Author | Lightnews

Tim McDonnell

@timmcdonnell.bsky.social

3.1K followers 1.2K following 37 posts

Climate and energy editor at Semafor. [email protected]. Based in Kyiv.

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Tim McDonnell @timmcdonnell.bsky.social · Nov 19

Hi y’all, I’m giving up on the other place & posting here moving forward. If we haven’t met, I’m the climate & energy editor @semafor.com . My newsletter on energy transition comes out every Weds & Fri. It’s free. Sign up here: www.semafor.com/vertical/net... Send me your biz & policy scoops!

Semafor Net Zero - An intelligent, transparent global news platform for breaking stories, analysis and video

Transparent, global reporting by Semafor journalists on climate, the environment, renewable energy including wind, solar, and hydropower, green jobs, and energy companies.

www.semafor.com

2 1 12

Reposted by Tim McDonnell

Nils Redeker @nilsredeker.bsky.social · May 26

Bleakly poetic finale for one of Europe’s big green industrial hopes: there’s now a homepage auctioning off the entire Northvolt factory in Sweden - complete sell-off, right down to the parking signs and bike racks.

nvx.psauction.com?gad_source=1...

1 18 49

Reposted by Tim McDonnell

Semafor @semafor.com · May 19

🟡 SCOOP: The US Department of Energy plans to cancel seven major loans and loan guarantees that had been conditionally approved under the Biden administration, @timmcdonnell.bsky.social‬ reports.

US plans to cancel 7 conditional commitments for green projects

The projects, which had been conditionally approved by the Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office, are mostly battery factories.

www.semafor.com

2 12 14

Tim McDonnell @timmcdonnell.bsky.social · May 19

Scoop, per a source close to the process: LPO will cancel 7 conditional loans/guarantees, the projects are listed here and include Monolith, Sunnova, and others www.semafor.com/article/05/1...

US plans to cancel 7 conditional commitments for green projects

The projects, which had been approved by the Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office, are mostly battery factories.

www.semafor.com

6 10

Reposted by Tim McDonnell

Jesse D. Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com · Apr 25

😲 “We built our last gas-fired facility in 2022, at $785/kW. If we wanted to build that same gas-fired combined cycle unit today…$2,400/kW" - NextEra CEO John Ketchum
gasoutlook.com/analysis/cos... 🔌💡

Costs to build gas plants triple, says CEO of NextEra Energy   - Gas Outlook

NextEra Energy’s CEO said that gas turbines have a multi-year backlog, leading to soaring costs for new gas-fired power plants.

gasoutlook.com

6 57 170

Reposted by Tim McDonnell

Matt Zeitlin @zeitlin.bsky.social · Apr 9

Yesterday Donald Trump said he was going to keep Cholla Generating Station, a coal plant in Arizona, open. The utility that owns it, Arizona Public Service, told that it had already stopped generating and they had procured enough resources to replace it

heatmap.news/energy/coal-...

4 23 49

Reposted by Tim McDonnell

Dave Vetter @davidrvetter.bsky.social · Apr 10

This just in: IEEFA analysis suggests LNG is unlikely to play a major role in displacing coal (or oil) in China. Notes that "volatility in global markets and escalating tensions with suppliers like the U.S. have only weakened the case for LNG in China"; global oversupply incoming.

Understanding the competitive landscape for China’s LNG market

Gas exporters have touted the potential of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to replace coal and reduce emissions in China. China’s LNG demand appears limitless when viewed as a simple substitute for coal. ...

ieefa.org

14 34

Reposted by Tim McDonnell

Zack Colman @zcolman.bsky.social · Apr 9

This story is now free for all to read:

www.politico.com/news/2025/04...

44 58

Tim McDonnell @timmcdonnell.bsky.social · Apr 7

My queen! www.washingtonpost.com/pr/2025/04/0...

Siobhán O’Grady Named Ukraine Bureau Chief

www.washingtonpost.com

Tim McDonnell @timmcdonnell.bsky.social · Mar 18

Even if there is an energy ceasefire, it just means more ammunition for Russia to continue hitting other targets

Tim McDonnell @timmcdonnell.bsky.social · Mar 18

Reaching out for comment to a number of well-placed energy sources in Ukraine about possibility of energy ceasefire discussed by T & P, all think it’s too soon to mark any notable breakthrough and point to the massive attack happening right now on Kyiv as the sign T has so far achieved very little

1 2

Tim McDonnell @timmcdonnell.bsky.social · Mar 12

Hands down best interview of CERA Week has been with Charlie the conference’s official emotional support pup. Her third birthday is coming soon and she is an absolute delight

Reposted by Tim McDonnell

Adrian Hiel @adrianhiel.bsky.social · Mar 11

I have been collecting these the last few weeks - they are timely once again:

2 4 12

Reposted by Tim McDonnell

Justin Gerdes @justingerdes.bsky.social · Mar 11

"What we don’t want to do is drive ourselves to only one solution — that being a gas-fired solution — that’s now more expensive than it ever has been in its history,” NextEra Energy CEO John Ketchum told @timmcdonnell.bsky.social: www.semafor.com/newsletter/0... 🔌💡

🟡 Semafor Net Zero: Trump’s Big Oil bear hug won’t help the AI race | Semafor

Renewables offer a cheaper and faster way to meet surging power demands, said the CEO of the largest US electricity provider.

www.semafor.com

2 2

Reposted by Tim McDonnell

Brendan Pierpont @brendan.bsky.social · Mar 11

NET Power's first full scale project with Oxy appears to have doubled in cost and been delayed. #energysky subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eene...

