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Past Issues
The Ad Hoc Gist: The Case for Utility Wildfire Suppression
Utilities have spent years reducing wildfire ignition risk, and much of that work has been necessary. But prevention has limits. Trees come down. Equipment fails. Lightning strikes. And when an ignition occurs, the first minutes can change the trajectory of an event.
In our latest piece, we argue that rapid suppression should be part of the utility wildfire conversation — not as a replacement for firefighters, but as part of a broader consequence-reduction strategy in the highest-risk areas. The question for regulators is no longer just: how do we prevent ignitions? But also: what is the plan for the fire that still starts?
The Ad Hoc Gist: Virginia Has a Data Center Problem
Virginia is ground zero for the country’s data center boom and affordability crunch. Coupled with a new governor and a recently announced mega merger between the state’s biggest utility, Dominion Power and NextEra, things in Virginia are getting spicy.
In this month’s Gist, my colleague Max Davidson and I look at the first 100 days of Governor Spanberger’s tenure and, specifically, how she and the legislature are responding to the Commonwealth’s energy challenges.
The Ad Hoc Gist: Inside the Octopus/Uplight Deal
The British are coming! Octopus Energy, the UK energy titan, announced it will acquire a majority stake in Uplight, which serves more than 85 utility customers in North America.
In this month’s Gist, we take you behind the scenes of the deal in a joint interview with Nick Chaset, who heads Octopus in North America, and Hannah Bascom, the GM of Uplight. What does this new partnership mean for the industry and why did it come together right now?