Unearthing geothermal’s potential for heating and cooling
Mar 18, 2025
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In this engaging discussion, Dan Yates, co-founder of Opower and CEO of Dandelion Energy, sheds light on the transformative power of geothermal heating and cooling. He shares insights on how this clean energy solution can significantly reduce emissions in buildings and the hurdles of high installation costs. Dan highlights potential federal support for geothermal technology and its role in managing energy loads for utilities. He emphasizes collaboration with home builders and the need for utility partnership to unlock geothermal's full potential.
Dan Yates highlights the crucial role of geothermal energy in promoting efficient residential heating and cooling solutions amidst electrification trends.
The success of Opower exemplifies how technology can effectively engage consumers in energy conservation, paving the way for sustainable practices.
Deep dives
Dan Yates' Early Career and Pursuit of Purpose
After graduating from Harvard with a computer science degree, Dan Yates worked at a music streaming startup, Echo, which was ahead of its time yet lacked a viable revenue model. This intense experience highlighted for him the importance of doing work that he truly cared about, prompting him to co-found EduSoft in 2000, an education software company aimed at enhancing student performance analysis. Within three years, the company was successfully acquired, allowing Dan to explore different life adventures, including a transformative trip down the Pan American highway. This journey reinforced his commitment to environmental issues after witnessing the deforestation in Central America, ultimately leading him to focus on energy-related challenges in his future ventures.
The Birth and Success of Opower
Motivated by the desire to change consumer behavior regarding energy usage, Dan Yates founded Opower, a customer engagement platform designed for utilities to help customers save energy. The idea emerged from his frustration with navigating complex utility bills and realizing the potential for educating millions of consumers on energy efficiency. Opower achieved significant success, culminating in its acquisition by Oracle for $532 million in 2016, marking a major milestone in Yates' career. The platform exemplified how technology could leverage behavioral insights to drive meaningful changes in energy consumption patterns, ultimately benefiting both consumers and the environment.
Geothermal Heating: The Future of Clean Energy
As the CEO of Dandelion Energy, Yates emphasizes the advantages of geothermal heating as an efficient and sustainable solution for residential energy needs. Geothermal heat pumps operate by exchanging heat with the ground, providing a more reliable and efficient energy source compared to traditional air source heat pumps, especially in extreme temperatures. With homes increasingly turning to electrification, Dandelion is aiming to capitalize on favorable policies and the growing demand for geothermal systems, targeting new construction and retrofitting existing homes. The anticipated expansion, supported by state incentives and shifts in consumer preferences, positions Dandelion to significantly contribute to reducing emissions from building heating and cooling.
Dan Yates co-founded Opower in 2007, based on the belief that consumers want to use less energy—and that their utilities could actually help them do it. He was right. Opower took off, and Oracle bought the customer engagement platform in 2016. A year later, Dan became interested in another startup focused on residential energy: Dandelion Energy. Spun out of GoogleX, Dandelion developed a system for using geothermal energy to heat and cool buildings.
Electrifying buildings is a major tenant of decarbonizing the power sector, but air-source heat pumps can be expensive. Installation costs are even higher with geothermal heat pumps, but they offer energy efficiency advantages. Dan is a big fan. After investing in Dandelion and serving on its board, he became CEO in 2023.
This week on With Great Power, Dan talks about the potential for residential geothermal heating and cooling, why it could be the clean energy that gains instead of loses federal support in the near term, and the role he thinks utilities can play in the technology’s deployment.
With Great Power is a co-production of GridX and Latitude Studios.
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Credits: Hosted by Brad Langley. Produced by Erin Hardick and Mary Catherine O’Connor. Edited by Anne Bailey. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is executive editor. Sean Marquand composed the original theme song and mixed the show. The Grid X production team includes Jenni Barber, Samantha McCabe, and Brad Langley.
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