E&E News: Net Power delays low-emission Texas gas plant as costs climb

The company’s stock price tumbled 31 percent Monday following an update on a key project in the Permian Basin.

subscriber.politicopro.com

1 2 10

Tim McDonnell @timmcdonnell.bsky.social · Mar 11

In today’s @semafor.com Net Zero, does Big Oil regret backing Trump? A scooptastic dispatch from CERAWeek in Houston, featuring NextEra CEO John Ketchum, the latest on Equinor’s renewables calculus, and more www.semafor.com/newsletter/0...

🟡 Semafor Net Zero: Trump’s Big Oil bear hug won’t help the AI race | Semafor

Renewables offer a cheaper and faster way to meet surging power demands, said the CEO of the largest US electricity provider.

www.semafor.com

3 3

Reposted by Tim McDonnell

Michael Li (李之樸) @mcpli.bsky.social · Mar 4

Ontario will impose a 25% export tax on the electricity it sends to Michigan, Minnesota, and New York.

www.wsj.com/livecoverage...

Ontario to Slap Export Tax on Electricity to U.S.

Canada’s province of Ontario will slap a 25% export tax on electricity it sends to 1.5 million homes in Minnesota, Michigan and New York, in retaliation for President Trump’s tariffs, said Doug Ford, ...

www.wsj.com

4 16 34

Tim McDonnell @timmcdonnell.bsky.social · Mar 1

Trump admin kills US support for Ukraine’s energy security www.nbcnews.com/politics/sta...

www.nbcnews.com

2 1

Reposted by Tim McDonnell

Dr. Aaron Thierry @thierryaaron.bsky.social · Feb 28

Journalist Mstyslav Chernov's BAFTA-winning and Oscar-winning documentary is an unflinching inside look at the suffering that Russia's invasion has unleashed upon the Ukrainian people.

Available on @channel4tv.bsky.social

www.channel4.com/programmes/2...

20 Days in Mariupol

(2023) Unflinching, Oscar-winning inside view of Russia's invasion of Ukraine

www.channel4.com

1 14 25

Reposted by Tim McDonnell

illumi @illumi.meme · Feb 28

the pyramid of needs showing self fulfillment, psychological, and basic needs all hastily drawn over and extended. the needs are all one: the news to stop

11 270 1.1K

Tim McDonnell @timmcdonnell.bsky.social · Feb 26

Nils, would you have a minute today to chat about this?

Tim McDonnell @timmcdonnell.bsky.social · Feb 25

Coming to CERA Week in Houston in a couple of weeks? Make sure to join our Monday night cocktail party featuring NextEra CEO John Ketchum and United CSO Lauren Riley, among others. events.semafor.com/accleratinge...

Semafor's Accelerating Energy Innovations

events.semafor.com

Reposted by Tim McDonnell

Claire Willett @clairewillett.bsky.social · Feb 22

another great example along with Wired and Teen Vogue of how real journalism these days can be a lot braver at outlets where no one is trying to get in good with the White House press secretary

they’re out here with us, reporting on what’s happening to us all, instead of trying to get inside access

Gravel Influencer @gravelinfluencer.bsky.social · Feb 21

It's pretty cool that Eater put together resources for restaurants about how to handle ICE raids

What Should You Do if ICE Comes to Your Restaurant?

We spoke to legal experts about what restaurant owners and workers can do to protect themselves from immigration raids

www.eater.com

31 1.5K 4.4K

Tim McDonnell @timmcdonnell.bsky.social · Feb 20

In today’s @semafor.com Net Zero, looking at the risks of Trump’s possible energy deal with Putin. Ukraine fears a repeat of Biden’s deal to lift Nord Stream 2 sanctions, which “has been haunting us for many years.”

www.semafor.com/newsletter/0...

🟡 Semafor Net Zero: Trump is playing a dangerous game with Russian energy | Semafor

Lifting sanctions and allowing Russian oil and gas back into the global market could backfire for the US.

www.semafor.com

Tim McDonnell @timmcdonnell.bsky.social · Feb 19

One key piece of the geopolitical puzzle of U.S.-Panama relations is this mine, unpopular in Panama but which Trump could push to open, maybe with the kind of mineral swap he tried to push on Ukraine last week www.semafor.com/article/12/2...

Tim McDonnell @timmcdonnell.bsky.social · Feb 19

Great one Hamed, love to see you continuing to crush it! We need a MJ reunion