Erik Nordman

@eriknordman

Director, Institute of Public Utilities @ Michigan State University & Associate Professor of Agricultural, Food, & Resource Economics • Author: The Uncommon Knowledge of Elinor Ostrom • Fulbrighter (Kenya) • #EnergySky • Views my own

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Erik Nordman@eriknordman· 27d

Current air quality index is very unhealthy. 😮‍💨😷

Map of the Lansing, Michigan area showing air quality index readings ranging from 293 to 547.
A graph shows that air pollution surged overnight as the wildfire smoke settled in.

Erik Nordman@eriknordman· 27d

Wildfire smoke came in overnight.

Backyard with grass, shrubs, and trees with a smoky haze over the landscape.

Erik Nordman@eriknordman· Jul 13

Lazard released its 19th annual levelized cost of energy report today. Key message: "On a $/MWh basis, unsubsidized renewable energy remains the most cost-competitive form of new-build generation..." www.lazard.com/news-announc...

Graph of levelized cost of energy ($/MWh)
Solar PV - Community and C&I: $88-$197
Solar PV - Utility: $40-$98
Solar PV +Storage: $61-$156
Geothermal: $67-$111
Wind - Onshore: $37-$99
Wind + Storage - Onshore: $49-$140
Wind - Offshore: $105-$167
Gas Peaking: $144-$276
US Nuclear: $175-$255
Coal: $72-$177
Gas Combined Cycle: $51-$129

Erik Nordman@eriknordman· Jul 1

Outside my office on the #MSU campus, there's an English oak which was grown from a Sherwood Forest acorn. I don't think this one is actually from the Major Oak, but the "Robin Hood Oak" on the SUNY ESF / Syracuse University campus is. bealbotanicalgarden.msu.edu/campus-arbor...

A mid-sized English oak, in summer with leaves out, adjacent to a parking lot and academic buildings.

Erik Nordman@eriknordman· Jun 9

Second stop on the #MARC2026 agri-voltaic tour was an apiary. This site was planted with a mix of wildflowers, like the Canada anemone seen here, that support pollinating insects and birds. The solar panels are 2x as tall as the ones at the previous site. #EnergySky

Wildflowers (Canada anemone) in the foreground, beehives and beekeeper in the mid-ground, and solar panels in the background.

Erik Nordman@eriknordman· Jun 9

Taking the agri-voltaic tour at #MARC2026. The sheep graze the prairie vegetation under the solar panels & also relax in the panels' shade during midday. The farmer has a vegetation management contract and mows what the sheep don't graze. They shed their wool & don't need to be sheared. #EnergySky

A herd of adult sheep and lambs with solar panels in the background.

A close-up of a sheep's face with solar panels in the background.

Erik Nordman@eriknordman· Jun 5

🐿️ I was ambushed by this squirrel as I left the office on campus yesterday! It was definitely expecting a treat. I think it was the same one who was watching me through the window during my Zoom class.

A fox squirrel standing about one foot away from me, looking up at me, expecting a treat.

Erik Nordman@eriknordman· Jun 1

This is very cool! I might have to print this one out and hang it in my office.

Line drawing of the electrical grid in the Great Lakes region of North America. Black lines increase in thickness with voltage, highest voltage lines are in red in Ontario.

Erik Nordman@eriknordman· May 22

On our trip to upstate NY, we stopped by the President James A. Garfield Historic Site in Mentor, Ohio. It's 5 minutes off I-90, good for a short stretch break. Last summer I read Destiny of the Republic (and recently watched Death by Lightning), so it was cool to see Garfield's house.

