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Gas and Power Prices blog
Twelve Questions About Rooftop Solar and Who Really Pays for Net Metering Twelve plain answers on how net metering works, why rates and grid costs are the real fight, and what to read before you sign a solar lease or loan. Running Out of Oil Was Forecast for a Century, So Why Hasn't It Happened A century of exhaustion forecasts, from World War I to the peak-oil books, failed because reserves are an economic idea that grows with price and technology. Your Power Bill Is Going Up, So Here Is How to Speak at the Rate Case A step-by-step guide to the public proceeding that sets your electric rates, and how an ordinary customer gets a seat at the table. Willis Carrier's Machine Remade the South, and Made the Case for Cheap Energy Willis Carrier's air conditioning made the South and Southwest livable year round and shows that abundant energy is a quality-of-life good, not a luxury. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve Was Built for War, Not for Gas Prices Congress built the reserve in 1975 to survive a supply cutoff like the 1973 embargo. Using it to steer pump prices spends a military asset on politics. A Thought Experiment on the Federal Kitchen Inspector Coming for Your Stove A labelled satire follows an invented kitchen office from gas stoves to toasters and candlelit dinners, to show where regulation by fear ends. From the 1973 Embargo to the 2022 Sale, a Strategic Petroleum Reserve Timeline The Strategic Petroleum Reserve was built as insurance against a supply cutoff, and its record shows when drawing it down made sense and when it managed prices. The Wind Tax Credit Was Temporary in 1992 and Kept Coming Back for Decades A per-kilowatt-hour credit meant to be short-lived was renewed again and again, and the arithmetic shows how it bends the power market it was meant to nudge. Four Pieces of Every Gallon and Why the President Controls the Fewest A gallon of gas is crude, refining, distribution and taxes, and the biggest piece is set on a world market no President commands. Here is what policy can move.