Dan Schroeder

Is this all the "planned" facilities in the EIA 860 table?

Glad to hear this. I remember (vaguely) when Ogden lowered the number to 3, around 2000 or shortly after. Though I can't prove it, I'm convinced much of the motivation was racist.

It's a condensing furnace, rated efficiency 92%. When I got it my gas bills plummeted. I'm in Ogden, Utah, and my annual gas usage for a small but old house is ~25 MMBtu, costing ~$250. dvschroeder.blogspot.com/2016/08/the-...

Oh I know. I think I got an unusually good deal even then. Still, the sticker shock of replacing a $2k system with a $20k system!

Very nice--thank you!

One common objection to heat pumps I don't see mentioned is that they "blow cold [or lukewarm] air". You might consider adding something about that.

The upfront cost is daunting regardless. My current gas furnace cost me <$2000 in 2003.

I remember all the hoopla! Never saw the comet.

I'm stuck on the concept of a laundry chef.

Very true—though I'm not convinced Klein tries, when he thinks he has a fact that fits his narrative.

I'm still pissed at Klein for not bothering to look up how much firewood Thomas Jefferson burned at Monticello.

This is the sort of claim I never trust unless it comes straight from @hausfath.bsky.social .

Yeah, and I think people need to recognize that even today, the majority of heat pumps being installed in the US are single-unit mini-splits, far too small to keep an entire house warm in a cold climate as in VT. And a big heat pump that can do that, especially in an old house retrofit, is $$$$$.

What's going on in the first few frames, down at the bottom where the pulse is forming? Is that a numerical artifact or something physical?

U.S. Gas Prices, Up 11% in a Week, Pile Pressure on Trump

Here's a gift link to the article: www.nytimes.com/2026/03/06/b...

New York Times chart of U.S. average price of unleaded gasoline (as reported by AAA) from around September 2024 through early March 2026. The chart shows an abrupt 11% increase during the most recent week, to the current value of $3.32 per gallon. The price was about the same back in September 2024, but gradually drifted down, with many fluctuations, to a minimum near $2.80/gallon at the end of 2025. The price then rose gradually during January and February, followed by the recent abrupt rise.

Most journalists would've chopped off the bottom of this chart to make the recent jump look bigger in relative terms. I commend the @nytimes.com data folks for their self-discipline, which lets readers accurately see the increase's relative size at a glance.

To summarize what I've gleaned from the replies:

• Many Vermonters have installed mini-splits as add-ons, or for summer AC, but these aren't enough to replace the main heating system in winter.

• Retrofitting an old house with a big enough heat pump to handle VT winters is very expensive.

Have any legislators ever said why there should be different rules in different counties?

Haven't read the whole report but I see that it says most of these heat pumps are add-ons rather than replacements, with the primary heat source still being combustion of some kind. In some cases it sounds like they're being used only for summer air conditioning.

I appreciate the reply but I'm very confused.

Isn't oil or propane also expensive?

Wouldn't insulating a home help just as much if you heat with oil or propane?

I understand the lukewarm air complaint but doesn't that just mean it needs to run more continuously?

Says here most Vermonters currently heat with oil or propane. Those are both expensive, no? So I gotta wonder why Vermonters aren't already buying heat pumps in droves. Anyone know what the main barriers are?

www.nrc.gov/sites/defaul...

NRC has issued the Construction Permit for TerraPower in Kemmerer, Wyoming.

First one in ten years.

I remember reading updates as they went through step by step last year, so I don't think this is just a Trumpian rush job.

Looks like this one may have been a little high for 2025.
bsky.app/profile/sola...

The other day I brought a consumer model CO2 detector to class and passed it around, inviting students to alternately breathe on it and fan it with ambient air. We couldn't get the reading to go below 1000ppm.

To Extract Hot Water From the Earth, a Plan to Pipe It In First

This poorly informed nytimes article on closed loop geothermal is a perfect example of why you need specialist reporters covering energy topics or else you just get warmed over regurgitation of company talking points.

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/28/b...

This is really helpful. Thanks!

Insightful and timely summary of the benefits and challenges of microreactors.

I wonder how many people distinguish between a journalist making a prediction and a journalist reporting on someone else's prediction.

Of course audiences want to know what's gonna happen! Perhaps the best role for journalists is following up and telling us whose predictions were right or wrong.

Here's the link: www.eia.gov/electricity/...

(You have to download the spreadsheet.) For all three Cape Station units they're reporting 53 MW nameplate, 28 MW net summer, 31 MW net winter. Of course I have no idea whether those numbers are accurate.

Again I'm in way over my head, but here's what jumped out at me:

• "geologically analogous" to Cape Station. Wouldn't such sites be uncommon?

• Parasitic losses ~15%. The EIA860 data for Cape Station 1–3 shows net capacity just 56% of nameplate.

• Redrilling every 8 years. How does that work?

Had a feeling this was Valar before I clicked on it

Do all those details look pretty realistic to you? I'm in way over my head here.

Also, what do you know about this study's author, in terms of credentials and possible self interest? It seems odd for a study like this to come from someone with no institutional affiliation.