Energy Gang

This week: we examine the Trump alternative to the Clean Power Plan, look at the gap between red and blue states on climate change, and review the presidential debates.Up first: how Trump's EPA is replacing Obama's major climate rule. Then, the red-blue climate divide. States are putting ambitious new climate plans in place. But they’re almost all in states dominated by democrats -- and the new EPA power plant rule only makes that gap bigger. What are the long-term economic consequences for the red states failing to change?Finally, we got 15 minutes of climate talk in the first two Democratic presidential debates. Does this yet again prove why we need a climate-only debate?Recommended reading:Yale Climate Connections: The Trump EPA Strategy to Undo the Clean Power PlanNew York Times: Blue States Roll Out Aggressive Climate Strategies. Red States Keep to the SidelinesThe Guardian: A Climate-Themed Debate? The Democrats Owe It to VotersSupport for this podcast is brought to you by Sungrow. With the world’s most powerful 250-kilowatt, 1500-volt string inverter, Sungrow is providing disruptive technology for utility-scale projects. Subscribe to The Energy Gang podcast via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or wherever you find your audio content.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on Watt It Takes: How a Ukrainian immigrant quietly toiled away on a new battery chemistry and created a billion-dollar unicorn.Powerhouse CEO Emily Kirsch sits down with Gene Berdichevsky, the CEO of Sila Nanotechnologies.Sila is developing a new lithium-ion battery chemistry that uses silicon in place of graphite — leading to an improvement in battery density by 20 percent. This spring, Daimler led a $170 million round in Sila, valuing the startup at $1 billion.Berdichevsky was the seventh employee at Tesla, where he developed the Roadster’s battery.For the last eight years, Berdichevsky’s team at Sila has been working on a drop-in replacement for today’s lithium-ion batteries.This conversation was recorded live at Powerhouse’s headquarters. Buy tickets for upcoming events.Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E’s service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.We're also sponsored by Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.Subscribe to The Energy Gang podcast via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or wherever you find your audio content.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It’s been a decade since the fracking boom reshaped U.S. energy markets — so when will we ever use our drilling prowess to create a similar geothermal boom?That’s the hope. The Department of Energy just released a massive new report revisiting America’s geothermal potential in conventional hydrothermal, enhanced geothermal, direct use and heat pumps. And the potential is enormous — but it’s just sitting there, largely untapped. We’re going to open up DOE’s report and see which borehole it takes us down.Then, the Biden and Warren campaigns both unveiled their energy and climate plans. Have they risen to the political and environmental stakes?Finally, are states squandering billions in settlement dollars from the VW diesel scandal?Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E’s service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.We're also sponsored by Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.Subscribe to GTM podcasts via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content, or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It may be a couple election cycles late, but we’re finally getting a wave of climate plans from presidential candidates. The issue is now front and center in the Democratic primaries.We’ve spent the last week collecting the plans from leading candidates, surveying the stances of the rest of the field, and monitoring the reactions. We’ll sort through them in this week’s Energy Gang episode. In the first half of the show, we’ll compare and contrast the unique plans from Elizabeth Warren, Jay Inslee, Beto O’Rourke, Michael Bennet and John Delaney. What is unique about each candidate’s proposal?Then, we’ll tackle the rest of the field in the second half of the episode. Most of them are either using the Green New Deal as a fallback, or using it as a foil. We will take an account of how that short-but-influential congressional resolution — and the activism behind it — is having an impact on the presidential campaign.Recommended reading:Buzzfeed: Democrats Want To Make 2020 The Climate Change ElectionBeto O’Rourke’s climate planJay Inslee’s “Evergreen Economy” planElizabeth Warren’s plan to make the military climate-readyMichael Bennet’s climate planJohn Delaney’s climate planSupport for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E’s service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.We're also sponsored by Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.Subscribe to GTM podcasts via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content, or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A new report from the International Monetary Fund shows that the world spent $5.2 trillion on fossil fuel subsidies in 2017. That’s half a trillion dollars more than in 2015.But it also shows that fossil fuel subsidy spending is down by half since 2012. What gives? How much are we actually spending to make fossil fuels cheaper?We’ll clarify the different ways economists are measuring that spending.Then, U.S. tax subsidies for solar and wind are set to ramp downward as part of a deal struck in 2015. But some are calling for an extension of those credits once again. Wait, didn’t the industry say it would be just fine without them? We’ll look at arguments for and against another extension.Finally, PG&E is warning California customers about planned blackouts during this year’s fire seasons. Does this open up a new opportunity for commercial microgrids and residential battery backup?Recommended reading:Atlantic: The Hidden Subsidy of Fossil FuelsGTM: US Solar Industry Braces for ITC Stepdown While Making the Case for Another ExtensionBloomberg: Democrats Try to Extend Wind, Solar Aid They Agreed to Let DieSF Chronicle: Fire Danger Could Force SF Blackout, PG&E SaysSupport for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E’s service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.We're also sponsored by Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.Subscribe to GTM podcasts via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content, or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It took four decades for America to install a million solar systems. And it took just three years to install the second million.From here on out, the U.S. market will likely see a million systems every couple of years, according to the latest data from Wood Mackenzie.To mark this new era of scale, we’re going to look back at the most important trends that got us to the first couple of million systems — and the most important trends that will keep many more millions coming.Then, Tesla has a new way to package and sell solar online. Will it work?Finally, what’s the best way to frame climate change and the clean energy transition? Presidential candidates are talking about the issues, and press outlets are trying to reframe coverage. What's working and what needs to change?Recommended reading:GTM: US Surpasses 2 Million Solar Installations as Industry Looks to ‘Dominate’ the 2020sGTM: Tesla Embraces New Solar Strategy But Analysts Remain SkepticalNew York Times: These Days, It’s Not About the Polar BearsColumbia Journalism Review: The Climate Crisis Is a Story for Every BeatSupport for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E’s service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.We're also sponsored by Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.Subscribe to GTM podcasts via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content, or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

