Factor This!: Recent Episodes
Renewable Energy World
Designed solely for the solar industry, Factor This! is a biweekly podcast that provides in-depth and actionable content not available anywhere else. The podcast will feature solar energy leaders who actually move the needle, in hopes of making you smarter, your solar job easier, and moving the industry forward. Factor This! is produced by Renewable Energy World and Clarion Energy, and is hosted by John Engel. Find show notes, transcripts, and resources at RenewableEnergyWorld.com.Subscribe today to renewable energy's newest podcast.
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week's episode features special guest Heather Clancy from Trellis, who discusses why some data center companies see fuel cells as an attractive option for onsite power.
This week’s “Cleantecher of the Week” is is Aytaç Yilmaz, Co-founder & CEO of Ore Energy. The Amsterdam-based startup just closed a $43 million Series A for its iron-air batteries, which store renewable power for up to 100 hours by rusting and unrusting iron electrodes, no lithium or cobalt required. Ore's also just signed the largest long-duration storage deal in continental Europe, a 1 gigawatt-hour agreement with Dutch utility Budget Thuis. Congratulations, Aytaç!
This Week in Cleantech — August 7, 2026
- Solar to Soon Pass Coal as China’s Top Power Capacity Source — Bloomberg
- How Solar Donors Helped Take Down a Trump-Backed Republican –– Politico
- The World Crossed a Major Solar Milestone. No One Noticed –– Bloomberg
- This Is What the New Rush to Mine America Looks Like –– TIME Magazine
- Why data center companies Equinix and Oracle are buying fuel cells – Trellis
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
In an era defined by compounding wildfire risks, rapid digitalization, and unprecedented demand growth, utilities need to redefine their playbook. Sumeet Singh, CEO of Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) and EVP for Energy Delivery, is doing exactly that for one of the country’s largest energy enterprises while both improving local communities and setting an operational benchmark for the wider industry.
In this episode of the Factor This podcast, Singh details how utility leaders can balance cultural shifts with the economic imperative to maximize underutilized grid capacity and lower customer rates. He breaks down how PG&E processes billions of pieces of data to help predict wildfire risks in advance, and how AI-enabled camera networks can shave critical minutes off emergency response times.
From deploying machine learning to accelerating customer interconnections, Singh details how data amplifies frontline expertise rather than replacing it. Grounded in a philosophy of selfless service and value-based safety ownership, this conversation provides a blueprint for combining innovative technology with engineering discipline to cultivate a community trust that is foundational to the grid of the future.
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week's episode features special guest Clara Hudson from the Wall Street Journal, who breaks down Heineken's plan to use a renewable-powered heat battery to release steam for its beer brewing in Portugal.
This week’s “Cleantechers of the Week” are Tim Shepherd and Sylvain Marseille from Pelton Shepherd Industries, which makes Nutri Ice – ice packs that you can use to feed plants. It is the only truly compostable gel pack and offers the same performance as a regular gel pack. Congratulations Tim and Sylvain!
This Week in Cleantech — July 31, 2026
- Cracks appear in the vision of off-grid AI data centers — Axios
- Trump administration admits grants for clean energy were canceled based on politics – The Associated Press
- BP nears deal to sell solar business Lightsource to Kuwait-backed group – Financial Times
- Trump admin bans ‘new’ foreign-made inverters. What does that mean? — Canary Media
- Heineken Is Trying a Heat Battery to Generate Steam for Its Brewing — The Wall Street Journal
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
The U.S. transmission grid needs a facelift and a little reconstructive surgery. Efforts are underway to construct new long-distance high-voltage lines, but construction takes time, prompting states to explore additional ways to quickly meet growing electricity demand.
The low-hanging fruit? Getting more out of the system we've already got.
Readily available, affordable, and quick-to-deploy advanced transmission technologies (ATTs), including grid-enhancing technologies (GETs) and advanced conductors, are proven tools for quickly increasing the capabilities and capacities of transmission lines and could complement transmission build-out while saving consumers money and bolstering grid reliability. By one estimate, GETs could have saved consumers $8.3 billion in 2022 alone, had they been more widely used. Yet these technologies remain largely untapped in America today, in part due to outdated electricity business models and state public policy.
But modern problems (like the aforementioned load growth) require modern solutions, and there's been a recent uptick in support for ATTs across the country, with bipartisan interest in policies that ensure ATTs are being considered, including at the federal level.
On this edition of the Factor This Policycast, presented in partnership with Advanced Energy United, host Paul Gerke is joined by Theodore Paradise, chief policy & grid strategy officer at CTC Global, Brian Berry, chief product officer at Heimdall Power, and Leah Rubin Shen, managing director at Advanced Energy United, to explore everything ATTs, including:
- Real-life use cases and problems ATTs can solve
- How lawmakers are crafting legislation to ensure utilities consider ATTs
- Updates on efforts in states considering bills encouraging their adoption
- Policy and implementation barriers to deployment
- What FERC can do to help
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week's episode features special guest Alexa St. John from The Associated Press, who discusses how automakers are increasingly turning their EVs and hybrids into home backup power sources as EV sales growth slows.
