Ryan Stanton ⚡️🛻

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Ryan Stanton ⚡️🛻

Ryan Stanton ⚡️🛻

@ryan_sw

⚡️Electricity geek @ TVA | Father | Opinions / tweets = my own

Nashville Katılım Haziran 2009
782 Takip Edilen320 Takipçiler
Ryan Stanton ⚡️🛻
Ryan Stanton ⚡️🛻@ryan_sw·
Under ideal conditions, on select spring/fall days, solar and wind look like a MIRACLE energy source. But this graph looks quite different during winter storms when: 1) cold temps cause peak demand before sunrise, 2) multi-day cloud cover + snow virtually eliminate solar production, 3) life-saving electric heating relies almost entirely on gas + coal + nuclear. I'd love to see the same graph on Jan 26th, 2026 (during Winter Storm Fern)... We need a balanced, all-of-the-above approach to generation, but we also need to be intellectually honest about the limitations of those energy sources. This is an interesting milestone, but cherry-picking a visual under ideal conditions doesn't tell an accurate story of the needs of the grid either.
Daniel Gross@grossdm

Pretty astonishing. In Texas, between 10:00 am and 4:00 p.m., 80-90% of electricity comes from carbon free sources. And storage is already a significant contributor in the early morning and evening

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Ryan Stanton ⚡️🛻
Ryan Stanton ⚡️🛻@ryan_sw·
@grossdm Under optimal conditions, on selective spring/fall days, solar looks fantastic. But it looks very different across the year. Can you pull the same graph from Jan 26th, 2026 (during Winter Storm Fern)?
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Daniel Gross
Daniel Gross@grossdm·
Pretty astonishing. In Texas, between 10:00 am and 4:00 p.m., 80-90% of electricity comes from carbon free sources. And storage is already a significant contributor in the early morning and evening
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Craig Lawrence
Craig Lawrence@clawrence·
Renewables advocates in Texas, natural gas is your friend not your enemy. Solar ramped up from 0GW at 7am to 20GW at 9am. The only way that works is because natural gas fired power plants could ramp down that quickly. Batteries certainly helped, and will continue to take more of that burden. But natural gas is your friend.
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Ryan Stanton ⚡️🛻
Ryan Stanton ⚡️🛻@ryan_sw·
@clawrence High opex and capex and long timelines are the main challenge for existing gen 3 (e.g. Vogtle's AP1000s). Even a 30% reduction doesn't make it remotely competitive with gas, solar, wind, etc. Gen 3+ and 4 designs are still under development and testing.
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Craig Lawrence
Craig Lawrence@clawrence·
Question.. The Inflation Reduction Act added a major investment tax credit for new nuclear of 30%, which survived the OBBB, along with the various production tax credits that are out there. Why are there no new major nuclear power plants under development in ERCOT? Or are there?
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Ryan Stanton ⚡️🛻
Ryan Stanton ⚡️🛻@ryan_sw·
@yasir_fission @MattLoszak How will you address containment? In modern designs the containment structure often provides shielding too, so using these interlocking blocks would require an additional high-pressure containment structure, which effectively ~doubles the amount of concrete needed.
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Yasir Arafat
Yasir Arafat@yasir_fission·
Shielding doesn’t always require bespoke castings 🤣. These are standard interlocking eco-blocks, ~$60 a pop, available from almost any concrete supplier in the country. We placed the order, and they arrived the next day. We’re testing concrete density and validating gamma attenuation as part of our shielding characterization. The blocks will be grouted at the interfaces to eliminate potential streaming paths between joints and create a continuous shielding barrier. Good nuclear engineering often means using readily available materials, validating the physics, and moving fast. At @AaloAtomics, we are a speed-and-economics company. cc: @MattLoszak
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Matt Loszak
Matt Loszak@MattLoszak·
NEW VIDEO Sodium coolant is the nuclear equivalent of landing a rocket: More challenging than water or gas, but once mastered, unlocks incredible economics. Here's a first look at some of the work we've been doing behind the scenes to conquer sodium.
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Ryan Stanton ⚡️🛻
Ryan Stanton ⚡️🛻@ryan_sw·
@EnergyAbsurdity The other piece to this story is that automakers who haven’t built compelling, software-defined vehicles (like Honda, Ford, GM) are struggling. Meanwhile, Tesla and Rivian are seeing tremendous demand for their EVs because they’re playing a different game focusing on SDV.
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⚡️David Blackmon⚡️
⚡️David Blackmon⚡️@EnergyAbsurdity·
🚨 YIKES. Another day, another #EV catastrophe at a major automaker - this time at #Honda. Honda's admitting up to a $15.7B hit from rethinking their electric vehicle push, thanks to the North American market slowdown that's exposing the absurdity of forced transitions. Key points from the @WSJ story: •Scrapping launches and development of several EV models because demand just isn't there. •Booking huge impairment losses on their China investments—talk about betting on the wrong horse. •Total potential whack: Up to 2.5 trillion yen, hitting this fiscal year and beyond. When will policymakers wake up? Market forces > mandates. Read the full story: #EnergyAbsurdity #EVFail wsj.com/business/autos… via @WSJ
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Ryan Stanton ⚡️🛻
Ryan Stanton ⚡️🛻@ryan_sw·
👏 ⚡️ Much more work to be done, but this is a great step on an important topic.
David Sacks@DavidSacks