For well over a decade, researchers have been modeling the cost of state renewable energy mandates.The results break down in predictable ways: conservative and progressive groups often come to very different conclusions based about costs and benefits.An authoritative 2015 report from the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab found that compliance costs for state renewables targets only make up 2 percent of retail rates in most U.S. states.After a lull, the debate over the cost of renewable energy targets is re-emerging. A new working paper from economists at the University of Chicago concludes that mandates are the most expensive way to reduce carbon pollution — and that they are much bigger drivers of rate increases than previously thought.Many researchers are pushing back on the economists’ modeling of electricity rates. But it’s worth revisiting this debate, since renewables and carbon-free energy targets are used as placeholders for more ambitious climate policy.In this week’s podcast, we’re discussing the findings of this study, the criticism, and how it fits into current trends U.S. in energy policy.Then, Rivian continues to bring in money for electric trucks. What do Amazon and Ford see in the company? Are trucks the next big target for electrification?Finally, a brief look at 5G networks. They could revolutionize energy services, but they’re also fraught with geopolitical and cybersecurity risk. Will the benefits outweigh the risk?Recommended reading:Twitter threads from Jesse Jenkins, Alex Gilbert, Jacob Mays, and Sam Ori.University of Chicago working paperNew York Times: Ford to Invest $500 Million in Rivian, a Tesla RivalNew Yorker: The Terrifying Potential of the 5G NetworkSupport for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E’s service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.We're also sponsored by Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on Watt It Takes: How a product manager at Google saw promise in geothermal heat pumps — and applied the lessons of solar to an underserved market.In this episode, Powerhouse CEO Emily Kirsch sits down with Kathy Hannun, the co-founder of Dandelion, a home geothermal company that uses a proprietary drilling technique, simple product design, and financing to cut the cost of ground-source heating and cooling.For seven years, Kathy was on the rapid evaluation team at Alphabet X — formerly Google X — evaluating technology moonshots. That’s where she stumbled upon the opportunity in geothermal. We’re going to hear from Kathy about what she learned trying to tackle a tough tech like home geothermal. We’ll also hear about what she learned from her time at Google, how she built her team, and why raising money as an expecting mother presented some unique challenges. This conversation was recorded live at Powerhouse’s headquarters. Buy tickets for upcoming events.Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E’s service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.We're also sponsored by Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.Subscribe to The Energy Gang podcast via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or wherever you find your audio content.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week, we present a special episode produced in collaboration with CohnReznick Capital.How do you broker billions of dollars worth of renewable energy deals — and do it again and again?It takes grit, sure. But it also requires empathy.And that, says Conor McKenna, is the real art of the deal.McKenna is a senior managing director at CohnReznick Capital Markets. He’s helped close 8 gigawatts of wind, solar and biomass projects over his career.We all know “The Art of the Deal,” Donald Trump’s 1987 book that offers hard-nosed business advice. The book includes lessons like fight back, play the game hard, and deliver the goods. This advice has shaped our perception of real estate and Wall Street culture. But McKenna says one important lesson is missing: how to form good relationships so that everyone benefits from a deal.“Every time we’ve seen someone focus on getting that last dollar out of an individual transaction, we’ve found that they’ve had a much harder time in repeating business and growing and scaling at the same rate as this industry.”This isn’t a soft tactic. When you’re trying to pull together hundreds or thousands of megawatts of projects — and repeat the process over many times — you have to actually care about the people on the other side of the table.“Those that have left money on the table and and allowed for their partners to feel successful as well, have had a lot more repeat business.”In this episode, we look at how empathy can translate into billions of dollars in cash and push renewables further into the mainstream. Find out more about CohnReznick Capital's portfolio.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The tech giants are all going long on renewables, but Amazon seems to be going long on oil and gas.A new story details Amazon’s budding romance with the fossil fuel industry, while also lagging behind its peers in buying clean energy for its operations.Other tech companies are using their analytics for helping extract more fossil fuels — but is the extent of Amazon’s pursuit unique?Then, a new study shows that three-quarters of all coal in the US is more expensive than new renewables. But there’s an ongoing push in states from coal groups to force plants to stay open. We’ll have the latest in the feeble attempt to save coal.Finally, the supreme court rejects a challenge to state nuclear subsidies. Is it a green light for more states to save their nuke fleets?Recommended reading:Gizmodo: Amazon Is Aggressively Pursuing Big Oil as It Stalls Out on Clean EnergyVox: Amazon Says It’s a Leader on Fighting Climate Change. 5,000 Employees DisagreeIndy Star: Out-of-State Coal Interests Are Funding a Battle to Keep Coal Plants From ClosingHouston Chronicle: Supreme Court Denies Challenge to NY Nuclear SubsidySupport for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E’s service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.Subscribe to The Energy Gang podcast via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or wherever you find your audio content.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.