Holy Mackerel! Caterpillar to Exit Chicago; Global Headquarters To Move To DFW, Texas -- June 14, 2022

Link here.

Earlier today, the Drudge Report had a blistering report on MISO - Illinois. We'll get to that later.

More than 60 companies relocated to Texas last year, according to data from the YTexas business lobby, with most shifting their headquarters from higher state tax jurisdictions such as California, including clean-energy carmaking giant Tesla. 

Specific location not mentioned in that article. It turns out that CAT is moving just down the road from us, to  Irving, TX, the "lost" city that sits between Dallas and Ft Worth, just south of airport. Wow. 

A huge "tip of the hat" to a reader. Thank you. 

**************************
MISO - Illinois

MISO website: Midcontinent Independent System Operator).

• capacity: in the 120 MW arena
• fuel mix:
• coal: 35%
• natural gas: 35%
• wind: 15%
• nuclear: 10%
• other: 4%
• solar: 1%

Rates soaring.

Why: renewable energy. 

From the linked article:

The most significant warning came recently from the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, or MISO, which oversees the power grid for Illinois and much of the Midwest. Their warning was contained in a recent forecast by the North American Electric Reliability Corp., a regulatory authority that monitors risks to the grid, and was summarized by the Washington Post as follows:

Southern Illinois is among the most vulnerable places in the country heading into the summer, according to a newly published forecast by the North American Electric Reliability Corp., a regulatory authority that monitors risks to the grid.

The area, along with large parts of Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and other states linked to the regional grid, has been put on notice in the forecast that it is facing a “high risk of energy emergencies during peak summer conditions.” A major reason is that some of the coal plants that regulators assumed would keep running for another year or two are instead coming offline. Some plant operators are choosing to shut down rather than invest in upgrades for coal plants that do not fit with states’ and the federal government’s long-term goals for clean energy.

“We are seeing these retirements occur at a faster pace than expected,” said Jim Robb, chief executive of the regulatory authority. “The economics aren’t great, so coal plant operators are saying ‘uncle.’”

 But let's cut to the chase:

Central Illinois consumers “will pay double for energy starting this month, as a deal mitigating costs for many communities expires, with no new contract in sight. Communities like Peoria, Morton and East Peoria all participate in municipal aggregation programs.”

Previously posted, Texas is second from the bottom in electricity costs:

Most expensive, to least expensive, selected states; in bold red: New England and New York:

• Connecticut: 26.48 cents; hates pipelines, up a whopping 16.7% from a year ago
• Rhode Island: 25.69 cents, up 6.6% from a year ago 
• California: 25.59 cents; up 13.6% from last year;
• New Hampshire: 22.15 cents; hates pipelines; up a whopping 14.9% from last year
• New York: 21.58 cents; hates pipelines; up a whopping 14.9% from last year
• Maine: 20.95 cents; hates pipelines; up an incredible 29% from last year
  
• New Jersey: 15.77 cents; down 3.7% from last year
  
• Pennsylvania: 14.48 cents; lots of natural gas, up 10.7% from a year ago
  
• Texas: 12.28 cents, down 3.6% from a year ago
• North Dakota: lots of coal, 9.64 cents; lots of coal, up 1.9% from a year ago