The Energy Gang

This week, we stray from the week’s top news and instead focus on the top news of the entire year. We’ll give our picks for most important news item of the year, the most overblown story of the year and our story to watch in 2015. The Energy Gang is produced by Greentechmedia.com. The show features weekly discussion between energy futurist Jigar Shah, energy policy expert Katherine Hamilton and Greentech Media Editor Stephen Lacey. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Three years after the political posturing around the Department of Energy’s clean energy loan guarantee program, some lawmakers still haven’t moved on. “What we have seen is incredible mismanagement, and it’s become the poster child for crony capitalism,” said Tennessee Republican Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn in an interview with Bloomberg last month. Performance tells a different story. Even after a handful of early bankruptcies, the program has so far seen a 98 percent success rate. And losses from those bankruptcies are only one-fifth the cost of what Congress appropriated when establishing the program. “The facts are clear, the results are in. You can continue to deny that, but I don’t know what it gets you,” said Jonathan Silver, the former executive director of DOE’s loan programs office, speaking on the Energy Gang. In this week’s show, we’ll talk with Silver about the Solyndra bankruptcy, the political reaction in Washington and the legacy of loan guarantees. Later in the show, we’ll discuss SunPowe

As Tesla builds out its Giga factory in Nevada, the company expects that roughly one-quarter of batteries will be used for stationary storage applications beyond automobiles. Tesla is just beginning to expand beyond EVs and move deeper into grid-scale storage, behind-the-meter storage and solar-battery combination systems, potentially making it more than just a boutique automobile producer. “Everywhere we look there's an opportunity for storage,” said Mateo Jaramillo, Tesla’s director of powertrain business development, speaking on this week’s Energy Gang podcast. In this week’s podcast, we’re live at Greentech Media’s Solar Market Insight conference. Tesla’s Jaramillo and California Public Utilities Commissioner Michael Picker join us to discuss the emerging markets for battery storage, including synergies with the solar industry. This podcast is brought to you by SMA, the world's leading solar inverter manufacturer. With more than 850 service experts, 90 service hubs, 30-plus gigawatts installed globally an

Earlier this week, Germany’s biggest power company, E.ON, announced that it would spin off its centralized power assets in order to make itself a distributed utility and embrace the “new world” of energy. E.ON and other European utilities have been shedding billions of dollars as electricity consumption declines and solar erodes the value of their power plants. Many of them are considering radical changes to their business models as a result. Johannes Teyssen, E.ON's CEO and board chairman described the move this way: "We’ve now come to the conclusion that it will become increasingly difficult for a company with a broad portfolio to be successful and to grow in both the new and the conventional energy world.” In this week’s podcast, we’ll look at why E.ON made such a dramatic decision. We will also discuss parallels in the U.S., where utilities are in the early stages of what German utilities have gone through. Later in the show, we’ll talk about Google’s decision to ditch R&D in renewable energy. Was it

After years of very little change, the energy efficiency industry is getting a makeover. The growth in connected, learning devices -- and the data access enabled by them -- is creating a new paradigm that many call "intelligent efficiency." In this podcast, we're live from ACEEE's Intelligent Efficiency conference. We'll talk with Ben Bixby, the director of energy products at Nest, and Kathrin Winkler, the chief sustainability officer of EMC Corporation, about what the shift means for consumers, energy efficiency companies and utilities. This podcast is brought to you by SMA, the world's leading solar inverter manufacturer. With more than 850 service experts, 90 service hubs, 30-plus gigawatts installed globally and thousands of commercial and utility projects completed worldwide, SMA is the partner of choice for your PV projects. The Energy Gang is produced by Greentechmedia.com. The show features weekly discussion between energy futurist Jigar Shah, energy policy expert Katherine Hamilton and Greentech Medi

