Willett Kempton
@willett.bsky.social
I research, publish, mentor & advise on offshore wind power, electric vehicles #EV, and vehicle-to-grid power #V2G. Prof at U of Delaware. #energytransition #energysky 🔌💡 🔌🚗
Largest US #OffshoreWind project by the numbers:
2.6 GW, 176 turbines (≈15 MW each)
$4.31/MW total capital
$84/MWh cost of energy
63¢ /month customer bill SAVINGS
Utility-owned
Q1Y26 first power into grid
Q4Y26 expected completion
Lowering bills & meeting VA's load growth!
2.6 GW, 176 turbines (≈15 MW each)
$4.31/MW total capital
$84/MWh cost of energy
63¢ /month customer bill SAVINGS
Utility-owned
Q1Y26 first power into grid
Q4Y26 expected completion
Lowering bills & meeting VA's load growth!
Dominion says largest US offshore wind project on track
The 2.6-GW Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project is set for completion by the end of 2026 despite vessel delays, the utility company said Friday.
www.utilitydive.com
November 6, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Largest US #OffshoreWind project by the numbers:
2.6 GW, 176 turbines (≈15 MW each)
$4.31/MW total capital
$84/MWh cost of energy
63¢ /month customer bill SAVINGS
Utility-owned
Q1Y26 first power into grid
Q4Y26 expected completion
Lowering bills & meeting VA's load growth!
2.6 GW, 176 turbines (≈15 MW each)
$4.31/MW total capital
$84/MWh cost of energy
63¢ /month customer bill SAVINGS
Utility-owned
Q1Y26 first power into grid
Q4Y26 expected completion
Lowering bills & meeting VA's load growth!
Great detail on Dominion’s progress building 2.6 GW #offshorewind. First OSW project for this utility, new port, new installation vessel. And, unexpected glitches, like 200 punch list fixes for the big boat🤯. #energytransition @rtoinsider.bsky.social
Dominion Reports on CVOW Progress, Data Center Growth in Q3 Earnings
Dominion Reports on CVOW Progress, Data Center Growth in Q3 Earnings
ow.ly
November 4, 2025 at 6:11 AM
Great detail on Dominion’s progress building 2.6 GW #offshorewind. First OSW project for this utility, new port, new installation vessel. And, unexpected glitches, like 200 punch list fixes for the big boat🤯. #energytransition @rtoinsider.bsky.social
New V2G demonstrations, but… Why Isn’t Progress Faster? Asks @dangearino.bsky.social in @insideclimatenews.org. Good analysis of reasons, including current projects and my perspective on fundamentals, recent advances, and overcoming barriers. #EV #V2G #storage 🔌💡
Vehicle-to-Grid Power Is Becoming a Reality, But Why Isn’t Progress Faster? - Inside Climate News
Your EV battery is often an underutilized resource that could be part of a network that acts like a power plant for your region.
insideclimatenews.org
October 20, 2025 at 4:16 AM
New V2G demonstrations, but… Why Isn’t Progress Faster? Asks @dangearino.bsky.social in @insideclimatenews.org. Good analysis of reasons, including current projects and my perspective on fundamentals, recent advances, and overcoming barriers. #EV #V2G #storage 🔌💡
Reposted by Willett Kempton
Scoop: Trump lost the legal battle over halting the offshore Revolution Wind project after Orsted, its developer, brought reams of evidence to court alleging the government was lying about military security concerns.
It’s a sign truth can empower companies Trump targets.
Via @heatmap.news
It’s a sign truth can empower companies Trump targets.
Via @heatmap.news
How Trump’s Case Against Revolution Wind Fell Apart
The administration argued in the name of national defense — but Orsted had receipts.
heatmap.news
September 26, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Scoop: Trump lost the legal battle over halting the offshore Revolution Wind project after Orsted, its developer, brought reams of evidence to court alleging the government was lying about military security concerns.
It’s a sign truth can empower companies Trump targets.
Via @heatmap.news
It’s a sign truth can empower companies Trump targets.
Via @heatmap.news
Are US Administration worries about #offshorewind valid? South Fork Wind now has a year’s operating experience, Orsted has released a report on it, and @justingerdes.bsky.social has a quick-read summary—a factual, data-based alternative to today’s government propaganda.
Trump claims offshore wind is worthless. This project proves the opposite is true.
South Fork Wind, the U.S.’ first commercial-scale offshore wind farm, is demonstrating the folly of the Trump’s administration’s misguided war on offshore wind.
www.quittingcarbonmedia.com
September 26, 2025 at 12:22 PM
Are US Administration worries about #offshorewind valid? South Fork Wind now has a year’s operating experience, Orsted has released a report on it, and @justingerdes.bsky.social has a quick-read summary—a factual, data-based alternative to today’s government propaganda.
Rule of law prevails! Big clean energy project can proceed. #offshorewind #energytransition 🔌⚡️
US judge allows halted US offshore wind project to resume construction
A federal judge on Monday granted a request by Danish offshore wind developer Orsted to restart work on the nearly finished Revolution Wind project, which President Donald Trump's administration halted last month.
www.reuters.com
September 22, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Rule of law prevails! Big clean energy project can proceed. #offshorewind #energytransition 🔌⚡️
Incisive article “Power Struggle” by @jefftheyoung.bsky.social on how US policy drives investment, factories and jobs out of USA, favoring China. Quote (below) by @billmckibben.bsky.social if US blocks new expanding technologies, it could become the Colonial Williamsburg of internal combustion.
September 17, 2025 at 9:44 PM
Incisive article “Power Struggle” by @jefftheyoung.bsky.social on how US policy drives investment, factories and jobs out of USA, favoring China. Quote (below) by @billmckibben.bsky.social if US blocks new expanding technologies, it could become the Colonial Williamsburg of internal combustion.
How fast can the world install 1GW of solar? Below graph 2004=1 year, up to 2023=1 day!
As of 2025, 11.5 hours—see ember-energy.org/latest-updat...
For explanation, see McKibben books.apple.com/us/book/here...
(Similar acceleration seen for wind, next storage.) Growth now unstoppable!
As of 2025, 11.5 hours—see ember-energy.org/latest-updat...
For explanation, see McKibben books.apple.com/us/book/here...
(Similar acceleration seen for wind, next storage.) Growth now unstoppable!
September 15, 2025 at 10:30 PM
How fast can the world install 1GW of solar? Below graph 2004=1 year, up to 2023=1 day!
As of 2025, 11.5 hours—see ember-energy.org/latest-updat...
For explanation, see McKibben books.apple.com/us/book/here...
(Similar acceleration seen for wind, next storage.) Growth now unstoppable!
As of 2025, 11.5 hours—see ember-energy.org/latest-updat...
For explanation, see McKibben books.apple.com/us/book/here...
(Similar acceleration seen for wind, next storage.) Growth now unstoppable!
US Rep Seth Magaziner bsky.app/profile/mag... asks Mr. Suess, Acting Ast Sec at DOI, why halt Revolution Wind for redundant US Gov. review? Why raise energy prices, put US workers on unemployment & kill new domestic energy? No answer: youtu.be/IWpW000opLU
Also WSJ: www.wsj.com/us-news/...
Also WSJ: www.wsj.com/us-news/...
Representative Seth Magaziner (@magaziner.house.gov)
Proud to fight for working people as the Representative for Rhode Island's Second Congressional District.
bsky.app
September 7, 2025 at 9:02 PM
US Rep Seth Magaziner bsky.app/profile/mag... asks Mr. Suess, Acting Ast Sec at DOI, why halt Revolution Wind for redundant US Gov. review? Why raise energy prices, put US workers on unemployment & kill new domestic energy? No answer: youtu.be/IWpW000opLU
Also WSJ: www.wsj.com/us-news/...
Also WSJ: www.wsj.com/us-news/...
