California’s biggest clean energy bottleneck with Ali Chehrehsaz (TerraVerde Energy)

Oct 7, 2025

Ali Chehrehsaz, CEO of TerraVerde Energy, has dedicated over 15 years to helping California’s public agencies enhance their energy systems. In this conversation, he highlights interconnection as the major bottleneck hindering solar and storage deployment. He discusses how microgrids can empower schools and cities while cutting costs. Ali emphasizes the need for clearer regulations and explains innovative approaches like utilizing waste methane. His insights stress the importance of transforming ambition into action for a more resilient energy future.

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ANECDOTE

How TerraVerde Began

Ali founded TerraVerde after seeing school districts unable to evaluate and procure distributed generation in 2009.
He started with a focused mission: help schools go solar and level the playing field between buyers and sellers.

INSIGHT

Energy Is Core To Water Agencies

Water and wastewater agencies need electricity for essential services and already rely on diesel generators for backup.
Co-locating batteries and solar with generators reduces diesel use, saves money, and improves resilience.

INSIGHT

Interconnection Is The New Bottleneck

Interconnection uncertainty has become a bigger barrier than tax credits for many California projects.
Unknown upgrade costs and timelines make project planning and coordination nearly impossible.

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California’s clean energy story is often told through solar and batteries, but the real challenge isn’t building the technology, it’s connecting it. Across the state, schools, water districts, and city governments want to deploy microgrids to cut costs and boost resilience, yet many projects are stuck in interconnection queues, waiting years to come online. The result? Communities lose out on cheaper, cleaner power, and essential services remain exposed to grid instability.

In this episode of Transmission, we hear from Ali Chehrehsaz, CEO of TerraVerde Energy, who has spent over 15 years helping California’s public agencies navigate this landscape. He explains why interconnection has become the biggest bottleneck for solar and storage, how agencies can take control of their energy future, and what reforms are needed to deliver resilience at scale. It’s a conversation about turning ambition into action and about building clean power where it matters most.

Key topics covered:

• Why interconnection, not incentives, is now the biggest barrier for solar and storage.

• How microgrids can cut costs and strengthen resilience for schools, cities, and water districts.

• The lessons from 15+ years of deploying clean energy in California.

• Why public agencies are uniquely positioned to lead in the transition.

• What reforms are needed to fix the queue and speed up deployment.

About our guest:

Ali Chehrehsazis CEO of TerraVerde Energy, advising public agencies across California on deploying microgrids, solar, and batteries to cut costs, improve resilience, and accelerate the clean energy transition. For more information on TerraVerde, head to their website.

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.

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