Every decision for a startup is a financial decision. From hiring decisions to supply agreements, investors evaluate an entire company through a financial lens. But some entrepreneurs muddling along through challenges often fail to think about the growth of their company in this holistic way. That’s what our guest, Kathrin Ohle, says in her new book, The Decision Maker’s Guide to Long-Term Financing. This week, we’ll have Kathrin on the show to discuss the mechanics of financing for entrepreneurs – including how to ensure you don’t lose control of your company to investors. We’ll also discuss the landmark climate agreement between the U.S. and China. Is it a dramatic breakthrough? Or is it an overhyped incremental step? Later in the show, we’ll look at some clean energy themes coming out of the World Economic Forum. This podcast is brought to you by SMA, the world's leading solar inverter manufacturer. With more than 850 service experts, 90 service hubs, 30-plus gigawatts installed globally and thousands of c

This week, the U.S. turned a deep shade of red after Republicans pulled off commanding wins in national, state and local races. The results will influence a broad range of issues, including renewable energy tax policy, oil & gas exports, state renewable energy targets, net metering and utility rate design. It will also pit Congress and states against the Obama Administration as it tries to use executive authority to curb carbon emissions. In this podcast, we’ll dissect what America’s election-year political flip means for local and national energy issues. You can check out our live podcast on November 18 in San Francisco at ACEEE’s Intelligent Efficiency conference: bit.ly/1wvgv5x And don’t forget to fill out our short listener survey: svy.mk/1rCT4HH This podcast is brought to you by SMA, the world's leading solar inverter manufacturer. With more than 850 service experts, 90 service hubs, 30-plus gigawatts installed globally and thousands of commercial and utility projects completed worldwide, SMA is the

Depending on your perspective, Millenials are either the most globally aware, technologically savvy generation or the most distracted, dependent, self-obsessed generation. For many, those feelings about Millenials extend to the environment. Some criticize their surface-level engagement and say young people mistake Facebook “likes” and virtual signatures for actual action. Others believe Millenials are much more sophisticated about the environment, pointing to the surge in green MBAs and cleantech startups working to solve big problems. In this week’s podcast, we’ll be joined by guest co-host Andrew Winston, author of “The Big Pivot,” to debate the role of Millenials in the clean economy. At the top of the show, we’ll discuss the correlation between corporate environmental strategy and rankings for the top-50 most innovative companies in the world. And then we’ll also chat about how the elections may impact utilities around the country. You can check out our live podcast on November 18 in San Francisco at ACEE

Five years ago, a new wave of startups promised a manufacturing renaissance driven by American solar. Today, after the collapse of dozens of those companies, many are skeptical that the U.S. can ever lead in solar production. But can America rise once again? Our guest this week, Siva Power CEO Brad Mattson, believes it can. Mattson is out with a new book, “The Solar Phoenix: How America Can Rise From the Ashes of Solyndra to World Leadership in Solar 2.0.” We’ll talk with him about the VC bubble, the struggles of solar manufacturers and Siva’s plans to expand in the U.S. Later in the show, we’ll discuss a few things we picked up at the Solar Power International conference. And we’ll finish up with a look at the abysmal political climate for renewables in Australia. You can check out our live podcast on November 18 in San Francisco at ACEEE’s Intelligent Efficiency conference: http://bit.ly/1wvgv5x And don’t forget to fill out our short listener survey: http://svy.mk/1rCT4HH This podcast is brought to you by S

By 2017, there will be more than 150 gigawatts of solar plants that need to be maintained globally. In order for solar to keep growing as an asset class, those plants need to be in top shape. Who’s going to take care of them all? As operations and maintenance becomes a more important piece of the solar market, big project developers, independent contractors, software firms and inverter manufacturers are all trying to get in on the action. In this week’s podcast, we’ll talk with Chuck Smith, executive vice president of services at SMA America, about the company’s approach to monitoring, analyzing and optimizing solar plants. (Disclosure: SMA is a sponsor of the podcast.) Later in the show, we’ll talk about a new proposal in San Antonio to phase out net metering and create a program based on competitive bidding. We’ll also discuss the legacy of Michael Peevey, the embattled outgoing president of the California Public Utilities Commission. Don’t forget to fill out our listener survey so we can get your feedback:

SolarCity is a much different company than it was before it went public. It has made numerous acquisitions in an attempt to control nearly every part of the value chain – from hardware to customer acquisition – making it a fully vertically integrated solar provider. Most recently, SolarCity acquired the high-efficiency solar manufacturer Silevo and broke ground on a gigawatt-scale production facility in Buffalo, New York. The company now has over 7,000 employees, a market cap of $5.3 billion and a 30 percent share of the U.S. residential solar market. The company is undoubtedly a success story. But can it continue growing sustainably in the long term? Can vertical integration actually work in residential solar? This week, we’ll talk with CEO Lyndon Rive about the SolarCity’s move into manufacturing, its new loan product, the outlook for U.S. policy and the way the company calculates “retained value” for investors. Later in the podcast, we’ll discuss the different business strategies of two leading independent

In mid-September, the U.S. government revised its estimates for U.S. oil production upward once again. Boosted by increases in tight oil from shale formations in North Dakota and Texas, America could soon surpass its previous domestic production peak hit in 1970. At the same time, U.S. natural gas production, also driven by fracking, hit an all-time high this summer. But skeptics warn that fracked oil and gas could soon hit a peak, pointing to the steep decline rates for wells – which both the oil and gas industry and the government admit. One prominent Canadian geologist and drilling consultant, David Hughes, recently released an analysis of these decline rates for the Post Carbon Institute, showing an 85 percent average drop in production at unconventional wells in the first three years. However, total production is still growing. And the EIA suggests that a peak may not come for another couple of decades. What are we to make of these conflicting projections on the promise of fracking? This week, we’ll look

New York is taking a hard look at how to reform the distribution grid and encourage more distributed energy resources. But it’s not doing it through mandates. Instead, New York regulators are developing flexible market structures to encourage utilities to adopt a variety of new distributed technologies, while also empowering customers, creating new business competition and hardening the grid. So how exactly will the model work? In this special live podcast, recorded at WNYC’s performance space in New York City, we spoke with two architects of the plan. Audrey Zibelman, chair of the New York Public Service Commission and Sergej Mahnovski, director of Con Edison’s utility of the future team, joined the Energy Gang to discuss why the state is so unique. “I don’t want to create mediocre wires companies. I want to create excellent, innovative companies that have third parties wanting to come to New York and build businesses around DER because they see it’s a marketplace where they can be successful and then we can

Large commercial buildings are the fastest growing energy consumers in the U.S. Why? Because most of them are not very energy aware. Utilities and city planners understand this problem and have targeted the commercial building sector by providing rebates for retrofits, deploying smart meters and establishing stricter building codes. But the ability to gather actionable insights into how buildings are performing are only now emerging. In this podcast, we’ll talk with FirstFuel CEO Swapnil Shah about how data analytics can change the building efficiency paradigm. We’ll also talk about the company’s partnership with Opower, which will help the startup expand to more utilities. Later in the show, we’ll discuss the viability and economics of Tesla’s Giga factory and discuss the opening of America’s largest cellulosic ethanol refinery. This podcast is brought to you by SMA, the world's leading solar inverter manufacturer. With more than 850 service experts, 90 service hubs, 30-plus gigawatts installed globally and

In December of last year, President Obama issued an order requiring the government to get 20 percent of electricity from renewables by 2020 – up from about 7 percent today. That’s not an easy goal to achieve. The General Services Administration owns or leases more than 354 million square footage of buildings, which is enough space to fill half of Manhattan. It also manages a massive transportation fleet and must adhere to very strict cost requirements. But the shift is happening. On this week’s show, we’ll talk with Ruth Cox, GSA’s senior sustainability officer, about how renewables and efficiency are greening government buildings while saving taxpayers money. We’ll also have the latest on Hawaii’s effort to both tame and encourage solar, and look at the viability of Solar Roadways. This podcast is brought to you by SMA, the world's leading solar inverter manufacturer. The Energy Gang is produced by Greentechmedia.com. The show features weekly discussion between energy futurist Jigar Shah, energy policy exper