Even the US Chamber🎩is: “…concerned… halt work orders on offshore wind projects that already have permits, some… far along in construction… risks raising the cost of electricity… America needs every possible electron it can get, from any source,”💸
We Need Permitting Certainty...from Start to Finish
The U.S. Chamber urges the need for permitting reform as well as the importance of providing certainty for energy projects already permitted.
www.uschamber.com
September 4, 2025 at 9:28 PM
Even the US Chamber🎩is: “…concerned… halt work orders on offshore wind projects that already have permits, some… far along in construction… risks raising the cost of electricity… America needs every possible electron it can get, from any source,”💸
From @slashklc.bsky.social , a very plausible explanation of why US Admin vehemently opposes some low-carbon energy technologies and neutral or mildly positive on others.
Q: How to determine what is opposed? Look at current deployment sizes and growth rates.
A: #solar and #windpower
Q: How to determine what is opposed? Look at current deployment sizes and growth rates.
A: #solar and #windpower
Their antipathy appears limited to the technologies that pose a near-term threat to an unnecessary gas expansion. Existing hydro has mostly already been uprated. SMR, conventional nuke, new hydro, marine kinetic energy sources will all take years to develop. Wind, solar, storage — not so much.
This announcement today from DOE affirms something that came up time and again at the POET/UMERC marine energy conference I attended last week. At least so far, Trump's antipathy for renewables has not been directed at hydropower and marine energy: www.energy.gov/eere/article... 🔌💡
August 26, 2025 at 2:46 AM
From @slashklc.bsky.social , a very plausible explanation of why US Admin vehemently opposes some low-carbon energy technologies and neutral or mildly positive on others.
Q: How to determine what is opposed? Look at current deployment sizes and growth rates.
A: #solar and #windpower
Q: How to determine what is opposed? Look at current deployment sizes and growth rates.
A: #solar and #windpower
Dept Interior issued work stoppage to Revolution Wind—700 MW of clean power, 80% built, power on this fall, contracted to RI and CT. All permits approved long ago. This is anti-business, chills investment, raises costs. Chokes off needed ⚡️🔌.
Revolution Wind receives offshore stop-work order from US Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
On 22 August 2025, Ørsted’s subsidiary Revolution Wind LLC, a 50/50 joint venture with Global Infrastructure Partner’s Skyborn Renewables, received an order instructing the project to stop activities on the outer continental shelf related to the Revolution Wind project from the US Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM). Revolution Wind is complying with the order and is taking appropriate steps to stop offshore activities, ensuring the safety of workers and the environment.
orsted.com
August 23, 2025 at 5:13 AM
Dept Interior issued work stoppage to Revolution Wind—700 MW of clean power, 80% built, power on this fall, contracted to RI and CT. All permits approved long ago. This is anti-business, chills investment, raises costs. Chokes off needed ⚡️🔌.
🇺🇸Admin told Feds🫵favor energy produced using less land even if more$$ 😵💫. See great analysis by @mzjacobson.bsky.social; my refinements: corn🌽ethanol is not production, and space between turbines is not “used” (2nd link, tbl S28). Result:
Fossil+nuc 1.6% land
Renewables 0.16%
So💨☀️🟰 ⬇️$ and ⬇️land!
Fossil+nuc 1.6% land
Renewables 0.16%
So💨☀️🟰 ⬇️$ and ⬇️land!
New analysis: 100% WindWaterSolar across all US energy sectors will occupy ~56% less land than current energy:
Fossils+nuc 1.16% of US land
Corn for ethanol: 1.24%
Total: 2.4%
web.stanford.edu/group/efmh/j...
100% WWS only ~1.06% of US land for new installs
web.stanford.edu/group/efmh/j...
Fossils+nuc 1.16% of US land
Corn for ethanol: 1.24%
Total: 2.4%
web.stanford.edu/group/efmh/j...
100% WWS only ~1.06% of US land for new installs
web.stanford.edu/group/efmh/j...
web.stanford.edu
August 21, 2025 at 4:54 AM
🇺🇸Admin told Feds🫵favor energy produced using less land even if more$$ 😵💫. See great analysis by @mzjacobson.bsky.social; my refinements: corn🌽ethanol is not production, and space between turbines is not “used” (2nd link, tbl S28). Result:
Fossil+nuc 1.6% land
Renewables 0.16%
So💨☀️🟰 ⬇️$ and ⬇️land!
