Podcast Episodes

Utility Regulation Really Sucks

Season 3 Episode 2

Electricity is getting more expensive — and the culprit, in much of the country, is the poles and wires. Since the pandemic, utility spending on the “last mile” part of the power grid has surged, and…

Published on 2 months ago

What Carbon Dioxide Has to Do With the Meaning of Life

Season 3 Episode 1

How did life first form on Earth? What does entropy have to do with the origins of mammalian life — or the creation of the modern economy? And what chemical process do people, insects, Volkswagens, a…

Published on 2 months, 1 week ago

Shift Key Classic: How to Hook Up More Power Plants

Season 2 Episode 54

Shift Key is off for Labor Day, so we’re re-running this classic episode.

For the first time in 15 years, American electricity demand is rising again as new data centers, factories, and electric vehic…

Published on 2 months, 2 weeks ago

This Is What It’s Like to Run a Power Grid

Season 2 Episode 53

So far on Shift Key Summer School we’ve covered how electricity gets made and how it gets sold. But none of that matters without the grid, which is how that electricity gets to you, the consumer. Who…

Published on 2 months, 3 weeks ago

How Electricity Markets Work

Season 2 Episode 52

Most electricity used in America today is sold on a wholesale power market. These markets are one of the most important institutions structuring the modern U.S. energy economy, but they’re also not v…

Published on 2 months, 4 weeks ago

Trump’s Move to Kill the Clean Air Act’s Climate Authority, Forever

Season 2 Episode 51

The Trump administration has formally declared that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are not dangerous pollutants. If the president gets his way, then the Environmental Protection Agency may…

Published on 3 months ago

Why We’re Worried About Electricity Prices

Season 2 Episode 50

In the next few years, the United States is going to see the fastest growth in electricity demand since the 1970s. And that’s only the beginning of the challenges that our power grid will face. When …

Published on 3 months, 1 week ago

How Sun and Wind Become Electricity

Season 2 Episode 49

The two fastest-growing sources of electricity generation in the world represent a radical break with the energy technologies that came before them. That’s not just because their fuels are the wind a…

Published on 3 months, 2 weeks ago

Climate Policy in America: Where We Go From Here

Season 2 Episode 48

It’s official. On July 4, President Trump signed the Republican reconciliation bill into law, gutting many of the country’s most significant clean energy tax credits. The future of the American solar…

Published on 3 months, 3 weeks ago

How Does a Power Plant Work?

Season 2 Episode 47

Just two types of machines have produced the overwhelming majority of electricity generated since 1890. This week, we look at the history of those devices, how they work — and how they have contribut…

Published on 4 months ago