The data problem undermining carbon markets with McGee Young (Founder & CEO - WattCarbon)

Jun 24, 2025

McGee Young, Founder and CEO of WattCarbon, shares insights into the shortcomings of traditional carbon accounting, advocating for real-time, location-specific data. He discusses how granular metrics can enhance clean energy investment and the role of community-led decarbonization. Young also explores innovative strategies, like sleeved Virtual Power Purchase Agreements, to improve energy management. The conversation highlights the potential of AI in making data more accessible and empowering communities to tackle climate challenges collaboratively.

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INSIGHT

Beyond Traditional Carbon Accounting

Traditional carbon accounting ignores the timing and location-specific attributes of energy.
Measuring when, where, and how clean energy is delivered is crucial for accurate valuation.

ADVICE

Bottom-Up Climate Action

Build decarbonization programs from the bottom up in local communities.
Use measurement, verification, and markets to ensure real impact and scale.

INSIGHT

Value Lies in Energy Attributes

A kilowatt hour's value depends on the time, location, and grid conditions.
Without these details, it's impossible to correctly price or value energy savings.

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Carbon accounting underpins nearly every climate commitment and energy market, but today’s system often misses the mark.

Most reporting is based on annual averages and generic certificates, ignoring when and where emissions are actually avoided.

That mismatch creates blind spots for investors, policymakers, and clean energy developers alike.

In this episode of Transmission, Quentin sits down with McGee Young, Founder & CEO at WattCarbon to explore how more accurate, time- and location-specific carbon data could transform the way we value clean energy.

From tracking real emissions impact to building virtual power plants at the community level, this is a conversation about making carbon accounting smarter, and climate action more meaningful.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

Why traditional carbon accounting is broken and how granular, real-time data can fix it.
What time-stamped energy attributes are, and why they matter for valuing clean energy projects.
How virtual power plants (VPPs) can unlock local flexibility, avoid expensive grid upgrades, and share value with communities.
The case for ‘sleeved VPPs’, where large energy users fund local demand-side programs instead of building new capacity.
How community-led decarbonisation could reshape climate finance and deliver impact from the ground up.

About our guest

McGee Young is founder and CEO of WattCarbon, a US-based company building the first platform for real-time, time-based carbon accounting and community-scale decarbonisation. At WattCarbon, he is delivering visibility into hourly carbon intensity and enabling more transparent, impact-driven carbon markets for buildings and energy projects. For more information about WattCarbons mission, head to their website. https://www.wattcarbon.com/

About Modo Energy

Modo Energy helps the owners, operators, builders, and financiers of battery energy storage solutions understand the market - and make the most out of their assets.

All of our podcasts are available to watch or listen to on the Modo Energy site. To keep up with all of our latest updates, research, analysis, videos, podcasts, data visualizations, live events, and more, follow us on LinkedIn or Twitter. Check out The Energy Academy, our bite-sized video series breaking down how power markets work.