The Energy Gang

This week on Watt It Takes: How an energy researcher obsessed with electric vehicles stumbled upon a vast trove of transportation data and built a company that is reshaping infrastructure planning for mobility.Powerhouse CEO Emily Kirsch sits down with Laura Schewel, the founder and CEO of Streetlight Data. Laura spent her career studying storage, electric vehicles, and transportation systems at the Rocky Mountain Institute, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and then as a research fellow at UC Berkeley. While at UC Berkeley, she got interested in finding a way to give electric vehicle owners more information about how they were driving their cars. She ended up uncovering a data gold mine in the process. Laura built a company that now processes over 100 billion data points and provides transportation and urban planners with a granular view of how roads, bike lanes and sidewalks are being used.In this episode, Laura Schewel talks about how she ultimately pursued the idea, and what she encount

With flight shame growing in popularity, extreme weather intensifying, and the Amazon burning, there’s more demand than ever for carbon offsets to assuage our guilt and make us feel like we’re doing something.But those credits many not be doing what you think they are — or anything at all.This week, we’re discussing the complicated and frustrating world of carbon offsets. There’s a reason why even the United Nations is now calling out their limitations. This conversation is particularly important as California considers joining the Tropical Forest Standard as part of its cap-and-trade program.Then, we’ll talk about new climate plans from Bernie Sanders and Andrew Yang. What’s in them? And who will become the climate candidate?Finally, we dig into a bill from Ohio that bails out big utilities and guts clean energy. The politics of this thing are ugly — and they are only getting uglier.Read along with us:ProPublica: An Even More Inconvenient TruthBloomberg: Greta Thunberg and ‘Flight Shame’ Are Fueling a C

In nearly every corner of the country, energy storage projects are finding their way onto the grid — they’re getting bigger, cheaper, more diverse, and even a little bit weirder. Most of all, they’re just becoming normal.This week, we’re talking about the new normal for power operations. It includes a lot of batteries. And maybe some air tanks, water pumps and cranes too.GTM Staff Writer Julian Spector joins us as a guest co-host to round up the most topical projects and tell us where the storage market is headed.Then we’ll look at a novel approach to long-duration storage: a gravity-based system from Energy Vault that just got a major injection of Japanese venture dollars. How skeptical should we be?And finally, we’ll look at all the other alternatives to lithium-ion that are vying for traction in the market. Will pumped hydro see a revival? Can flow batteries finally prove themselves?Read Julian Spector’s reporting here. And sign up for the GTM newsletter here. Support for this podcast is brought

Solar and wind sent European utilities into financial disarray, and U.S. utilities are facing a similar fate. Are global oil companies next?A new report from one of the world’s biggest banks, BNP Paribas, says that solar and wind paired with electric cars provide up to 7 times more useful energy for mobility than gasoline dollar for dollar. And that economic reality could hit oil companies sooner than they think.“The oil industry has never before in its history faced the kind of threat that renewable electricity in tandem with EVs poses to its business model,” concludes the report.This week, we’ll dig into the findings. How does it square with current projections for EV growth and oil demand? Then, a regulatory surprise from the Trump Administration is delaying an 800-megawatt offshore wind project. It could also hurt other projects planned for the East Coast. Is this a careful step, or a cynical political move from a hostile White House?Finally, 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg is on her way

This week on Watt It Takes: How a former Apple engineer applied design principles from the iPod and the iPad to smart thermostats — jolting an industry badly in need of change.Powerhouse CEO Emily Kirsch sits down with Matt Rogers, the co-founder and former chief product officer of Nest.Nest is best known for its elegant learning thermostat, the first major breakout hit in the smart home space. Google later acquired the company for $3.2 billion. In this interview, Rogers talks about his Apple influence, how he and co-founder Tony Fadell initially got obsessed with the connected home, and how Nest fit into the Google structure. Before Nest launched, “the connected home wasn’t really a thing. It was a bunch of hackers stringing things together, there were no products to speak of, really,” says Rogers. “And I was like ‘this is a huge opportunity, we can go and make great products like we did at Apple.’”This conversation was recorded live at Powerhouse’s headquarters in Oakland, California. Buy tic

Note: after this episode, we will be on hiatus for a few weeks while Stephen Lacey goes on paternity leave. We’ll be back soon!On July 8, Donald Trump stood in the East Room of the White House and delivered a speech on his “environmental leadership.” What could he possibly talk about?Onlookers called the speech “Orwellian.” The Trump Administration has tried to pull America out of a global climate agreement, sent officials to try to sell coal at the latest UN climate summit, forced climate scientists out of the government, and rolled back 83 environmental rules.So why is Trump talking about the environment now? What does it tell us about how voters feel about the issue going into the election? We’ll look at the possible political reasons for the timing of the speech.Then, we’ll look at New York’s big climate law. How does the state plan to cut emissions 85 percent by 2050? And how will ambitious policy in California and New York influence other states?Finally, we tackle the seasonal debate over air conditioni

This week, we present a special episode produced on behalf of CohnReznick.There’s a bonanza sweeping across North America: cannabis.As more states legalize marijuana, the industry is attracting high-profile investors and bringing in $6.5 billion in yearly sales. But it also faces two major challenges: limited access to banking and high energy costs.Because cannabis is still illegal at the federal level, traditional banks are unwilling to do business with the thousands of companies serving the market. At the same time, the industry now eats up $6 billion in electricity costs. Growers are paying tens of thousands of dollars per month to power cultivation sites, and some utilities are worried about strain on the grid in certain locations.Trying to slash that electricity use is very hard for cash-only companies that can’t get access to traditional financing.“The capital you would most typically have to deploy if you wanted to site solar at a cultivation facility will end up being very expensive bec

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

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

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

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’Rou

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

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

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

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

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 grow

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 Coa

This week, the Green New Deal ripples through Washington.A few leading Republicans are responding to the progressive climate plan with some ideas of their own: the New Manhattan Project and the Green Real Deal. They’ve gotten a mostly cold response from the left. But have we finally broken the ice for a legitimate cross-party policy discussion on climate? We’ll look at the GOP responses.Then, Trump’s latest verbal convulsion. Speaking at a fundraiser, the president said wind noise causes cancer and kills property values. We’ll take this opportunity to review what the literature says about the impact of wind.Finally, we’ll go to Virginia, where there’s been a ton of legislative activity on solar, efficiency, grid infrastructure and climate — some of which was blocked by the state’s mega-utility Dominion Energy. We’ll examine the politics.Recommended reading:Bloomberg: GOP Tiptoes Toward Climate Plans as Ocasio-Cortez Turns Up HeatMatt Gaetz: 'Green Real Deal' ProposalLamar Alexander: The New Manhattan Pro

This past week, we recorded a live show at the MIT Energy Conference. The theme of the show: what the grid may look like by 2040.As a topical show, we usually don’t know what we’re going to be discussing until a day or two in advance. But the theme of the MIT conference was "tough tech and the 2040 grid" — so we decided to take it head on. To start, we’ll adjust our brains to the 2040 timeframe with some fantastical scenarios.Then, we create our own plans. We will each outline a possible future for the 2040 time frame — Katherine will look at policy and politics, Jigar will look at the business environment, and Stephen looks at technology make-up. Finally, a news circuit. We’ll provide some quick commentary on top stories of the day.And we’ll end with our Free Electrons. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Lyft is set for an IPO on Friday; Uber is driving up to the IPO window soon. Investors seem enthusiastic, but skeptics see a lot of risks and a bumpy path to profitability.In 2018, transportation network companies — pretty much Lyft and Uber — gave 2.6 billion rides. Lyft gave a billion of those rides, doubling its revenue over 2017 to $2.2 billion.We know the consumer appetite is there. But as Lyft hits the public markets, many wonder if that volume can be turned into profits. Autonomous cars, competition from other shared mobility companies, and regulations are all a potential risk.So what does Lyft’s IPO — and soon Uber’s — tell us about where mobility is headed? We're discussing on this week's Energy Gang podcast.Then, one of America’s biggest utilities said recently it will offer only carbon-free energy by 2050. In the second half of the show, we’re going to dig into Xcel’s plan. How will they do it? And will it encourage other big power companies to do the same?Finally, Midwestern floods have caused $3