This week’s “Cleantecher of the Week” is Cora Stryker, co-founder of Bright Saver. The nonprofit just started selling zero-markup, plug-in balcony solar kits, starting at about $300, with shipping to 47 states kicking off in August. Cora said that nonprofits are often willing to stomach financial losses in the near term, because its mission is to get solar into the hands of more people, so they can lower their energy bills and carbon pollution. Congratulations, Cora!
This Week in Cleantech — July 24, 2026
- Data Center Troubles Stoke Industry’s Fear of Coming Distress — Bloomberg
- Why States Are Making It Harder to Save Money With Solar Panels — The New York Times
- The Key to Solar and Wind Power Is Battery Storage, and China Is Dominating — The Wall Street Journal
- State legislatures are getting better at clean-energy permitting policy — Canary Media
- Need backup power? Automakers want you to look no further than their vehicles in your driveway — Associated Press
Want to make a suggestion for This Week in Cleantech? Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week's episode features special guest Lana Ferguson from the Dallas Morning News, who discusses the booming agrivoltaics industry in Texas.
This week’s “Cleantecher of the Week” is Joey Fiore, CEO of PowerLabs. His company builds the Roav, a portable solar generator that unfolds into a tracking solar array that looks like a metal trailer you’d pull behind a car. It is cleaner, cheaper and easier to use than a standard diesel generator. Congratulations Joey!
This Week in Cleantech — July 17, 2026
- New York becomes first US state to impose data center moratorium — Data Center Dynamics
- The American E.V. Has Been Crushed. Will It Take the U.S. Auto Industry With It? — The New York Times
- US power companies scramble to secure equipment as surging data center demand strains supplies — Reuters
- Global Investment in Fusion Companies Surges 69% to $4.5 Billion — Bloomberg
- Solar sheep: Texas ranchers, farmers' new opportunity on solar sites – Dallas Morning News
Want to make a suggestion for This Week in Cleantech? Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
July 4, 2026, marked one year since the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) was signed into law and a critical safe harbor deadline for clean energy developers in the United States. The legislation, which sunsets federal tax credit eligibility for some technologies such as wind and solar photovoltaics, spurred stakeholders to scramble to maximize legacy incentives before Independence Day. Now that the fireworks have passed, what happens next?
This episode of the Factor This Policycast, presented in partnership with Advanced Energy United, discusses how clean energy projects are being constructed and financed in the second half of 2026 and beyond. It will address the challenges of a post-tax-credit world, share the incentives still available, and explore how policy reforms at the state and federal levels could accelerate deployment. Could federal clean energy credits someday return?
Featuring guests:
Dylan Reed, Managing Director at Advanced Energy United, former GDO at DOE
Walter L. McLeod, Partner, Managing Director of Monarch Strategic Ventures at Monarch Private Capital
Bryan Didier, Partner, Managing Director, Energy at Monarch Private Capital
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week's episode features special guest Martha Muir from The Financial Times, who discusses how the cost of clean energy power purchase agreements is set to rise 40 to 120 percent as Inflation Reduction Act subsidies wind down.
This week’s “Cleantecher of the Week” is Dr. Bill Ho, CEO of GRST, whose company makes a PFAS-free, water-soluble battery binder. Conventional binder relies on "forever chemicals" and toxic solvents to process. GRST's version dissolves in water, making recycling to high-purity black mass simpler and cheaper. Congratulations, Bill!
This Week in Cleantech — July 10, 2026
- In the woods of Maine, searching for an answer to a ticking climate bomb – The Boston Globe
- One-third of India's new renewable energy capacity faces curtailment – PV Magazine
- Why Europe Still Struggles to Scale Its Homegrown Climate Tech – Heatmap News
- Europe's next climate adaptation boom isn't solar panels — it's asphalt – Reuters
- US clean power prices set to soar as AI demand coincides with subsidy cuts – Financial Times
Want to make a suggestion for This Week in Cleantech? Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
Generator interconnection, the process by which power plants like large solar arrays, wind farms, and utility-scale batteries connect to the electrical grid, continues to be one of the biggest barriers to project development.
Despite gradual improvement in some parts of the United States since the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) passed Order No. 2023 three years ago, messy, complicated, and sometimes outdated policies are still preventing electrons from reaching end customers at a time of skyrocketing electricity demand. Grid operators have made meaningful strides in reducing interconnection queue backlogs and improving planning processes, but significant challenges remain, as detailed in a new progress report from Grid Strategies and The Brattle Group, on behalf of Advanced Energy United, that evaluates how grid operators are progressing since an initial 2024 assessment.
On this episode of the Factor This Policycast, presented in partnership with Advanced Energy United and recorded live-to-tape at the 2026 Infocast Transmission & Interconnection Summit, Caitlin Marquis, managing director at Advanced Energy United, and Rob Gramlich, president of Grid Strategies, outline how each major regional transmission organization (RTO) and independent system operator (ISO) is approaching generator interconnection reform, criss-crossing the country and touching on progress in PJM, ERCOT, SPP, MISO, CAISO, ISO-NE, and NYISO. Marquis and Gramlich also share policy suggestions and discuss the recent show-cause orders issued by FERC to each of the six regional grid operators within its jurisdiction, directing them to either justify or reform the rules governing how large energy users, such as data centers, connect to the electric grid.
