It’s the final Energy Gang of the year, and host Ed Crooks is joined by regulars Amy Myers Jaffe, Director of NYU’s Energy, Climate Justice and Sustainability Lab, Shanu Mathew, a portfolio investor and manager, and Melissa Lott, a systems engineer and energy analyst, to take stock of an exciting year for energy.

The buzzword of 2025 was undoubtedly AI. Data centres transformed the outlook for power demand, and rising electricity prices put pressure on a new US administration that is determined to focus on affordability. As the shockwaves from advances in AI spread out across the industry, everyone started talking about “bring your own power” and flexible loads on the grid. Meanwhile battery deployment soared, as businesses looked for solutions to the challenges raised by variable renewable generation and rising demand.

The crew discuss permitting reform in the US, congestion pricing for cars in New York – one of the more positive stories of the year – and exciting times for nuclear power. The reality of new nuclear technologies was the subject of intense debate in 2025. Does the future of nuclear power really lie in small modular reactors, or do more established proven designs actually have a better chance to accelerate deployment?

Join us for the hot topics that shaped energy in 2025, and will keep on making headlines in 2026.

The article on air pollution reduction referenced by Ed and Melissa you can find here: https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2025/12/congestion-pricing-improved-air-quality-nyc-and-suburbs

Books mentioned on the show include:

Breakneck: China’s quest to engineer the future by Dan Wang

House of Huawei: The secret history of China's most powerful companyby Eva Dou

Consumed: How big brands got us hooked on plastic by Saabira Chaudhuri

We hope you have a great holiday season and a very happy New Year. The gang will be back on January 6th.

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