Welcome to Grid Brief! Here’s what we’re looking at today: how a diverse energy mix kept the lights on during extreme heat this summer, Jimmy Haslam’s investment in cleantech, and a Finnish repository for spent nuclear fuel marks major milestone.

A Divise Energy Mix is Keeping the Lights On

From Texas to California and Illinois to New York, regulators across the country have warned about potential blackouts and grid failures in the U.S. While Hurricane Beryl and Tropical Storm Debbie impacted customers in Texas and the southeast, the summer’s record heat (thankfully) led to fewer outages or blackouts than originally expected.

What have we learned from this stroke of luck? All sources of energy are important.

First let’s look at the nation’s largest RTO, PJM, which over the past week has been relying on natural gas and nuclear power to meet its power needs.

Next, we’ll go to Texas the energy capital of the world, which has demonstrated what a diversified energy mix looks like. As we see below, the Lone Star State consistently relies on a steady stream of natural gas, but its competitive electricity structure—and generous subsidies and tax credits (bad, if for mature technologies)— have allowed renewables to grow. This came in handy this past summer. As Jennifer Hiller and Katherine Blunt of The Wall Street Journal report, the state’s renewable and energy storage boom allowed for the handoff from solar generation during the day to wind power at night. Increased natural gas generation also helped.

Finally, let’s take a look at the Carolinas, where nuclear power has remained king in the last week.

Take a look at different regions in the country and you’ll notice that everywhere is relying on a diverse energy mix. The EIA’s monthly electricity stats tell the same story. With the exception of petroleum coke and other gases, output from every energy source has increased in 2024.

While it’s easy for energy wonks to get caught up in love or hatred of specific energy sources, it’s clear that a diversified mix is keeping the lights on. That’s not to say that more work can’t be done. Grid operators will need to build more generation over the coming years to meet future demand. Meanwhile, policymakers will need to pass bills that make it easier to build critical infrastructure.

The Cleveland Browns: Tackling Quarterbacks and Heavy Emissions

After last night’s game, week two of the NFL is done and fans and pundits are beginning to get a clearer picture of what lies ahead this season. One thing seems to be certain: the Cleveland Browns have a stellar defense yet again. Here is one stat worth mentioning from Pro Football Focus: the Browns’ defense has allowed 51 first downs this season, which is the least in the NFL. The league average is 110.38.

Off the field, Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam is committing to tackling heavy industry, reports Michelle Ma of Bloomberg. Recently Haslam’s family office HF Capital allocated $725 million for a new initiative that will “target investments in power generation, biofuels for the marine shipping industry and other sectors, and energy supply and distribution businesses.” The fund’s goal is to reduce 50 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions over the lifetime of the fund, that is equivalent to taking nearly 12 million cars off of the road.

Haslam made his fortune as the CEO of Pilot Company, the petroleum and convenience store conglomerate created by his father.

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Conversation Starters

• Successful start to trial run at Finnish repository (World Nuclear News)

  An initial trial run at the Onkalo fuel repository, the world’s first deep geological repository for spent nuclear fuel, has been successful. While the depository still has to receive the green light from Finnish regulators and more testing is still underway, it seems as if the world will soon have a more permanent solution to spent nuclear fuel.

• Form Energy opens first commercial factory (Form Energy)

  Form recently opened its Form Factory 1 in Weirton, West Virginia and began trial production of its batteries which rely on rust and air to store energy for days at a time. Form expects to have an annual manufacturing capacity of 500 megawatts by 2028.

• How oil-rich Arkansas became a lithium giant (CNBC)

  Companies like Exxon, Albemarle, and Standard Lithium are racing to Arkansas for the state’s vast deposits of lithium. The Natural State is home to the Smackover Formation, a geological formation rich in lithium brine.

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