Startup Series: WattCarbon

WattCarbon knows the hour-by-hour carbon intensity of the grid for every building in the USA, and it helps identify the real-time carbon savings of distributed energy resources, such as heat pumps, rooftop solar, and storage in commercial buildings. This empowers project developers to sell these carbon savings as building decarbonization credits to companies and organizations with net-zero commitments, helping to accelerate the adoption of these more efficient technologies and speed up the decarbonization of the built environment.

McGee started his career as an associate professor of political science at Marquette University, where he studied the history of political action groups in America. This led him to learn more about environmental movements. As part of his classes, he started having his students hack their way into political action by pulling publicly available data, making sense of it, and publishing their findings. This led McGee down an entrepreneurial journey that eventually saw him leave academia and go all in on a climate tech career. Rather than spoiling any more of his story, listen to hear it directly from McGee himself.

In this episode, we cover:

[2:22] McGee's background in academia
[8:09] Early entrepreneurial pathways he explored with students
[11:45] McGee's transition to starting MeterHero and its evolution to STEMHero
[16:45] His time at Open Energy Efficiency and MRV learnings
[20:09] The origins of WattCarbon
[25:22] Challenges with how we think about carbon accounting today
[26:42] An overview of WattCarbon's software solution
[30:43] The process for companies using carbon credits as part of their toolkit
[34:47] How WattCarbon works with new energy companies
[42:04] The role of the IRA in accelerating local regulations
[44:39] Tenant implications for building owners
[46:34] WattCarbon's ideal customers
[47:57] The company's status today
[48:56] How listeners can get involved
[49:52] McGee's takeaways from the recent Clean Energy Buyers Association Summit

Additional resources mentioned in this episode:
Developing Interests: Organizational Change and the Politics of Advocacy by McGee Young
Silent Spring by Rachel Carson

Get connected:
Cody Simms Twitter / LinkedIn
McGee Young / WattCarbon
MCJ Podcast / Collective

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Episode recorded on May 15, 2023

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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant