Interchange Recharged

This week, we present the final episode in our 3-part interview series on climate risk. We’re going deep on the housing market. Our guest co-authored an important study quantifying extreme weather risk in the U.S. housing market — and identifying how banks are shifting that risk to us, the taxpayers.Shayle Kann talks with Amine Ouazad, a professor of applied economics at the graduate business school HEC Montreal. He recently co-authored a study called Mortgage Financing in the Face of Rising Climate Risk.The New York Times summarized the research, asking we're facing problems similar to the previous housing crisis.Topics covered on this episode:The role of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the mortgage market: what happens when mortgage loans get securitized to them?Why does the decline in poor FEMA mapping and flood insurance create additional risk for lenders?How are risky mortgage loans in vulnerable areas getting sold to Fannie and Freddie — putting taxpayers on the hook for tens of billions of dollars in risk?What happens after a large disaster in terms of new loans? What is the significance?What might this mean for the health of the housing market as natural disasters continue to increase in frequency and magnitude? Will there be a cascading effect?What parallels can we draw from the 2008 financial crisis that resulted from the housing market collapse?Could you do us a favor? Take our listener survey so we can give you more relevant content: bit.ly/gtmpodcastSupport for the Interchange comes from Schneider Electric, the leader of the digital transformation in energy management and automation. Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. 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.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 the second episode in our 3-part interview series on climate risk. As the latest wildfires in California finally get under control, residents and public officials are in a state of panic. The scope and frequency of these disasters is expanding quickly. And it’s not solved by sprinkling more wind and solar on the grid — it’s a planning issue of the highest magnitude. Our guest is someone who is thinking through the complexities of dealing with the growing impact of climate change on the geography, economy and the infrastructure of the world’s fifth-biggest economy.In part 2 of our climate risk series, Shayle Kann talks with Kate Gordon, director of the office of planning and research for California. She is also senior advisor to Governor Gavin Newsom on climate. It sounds like a dry job title. But it is an incredibly complicated role.Topics covered in this episode:What are the risks the state of California faces due to climate change, today and in the future? How are the expanding?How should we think about housing policy and urban planning in light of wildfire risk? Should we be rebuilding homes that were burned down? How do we deal with rising insurance premiums?How might climate change contribute to water scarcity in the state, and what can be done today to mitigate that risk?What other climate risks should be at the forefront of Californians' minds — flooding, temperature, rise, impact on agriculture, etc?Are events like wildfires and power shutoffs galvanizing the public into taking action around climate resilience? If so, in what form?Does California look to any other countries as exemplary in building climate resilience? Who is doing it right?Could you do us a favor? Take our listener survey so we can give you more relevant content: bit.ly/gtmpodcastSupport for the Interchange comes from Schneider Electric, the leader of the digital transformation in energy management and automation. Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. 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.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 the first episode in our 3-part interview series on climate risk. How do we measure and quantify both the physical and economic risk of a warming planet?This question has very real consequences for the way companies are run, the way cities are planned, and the way markets are valued.In this episode, Shayle Kann speaks with Trevor Houser, a partner with Rhodium Group. Rhodium Group and Blackrock recently wrote a report on the underpriced risks of climate change throughout the economy.Topics covered in this episode:What counts as "climate risk,” and how is it distinguished from all the risks we face independent of climate change?The state of climate risk reporting: How has our ability to measure climate risk improved? How much certainty can we provide today? What gaps remain?Examples of climate risk in municipal bonds, commercial real estate, and energy & utilities.How big a challenge is it to get different players (investors, insurers, corporations, etc) to account for climate risk? How should they be thinking about it?Could you do us a favor? Take our listener survey so we can give you more relevant content: bit.ly/gtmpodcastSupport for the Interchange comes from Schneider Electric, the leader of the digital transformation in energy management and automation. Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. 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.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 in collaboration with Centrica Business Solutions and GTM Creative Strategies.For the last decade and a half, we’ve been hearing about how the internet-of-things would completely reshape how our buildings operate -- and how people operate within them.But while the layer of digital tech in buildings is advancing all the time, the IOT revolution is taking longer to play out than some expected.“In short, a lot of the promise has not been fulfilled,” says Paul Kuehn, a senior sales director for distributed energy at Centrica Business Solutions.“I don't think it's necessarily a measure of the technology at this point. We've gotten past the hype of having the devices. It's the use of the devices and the competency of the operators to be able to figure out how to solve problems with those devices,” explains Kuehn.By next year, there will be 10 billion IOT devices connected to the cloud globally. In another three years, the number will more than double to 22 billion.Billions of those devices -- sensors, intelligent lighting and HVAC systems, control systems -- are being deployed in commercial buildings and industrial facilities. They’re making buildings smarter. But are they making the people who run buildings any smarter?We brought Paul Kuehn together with Darren Cooper, the president of Renteknik Group, to answer that question and discuss the state of play for IOT in C&I buildings.This podcast was produced on behalf of Centrica Business Solutions. Centrica is using analytics, market know-how, and distributed technologies to help C&I customers take control of their energy use and improve their environmental performance.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week: three barometers of the energy transition. There are a lot of numbers flying at us every day — and it is our job to figure what they indicate about change. In this episode, we’ll choose three different numbers from the transportation, heating and electricity sectors, and explain what they mean.At the end, we’ll choose which stat is most important.Follow along with us:Stat 1: 200 millionStat 2: 22 percentStat 3: 50 percentCould you do us a favor? Take our listener survey so we can give you more relevant content: bit.ly/gtmpodcastSupport for the Interchange comes from Schneider Electric, the leader of the digital transformation in energy management and automation. Schneider Electric is pioneering solutions like microgrids, for everything from community resiliency to higher adoption of electric vehicles.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.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Could you do us a favor? Take our listener survey so we can give you more relevant content: bit.ly/gtmpodcastVenture capital is an effective source of money for scaling companies quickly. But what if your company needs 15 years to prove itself?That’s the time horizon for many “tough tech” companies in energy that are developing new semiconductors, industrial processes, chemical production methods, and long-duration storage systems.The first cleantech bubble showed the limits of VC in backing tough, capital-intensive tech. So we are asking: can venture capital ever step up to the big industrial-scale challenges of our day?Our guest, Katie Rae, believes it can. Katie is the CEO and managing partner at The Engine, a venture firm based in Cambridge, Mass that invests in a wide-ranging sector she calls tough tech.Katie joins us to explain why she’s hopeful that startups doing difficult things are finding more opportunities to connect with investors.You can also learn more about The Engine’s upcoming Tough Tech summit next week.Support for the Interchange comes from Schneider Electric, the leader of the digital transformation in energy management and automation. Schneider Electric is pioneering solutions like microgrids, for everything from community resiliency to higher adoption of electric vehicles.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.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The market for home batteries is picking up.Residential storage capacity installations outpaced utility-scale installations in the second quarter of this year. There were more residential batteries installed in Q2 than in all of 2017.So what’s driving the mini-boom?Residential storage doesn’t mirror other technologies like solar. It’s more of an emotional sell — and there are a lot different value propositions that contribute to battery sales. In this episode, Shayle Kann talks with GTM Staff Writer Julian Spector about the latest trends in residential storage.Read GTM's recent coverage of the battery market:Coverage of record quarter for residential batteriesOn California’s new battery rebate for wildfire zonesGenerac’s strategy for entering the storage marketSonnen’s groundbreaking home battery development with utility contractSupport for the Interchange comes from Schneider Electric, the leader of the digital transformation in energy management and automation. Schneider Electric is pioneering solutions like microgrids, for everything from community resiliency to higher adoption of electric vehicles. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

There are $70 billion worth of natural gas-fired power plants planned in the U.S. through the mid 2020s. But a combination of wind, solar, batteries and demand-side management could threaten 90 percent of those investments.New modeling from the Rocky Mountain Institute shows that more than 60 gigawatts of new gas plants are already economically challenged. And by the mid 2030s, existing gas plants will be under threat.How severe is the threat? Could we eventually see tens of gigawatts of stranded gas plants?RMI set out to answer that question in two reports on the economics of gas generation and gas pipelines. The tipping point is now.Our guest, Mark Dyson, is a principal at RMI and one of the co-authors of the analysis. He joins us to talk about the modeling, the threat, and the consequences to power providers and investors.Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. 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 brought to you by Uplight, the company you once knew as Tendril and Simple Energy. The goal is still the same: to offer utility leaders a suite of engagement solutions that deliver customer experiences like Amazon and Netflix. Learn more about how Uplight is building an end-to-end product for utility customer engagement.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.

We are now in a new age for clean energy: the age of 100%.Every week, we get some new declaration from a corporation, a city, a state or a utility that they are going 100%.But not all targets are created equal. 100% what? 100% clean? 100% renewable? 100% carbon free? Net zero emissions?To someone who doesn’t follow energy closely, they may all seem like the same thing. But these targets often vary wildly in terms of timing, ambition, and complexity.So this week: we are surveying the range of targets: which ones matter, what do they add up to, and have they changed what’s possible?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 brought to you by Uplight, the company you once knew as Tendril and Simple Energy.The goal is still the same: to offer utility leaders a suite of engagement solutions that deliver customer experiences like Amazon and Netflix. Learn more about how Uplight is building an end-to-end product for utility customer engagement.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.

New York State offered Tesla $750 million to turn Buffalo into a solar manufacturing hub — why hasn’t Tesla delivered on the vision it promised?It’s been five years since SolarCity first declared plans to become a solar manufacturer, and nearly three years since Musk unveiled the solar roof. Tesla had plans to pump out thousands of solar roofs per week by now. But the company has quietly struggled to build out any meaningful production in its Buffalo location.Customers are angry. Buffalo locals and New York politicians feel burned. And employees are jaded. What do we make of the Gigafactory 2 debacle? We’re joined by Austin Carr, a reporter at Bloomberg, who’s been covering the Tesla solar story better than anyone else. We’ll look at the history of SolarCity/Tesla’s manufacturing plans, the derailed plans for the solar roof, and how current manufacturing activity compares with Tesla’s promises to New York.Read Austin’s reporting on Tesla’s solar business:Bloomberg: Did Elon Musk Forget About Buffalo?Fast Company: The Real Story Behind Tesla’s Acquisition of SolarCitySupport 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.The Interchange is brought to you by Uplight, the company you once knew as Tendril and Simple Energy.The goal is still the same: to offer utility leaders a suite of engagement solutions that deliver customer experiences like Amazon and Netflix. Learn more about how Uplight is building an end-to-end product for utility customer engagement.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.