Sign over door
Visitor Center
James A. Garfield
National Historic Site

Large 1870s farm house with a porch
Green with a red roof
A woman and young man are on the porch

Round stone marker with sundial on top and bust of Garfield in the background
Says
Lawnfield, home of James A Garfield
Twentieth president of the United States of America
"How sweet and inviting, the dear home beckons me away among the green fields of Mentor."
From a letter written by James Garfield to his wife Lucretia on May 29, 1877

Erik Nordman@eriknordman· May 15

Chapters include:

Acknowledgments xi
Chapter 1: What’s So Tragic about the “Commons”? 1
Chapter 2: Los Angeles Groundwater 19
Chapter 3: Maine’s Lobster Gangs 39
Chapter 4: Spain’s Ancient Water Court 61
Chapter 5: Institutions for Collaborative Forest Management 81
Chapter 6: The Climate Commons 105
Chapter 7: Voluntary Environmental Programs 127
Chapter 8: Commons in Space 149
Chapter 9: Commons in the Digital World 171
Chapter 10: A Nobel for Institutions and a Pathbreaking Life 193

Erik Nordman@eriknordman· May 5

Stephen Harvey, formerly of EIA, is presenting now at @ipu-msu.bsky.social Grid School 3. He noted that solar generation briefly surpassed natural gas generation for the US for a brief time yesterday, 5/3/2026. #EnergySky

Graph of US electricity generation by energy source, 4/28/2026-5/5/2026
Natural gas line is higher, oscillating slightly
Solar line shows more daily variability (obviously)
The solar line surpasses the natural gas line for a brief time on 5/3.

Erik Nordman@eriknordman· Apr 26

I came out of racing retirement for the Izzo 5k at MSU. 20:18, not bad for an old man!

Middle aged man in a red shirt and black ball cap striding towards the finish line.

Finisher medal shaped like a basketball, says,
The Izzo
run. walk. roll

Erik Nordman@eriknordman· Mar 30

I think I've had this one for nearly 25 years!

Greenish Nalgene water bottle, old and scratched but still useful!

Erik Nordman@eriknordman· Mar 20

I'm excited to be speaking at the MSU Animal and Natural Resource Law Review Spring Symposium today. This year's theme is Deregulation, Energy, and the Environment: Balancing Power in a Warming World. I'll be discussing how polycentric grid governance may protect against efforts to re-carbonize.

Symposium title slide
Deregulation, Energy, and the Environment: Balancing Power in a Warming World
Image of a globe, trees, and a gold balance.

Erik Nordman@eriknordman· Feb 12

MSU's Beaumont Tower was looking great in the afternoon sun today. #Michigan

A brick and stone bell tower, blue sky behind it, snow on the ground and trees around it.

Erik Nordman@eriknordman· Feb 11

Sen. Angus King (Maine) delivering an inspiring set of closing remarks at #NARUCWinter26.

Sen. Angus King at the podium. Banner behind him says, NARUC Winter Policy Summit.

Erik Nordman@eriknordman· Feb 9

Done with #NARUCWinter26 for the day, so I checked out the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Found some utility-themed art!

Two monochrome photos of energy infrastructure near the Meadowlands, New Jersey. Power lines, wires, etc. Photos by Ray Mortenson.

Erik Nordman@eriknordman· Feb 2

Good morning, friend!

A fox squirrel standing up, looking into my office window from the ledge outside. It is snowing outside. Houseplants are on the window sill inside.

Erik Nordman@eriknordman· Feb 1

Backyard fox squirrels. #Michigan

A large fox squirrel standing up in the snow on a sunny day looking directly at the camera. Behind is a shrub with another fox squirrel on the branch. Wooden fence in background.

Erik Nordman@eriknordman· Jan 29

I've seen Sunday at La Grande Jatte before, but I never noticed that the woman has a pet monkey on a leash.

Sunday at La Grande Jatte. A large colorful painting of late 19th century, well dressed French people lounging in a riverside park. There are small dogs loose. A woman in the foreground holds a parasol and a monkey on a leash.

A close up of Sunday at La Grande Jatte featuring the monkey on a leash, which could be a thin chain.

Erik Nordman@eriknordman· Jan 29

Had some free time in Chicago so I checked out my friend @jasonreblando.bsky.social's photo on exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Photography. A challenging, provocative image that engages with colonial photographic history. It's a great museum, part of Columbia College, stop in if you have time.

An archival monochrome photo of an early 20th century woman in the Philippines. The elements of the woman's face and torso have been cut into geometric shapes and recombined. There is a photographer's color scale on the left side.

