reinstated, it remains unclear if they will resume work on CRS functions. The plaintiffs have asked the court to hold a hearing to determine the practical impact of the reversal and whether CRS operations will truly continue. Under the Trump administration, the CRS reportedly stopped accepting new service requests and faced budget cuts, with the current White House proposal offering no funding for it. However, a bipartisan appropriations bill in Congress would allocate $20 million to support the agency.Previously, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani denied a temporary restraining order to stop the layoffs but said the plaintiffs had shown a strong likelihood of success. She is still considering whether to issue a permanent injunction to prevent dismantling the CRS.Trump administration reinstates fired employees of DOJ race-relations agency | ReutersTesla has agreed to enter mediation with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to try to resolve a federal lawsuit alleging widespread racial harassment at its Fremont, California factory. The EEOC claims Tesla allowed a hostile work environment where Black employees were subjected to slurs, racist graffiti—including swastikas and nooses—and other forms of discrimination, some of which appeared on vehicles coming off the assembly line. Tesla has denied the allegations, arguing it was unaware of the conduct and accusing the EEOC of seeking publicity.U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley approved a pause on some discovery deadlines to prioritize mediation efforts. The EEOC and Tesla are currently selecting a mediator, with talks potentially beginning in March or April. Both sides must report to the judge by June 17 if mediation fails. The lawsuit, filed during the Biden administration in September 2023, is part of a series of legal challenges Tesla has faced over workplace issues at its Fremont facility.In a separate case, Tesla recently avoided a class-action lawsuit when a California judge ruled that over 6,000 Black workers at the plant could not proceed as a group, citing a lack of willing witnesses.Tesla agrees to mediation that could resolve US agency's racism lawsuit | ReutersSix federal prosecutors in Minnesota resigned on January 13, 2026, in a move that may disrupt the Justice Department's intensified efforts to crack down on public benefits fraud. Among those stepping down are Joe Thompson, the former acting U.S. attorney for the district, and Harry Jacobs, a key figure in cases involving misused child nutrition program funds. Both were central to the high-profile Feeding Our Future investigation, which scrutinized alleged fraud in federal nutrition programs during the COVID-19 pandemic.Sources say the resignations were linked to political pressure from the Trump administration, including demands to investigate the widow of Renée Nicole Good, who was killed by a U.S. immigration officer earlier this month. The DOJ reportedly declined to pursue charges against the officer, leading to internal dissent.Minnesota Governor Tim Walz condemned the resignations as evidence of the Trump administration's politicization of the DOJ, accusing it of forcing out experienced, nonpartisan staff. The departures come amid a broader exodus from the department, including five senior lawyers from the Civil Rights Division, which had worked closely with Minnesota prosecutors after the murder of George Floyd in 2020.Attorney General Pam Bondi recently announced a new DOJ fraud division and plans to deploy prosecutors from other regions to Minneapolis. The White House has also ramped up enforcement in other liberal-leaning districts, which has led to more prosecutions related to immigration protests and officer assaults—and in some cases, grand jury rejections of those prosecutions.Six US Prosecutors Resign in Minnesota as Crackdown Builds (1) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.minimumcomp.com/subscribe

The government claims the UK is on track to meet its clean power targets for 2030 following a record offshore wind auction. However, in a world where the price of so many things is going up, it turns out wind is no exception. Energy secretary Ed Miliband hopes the UK's reliance on natural gas will be gone with the wind - but are consumers willing to pay the price? Niall is joined by Sky's business correspondent Paul Kelso. Producers: Tom Gillespie and Soila Apparicio Editor: Mike Bovill

People in Power Episode 20: Abigail Sawyer talks with Carrie Simpson, vice president of markets for the Southwest Power Pool, about her experience in energy, which goes back to the early 2000s when she worked as an energy trader for Enron. Since then Carrie has been involved in power markets in both the Western and Eastern Interconnection. She is anticipating the expansion of SPP's RTO—which will be the first organized wholesale market to operate in both interconnections—and also preparing for SPP's day-ahead market offering, Markets+, which will begin serving entities in the Western Interconnection in October 2027.

-Starlink will lower the orbits of roughly 4,400 satellites this year as a safety measure, according to engineering VP, Michael Nicolls. In a post on X, Nicolls wrote that the company is "beginning a significant reconfiguration of its satellite constellation," in which all satellites orbiting at around 342 miles will be lowered to around 298 miles. -Rather than the very tall towers typically used for this approach, Airloom's structures are 20 to 30 meters high and are made of a loop of adjustable wings that move along a track, a design that's sort of like a roller coaster. -The Swiss minimal phone pioneer Punkt is back with another model, the MC03. The new handset continues Punkt's focus on privacy, security and digital minimalism. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the month of April, China installed more solar power than Australia ever has. China is also now home to half of the world's wind power and half of the world's electric cars.Despite this, China remains the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases.So, is it a climate hero or villain and how has the Chinese Communist Party managed to roll out green energy tech so quickly?Today, climate reporter Jo Lauder on why China is becoming the world's first ‘electrostate'. First published 18 August, 2025Featured: Jo Lauder, ABC climate reporter