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week's episode features special guest Emily Pontecorvo from Heatmap News, who discusses a new partnership making more than 16 gigawatts of virtual power plant capacity.
This week’s “Cleantechers of the Week” are Luigi Resta and Maile Resta. Their utility-scale developer, Energies out of Utah, featured one of their site crews going to work on a solar project just like earlier generations of his family did in coal mines. We want to congratulations them for showing how to make the case for clean energy to the country. Congratulations Luigi and Maile!
This Week in Cleantech — June 26, 2026
- US announces $17.5 billion in loans for nuclear power supply chain — Reuters
- Spanish households save €10 a month thanks to renewables expansion, report finds | Spain — The Guardian
- If AI data centers are exploding nationwide, why are so few being built in California? – LA Times
- Why American data centers can't plug in — Works in Progress
- Sunrun, Tesla, and Renew Home Have 16 Gigawatts Up for Grabs — Heatmap News
Want to make a suggestion for This Week in Cleantech? Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week's episode features special guest Tim McDonnell from Semafor, who discusses the potential future of the Strait of Hormuz and energy markets if the US-Iran de-escalation deal holds.
This week’s “Cleantecher of the Week” is Andrew Redd, CEO of Endurance Energy, a Seattle-based seafloor geothermal energy developer, which just raised $54m in Series A funding. Redd is a former SpaceX engineer who is now drilling into spots at the bottom of the ocean where tectonic plates split apart and magma heats the water to over 700 degrees. Congratulations Andrew!
This Week in Cleantech — June 19, 2026
- Fast-tracked power plants fuel AI boom, with little public scrutiny — Reuters
- Another day, another illegal billion-dollar bribe to raise your electricity prices — Electrek
- 🌎 The IPO boom is back, baby! — Climate Tech VC Newsletter
- Can PJM's new 'fast track' process accelerate interconnection? – Factor This
- Hormuz will never really be open again — Semafor
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
Welcome to the premier edition of the Factor This Policycast, a brand-new podcast partnership with national industry association Advanced Energy United, tackling the legislation, rulemaking, and market design that matter to clean energy leaders.
Hosted by Factor This content director and Emmy-Award winning journalist Paul Gerke, this series of discussions will feature voices from across the energy policy landscape and spotlight issues shaping the evolution of our electric grid.
The first topic is one that you may have spotted in recent headlines: competitive transmission solicitation. It's no secret that large-scale, critical electrical infrastructure projects like high-voltage transmission lines cost a LOT to build and take some time to come online.
About 15 years ago, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, mandated that utilities competitively bid out such projects, but that mandate isn't being enforced, for reasons we'll get into on the program. New data points to tremendous benefits from competitive transmission, though, including billions of dollars ultimately saved by ratepayers. Detractors argue the bidding process delays timelines and subjects projects to hidden costs, and a group of Midwest utilities has even asked FERC to halt bidding in MISO and SPP.
On this episode of the podcast, Factor This's Paul Gerke is joined by Caitlin Marquis, managing director at Advanced Energy United, and Paul Cicio, chair of the Electricity Transmission Competition Coalition (ETCC). Both are advocates for competitive transmission and share findings to support their case. They discuss that utility request to ban competition outright, talk about FERC's role in all of this, and explore the finer points complicating broader transmission build-out- at a time we really need it.
New episodes of the Factor This Policycast go live at 6 am ET every other Thursday.
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
Talk about systems and solutions is everywhere across the utility sector, but the biggest challenges the grid is facing are more about coordination than hardware. As utilities, retail suppliers, and operators all compete to manage the same DERs like electric vehicles, solar infrastructure, and smart appliances, the biggest challenges are associated with alignment, timing and expectations on every side.
Michael Grasso, CEO and founder of GridRails, has a keen awareness of these challenges. His decades of experience in the industry has exposed him to teams and processes that have become paralyzed by fragmented tech silos and sluggish financial settlement cycles that take anywhere from 30 to 120 days to resolve. That's why his company is working to solve these challenges by introducing an agnostic, software-as-a-service (SaaS) orchestration layer that unifies these fragmented endpoints into a single platform, giving energy suppliers direct control over their network operations.
We caught up with him to explore why his platform structures its solution around three core pillars, what it means for consumers to receive instant financial gratification in a digital wallet for adjusting their energy usage in the moment, the importance of shifting the utility paradigm from a penalty-based framework to a real-time incentive model, and much more.
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week's episode features special guest Akshat Rathi from Bloomberg, who discusses the energy crisis caused by the war in Iran, which is causing some governments to pursue structural shifts away from fossil fuels toward renewables.
This week’s “Cleantecher of the Week” is Varun Sivaram, Founder & CEO of Emerald AI. Emerald AI uses AI to let data centers flex power consumption on command without losing compute performance. Congratulations, Varun!