Erik Nordman@eriknordman· Jan 27

The MSU Institute of Public Utilities provides continuing education programs for professionals in the utility policy community, including regulators, consumer & environmental advocates, and industry staff. Check out our 2026 programs below and visit our website for details. www.canr.msu.edu/ipu/

2026 Program Lineup

Grid School 1: Engineering, Economics, and Modeling Fundamentals:
March 10-12, 2026 (Govt: $925; Private: $1,075)

Grid School 2: Generation, Planning, and Reliability:
April 14-16, 2026 (Govt: $925; Private: $1,075)

Grid School 3: Efficiency, Load Management, and Policy:
May 5-7, 2026 (Govt: $925; Private: $1,075)

Accounting and Ratemaking:
June 2-4, 2026 (Govt: $925; Private: $1,075)

Fundamentals of Utility Regulation (IPU’s flagship program):
August 10-14, 2026 (Govt: $1,200; Private: $1,400)

Accounting and Ratemaking:
September 15-17, 2026 (Govt: $925; Private: $1,075)

Advanced Regulatory Accounting and Auditing:
October 6-8, 2026 (Govt: $925; Private: $1,075)

Advanced Cost Allocation and Rate Design:
November 3-5, 2026 (Govt: $925; Private: $1,075)

Erik Nordman@eriknordman· Jan 22

More thoughts about AI data centers: I used this quote in an old lecture on forest policy. It also applies to our current debates on AI/data centers. We frame the debates in technical terms: electricity, water, & land use. But these are proxies for the real, tougher issues, which are about values.

“Even though forestry’s most intractable dilemmas stem from differences in value hierarchies, debates about them tend to be cast in technical terms.

As such, scientists are asked to resolve social questions as a fundamental as equity and appropriate rates of economic growth by focusing on technical natural resource issues that serve as convenient proxies.”

Erik Nordman@eriknordman· Jan 4

I started a new #bonsai tree yesterday. Found a holiday themed lemon cypress on sale. Watched some videos and got the courage to prune it aggressively. I'm pleased with how it turned out.

A lemon cypress tree about a foot tall, in a pot wired foil wrapping. It's very dense, conical shape with bright green foliage.

The lemon cypress after aggressive pruning in a bonsai pot. It's about half the size, with much less foliage. It has one main trunk and one that is broken to make it look old.

Erik Nordman@eriknordman· Dec 26

I've been trying my hand at #bonsai gardening lately. My slippery elm got a coating of ice today.

A leafless slippery elm tree, trained as a bonsai in a black pot. It is coated in ice.

Erik Nordman@eriknordman· Dec 10

If you're cold, they're cold. Bring them inside.

A black squirrel huddled on a wooden fence in a snow storm.

Erik Nordman@eriknordman· Dec 8

Meteorite confirmed!

Michigan Storm Chasers
A meteorite has just occurred over Michigan as of 6pm EST 12/7 in the northwest sky. Videos comiysoon from our camera network.

Erik Nordman@eriknordman· Dec 5

The new National Security Strategy uses the "energy dominance" frame and explicitly calls for promoting fossil fuels and also nuclear energy. It rejects "disastrous 'climate change' and 'Net Zero' ideologies." Not even lip service to an "all of the above" energy strategy. #EnergySky

Energy Dominance – Restoring American energy dominance (in oil,
gas, coal, and nuclear) and reshoring the necessary key energy
components is a top strategic priority. Cheap and abundant energy will
produce well-paying jobs in the United States, reduce costs for
American consumers and businesses, fuel reindustrialization, and help
maintain our advantage in cutting-edge technologies such as AI.
Expanding our net energy exports will also deepen relationships with
allies while curtailing the influence of adversaries, protect our ability
to defend our shores, and—when and where necessary—enables us to
project power. We reject the disastrous “climate change” and “Net
Zero” ideologies that have so greatly harmed Europe, threaten the
United States, and subsidize our adversaries.

Erik Nordman@eriknordman· Nov 30

East Lansing fox squirrel. This one was watching us through the kitchen window. I can't get over how big and assertive they are.

A large fox squirrel on a snow-covered wooden fence, facing the camera. It's bigger than a gray squirrel and has reddish fur.

Erik Nordman@eriknordman· Nov 26

This picture of our dog makes her look like some kind of religious icon 😆.