Environmentalist Bill McKibben argued that solar and wind power offer the best path for addressing climate change. Politics and Prose bookstore in Washington, D.C., hosted this event. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Environmentalist Bill McKibben argued that solar and wind power offer the best path for addressing climate change. Politics and Prose bookstore in Washington, D.C., hosted this event. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SEND ME A TEXT MESSAGE NOWIn this episode I focus on a major decision involving offshore wind projects already under construction along the East Coast and why the sudden halt has set off alarm bells well beyond the energy world. These were not future proposals but active projects with money workers and infrastructure already in place.I look at what this move means for jobs regional power demand and electricity costs and why states that were counting on these projects now face serious uncertainty. The explanation offered by the Trump administration raises questions that deserve closer attention.I also turn to the Justice Department's release of Epstein related files and why the response has been anything but settled. After months of anticipation the release has intensified scrutiny instead of quieting it.The issue is not just what was made public but how it was handled. Shifting redactions missing context and confusion around released materials have angered lawmakers survivors and legal observers across party lines.I talk about why these reactions matter and what they suggest about unresolved accountability and trust in institutions that claim transparency while controlling what the public is allowed to see.When decisions like these are made and explained this way, the effects do not end with a press cycle. They carry forward into jobs, energy costs, legal accountability, and whether the public believes the system is working for them or protecting itself.This is A World Gone Mad. I'm Jeff Alan Wolf.If you'd like to contribute with a small donation to my podcast before the holidays it would be appreciated.As I've said multiple times, this is purely optional. But every little donation truly helps.here is the link: https://ko-fi.com/aworldgonemadAWorldGoneMadPodcast@gmail.com

The Trump administration announced an immediate pause on the leases for five large-scale offshore wind farms off the East Coast. The Interior Department provided few details, but said the Pentagon believed the turbines could obscure and confuse radar signals. It's the latest move by the White House taking aim at wind power. Science correspondent Miles O’Brien has been tracking these projects. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

The Trump administration announced an immediate pause on the leases for five large-scale offshore wind farms off the East Coast. The Interior Department provided few details, but said the Pentagon believed the turbines could obscure and confuse radar signals. It's the latest move by the White House taking aim at wind power. Science correspondent Miles O'Brien has been tracking these projects. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

Ireland controls seven times more sea than land, and with the Atlantic blowing 25% stronger winds than the North Sea, we sit on one of the greatest untapped energy jackpots on Earth. This episode dives into the staggering 600 gigawatt potential of offshore wind off Ireland's coast, enough to power every home and factory in the EU, several times over. So why haven't we built a new offshore wind farm in 20 years? From floating turbines to fiscal unions, Dutch perpetual bonds to data centres in the Burren, we break down how wind could be Ireland's next IDA moment, if we can overcome our engineering phobia and stop thinking like a museum. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dec. 4, 2025- The headwinds may be blowing against New York's offshore wind industry, but they're still hoping to lay the groundwork for future projects in the Empire State. We explore the landscape with Alicia Gené Artessa, executive director of the New York Offshore Wind Alliance.