This Week in Cleantech — June 12, 2026
- LS Power Said to Near Deal for EDF’s American Renewables Arm – Bloomberg
- Big US Solar and Battery Project Lines Up $3.5 Billion Financing –– Bloomberg
- G.M. Plans to Develop Energy Storage Batteries as E.V. Sales Flag — The New York Times
- New Qcells plant doubles current US capacity to make solar cells – Canary Media
- Iran Shock Jolts Asia and Europe to Speed Up Energy Transition – Bloomberg
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week's episode features special guest Benjamin Storrow from E&E News, who discusses how some Democratic governors are more open to natural gas pipeline expansion as energy costs rise.
This week’s “Cleantecher of the Week” is Kevin Doffing who runs a group of veterans involved in cleantech. He has 50 caliber shell casings he uses as lobby swag. Congratulations, Kevin!
This Week in Cleantech — June 5, 2026
- The Sorry State of Carbon Removal — Heatmap News
- Solar energy helps US farms stay afloat – but Republicans’ bill could change that — The Guardian
- America’s Data-Center Build-Out Is Falling Way Behind Schedule — The Wall Street Journal
- 7 states sue Trump administration over nearly $1 billion deal to halt offshore wind farm — ABC News
- ‘Ready to cave’: How liberal governors warmed to Trump’s pipelines — E&E News
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
The U.S. Department of Energy is moving forward with releasing billions of dollars in rebate funding to states earmarked by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) for two home energy programs: Home Efficiency Rebates (HER/HOMES), which enables whole-home retrofits that cut overall energy use by at least 15%, and Home Electrification and Appliance Rebates (HEAR), providing point-of-sale coupons for high-efficiency electric appliances like heat pumps and electric stoves for low- and moderate-income households.
On this episode of the Factor This podcast, host Paul Gerke is joined by Advanced Energy United policy principal Kate Shonk, who explains why the funding was stalled, where it's headed, and how it can really help people at a time when electricity prices are climbing almost everywhere, and affordability is on the menu for dinner table discussion. She dives into examples from a few of the roughly dozen states that are rolling out unique programs to take advantage of the efficiency rebates and shares what's working. Rebecca Puck Stair, a director for the State of New Mexico's Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources Department, also joins the show and explores the real, tangible, human impact programs like HER and HEAR can have on communities in need. She details her state's efforts to optimize and consolidate programs to maximize the use of federal dollars and reveals a bit of the behind-the-scenes bureaucracy involved in translating policies from paper to practice.
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week's episode features special guest Robison Meyer from Heatmap News, who discussed how local opposition to data centers hit a new record in the first quarter of 2026.
This week’s “Cleantecher of the Week” is Tom Sisto, CEO of XL Batteries. XL Batteries makes an organic flow battery that lasts for 250 hours. The technology runs on non-toxic, non-flammable electrolytes, meaning these batteries can be deployed in population-dense communities without the heavy permitting scrutiny that is required for similar-sized lithium-ion installations. Congratulations, Tom!
This Week in Cleantech — May 29, 2026
- Rep. Chip Roy loses runoff for Texas attorney general to a MAGA challenger – POLITICO
- U.S. Aims to Give Cold War Plutonium to Start-Ups for Nuclear Fuel – The New York Times
- China’s world-beating solar industry is in turmoil — The Economist
- Wind-Permit Stall Is Threatening $50 Billion in US Developments – Bloomberg
- Exclusive: Local Opposition to Data Centers Explodes in 2026 – Heatmap News
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week's episode features special guest Akshat Rathi from Bloomberg News, who discussed how the Iran conflict is boosting the security benefits of clean energy.
This week’s “Cleantecher of the Week” is a tribute to a life and career that left an indelible mark on the clean energy community. Jake Clark spent his career at Encore Renewable Energy, most recently pivoting from Vice President of Project Development to stand up the company's Community Engagement program. Those who knew him describe him as one of those rare people who made the whole field better through both his work and who he was. The clean energy community is smaller without him. We honor his memory and the standard he set for all of us.
This Week in Cleantech — May 26, 2026
- China’s $3 Billion US Clean Tech Exit Is an Investment Warning — Bloomberg
- 'Paying their fair share': EV drivers could see new fees in proposed bill – USA Today
- A new mega-utility is at ground zero for AI. Here’s what could happen. — E&E News
- The World Can’t Get Enough U.S. Energy, Keeping Prices High for Americans — The Wall Street Journal
- Zero: Iran War Boosts Clean Energy’s Security Benefits — Bloomberg
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week's episode features special guest Molly Taft from WIRED, who discusses Elon Musk's AI company xAI's decision to add 19 natural gas turbines to its Colossus 2 data center in Southaven, Mississippi.
This week’s “Cleantecher of the Week” is fourth grader Christian Mango. At 10 years old, Christian researched electric vehicles, cited facts, and wrote to his U.S. congresswoman Virginia Foxx proposing a $5,000 federal EV tax rebate. When she responded by reprimanding Christian as foolish and his teachers as propagandists, Christian made national news for writing the letter. Congratulations Christian!
This Week in Cleantech — May 15, 2026
- Solar trade group taps former GOP governor as new chief — POLITICO
- Organic flow battery company CMBlu closes €50 million Series C — Energy Storage News
- Fervo IPO ushers geothermal energy into mainstream — Axios
- EDPR upbeat on US renewables market, sees profitable growth and new opportunities — Reuters
- xAI Adds 19 New Gas Turbines Despite Ongoing Lawsuit — WIRED
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week's episode features special guest Andrew Moseman from Heatmap News, who discusses Ford's efforts to rebuild its struggling EV program from the ground up.
