Jacob Mays (@jacob_mays) profile picture

Jacob Mays

@jacob_mays

Assistant Professor @CEECornell working on energy systems and decision making under uncertainty. Tweeting in a personal capacity.

 Ithaca, NY
mays.cee.cornell.edu/
Joined June 2011
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Excited to be part of this project!
Office of Electricity | U.S. Department of Energy (@DOEelectricity) profile pictureOffice of Electricity | U.S. Department of Energy@DOEelectricitySep 1
Under the Genesis Mission, OE selected @BrookhavenLab and partners to receive $11.5M for an AI-powered project to help utilities rapidly analyze billions of grid scenarios, reducing infrastructure costs and connecting new users faster. energy.gov/oe/articles/does-…
DOE’s Office of Electricity Announces $11.5M Genesis Mission Project to Meet Growing Electricity...

DOE’s Office of Electricity Announces $11.5M Genesis Mission Project to Meet Growing Electricity...

Developing advanced AI tools for utility planning and affordable expansion of the grid as electricity demand grows.

energy.gov
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Cliff's Notes for the effect of data centers on electricity prices:
Image from Jacob Mays (@jacob_mays)
Joe Weisenthal (@TheStalwart) profile pictureJoe Weisenthal
@TheStalwartAug 27
I don’t think even many commentators have a good intuition for why data canters can drive prices lower.
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September 9-11, 2026: Get ready for PowerUp 2026 in Boulder, CO. New conference. Bringing us back to basics. Affordability, quality, transparency. What conferences should be. powerup-summit-hub.lovable.a… Paper deadline: 1/30/2026 Join us! More details coming soon!
Image from Mads Rønne Almassalkhi (@theEnergyMads)
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New draft led by Tong Liu looking at the inclusion of data centers in capacity markets, discussing issues with "bring-your-own-capacity"-type arrangements, flexibility, price caps, and cross-market spillovers: arxiv.org/abs/2608.06528.
Capacity Markets for Large Loads under Supply-Chain Constraints

Capacity Markets for Large Loads under Supply-Chain Constraints

Motivated by the rapid growth of data centers, we develop a model to evaluate bringyour-own-capacity (BYOC) mandates and flexibility accreditation in capacity markets for new large loads with...

arxiv.org
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Ancillary services are used to support reliability and respond to uncertain circumstances that arise on the grid. But, the way we define AS products can significantly impact prices and therefore which types of resources are rewarded in electricity markets.
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There's still a lot more to do in this area, as it's very much a live issue (and not just in energy-only markets). See, e.g., teapawt.org/TermPowerTrader/status…
King of Power (@TermPowerTrader) profile pictureKing of Power@TermPowerTraderJun 10
"Additionally, the VOLL underlying the ASDCs is substantially less than the VOLL implied by a 1-in-10 reliability standard. Even if deep shortages are capped at $5000, the lower segments of the ASDCs that price shallow shortages (which are by far the most frequent)..."
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The manuscript is at papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.… , and we welcome your thoughts.
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PJM's new paper is candid: the assumptions of organized capacity markets no longer fit. The concerns aren't novel; they were visible in 2009. Capacity mechanisms remain an attempt to remedy the consequences of a distortionary policy with another distortionary policy.
Image from Lynne Kiesling-Knowledge Problem (@knowledgeprob)
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BIG NEWS: Our first Frequency Band podcast episode is LIVE! 🎙️ Rob Gramlich (@RobGramlichDC) from Grid Strategies and Kyri Baker (@kyrib) from CU Boulder join us to talk grid innovation. ⚡ 🎧 Stream it now and let’s power up energy conversations: ow.ly/gFjP50YNGc8
Image from California ISO (@CaliforniaISO)
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New paper on non-convexity, uncertainty, and uplift in wholesale electricity markets: in our NYISO simulations, operational policy mattered more than the pricing rule, and uncertainty + look-ahead price inconsistency drove most make-whole payments. doi.org/10.1109/TEMPR.2026.3…
Price Consistency and Uplift in Wholesale Electricity Markets

Price Consistency and Uplift in Wholesale Electricity Markets

The non-convex technical constraints governing power production have led wholesale market operators to implement alternative pricing schemes intending to ensure that market participant incentives are...