Bill Gates is a very influential guy -- not just because he founded Microsoft, but because of his powerful foundation. With $40 billion in trust assets, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is one the biggest charitable organizations in the world focusing on global health, clean water, energy access and financing for entrepreneurs. So when Gates writes on his blog that developing countries can’t afford renewable energy, that carries weight. That’s exactly what Gates did last week when he promoted the work of Danish political scientist Bjorn Lomborg, writing that more fossil fuels are the moral choice in the fight against energy poverty. Finding the right mix of resources for developing countries is a complicated exercise. But the economics of renewables are far better than fossil fuels in many cases. In this week's podcast, we'll talk about why Gates is wrong on the cost of wind, solar and other technologies. Later in the show, we’ll talk about a very important compromise in Mississippi that will bring lot

In the academic world, there’s lots of debate about how expensive or cheap renewables are compared to fossil fuels. But do they actually match what’s happening on the ground? In this week’s podcast, we’ll talk with Amory Lovins, the founder and chief scientist at the Rocky Mountain Institute, about the difference between the market reality of renewables and the economic debate about their cost. In the second part of the show, we will discuss a very important legal decision upholding FERC’s grid planning rule. We’ll also chat about a booming application in the non-residential solar market: carports. This podcast is sponsored by eGauge Systems, a manufacturer of next-generation energy meters for solar generation and building demand, submetering, performance contracts, LEED projects and net zero buildings. The Energy Gang is produced by Greentechmedia.com. The show features weekly discussion between energy futurist Jigar Shah, energy policy expert Katherine Hamilton and Greentech Media Editor Stephen Lacey. See

Last week, hackers at the Black Hat conference showed how to jailbreak a Nest learning thermostat and override the firmware, taking it under their control. The hack itself cannot be done without physical access to the device, and Nest said no devices have been hacked maliciously. But it’s one of many recent hacks of connected devices in the home. So are we safe? In this podcast, we’ll talk about the widespread security implications for consumers, businesses and utilities. Later in the show, we’ll ask if the Environmental Protection Agency is being transparent enough as it crafts carbon regulations. We’ll also look at the continued struggles for concentrating solar power and ask if there’s a future for the industry. This podcast is sponsored by eGauge Systems, a manufacturer of next-generation energy meters for solar generation and building demand, submetering, performance contracts, LEED projects and net zero buildings. The Energy Gang is produced by Greentechmedia.com. The show features weekly discussion bet

Are your solar panels facing the wrong way? Is your utility focusing on the wrong types of energy efficiency? These are the questions that Pecan Street Inc. has attempted to answer through its data collection from smart grid projects. The findings may surprise you. In this week’s podcast, we’ll talk with Brewster McCracken, the CEO of Pecan Street Inc, about the organization’s most compelling analysis of consumer energy use, utility efficiency programs and electric vehicle charging. Later in the show, we’ll discuss Arizona Public Service’s new plan to own rooftop solar, and look at the resurgence of property-assessed clean energy programs. This podcast is sponsored by eGauge Systems, a manufacturer of next-generation energy meters for solar generation and building demand, submetering, performance contracts, LEED projects and net zero buildings. The Energy Gang is produced by Greentechmedia.com. The show features weekly discussion between energy futurist Jigar Shah, energy policy expert Katherine Hamilton and

How do we calculate the true cost of intermittent renewables? The levelized cost of wind and solar are falling by the day. But how cheap are they really? A recent study from the Brookings Institution concludes that they are higher than presumed when using a cost-benefit calculation. In this podcast, we'll debate the merits of the Brookings study and ask what assumptions one should make when evaluating the cost of different technologies. Later in the show, we’ll talk about the debate over the Export-Import Bank Washington, and assess the impact of new tariffs imposed on Chinese solar products coming into the U.S. This podcast is sponsored by eGauge Systems, a manufacturer of next-generation energy meters for solar generation and building demand, submetering, performance contracts, LEED projects and net zero buildings. The Energy Gang is produced by Greentechmedia.com. The show features weekly discussion between energy futurist Jigar Shah, energy policy expert Katherine Hamilton and Greentech Media Editor Steph