This week’s “Cleantecher of the Week” is Brad Rouse, the volunteer Executive Director of Energy Savers Network. This small non-profit provides free weatherization and appliance upgrades to income-qualified families. Brad co-founded ESN in 2016 and has helped reduce the power bills for over 1500 families in western North Carolina. Congratulations Brad!
This Week in Cleantech — May 8, 2026
- Untapped lithium on East Coast could replace US imports, USGS finds — E&E News
- Brussels bars Chinese-made ‘brains’ of solar panels from EU funding — Euractiv
- The balcony solar boom is coming to the US — MIT Tech Review
- Thieves Are Stealing Chile’s Solar Panels and Cashing In on the Black Market — Bloomberg
- Inside Ford’s Secret EV Skunkworks — Heatmap News
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week's episode features special guest Oliver Milman from The Guardian, who discussed how the clean energy industry is pushing forward despite Trump's aggressive efforts to suppress it.
This week’s “Cleantecher of the Week” is Sean Park, the CEO of Point2. Data centers rely heavily on copper cables, but copper has physical limits on efficiency and is subject to major price swings. Point2 has developed a way to transmit data using radio waves through plastic materials instead, cutting out copper entirely. The company claims this halves power consumption compared to traditional high-speed copper cables. Congratulations Sean!
This Week in Cleantech — May 1, 2026
- Why Is Your Electric Bill Going Up? Blame the Broken Grid. – The New York Times
- Trump administration to pay 2 more companies to walk away from US offshore wind leases – The Associated Press
- Why electricity markets are stuck on the gas price rollercoaster — The Financial Times
- The Rise of the High-Range, Less Expensive E.V. — The New York Times
- Trump’s attempt to crush clean energy progress not going to plan, experts say — The Guardian
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week's episode features special guest Bianca Giacobone of Latitude Media, who discussed how Iran's strikeson aluminum smelters in the UAE and Bahrain last month pushed prices up 11% to their highest level since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
This week’s “Cleantecher of the Week” is Michael Chanin, CEO of Cherry Street Energy. Through Shine On, Cherry Street’s Solar School partnership with the nsoro Foundation, they prepare young adults aging out of Georgia’s foster care system for careers in power infrastructure. He highlights Emmanuel, who recently transitioned out of foster care and now helps build and maintain solar at Delta Air Lines’ rooftop at Hartsfield-Jackson.
This Week in Cleantech — April 24, 2026
- Swedish Green Steel Startup Stegra Gets $1.65 Billion Funding to Complete New Plant – The Wall Street Journal
- Data centers’ mad dash for the Texas grid – POLITICO
- Renewable energies overtook global electricity demand last year, led by solar growth in China, India – The Associated Press
- Why the U.S. Is Such an Outlier on EVs – The Wall Street Journal
- Why the US grid will end up paying for Iran’s aluminum strikes – Latitude Media
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
Headlines talking up the surge in energy demand driven by AI and connected to data center development highlight how much has changed across the sector. But what if the capacity to meet this demand is already there, just hidden behind outdated assumptions?
To better understand what it means to utilize the existing capacity of the grid to meet this demand, we connected with Shaneez Mohinani, Head of Strategy and Operations at GridCARE. She talked through what it means to utilize the hidden capacity in the grid, the importance of moving beyond worst-case scenario planning, how all of it impacts affordability, and much more.
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week's episode features special guest Jennifer Hiller of The Wall Street Journal, who wrote about U.S. utilities' plans to spend about $1.4 trillion over the next five years to upgrade the aging power grid and meet surging electricity demand driven largely by AI data centers.
This week’s “Cleantecher of the Week” is Kerry Bowie, President and Founder of Browning the Green Space, or BGS, a nonprofit in Massachusetts that creates job and business opportunities in clean energy for people of color through training programs, startup support, and career pipelines. It also brings together companies and partners to remove barriers and expand access to affordable, equitable energy solutions. Congratulations, Kerry!
This Week in Cleantech — April 17, 2026
- Stung by Iran war, countries are turning against U.S. fossil fuels — The Washington Post
- US power and natgas prices turn negative in Texas and California as mild weather cuts demand — Reuters
- Michigan regulators to utilities: Incorporate virtual power plants, or else — Factor This
- Great Britain households to be urged to use more power this summer as renewables soar | Renewable energy — The Guardian
- Utilities Plan to Spend $1.4 Trillion Over Next Five Years to Power AI Boom — The Wall Street Journal
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week's episode features special guest Kelsey Tamborrino from POLITICO, who wrote a story in E&E News about anew survey of renewable energy developers that found federal permitting requirements are significantly slowing clean energy deployment.
This week's “Cleantechers of the Week” are Sam and Juliana Bendek, co-founders of Elastic Energy. The company developed a new tech that stores energy using natural tree sap. Congratulations Sam and Juliana!