ieeexplore.ieee.org
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New paper: as power systems add more wind, solar, and storage, prices depend more on uncertainty and storage opportunity costs. We show deterministic production cost models can misvalue flexibility and understate real-time price dynamics. doi.org/10.1088/2753-3751/ae…

Price formation and flexibility valuation in production cost modeling

Price formation and flexibility valuation in production cost modeling, Smith, Kaleb, Santarém de Araújo, Hugo, Mays, Jacob

iopscience.iop.org
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I agree with @PaulSegal12 that there shouldn't be an *exception* for TMI. But TMI is a clear example of how a first-in first-out queue will not deliver optimal results--more evidence that a more fundamental process change is needed.
Paul Segal (@PaulSegal12) profile picturePaul Segal
@PaulSegal12Mar 31
1/ Grid interconnection could be the most misunderstood process in the energy industry. The Three Mile Island restart is a perfect example. 🧵
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The world's electricity infrastructure, mapped.
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🚨Multiple PhD opportunities in Energy Economics 🚨 Apply Now ! >>>> nhh.no/en/research-projects-… #PhDPosition #EnergyEconomics #EnergyInequality #ResearchJobs #EconomicsPhD #econtwitter
Image from The Economic Misfit (@EconomicMisfit)
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Hey, want to do electricity policy on the hill for a year? This will be a great experience. Apply by January 9 to IEEE's new Congressional Electric Grid Fellowship program! ieeeusa.org/public-policy/go…
IEEE-USA Government Fellowships | Building Careers & Shaping Public Policy

IEEE-USA Government Fellowships | Building Careers & Shaping Public Policy

*The Deadline for 2027-2028 Congressional  Fellowships is 1 January 2027* Jump to: CongressionalFellowship Engineering & Diplomacy Fellowship Congressional Electric GridPolicy Fellowship (NEW)

ieeeusa.org
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Battery's Ancillary Service → Energy Trading shift, done two different ways: Texas vs. the UK Batteries switch to energy trading once a market's Ancillary Service products are saturated In Texas, this new meta means performing fewer, deeper discharges to alleviate congestion during scarcity events This is why the shift to energy trading has resulted in discharge depth rising 16 → 32%, while the fleet continues to average 0.8 cycles/day But in the UK, the lack of price spikes means batteries rely on consistently shifting larger volumes of energy instead And so, in the GB market, the shift to energy trading has resulted in cycling rising 0.5 → 1.2 The same phenomenon, but two different operational strategies
Image from Ovais Kashif (@Ovais_Kashif)
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Interestingly the estimate for RICE is about the same as it was a decade ago. Why haven't they gone up also?
Jesse D. Jenkins (@JesseJenkins) profile pictureJesse D. Jenkins
@JesseJenkins4 Nov 2025
Cost estimates for new gas power plants just keep rising! utilitydive.com/news/gas-pow…
Image from Jesse D. Jenkins (@JesseJenkins)
According to Enverus, capital costs for new natural gas power plants now average $2,200/kW to $3,000/kW. An analysis by GridLab adds another $1,500/kW levelized for the 20-year cost of fuel and $500/kW for pipeline infrastructure, putting the cost of new gas generation at $4,000/kW to $4,500/kW. Kevin Smith, CEO of Arevon Energy, spent years working on natural gas projects alongside nuclear and renewables before transitioning to focus on renewables exclusively. He suggested there was a ceiling to how much gas could be built to meet near-term demand given the prices, pipeline constraints and interconnection queues. “Tens of gigawatts of new generation from natural gas is likely at least five years away, if not more,” Smith said.

ALT According to Enverus, capital costs for new natural gas power plants now average $2,200/kW to $3,000/kW. An analysis by GridLab adds another $1,500/kW levelized for the 20-year cost of fuel and $500/kW for pipeline infrastructure, putting the cost of new gas generation at $4,000/kW to $4,500/kW. Kevin Smith, CEO of Arevon Energy, spent years working on natural gas projects alongside nuclear and renewables before transitioning to focus on renewables exclusively. He suggested there was a ceiling to how much gas could be built to meet near-term demand given the prices, pipeline constraints and interconnection queues. “Tens of gigawatts of new generation from natural gas is likely at least five years away, if not more,” Smith said.

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