Jeff St. John

Jeff St. John

Director of News and Special Projects . .

Jeff St. John is director of news and special projects at Canary Media. He covers the intersection of technological, economic, and regulatory issues influencing the global transition to low-carbon energy in the electricity, transportation, and building sectors. His areas of expertise include innovative grid technologies, rooftop solar and batteries, clean hydrogen, electric vehicles, EV charging, and broader decarbonization policy.

He is the former managing editor and senior grid-edge editor of Greentech Media, and he previously reported for The Fresno Bee, the Tri-City Herald, and the Anchorage Daily News. He lives in Alameda, California, with his wife Tara Donoghue and his dog Lily, and enjoys hiking, baking bread, and playing guitar with his nieces and nephews.

He earned a master’s degree from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism in 2001.

Clean energy manufacturing

Manufacturing vs. deployment: The clean energy tax-credit conundrum

The U.S. wants to build out a domestic cleantech manufacturing industry. It also wants to quickly deploy as much clean energy as possible. Can it do both at once?

By Jeff St. John . 7 June 2023
Transmission

One path to more power lines? Make US grid operators share more

With transmission snubbed in the recent debt ceiling deal, grid experts say "minimum transfer capacity" requirements are key to getting more power lines built.

By Jeff St. John . 5 June 2023
Politics

Clean energy dodges a bullet in the Texas legislature

Proposals to kneecap renewables and stick Texans with costly new gas power plants were removed from bills at the very end of the legislative session.

By Jeff St. John . 31 May 2023
Transmission

A backed-up grid threatens clean energy growth from Virginia to Illinois

A new NRDC report warns that backlogs at PJM could undermine state decarbonization targets if the grid operator doesn't undertake decisive reforms soon.

By Jeff St. John . 30 May 2023
Utilities

Rural electricity is getting its biggest boost since FDR — here's how

The Inflation Reduction Act earmarked $10.7B to make rural energy cleaner and more affordable. Now we have the details on how exactly the program will work.

By Jeff St. John . 24 May 2023
Transmission

California has a new $7.3B plan to fix its transmission problems

The state’s grid operator unanimously approved the plan — a crucial step in California’s bid to modernize a grid that lags behind its climate goals.

By Jeff St. John . 22 May 2023
Electric vehicles

Crunching data to keep EVs from overloading California's grid

Startup Kevala forecasts California will need $50 billion in grid upgrades to meet electric-vehicle goals — and it can tell utilities where to start investing.

By Jeff St. John . 19 May 2023
Transmission

Biden's got a plan for ramping up energy transmission

The White House wants Congress to pass permitting reform. In case that doesn't work, it's tapping DOE's authority to make it easier to build transmission.

By Jeff St. John . 17 May 2023
Electric vehicles

How US school buses are going electric, in four charts

EVs now make up about 1% of the nation's school bus fleet, but that figure is rising fast thanks in large part to $5 billion in federal funding.

By Jeff St. John . 15 May 2023
Climatetech finance

Silicon Valley Bank is back to financing community solar

SVB — now under new ownership — announces a $200 million financing deal for Pivot Energy, a leading community-solar developer.

By Jeff St. John . 9 May 2023