This Week in Cleantech — April 10, 2026
- Wisconsin city passes nation’s first anti-data center referendum — POLITICO
- Exclusive: Record funding for fusion power lands as Trump eyes cuts — Axios
- State Climate Laws Targeted Around US as Iran War Spikes Gas Prices — Bloomberg
- Will the Iran war derail the energy transition? — The Financial Times
- Federal permitting obstructs clean energy deployment, survey finds — E&E News
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
There’s no shortage of talk about the hardware and AI-driven transformations that will define the grid of the future. However, the true driver of success is about a strategic mindset that’s focused on change management, which is inherently more about people and process than it is technology and tools. Andy Quick lived and enabled this reality during a nearly 30-year career at Entergy, a journey that culminated in him serving as the utility's first-ever Chief AI Officer. Today, he’s taken that experience to the grid edge as Senior Industry Advisor for Noteworthy AI, where he helps utilities define and redefine their transformation roadmaps.
We caught up with Quick to talk through how he helps utilities navigate the "how" and "when" of tech integration, what it means to move past the hype to make difficult choices about which tools will truly modernize legacy processes, the importance of an organization's willingness to transform its human-centric workflows, and much more.
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week's episode features special guest Jeff St John from Canary Media, who reported on a 21 gigawatt solar and battery storage project in California, which is potentially the largest project of its kind in the world.
This week's "Cleantechers of the Week" are Tim Sahay and Kate Mackenzie, hosts of the brand new podcast, The Polycrisis. This podcast will cover geopolitics, climate change, finance and industry.
This Week in Cleantech — April 03, 2026
- What Americans Really Pay For Electricity — Heatmap News
- Top energy developer warns on overbuilding power supplies for AI — The Financial Times
- US AI Data Center Expansion Relies on Chinese Electrical Equipment Imports — Bloomberg
- A Winter Without Snow Depletes Europe’s Clean Energy Reservoir — Bloomberg
- ‘We’re harvesting the sun’: A huge solar project grows in California — Canary Media
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Robert Piconi, CEO of Energy Vault. This week, the company officially acquired the 175 MW McMurtre battery storage project in ERCOT North, taking its global portfolio of owned, operating, and under-construction assets to 715 MW. Congratulations, Robert!
This Week in Cleantech — March 27, 2026
- Could a global economy dependent on renewable energy see less war? Experts explain — ABC News
- Asia Turns Back to Coal as War Chokes Off Natural Gas — The New York Times
- JPMorgan Warns Aging US Power Grids Pose National Security Risk — Bloomberg
- How to get Big Tech to pay your energy bills — The Washington Post
- Britain responds to Iran war energy shock by requiring solar panels and heat pumps in all new homes — CNBC
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
Terms like “AMI 2.0” often mean different things to different teams, depending on a utility’s current infrastructure and future goals. This lack of consensus is why Matt Wakefield, Director of Information, Communication & Cyber Security at EPRI, argues that the industry may need to shift from hardware versions to core capabilities. By positioning AMI as a cross-cutting platform for grid visibility and DER integration, utilities can move far beyond simple meter-to-cash functions.
The “NextWave AMI” framework is designed to provide that capability-based lens, focusing on long-term value rather than the integration of a specific tool. Matt joins the Factor This podcast to explore how aligning people and processes with high-value AMI use cases allows utilities to achieve "stacked benefits" that address mounting pressures like affordability and grid resilience. He unpacks the limitations of viewing AMI 2.0 as a fixed technology stack and shares the resources available to help utilities plan their next transformational upgrades.
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week's episode features special guest Jennifer McDermott from the Associated Press, who reported on Revolution Wind,an offshore wind project targeted by Trump administration that is now sending power to the New England grid.
This week's "Cleantechers of the Week" are Martin Mulvihill, a partner at Safer Made, and Arlene Blum, a chemist, mountaineer and executive director of the Green Science Policy Institute. Safer Made is a venture capital fund that invests in companies reducing human exposure to harmful chemicals, including through PFAS-alternatives, and the Green Science Policy Institute is a nonprofit that advocates for safer use of chemicals.
This Week in Cleantech — March 20, 2026
- How Ann Arbor, Michigan, is creating its own clean energy utility — Grist
- Trump Officials Weigh New Plan to Stop Offshore Wind Farms — The New York Times
- Surging Gas Prices Reignite EV Interest — Bloomberg
- Oil and gas prices are soaring. Some countries are ready with solar panels and EVs — NPR
- Offshore wind project targeted by Trump administration starts sending power to the New England grid — The Associated Press
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week's episode features special guest Chuck McCutcheon from Axios, who wrote about a new coalition of companies, including tech giants like Google and Tesla, which is aiming to make better use of underutilized capacity on the U.S. power grid
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Samir Pendse, CEO at Coral. New York–based Coral provides instant rebates for energy and HVAC upgrades and recently raised $7.5 million in pre-seed and seed funding. The company is working to expand access to affordable financing for sustainable home upgrades at a time when energy bills are rising. Congratulations, Samir!