Today President Trump obtained a pledge from America’s leading tech companies that new data centers would not increase electricity prices for residential consumers. These companies (including Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle, and xAI) signed the “Ratepayer Protection Pledge” under which they agree to cover the costs of all new power generation required for their data centers, ensuring such costs are not passed onto American households. This is a much better approach to affordability than Bernie Sanders’ total ban on new data centers, which would halt the construction boom currently driving wage growth and job growth for blue-collar workers. In fact, the Ratepayer Protection Pledge will lower electricity prices when AI companies pay for grid upgrades and sell their excess power back to the grid. Since the beginning of his second term, President Trump has championed the idea of letting our leading AI companies become power companies, and now this idea is becoming a reality thanks to his leadership and the commitments of these strong American companies. The right approach to data centers is not to stop progress altogether, but rather to protect residential rate payers from price increases, while making it easier to stand up new power generation.

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Fifty Shades of Whey
Fifty Shades of Whey@davenewworld_2·
The US Department of Energy has approved its largest loan in history: $26.5 billion to Southern Company's subsidiaries in Georgia and Alabama to cover the massive surge in electricity demand for data centers. So... we're underwriting a private utility, offering lower-than-market interest rates, locking in fossil fuel infrastructure, shifting risk onto taxpayers, subsidizing Big Tech's AI expansion, and polluting rural communities in the South. Tell me again how this is "MAGA," or "fiscal conservativism," or "free market capitalism," or anything other than a huge corporate handout.
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Ryan Stanton ⚡️🛻
Ryan Stanton ⚡️🛻@ryan_sw·
Without nuclear, millions freeze. 🥶 Context: During Winter Storm Fern NUCLEAR was the ANCHOR RESOURCE that kept at least 10 million Americans from freezing. Residents across the Tennessee Valley endured 5 days of snow, freezing rain, and extreme cold. Gas, coal, and pumped storage helped balance daily. Solar was virtually absent (due to snow, ice, and cloud cover). Data: @EIAgov and @TVAnews Nuclear: ~8,300 MW+ uninterrupted Solar: 0-400 MW highly intermittent Peak demand: 33,000 MW Solar absolutely has a role to play, but when people rely on electricity for lifesaving heat, it’s nuclear that keeps them warm.
Ryan Stanton ⚡️🛻 tweet media
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Ryan Stanton ⚡️🛻
Ryan Stanton ⚡️🛻@ryan_sw·
With respect, solar + storage is *not* “always on.” For the 50%+ of the US population that endures winter storms, solar and 4 hour storage is completely absent when people need electricity the most for heating. Case in point, in Tennessee during WS Fern (multi-day ice, snow, freezing temps) our 1500 MW of solar contributed virtually nothing. Our nuclear plants contributed 8.3 GW nonstop.
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Ryan Stanton ⚡️🛻
Ryan Stanton ⚡️🛻@ryan_sw·
Get your facts straight before you start throwing rocks, man. The state negotiated the deal without the city initially. Also, more capacity is good thing. And if it doesn’t cost the taxpayers a dime? Even better. Tunnels and transit aren’t mutually exclusive. The voters passed our first $3B transit referendum 15 months ago, so better transit happening at the same time.
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Alan Fisher
Alan Fisher@alanthefisher·
if your city builds one of these we immediately know that your city is a joke and your municipal government is incredibly ignorant and gullible
Sawyer Merritt@SawyerMerritt

NEWS: Elon Musk's @boringcompany received approval today from the Tennessee DOT to officially begin construction on the Music City Loop tunnel in Nashville! • 100% privately funded • Only @Tesla vehicles will be used in the tunnels • Will connect downtown & the Convention Center to Nashville International Airport • Transit time of ~8 minutes • Tunnels will result in the removal of thousands of vehicles daily from roadways and state highways, easing congestion • Will be capable of moving thousands of people per hour with predictable transit times • Expansion: Possibilities include additional communities and 40+ stations following the initial route • Construction will be immediately “The Music City Loop shows what’s possible when we leverage private-sector innovation and American ingenuity to solve transportation challenges,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. “TDOT’s lease approval will help advance this ambitious project as we work to reduce congestion and make travel more seamless for the American people. Congratulations to Governor Lee, the City of Nashville, and The Boring Company on this significant step toward a faster, more efficient transportation future.”

