Chesapeake Bay Charm & Summer Power Outage Warnings

Things are heating up.

Good morning,

For you newbies out there, welcome to Outsider on the Inside. I hope this dispatch from in and around the nation’s capital on underreported topics finds you well.

If you’re just discovering my musings, here’s a backgrounder and make sure we’re connected on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.

I’ll return to regular posting schedule this Friday. Stay tuned!

Quick Thoughts

Support and follow the work of IWF’s Center for Energy and Conservation today if you haven’t already.

Ballot box biology fail: 4 of 15 reintroduced gray wolves in Colorado have died.

Denmark and Belgium lifted nuclear energy bans, while Taiwan shut down its last remaining nuclear reactor.

Moody’s downgraded the U.S. government’s AAA credit rating, citing deficits and rising interest costs.

This Ben & Jerry’s cofounder is half-baked.

The House Ways & Means Committee reconciliation mark-up only cut 60% in IRA green subsidies, and left costly wind and solar tax credits in place. Ugh.

Chesapeake Bay Energy & Conservation Talk

Last Thursday, I drove to Kent Island on Maryland’s Eastern Shore to speak at the Chesapeake Republican Women’s monthly meeting. Despite raining all week, Thursday evening was perfect and treated us to this lovely sunset at this exquisite location.

I spoke about our current priorities at IWF Center for Energy and Conservation and heard about local and state challenges caused by Maryland’s net-zero laws.

The group was pleased to learn I was an avid angler, gun owner, and adult onset hunter and tried to entice me to abandon Virginia for the Eastern Shore. I might have even secured an opportunity to sika deer hunt in the future. Ha!

But this speaking engagement was one for the books. I’ll be breaking from speeches until October. I’ll sprinkle some announcements in the coming weeks and months.

In my nearly 13 years in the Mid-Atlantic region, I become more charmed by the Chesapeake Bay every year. Alas, I don’t spend nearly enough time fishing in either of the Virginia or Maryland portions. Perhaps that will change this summer.

Thank you to this wonderful group for hosting me!

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Brace for Renewable-Fueled Power Outages This Summer

If you need a reason to be skeptical about net-zero climate policies, see what recently transpired in the Iberian Peninsula.

Here at home, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) warned in their new 2025 Summer Reliability Assessment that adding unreliable solar and wind onto aging electric grids will invite more power outages. Shocker!

While all areas are projected to have adequate resources for normal summer conditions, above-normal electricity demand, periods of low wind and solar output, and wide-area heat events that disrupt available transfers and generator availability could leave system operators short on supply in at-risk areas, the assessment finds. New resource additions—primarily solar and some batteries—are helping to meet surging load growth. However, these additions are offset by ongoing generator retirements and introduce more complexity and energy limitations into the resource mix.

I witnessed this firsthand on Friday, after a short-lived storm knocked my power out for nearly 20 hours. Dominion Energy, the Commonwealth’s main utility company, continues to hike our rates and unsurprising, add more solar and wind into the grid.

Due to the Virginia Clean Economy Act of 2020, our Commonwealth is forcibly adding, albeit slowly, more solar into our energy mix, while building a giant wind farm off the Virginia coast. Nevertheless, natural gas (55%) and nuclear (32%) still account for the lion’s share (87%) of Virginia’s net electricity generation.

As of February 2025, solar just accounts for 5% of electricity generation here. Yet, due to growing demand from AI data centers, we’re now the largest net-importer of electricity in the U.S.—clinching the title from California, of all places. Solar and wind are unreliable and won’t play a role in supplying the necessary electricity needed to keep high costs at bay.

Narrator: we’re not experiencing a green transition.

ICYMI

Articles/commentary/media appearances/videos from the past week.

MEDIA MENTIONS

• I was quoted in JustTheNews about IRA green subsidies cuts not going far enough.

ARTICLES/BLOGS

• IWV: 60 Seconds: Forest Management

• IWF: Iberian Peninsula Power Outage Caused by Renewables

• IWV: 60 Seconds: Oil and Gas Development

• IWF: Two Refinery Closures Could Lead to $8 Gas in California

District of Conservation

Catch up on District of Conservation episodes below.

And check out a new episodes of The Sportswoman Show with Maple Farmer Nikki Boxler.

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—Gabriella

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