This Week in Cleantech — March 13, 2026
- Jefferies Makes the Case to Double Down on Clean Tech Investments — Bloomberg
- Demand for AI Data Centers Sends Prospectors Hunting for Land and Power – The New York Times
- Solar group takes revenge on Chip Roy over tax credits — E&E News
- The Electric: Its Sales Sliding, BYD Fights Back With a New Battery — The Information
- Exclusive: Google, Tesla unite to fight energy costs — Axios
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
The energy landscape has entered a volatile era of climate disruption. Regions once considered safe now face the devastating reality of escalating wildfires and extreme weather. In this episode, we sit down with Don McPhail, VP of Market Development at eSmart Systems, to discuss why traditional, asset-focused mitigation is no longer enough for utilities across the United States.
We explore the critical shift to community-first resilience models, where protecting life-sustaining infrastructure takes priority over mere compliance. How exactly are digitization and AI-powered digital twins transforming grid safety? What does it mean to use high-resolution imagery to identify minute defects like upside-down cotter pins in a way that creates quantifiable value? Don provides a roadmap for utility leaders ready to trade siloed data practices for predictive insights that save time, money, and lives.
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week's episode features special guest Evan Halper from the Washington Post, who wrote about some MAGA figures who are warming to solar despite Donald Trump’s longstanding criticism of it.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is David Jankowsky, CEO of Francis Energy. Francis Energy provides ultra-fast charging stations for EVs, and focuses on expanding charging access to underserved and rural communities to ensure no community is left behind in the transition to electric vehicles. Congratulations, David!
This Week in Cleantech — March 06, 2026
- Don’t Look Now, but the Green Transition Is Still Happening — The New York Times
- What Trump’s war on Iran means for the US energy crunch — The Verge
- What AES’ $33.4 billion take-private says about energy and AI — Latitude Media
- Europe Is Learning An Uncomfortable Truth About Local Battery Production — InsideEVs
- Why Katie Miller and other MAGA influencers suddenly love solar power — The Washington Post
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week's episode features special guest Elizabeth Weise from USA Today, who wrote about how clean energy bans are "skyrocketing" under the second Trump administration.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Gonzalo Castro de la Mata, Executive Director at Earthna, who recently published an op-ed about how the climate conversation is now shifting from goals to implementation, focused on energy security, finance, and scalable solutions, especially as surpassing 1.5°C appears more likely. He pushes for us to move faster from climate agreements to execution.
This Week in Cleantech — February 27, 2026
- Data centers done right? Xcel and Form Energy team up to power Google operation in Minnesota — Factor This
- US particle accelerators turn nuclear waste into electricity, cut radioactive life by 99.7% — Interesting Engineering
- Clean Energy Manufacturers Set to Muddle Through Fresh Tariff Turmoil — The Wall Street Journal
- Data Center Outlook: Half of 2026 Pipeline May Not Materialize — Sightline Climate
- Clean energy bans skyrocket under Trump, USA TODAY analysis finds — USA Today
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
With global energy demand at an all-time high, battery storage is evolving from a flexible filler into a critical grid resource. Success in this new era depends less on the hardware itself and more on the digital intelligence used to run it. By leveraging a digital layer to optimize the economics of battery assets, utilities are now rethinking BESS as a high-value, GW-scale engine for reliability and market participation.
To understand what this means on a practical level, we sat down with Brian Fellon, the Senior Vice President of Power Solutions at Xpansiv. He explains why battery energy storage systems are no longer an optional add-on but a critical backbone for grid operators. We also explore how utilities are moving from small-scale pilots to gigawatt-scale operations, the role of batteries in managing volatile demand from data centers, how real-time market participation demonstrates measurable value to regulators and ratepayers and much more.
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week's episode features special guest Arcelia Martin from Inside Climate News, who wrote about how Texas is using hundreds of retired, repurposed EV batteries as grid-connected energy storage.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is David Kirkpatrick, Managing Director at SJF Ventures. David recently published a piece titled, “Climate Tech is Not Endangered” on LinkedIn. The piece argues that even with the Trump Administration rolling back federal climate policy, market and global momentum toward electrification and decarbonization will continue. Congratulations, David!
This Week in Cleantech — February 20, 2026
- Why Living in China Is Like ‘Living in the Future’ — The New York Times
- Ford turns to F1 and bounties to build a $30,000 electric truck — TechCrunch
- Data Centers and Your Power Bill — The New York Times
- Supreme Court strikes down Trump’s sweeping tariffs, upending central plank of economic agenda — AP News
- Retired EV Batteries Scored a New Gig: Bolstering Texas’ Grid — Inside Climate News
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week's episode features special guest Matthew Daly from The Associated Press, who wrote about how the EPA has rescinded the 2009 “endangerment finding,” the scientific and legal basis under the Clean Air Act that allowed the federal government to regulate greenhouse gas emissions to address climate change.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Brian Hurley, executive director of Friends of Deckers Creek. He and his team are turning toxic, rust-orange acid coal mine drainage into clean water again with low-tech pond systems that bring back fish, salamanders, and frogs. And the cleanup is now helping recover rare earth minerals too, turning pollution into a resource that can fund even more restoration. Congratulations, Brian!
