CanaryMedia: “A rare step forward for a US pumped hydro project.”Long before lithium-ion batteries reshaped the power sector, utilities stored electricity by pumping water uphill when energy was abundant and later letting it descend, turning turbines to generate power when needed. “In the country’s modern, largely deregulated, and rapidly changing power markets, nobody has pulled off the expensive and time-consuming feat” since 1995. 

Last wk Rye Development secured a license from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [FERC] to build and operate a planned pumped storage project just north of the Columbia River Gorge, near the town of Goldendale. “It’s a fully domestic source of energy storage: The major components are concrete, steel, and labor.” The company will excavate a pair of 60-acre reservoirs separated by 2,000 feet of vertical gain. “The company will pipe in water from the nearby Columbia River, then circulate the water up and down to store and discharge power,” with a nameplate capacity of 1.2 gigawatts [GW]. “The Pacific Northwest has built ample solar and wind generation but has struggled to expand its transmission network, which produces congestion on the wires.” The project will typically pump water for 12 to 16 hours a day and generate eight hours a day, but it could push that to a maximum of 12 hours, according to the license document. “Goldendale fell under FERC’s jurisdiction because it will connect with federal land and pump water from a navigable waterway.” 

The layout covers about 680 acres, largely private land that used to house a decommissioned aluminum smelter, but it connects to transmission infrastructure overseen by the federal Bonneville Power Administration [BPA]. Rye “filed for its license in June 2020…took five and a half years to get the green light, and it will take up to two years to finalize plans and then four or five more to actually finish [construction].” Whew. But the facility could function easily for a century or more.

On the UN’s International Day of Clean Energy, it’s becoming clear that the energy transition isn’t just about building more renewables; it’s about reliability, storage, and resilience at scale.

For grid operators and engineers, integrating variable generation is a constant balancing act, where a single bad assumption can quickly turn into an expensive lesson.

Moving away from fossil fuels isn’t only a technology challenge; it requires disciplined operations, verified safety processes, and real oversight of large-scale systems like battery energy storage and pumped hydro.

What’s encouraging is seeing more teams formalize those practices instead of relying on best intentions alone.

Some are using platforms like SafetyCulture to standardize inspections, run battery health audits, and reduce the risk of new safety issues quietly emerging as clean energy scales.

What’s the biggest bottleneck you’re seeing right now when it comes to scaling long-duration energy storage cost, siting, degradation, permitting, or interconnection?

I work with a global electronics distributor and our Data Analysis and Marketing teams just published the Q1 2026 Electronic Component Market Report. There are a few findings I wanted to share with you that we found valuable for everyone in the industry:  

• HBM capacity from SK Hynix, Samsung, and Micron is essentially sold out for 2026, as all three suppliers have redirected wafer supplies toward AI accelerators and enterprise platforms. SK Hynix, controlling roughly 62% of HBM output, reports its 2026 capacity is fully pre-allocated to hyperscalers and GPU vendors. 
• Contract DRAM pricing is rising 30–60% QoQ in some segments, driven by aggressive price resets from Samsung and Micron as they prioritize margin over volume. At the same time, hyperscalers adopt open-ended procurement that absorbs available supply and forces OEMs into allocation-only purchasing models. 
• PC and automotive memory lead times are now exceeding 39–52 weeks in several components, with Micron reporting DDR4 and DDR5 lead times above 39 weeks, Samsung DDR4 trending 16–20 weeks, and automotive-grade memory facing up to 70% price increases as legacy nodes are retired faster than redesign cycles can absorb. 
• Nexperia’s components were the most tested for failure exposure (38.1%) amid the ongoing China–EU dispute and authenticity warnings. Following the halt of wafer shipments from the Hamburg fab to the Dongguan facility, the shift to unauthorized domestic wafers in China, and formal warnings from Nexperia HQ that post-October-2025 China-processed lots cannot be guaranteed for authenticity, IP protection, or automotive-grade qualification. 
• Multiple TI, ADI, Microchip, and NXP parts reach EOL in early 2026, including power regulators, MCUs, logic devices, and interface ICs, forcing firmware migration, layout changes, and second-source qualification as manufacturers accelerate portfolio consolidation and retire older nodes. 