Fossil+nuc 1.6% land
Renewables 0.16%
So💨☀️🟰 ⬇️$ and ⬇️land!
Largest offshore wind project worldwide, Berwick Bank, 4.1 GW, approved contingent on avian study & mitigation if needed. How big 4.1 GW for Scotland? 🟰 power of 2x households OR 🟰 to taking ALL cars of the road. Running well before 2030.
BBC: bbc.com/news/article...
Dev: www.berwickbank.com
BBC: bbc.com/news/article...
Dev: www.berwickbank.com
August 10, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Largest offshore wind project worldwide, Berwick Bank, 4.1 GW, approved contingent on avian study & mitigation if needed. How big 4.1 GW for Scotland? 🟰 power of 2x households OR 🟰 to taking ALL cars of the road. Running well before 2030.
BBC: bbc.com/news/article...
Dev: www.berwickbank.com
BBC: bbc.com/news/article...
Dev: www.berwickbank.com
World energy investments. #Grid, #solar, and #wind dwarf all others—in $/year or in (not shown) new MWh/yr. Seems the current US Admin. missed this trend, and believes that blocking growing technologies in one country will change the many market drivers of their growth. 🔌 www.iea.org/reports/worl...
August 3, 2025 at 4:02 AM
World energy investments. #Grid, #solar, and #wind dwarf all others—in $/year or in (not shown) new MWh/yr. Seems the current US Admin. missed this trend, and believes that blocking growing technologies in one country will change the many market drivers of their growth. 🔌 www.iea.org/reports/worl...
Reposted by Willett Kempton
Senate Republicans are pushing a tax cut bill that would undermine billions of dollars of clean energy investment, kill jobs, drive up energy prices and add a new 'tax' on solar and wind so ugly that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Elon Musk oppose it:
www.canarymedia.com/articles/cle...
#energysky
www.canarymedia.com/articles/cle...
#energysky
New Senate GOP bill would kill clean power and spike energy costs
Under pressure from Trump, Senate Republicans unveiled legislation so restrictive that even Elon Musk and the Chamber of Commerce’s policy chief oppose it.
www.canarymedia.com
June 30, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Senate Republicans are pushing a tax cut bill that would undermine billions of dollars of clean energy investment, kill jobs, drive up energy prices and add a new 'tax' on solar and wind so ugly that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Elon Musk oppose it:
www.canarymedia.com/articles/cle...
#energysky
www.canarymedia.com/articles/cle...
#energysky
Reposted by Willett Kempton
The Senate version of GOP's budget bill dropped in the middle of the night. Astonishingly, it got EVEN WORSE. It raises energy costs, kills $100s of billions of investment in manufacturing, makes grids less reliable, increases pollution & constrains our ability to compete w/China on AI. Loser stuff.
June 28, 2025 at 3:51 PM
The Senate version of GOP's budget bill dropped in the middle of the night. Astonishingly, it got EVEN WORSE. It raises energy costs, kills $100s of billions of investment in manufacturing, makes grids less reliable, increases pollution & constrains our ability to compete w/China on AI. Loser stuff.
First text is from my in-law, a capable #mariner. #Weather forecasts appear to be the same, but suddenly way less accurate. 2nd from meteorologist colleagues on how specific staff cuts degrade forecast accuracy. One of many ways the national infrastructure we rely on is being silently destroyed.
