Michael Wara

@michaelwara.bsky.social

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Works at Stanford on equitable climate and energy law/policy with a big helping of wildfire.

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On the way to Vegas to see a band of a certain age perform in a certain spherical venue when my wife woke me up to say “what is that!” #energysky knows.

Hard to overstate what a big deal this is for governance in the US. www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/23p...

www.supremecourt.gov

Been reading more about how rooftop solar works in Australia and one thing that really jumps out is that over there, the expression is Consumer Energy Resources (CER) instead of DER. Even AEMO, the grid and market operator refers to them with this term. Words matter. Their word are better.

Wildfire Threats Make Utilities Uninsurable in US West www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Wildfire Threats Make Utilities Uninsurable in US Westwww.bloomberg.com As wildfire season starts, some utilities are now operating without insurance — and are on the hook for millions of dollars in damages if their power lines are linked to a blaze.

PS it is so hilarious how the utility people stick out in the summer Vegas scene. You can spot the energy people at 100 yards.

Arriving at my first ever Edison Electric meeting to give a talk tomorrow morning. Anybody around and want to grab a drink later?

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Ecuador was plunged into a nationwide blackout on Wednesday afternoon, the country’s public work minister said, blaming the emergency on a failure of a key transmission line. www.nytimes.com/2024/06/19/w...

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Inc.: "Governor Hochul Said $15 Congestion Pricing Would Hurt New York City Businesses. This Expert Disagrees" This expert? Well, this one: www.inc.com/ali-donaldso...

Governor Hochul Said $15 Congestion Pricing Would Hurt New York City Businesses. This Expert Disagreeswww.inc.com Heavy traffic is already imposing a heftier cost on business owners, adding up to $150 per car during rush hour.

Drift smoke from the #PointFire this evening at Stinson Beach in West Marin.

CA Utilities spend $10B/y to avoid starting a fire that will burn this house down. CA will spend about $200m trying to reduce the fuels in and around communities (thus reducing utility losses). Why not have the utilities spend $200m to supercharge managing fuels around homes and 2% less on the rest?

We need zone zero regs for all new construction in high wildfire risk areas in CA. Here’s a new home in my neighborhood (Tamalpais Valley). Note mulch up to the siding and attached wood fences. This house will not survive ember attack from wildfire. But it could with simple fixes.

Just finished Carolyn Kousky’s book on disaster insurance. A little book with lots of big ideas. Strong recommend.

A utility rate design question: should an investor owned utility be allowed to securitize ongoing and routine operational expenses? Translation for normal folks: is it ok to take out a second mortgage in order to cover your grocery and clothing bills every few years?

Best part of my work day/week/month: doing a call with an acquaintance in my building and finding out by accident that she has an incredible trove of EJ-relevant health data that we can pair with wildfire smoke emissions. Now I maybe have a collaborator instead of (just) a colleague.

Eric Macomber, who leads the legal side of our work on utility wildfire risk management, wrote a blog post about two white papers we released in the past month on the issue: cepp.substack.com/p/wildfire-c...

Wildfire: CEPP Releases New Research and Policy Proposals on Utility-Ignited Firescepp.substack.com As shown by California’s recent history of catastrophic wildfire, fires ignited by electric utility infrastructure like power lines tend to be particularly dangerous. One key reason for this phenomeno...

Rocks arrayed on the grass in front of Geology Corner at Stanford for a final exam. I miss this kind of class. I would happily take it again.

Writing my final exam for Energy Law and having so much fun picking former students to be CPUC and/or FERC commissioners for whom my students have to write analysis. @gruberte.bsky.social and @patricia-levi.bsky.social in particular are scheduled for promotions/public service.

Met yesterday with a faculty member who is interested in starting a big “long term” project on climate policy that oil major CEOs could “potentially endorse.” Seriously this happened.

Cool job for folks interested in policy and carbon removal. Carbon removal fellow at Stripe. Plus you get to work with Nan, Jane, and Frauke. The CDR dream team. assets.ctfassets.net/fzn2n1nzq965...

assets.ctfassets.net

All star academic panel at our Brookings-Stanford event on clean energy infrastructure today. Catherine Wolfram on tax. Shelley Welton on grid governance. Mike Mastrandrea on utility wildfire risk.

Hey Bluesky #energysky #climatesky I’m in DC for meetings and to host an event and am wondering if anyone would want to get together for happy hour tomorrow (Wednesday) evening with me and my team. It is always so fun to actually meet the people you interact with on this platform.

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The heat index reached 112°F again on Sunday at 3pm in #Miami. In Miami's recorded history, there has been just one other instance of two consecutive 112°+ heat index days: August 8 & 9, 2023. But it's only mid-May! To anyone who was hoping 2023 was a freak anomaly: nope.

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Tropics check: On May 20, the ocean heat content in the Main Development Region (MDR) of the Atlantic is now where it normally would be on August 10. 💣 bmcnoldy.earth.miami.edu/tropics/ohc/ bmcnoldy.earth.miami.edu/tropics/sect... @miamirosenstiel.bsky.social

It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. Two bills I have contributed to made it out of appropriations but one was amended in a way that seems to fundamentally undermine its purpose without consulting any of the stakeholders that support it. I want to yell at the empty sky.

Insurers and reinsurers are like, “Bless your heart, Governor Ron. We don’t care a bit about what the words are in them fancy books.” www.nytimes.com/2024/05/15/c...

DeSantis Signs Law Deleting Climate Change From Florida Policywww.nytimes.com The law also stops programs designed to encourage renewable energy and conservation in a state that is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.

Me thinks I used the phrase “obligation to serve” one too many times in the vicinity of my device.

Fire season in Canada this year is off to a tough start. www.fortmcmurraytoday.com/news/wildfir...

Wildfire forces RMWB to order about 6,600 people to leave Fort McMurraywww.fortmcmurraytoday.com The RMWB is confident no other evacuation orders will be issued today for Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo.

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This chart shows annual hours of smoke-filled skies in Calgary from 1953 to 2023. As the first wildfire smoke of the 2024 season blew in this week, it's hard to convey the sadness it elicited in a lot of folks. There's a growing realization this is our new reality. And a genuine sense of mourning.

Come work with the Climate and Energy Policy Program on electricity policy! We are looking for a smart young lawyer ready to roll up their sleeves and help California and the west to navigate an affordable, equitable, safe and clean transition: careersearch.stanford.edu/jobs/electri...

Electricity Policy Legal Fellow, Stanford Law School in School of Law, Stanford, California, United Statescareersearch.stanford.edu Electricity Policy Legal Fellow The Environmental and Natural Resources Law & Policy Program (ENRLP) of Stanford Law School and the Climate and...

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Michael Wara

Top notch white paper from @michaelwara.bsky.social and crew on utility planning for wildfire mitigation: woodsinstitute.stanford.edu/sites/defaul... Current state: variable. Timely considering now even Buffett is talking about utilities as risky assets: www.wsj.com/finance/inve...