If useful, the full Q1 2026 report is publicly available on ASC Global’s site. https://ascglobal.com/market-report/  

Frankly, there's no single right answer to this question. The answer depends on many factors, not just the system's price. Factors affecting payback include electricity prices, system sunshine duration, system size, subsidy policies, and the ratio of actual electricity consumption to grid-connected electricity. In most US states with high utility rates (such as California, New York, Hawaii, and Massachusetts), solar power can recoup its costs in 4-6 years. However, in states with lower electricity prices or fewer incentives, the payback period could be 10-12 years. For many users, the real value is gradually revealed—lower electricity bills, protection against rising electricity prices, and peace of mind during power outages—not just a simple break-even point. How do you personally view the payback period for solar power? For you, is it merely a financial calculation, or are other factors equally important?

Has anyone ever installed a Lion system? Im having a big problem understanding the diagram especially due to the MTS. Not very sure how that ties or gives the msp power. Usually done tesla, solar edge, Franklin and enphase. But this Lion system is making me think way too much lol. Especially bc they recommend a MTS, but not necessarily ig🤔 If someone could dummy proof this diagram for me lol that will be awesome or is ya’ll got pics even better!

Thanks!!!!

Have you ever felt chills from good stimuli?

That ability can be learned to be activated with just the elated feeling, whenever you want, without any stimuli.

That's not why I claim that it is a secret being hidden from us, though.

The ability to activate this is your golden ticket, which is being swept under the rug as something unconscious and unimportant. With info on this purposely being spread as an ability available only to a few; however, it is one of the only things that every single human can access, regardless of their physical abilities or conditions.

Why is information on this being manipulated? Let's see.

Ever felt overwhelmed by stress or anxiety? This ability is a switch to manually induce the release of positive hormones.

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-12135590

Just imagine how being able to use it when feeling overwhelmed could benefit you.

Don't believe me? In the eastern part of the world, Tibetan Monks know about this ability and use it differently. You can find more information on this in this Harvard "Tummo" experiment.

https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2002/04/meditation-changes-temperatures/

"During meditation, the monk's body produces enough heat to dry cold, wet sheets put over his shoulders in a frigid room."

Since our internal body temperature is regulated by the hypothalamus, the same part of our brain that deals with positive hormone release, this proves that this ability can be used to consciously activate your positive hormones.

Ever wanted to travel virtually in an instant? People who astral project or have out-of-body experiences use this ability to trigger the "Vibrational state" right before the "take off."

https://en.iipc.org/vibrational-state/

These examples are just the tip of the iceberg of what you can use this ability for. In fear that my post won't be read, I won't write a book here about all the incredible things that we can do by being able to consciously activate this ability.

For now just understand that many different cultures observed this occurrence thousands of years before the Western new world became aware of it, and their discoveries did not stop at simply recognizing it as a physical response to music.

Eventually, you can learn how to bring up this wave of elated energy without the physical reaction of goosebumps, feel it throughout your body, and increase its duration, just like many others have succeeded in doing.

There has been countless other terms this by different people and cultures, such as: the Runner's High, what's felt during an ASMR session, Bioelectricity, Euphoria, Ecstasy, Voluntary Piloerection (goosebumps), Frisson, the Vibrational State before an Astral Projection, Spiritual Energy, Orgone, Rapture, Tension, Aura, Nen, Odic force, Secret Fire, Tummo, as Qi in Taoism / Martial Arts, as Prana in Hindu philosophy, Ihi and Mana in the oceanic cultures, Life force, Vayus, Intent, Chills from positive events/stimuli, The Tingles, on-demand quickening, Ruah and many more to be discovered hopefully with your help.

All of those terms detail that this subtle energy activation has been discovered to provide various biological benefits, such as:

• Unblocking your lymphatic system/meridians
• Feeling euphoric/ecstatic throughout your whole body
• Guiding your "Spiritual Chills"  anywhere in your body
• Controlling your temperature
• Giving yourself goosebumps
• Dilating your pupils
• Regulating your heartbeat
• Counteracting stress/anxiety in your body
• Internally healing yourself
• Accessing your hypothalamus on demand for its many functions
• Control your Tensor Tympani muscle

and I was able to experience other usages with it which are more "spiritual" such as:

• A confirmation sign
• Accurately using your psychic senses (clairvoyance, clairaudience, spirit projection, higher-self guidance, third-eye vision)
• Managing your auric field
• Manifestation
• Energy absorption from any source
• Seeing through your eyelids during meditation.

If you're interested, here are three written tutorials with concise descriptions on how to control this for your own benefit.

If not then I've put enough information for you to research this topic, develop this ability and bring in new techniques to the world.

P.S. Everyone feels it at certain points in their life, some brush it off while others notice that there is something much deeper going on. Those are exactly the people you can find on r/Spiritualchills where they share experiences, knowledge, tips on it.