In this episode of Climate Positive, Gil Jenkins speaks with Bill McKibben: author, educator, and one of the most acclaimed environmental voices of our time. His latest book, Here Comes the Sun, traces the rise of abundant, inexpensive solar power and argues that if we keep accelerating, we have a real chance not only to limit climate damage, but also to reorder the world on saner and more humane grounds. We dig into the data, the politics, and the people driving the global shift to solar, and Bill also opens up about the role of faith in his work and how he views the environmental movement's trajectory today.Links:Bill McKibben WebsitePurchase Bill's Book - Here Comes the Sun: A Last Chance for the Climate and a Fresh Chance for CivilizationBook Excerpt: 4.6 Billion Years On, the Sun Is Having a Moment – The New Yorker, July 9, 2025Substack: The Crucial Years - Bill's ongoing essays on climate, energy, and activismSun Day WebsiteThird Act WebsiteArticle: Sunday Was Also Sun Day - The New York Times, Sept. 20, 2025Episode recorded on October 20, 2025 About Bill:Bill McKibben is founder of Third Act, which organizes people over the age of 60 for action on climate and justice. His 1989 book The End of Nature is regarded as the first book for a general audience about climate change, and has appeared in 24 languages. He's gone on to write 20 books, and his work appears regularly in periodicals from the New Yorker to Rolling Stone. He serves as the Schumann Distinguished Scholar in Environmental Studies at Middlebury College, as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and he has won the Gandhi Peace Prize as well as honorary degrees from 20 colleges and universities. He was awarded the Right Livelihood Award, sometimes called the alternative Nobel, in the Swedish Parliament. Foreign Policy named him to its inaugural list of the world's 100 most important global thinkers. McKibben helped found 350.org, the first global grassroots climate campaign, which has organized protests on every continent, including Antarctica, for climate action. He played a leading role in launching the opposition to big oil pipeline projects like Keystone XL, and the fossil fuel divestment campaign, which has become the biggest anti-corporate campaign in history, with endowments worth more than $40 trillion stepping back from oil, gas and coal. He stepped down as board chair of 350 in 2015, and left the board and stepped down from his volunteer role as senior adviser in 2020, accepting emeritus status. He lives in the mountains above Lake Champlain with his wife, the writer Sue Halpern, where he spends as much time as possible outdoors. In 2014, biologists credited his career by naming a new species of woodland gnat—Megophthalmidia mckibbeni–in his honor.Book Blurb:From the acclaimed environmentalist, a call to harness the power of the sun and rewrite our scientific, economic, and political future. Our climate, and our democracy, are melting down. But Bill McKibben, one of the first to sound the alarm about the climate crisis, insists the moment is also full of possibility. Energy from the sun and wind is suddenly the cheapest power on the planet and growing faster than any energy source in history—if we can keep accelerating the pace, we have a chance. Here Comes the Sun tells the story of the sudden spike in power from the sun and wind—and the desperate fight of the fossil fuel industry and their politicians to hold this new power at bay. From the everyday citizens who installed solar panels equal to a third of Pakistan's electric grid in a year to the world's sixth-largest economy—California—nearly halving its use of natural gas in the last two years, Bill McKibben traces the arrival of plentiful, inexpensive solar energy. And he shows how solar power is more than just a path out of the climate crisis: it is a chance to reorder the world on saner and more humane grounds. You can't hoard solar energy or hold it in reserves—it's available to all.There's no guarantee we can make this change in time, but there is a hope—in McKibben's eyes, our best hope for a new civilization: one that looks up to the sun, every day, as the star that fuels our world. Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, Hilary, and Guy at climatepositive@hasi.com.

On Today's Episode – We start off talking government shutdown. My oh my how the Left loves to lie about WHY the shutdown has lagged on so long. Lies, lies, and more lies – let's get a few of them from across the aisle to come to their senses and get this moving. We move to looting, and the tik tok threats looming for Nov. 3rd. We then meet out guest Craig Rucker (bio below). We cover many topics related to power / EV mandates / Wind Power etc. Tune in for all the Fun Craig Rucker is a co-founder of CFACT and currently serves as its president. Widely heralded as a leader in the free market environmental, think tank community in Washington, D.C., Rucker is a frequent guest on radio talk shows, written extensively in numerous publications, and has appeared in such media outlets as Fox News, OANN, Washington Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Hill, among many others.Rucker is also the co-producer of the award-winning film Climate Hustle, which was the #1 box-office film in America during its one night showing in 2016, as well as the acclaimed Climate Hustle 2 staring Hollywood actor Kevin Sorbo released in 2020. As an accredited observer to the United Nations, Rucker has also led CFACT delegations to some 30 major UN conferences, including those in Copenhagen, Istanbul, Kyoto, Bonn, Marrakesh, Rio de Janeiro, and Warsaw, to name a few.https://www.cfact.org/2025/09/25/transportation-dept-takes-more-wind-out-of-offshore-wind/ https://www.breitbart.com/environment/2025/10/28/now-he-tells-us-bill-gates-backflips-and-says-climate-change-no-threat-to-humanity-after-all/See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Last month, the Trump administration abruptly halted construction on a nearly completed $6 billion, 65-turbine wind farm off the coast of New England, known as Revolution Wind. The holdup has put thousands out of work and raises big questions about not just the future of this project, but similar efforts across the eastern seaboard. Science correspondent Miles O’Brien reports from Connecticut. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

Is the clean energy revolution finally here? Over the past few years, the world has experienced a sudden and overwhelming surge in renewable energy installation and generation, outpacing even the most optimistic predictions from experts. This week on the GZERO World Podcast, Ian Bremmer talks to Bill McKibben, an environmentalist and author, about the stakes and scale of the global energy transformation. His new book, Here Comes the Sun, argues renewables aren't just a climate fix—they're a political and economic opportunity. But while China and Europe are pushing ahead in the race to power the future, the Trump administration is doubling down on fossil fuels. What happens if the US puts the brakes on clean energy, just as the rest of the world hits the gas? Or rather... plugs in the solar battery? Do we risk being left in the dark?Host: Ian BremmerGuest: Bill McKibben Subscribe to the GZERO World with Ian Bremmer Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred podcast platform, to receive new episodes as soon as they're published.