So

Kate, last question for the interview segment. What has changed the most about you? So not your work, but about you as a person and as a professional since you started in this sector? That's

a really tough question.

That's why we leave it for the end. Yes.

Maybe I can turn it around on you and say the thing that hasn't changed as much. I'll say a little bit. Obviously, I've matured. I think I've figured out a bit more about what's needed to make the market work. Throughout my career, I've gone back and forth between private sector, public sector, really trying to see how they work together. And I think Nithio, in some ways, is the culmination of that because we're trying to bring in this blended finance and public and private capital together. But I think the thing that hasn't changed is I fully believe this is a solvable problem. And I think that we focus so much on the 600 million people who lack access in Africa, over a billion people who lack good access worldwide. And I think we need to flip that around and say 90% of the world has access to electricity. This is an absolutely solvable problem. We just need to do the last 10%. And we need to really focus on not doing it perfectly or not making sure we maximize every single subsidy dollar. But just recognizing it's pretty unconscionable in 2024 to still have 10% of the world lacking even basic access and really just focus on getting that done because it is, back to what we started with, this isn't a complex problem in terms of the engineering. If we wanted to connect everyone to grid access in the next, let's say six months, we could do that if we had enough money and we were confident that the management would be sustainable and we could continue to run those systems in a sustainable way. So that's where I think I remain optimistic just because it isn't that much of the world that's left. It's some of the most difficult places to connect. So I think it's not a simple problem, but I really think we can get it done and need to kind of just get on with it and focus on implementation. I

find this really interesting because I think, cause I am quite Africa focused in my work and in Africa, it's like, you know, 500, almost 600 million people without access, which is about 50%. And so when I think about it in those terms, it's a little bit daunting, but then when you put it in the global scale, like you are doing that, this is just 10% of everyone in the world. And that if pull together, this should be doable. I think that's a really interesting perspective flip actually. So, Kate, it's time to play Short Circuit, which is a rapid-fire round of serious and kind of mostly silly questions. So are you ready? Ready. So what's one thing about you that would surprise other people?

I don't know if this would surprise people who really know me, but I'm an incredible introvert. I don't mind being social. I like talking in public, but very, very introverted. Fill

in the blank. The energy access conference circuit is blank. Which this is a funny question I now realize coming after your confession of being an introvert.

No, I don't know if I can do it in one word. This is going to sound very harsh because the word I thought of was redundant. I think there's too many events at this point. So I think it distracts from the getting stuff done. It's fun and it's great to see people, but I think there's a few too many events that we could consolidate.

I think you handle that very diplomatically. Okay. So happiest memory from the time you spent in Nairobi?

There's a thousand things. I've been going to Nairobi at least once a year, except for COVID, for the last 24 years. So I could think of so many things. But I think maybe the one that springs to mind is I worked on a World Bank project. This is kind of a random one to come up, but working on informal settlements, slum electrification. after I left, I worked on the design and kind of build up of the project, but has actually been really successful. And I think when I got into, when I finished up grad school, my two goals were just to have, like, be an expert in this space and feel like I was making an impact. And I think seeing that project and then some other ones I worked on really connect really large numbers of people. That's one of my favorite memories and getting to meet some of the people who are beneficiaries of that program. That's really cool. That's

awesome. And now like taking Elizabeth back.

Yeah, I was going to say that's such a cop out to say like taking my daughter to Kenya. Very fun. We just got back from there.

In an alternate universe where you did not to go to Kenya after undergrad, what do you think you would have ended up doing? So

when I finished undergrad and was looking to go to Kenya, the three things I was planning to do as possible jobs were one was appropriate technology for developing world, which was kind of what I ended up doing. Theater design. So I ran the studio theater company at stanford and worked in the drama shop oh my gosh doing set construction uh most of the time i was there uh and the third one was toy design that i did two internships with hasbro uh that is so cool so those were the three things i was considering and i remember telling one of my cousins actually before i left for kenya I wasn't making a choice, but by going to Kenya, I probably was making a choice because what were the odds I was going to do this year of travel and come back and do either toy designer or theater design. But that was probably going to push me in the direction of doing more of this appropriate technology. Well, it's not too late.

Maybe some off-grid solar themed toys. I

mean, if we solve this, I could have a second career, so we'll see. Pick one of these for a perfect vacation

day, surfing or skiing. Oh, come on. Where can you do both? In

California. I actually have done ski one day and surf the next. And

final one, you've obviously, we've talked about all the different angles that you've come at this from. Is there a constant Kate Steele mission statement that has held true? Universal

energy access. That's a good one. Okay. Well, hopefully, hopefully we'll get to the point where we can realize that. And then you'll just have to have a new mission statement. Exactly.

For those of you who've stuck around the end of the show, we now have a bonus question from our previous guest. Last episode, we talked to Joel Nana, who is a Cameroonian researcher working on kind of city level energy transitions across Africa. And he's very fired up about the boom in grid tied rooftop solar across Africa. And he's curious about how you see the future of off-grid and on-grid technologies intersecting in the future, and whether your view of that relationship has changed at all in recent years, especially as renewables have evolved and taken off in different ways.

That is a great question. I am very fired up about rooftop solar as well, a great connected rooftop solar. I mean, when you see so many places having just hundreds of thousands of diesel gen sets, why not do solar, especially where the regulation allows for it? So I think 15 years ago, I wanted to start this as a business with friends. So I'm very excited to see this finally taking off because that would have been a terrible time to start it. It would not have worked. But I think we are finally getting to the point. I'd like to think that actually the off-grid solar is partly pushed for that because it's shown the feasibility of solar. And it's also helped with driving down or increasing the efficiency of appliances so that you have highly efficient lighting, highly efficient TVs and all these things that can plug into these systems. And I think that's just shown that you can get real power. You can't see me doing Aeroquois, but real, real power from solar. And so I think that there's a great opportunity for, you know, some businesses will probably specialize in one or the other. I think the financing ball is a little bit different. Obviously the kind of urban dense systems are significantly more expensive because they're powering households with white goods and other appliances. But I do think that there are companies that might end up doing both and maybe end up doing some cross-substitization. I think the biggest thing that will stand in the way is regulation. And I think this is where governments can be really helpful in, you know, off-grid solar is not really regulated beyond, it's essentially a fast-moving consumer good. It's a stereo of an appliance. Whereas if you are grid intertied, you do have a lot of standards if you're selling back onto the grid or if you're just behind the meter. There's a lot more that goes into regulating that system. So I think as much as governments and regulators can pave the way for those businesses to work, I think it's fantastic. And I'm really optimistic that it's going to be a big part of the market as well.

Yeah, it's a really exciting thing to see. Listen to our next episode to hear Kate's question for our next guest. All

right. Thank you

so much, Kate. This was wonderful having you. A lot of fun. And we look forward to seeing what you and your colleagues and Nithya are up to in the next decade. Always nice to talk to you both. Thank

you, Kate.

That's it for today's show. High Energy Planet is a production of the Energy for Growth Hub, matching policymakers with evidence-based pathways to a high energy future for everyone. Find out more at energyforgrowth.org and share your questions and thoughts with us at energyforgrowth on X and LinkedIn. And

if you liked today's episode, be sure to rate and review the podcast and tell a friend about us. Audrey Zenner is our senior producer. Join us next time for more High Energy

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