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Ryan Stanton ⚡️🛻
Ryan Stanton ⚡️🛻@ryan_sw·
Tunnels and better transit aren’t mutually exclusive. This project 1) doesn’t cost the city and 2) will relieve traffic from rideshare drivers downtown and at the airport. In the meantime, the city’s $3B choose how you move program (approved by voters 15 months ago) is underway to expand transit, sidewalks, etc. We can, and will, have both and Nashville will be better for it because more options are better. @elonmusk @boringcompany
Appodlachia@appodlachia

This is the most useless infrastructure project imaginable for a city in desperate need of real public transit.

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Ryan Stanton ⚡️🛻
Ryan Stanton ⚡️🛻@ryan_sw·
Don’t let a noisy few define an entire community. I manage an RCA chapter and can confidently say you’re way off base here. Every owner I know (most of whom don’t spend much time on Socials / Twitter) are just happy with their vehicles. There are plenty of examples of rotten, miserable Tesla owners but I don’t let them define the entire Tesla community as “Toxic”
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mr fundman
mr fundman@mrfundman·
I have not seen a more toxic community than Rivian (except a few nice people of course) Like holy shit what jealousy and EDS do to you..
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Carl Coe
Carl Coe@CMCoe·
Please explain how Wind, Solar, and batteries will work at peak demand? How can it save lives when we are at our coldest or hottest and the wind isn't blowing nor the sun shining. We have to build the grid for the worst case scenario. How can wind and solar provide baseload power when we need it most?
Beyond-Charting 📈@Beyond_Charting

@AlexEpstein Horrible take. Solar and wind are the two least expensive sources of electricity. It's not even disputable. There are many developers out there embarking on fresh solar+wind+battery storage across the central US right now.

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Ryan Stanton ⚡️🛻
Ryan Stanton ⚡️🛻@ryan_sw·
We absolutely need to have better conversations about solar and how we maintain a reliable, abundant, low-cost, and clean generation mix. Solar will clearly be part of the mix, but if it’s at the expense of reliable sources like gas, coal, and nuclear then we’ll relegate ourselves into irrelevance.
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Ryan Stanton ⚡️🛻
Ryan Stanton ⚡️🛻@ryan_sw·
@AlexEpstein Well stated. A recent storm in Tennessee made this abundantly clear and, ironically enough, @elonmusk through @xAI donated gas generators, not solar panels, to people in need. x.com/ryan_sw/status…
Ryan Stanton ⚡️🛻@ryan_sw

Serious question for determining the upper limit of solar adoption: under what scenario could solar + storage can meet demand during winter storms like Fern? What size batteries would be needed to ride through multi-day winter events? And what’s the capital cost and associated LCOE for a scenario like this? Winter-peaking regions pose a major challenge for solar adoption beyond say ~20% of net annual generation. Case in point: During WS Fern, the Tennessee Valley saw multiple consecutive cloudy days (with snow + freezing rain), followed by extended severe cold. Throughout a 5 day period (1/23-1/27) Nashville had near-continuous cloud cover and an average temp of 21F. The ~1500 MW of solar on TVA’s system contributed virtually no generation during this period. Same challenge exists for the rest of the Northeast, Midwest, and parts of the Southeast, where 50% of the population lives. Solar is a much easier sell for summer-peaking regions like California, Texas, and Florida (where influential solar advocates like @Elonmusk and @chamath happen to live). But when residents in the rest of the country depend on electricity for heating the most, solar is completely absent. It’s nuclear, gas, coal, and hydro that keeps homes warm.

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Alex Epstein
Alex Epstein@AlexEpstein·
I just spent an hour responding to the hundreds of people who tried to refute my argument that solar+batteries is an economically catastrophic way to try to provide reliable power. Which is why no company using lots of power, certainly not any of Elon's, actually tries to do it.
Alex Epstein@AlexEpstein

Solar sucks as a real power source even compared to wind. Wind is intermittent but at least blows some almost 24/7 so if you overbuild enough and add a lot of storage you get something resembling capacity. Solar disappears 1/2 the time no matter how much you overbuild and thus requires catastrophic amounts of storage to handle real world conditions. Don’t get me wrong, wind+storage is wildly cost-ineffective but solar+storage is an absolute joke in terms of actually powering the grid 24/7/365, including through the winter storm many just experienced. Solar only looks like the future when you confuse its intermittent fuel savings with real power.

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Keşfet

@grossdm @clawrence @yasir_fission @MattLoszak @AaloAtomics @infiniteth97835 @EnergyAbsurdity @WSJ