June 11, 2025 at 4:46 AM
Reposted by Willett Kempton
This is giving me chills. Read it carefully. The math. chaos we’re adding into the climate is wiping insects off the planet. Even insects likely won’t be able to evolve fast enough to keep up. I’m scared to think about more complex organisms in the food chains.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
‘Half the tree of life’: ecologists’ horror as nature reserves are emptied of insects
A new point in history has been reached, entomologists say, as climate-led species’ collapse moves up the food chain even in supposedly protected regions free of pesticides
www.theguardian.com
June 4, 2025 at 10:36 AM
This is giving me chills. Read it carefully. The math. chaos we’re adding into the climate is wiping insects off the planet. Even insects likely won’t be able to evolve fast enough to keep up. I’m scared to think about more complex organisms in the food chains.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Reposted by Willett Kempton
😲 “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... 🔌💡
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
April 25, 2025 at 3:51 PM
😲 “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... 🔌💡
gasoutlook.com/analysis/cos... 🔌💡
David Ricardo's theory of comparative advantage explains why free trade can benefit both sides. This also helps understand the massive ignorance and coming damage of the new US #tariffs. First, a readable explanation from @gregor.us: https://bit.ly/3Gcac6u
More theory: web.mit.edu/krugman/...
More theory: web.mit.edu/krugman/...
April 20, 2025 at 5:42 AM
David Ricardo's theory of comparative advantage explains why free trade can benefit both sides. This also helps understand the massive ignorance and coming damage of the new US #tariffs. First, a readable explanation from @gregor.us: https://bit.ly/3Gcac6u
More theory: web.mit.edu/krugman/...
More theory: web.mit.edu/krugman/...
Reposted by Willett Kempton
By 2028, renewable energy is expected to constitute 37.4% of the U.S. utility-scale generation capacity, with solar and wind leading the growth.
Solar and wind combined contributed over 98% of all new electrical capacity installed in the U.S. in January 2025
en.softonic.com/arti...
Solar and wind combined contributed over 98% of all new electrical capacity installed in the U.S. in January 2025
en.softonic.com/arti...
March 24, 2025 at 11:59 PM
By 2028, renewable energy is expected to constitute 37.4% of the U.S. utility-scale generation capacity, with solar and wind leading the growth.
Solar and wind combined contributed over 98% of all new electrical capacity installed in the U.S. in January 2025
en.softonic.com/arti...
Solar and wind combined contributed over 98% of all new electrical capacity installed in the U.S. in January 2025
en.softonic.com/arti...
About 90% of new generation waiting in queues is solar and wind. They’re lowest cost new generation. New generation is essential to meet coming load, from servers & AI to electrification. So, many constituencies should support this potential speed up. Great work Pearl Street, MISO and @ferc.gov
#energysky ELECTRIFYING news out of software startup Pearl Street Technologies that’s automating interconnection process studies for MISO. They cut the interconnection study time from two years to just TEN DAYS in their initial results! See the FERC letter here www.ferc.gov/news-events/...
Commissioner Rosner's Letters to ISOs/RTOs Regarding Interconnection Automation
As a Commissioner at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), my priority is ensuring the reliable, affordable, and abundant energy that American families depend on to prosper and American bus...
www.ferc.gov
March 20, 2025 at 3:51 AM
About 90% of new generation waiting in queues is solar and wind. They’re lowest cost new generation. New generation is essential to meet coming load, from servers & AI to electrification. So, many constituencies should support this potential speed up. Great work Pearl Street, MISO and @ferc.gov
Reposted by Willett Kempton
PATH is thrilled to welcome Prof. Willett Kempton @willett.bsky.social this Tuesday for a discussion on vehicle-to-grid technology! ⚡ 🚗 🔌
March 10, 2025 at 11:47 PM
PATH is thrilled to welcome Prof. Willett Kempton @willett.bsky.social this Tuesday for a discussion on vehicle-to-grid technology! ⚡ 🚗 🔌
Soon, new homes & those with new electrical panels will not reliably charge #EVs. Not sabotaged by the new Pres., rather it's the new National Electrical Code being very dumb about how EV chargers work and requiring incompatible double ground fault interrupters.
www.motortrend.com/news/nationa...
www.motortrend.com/news/nationa...
www.motortrend.com
February 22, 2025 at 8:04 PM
Soon, new homes & those with new electrical panels will not reliably charge #EVs. Not sabotaged by the new Pres., rather it's the new National Electrical Code being very dumb about how EV chargers work and requiring incompatible double ground fault interrupters.
www.motortrend.com/news/nationa...
www.motortrend.com/news/nationa...