This Week in Cleantech — February 13, 2026
- Are faked public comments about to tank an Ohio solar farm? — Canary Media
- Trump Administration Is Delaying Hundreds of Wind and Solar Projects — The New York Times
- Wind and solar beat fossil fuels in EU power mix in 2025, energy think tank says — Reuters
- Geothermal could replace almost half of the EU’s fossil fuel power — Grist
- Trump's EPA revokes scientific finding that underpinned US fight against climate change — The Associated Press
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
As energy demand reaches historic levels, the utility industry needs to build a 21st-century grid while also keeping monthly bills affordable for the average family. What does it mean to do so on a practical level?
To find out, we connected with Exelon EVP and COO Mike Innocenzo. Drawing on a career that began as a field engineer, he explains why affordability has become the starting point for every conversation at Exelon. He shares how the company navigates the massive costs of data center integration and EV adoption while overseeing a $38 billion capital plan. We also explore the reality of hardening the grid, the regulatory innovations needed to streamline costs, how Exelon uses AI to protect their customer’s bottom line and much more.
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Monika Gerhart, executive director at Gulf States Renewable Energy Industries Association, who is championing clean energy benefits and opportunities in a region well known for its fossil fuel legacy. Monika orchestrated an event last week where various businesses and trade associations held panels on several topics, one of which being how to handle energy demand for huge data centers. Erin Greeson made this nomination, and she noted to never underestimate Louisianians. Congratulations Monika!
This Week in Cleantech — February 6, 2026
- China’s Solar Power Capacity on Course to Surpass Coal This Year — Bloomberg
- Google Is Spending Big to Build a Lead in the AI Energy Race – WSJ
- Texas’ Grid Holds Up During Winter Weather — Inside Climate News
- Surge in public charging infrastructure defies EV slowdown — Axios
- The Super Safe, Super Expensive Nuclear Fuel That’s Making a Comeback — Heatmap News
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week's episode features special guest Jon Chesto from The Boston Globe, who wrote about new questions about how dependable Canadian hydropower will be during severe winter storms.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Andrew Beebe, Managing Director at Obvious Ventures. This week, the company announced Fund 5, which closed at $360,360,360. Congratulations, Andrew!
This Week in Cleantech — January 30, 2026
- EVs just outsold gas cars in Europe for the first time — Fast Company
- Power Outages Could Rise as Freezing Temperatures Persist After Winter Storm — The New York Times
- Michigan attorney general sues oil industry over allegations of collusion against electric vehicles and renewable energy — POLITICO
- US Exits Paris Agreement: What Trump’s Withdrawal Means for Climate Change — Bloomberg
- New power line provided little juice to New England during Sunday’s storm, frigid temperatures — The Boston Globe
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
The scale of energy demand in Northern California has reached a historic inflection point. With a 10 GW pipeline of data center demand—enough load to power more than 7.5 million homes—utility planners at Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) are navigating a high-stakes race against time, infrastructure limits, and the laws of physics.
To better understand how PG&E is turning these challenges into opportunities, we connected with two people who are doing exactly that for the company every single day. Austin Hastings is Vice President, Gas Engineering at PG&E while Mike Medeiros is Vice President, Strategic Commercial Solutions at PG&E.
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week's episode features special guest Maxine Joselow from the New York Times, who wrote about the EPA's decision to stop assigning a dollar value to lives saved in cost-benefit analyses for major air pollution rules.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is funeral director Eric Chamberlain, who helped bring wind power to Rock Port, Missouri, making it one of the first US towns to generate more wind electricity than it used. Nearly two decades later, the wind project is still delivering lasting local benefits through jobs, landowner payments and major county tax revenue. Congratulations, Eric!
This Week in Cleantech — January 23, 2026
- Supreme Court will not hear Duke Energy’s appeal in anti-monopoly case — The Carolina Journal
- Soaring Electricity Costs Are Now a Hot Political Issue — The Wall Street Journal
- Trump Is Obsessed With Oil, but Chinese Batteries Will Soon Run the World — The New York Times
- Solar Projects Face Turmoil Under Trump, but Big Business Is Still Banking on Them — The Wall Street Journal
- What’s a Human Life Worth? The E.P.A. Says Zero Dollars. — The New York Times
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week's episode features special guest Nico Rivero from the Washington Post, who wrote about how the rapid growth of grid-scale batteries in the U.S. is likely to pause in 2026.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Darian Nagle-Gamm, Iowa City’s transportation director, who is also the program owner for the city’s fare-free bus system. Ridership eventually grew to 118% of prepandemic levels. Carbon pollution dropped by about 778 metric tons of carbon dioxide a year, roughly the equivalent of taking 167 vehicles off the roads. Congratulations, Darian!
This Week in Cleantech — January 16, 2026
- Scoop: Local Pushback, Canceled Data Centers Surged in 2025 — Heatmap News
- US judge lets Denmark's Orsted resume Rhode Island offshore wind project that Trump halted — Reuters
- New York Tells Data Centers They Must Pay More for Power — Bloomberg
- Big Tech is poaching energy talent to fuel its AI ambitions — CNBC
- The American battery boom is on shaky ground — The Washington Post
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
As the Senior Vice President of Products & Services and Pricing Solutions at Duke Energy, Meghan Dewey oversees a portfolio that generates over $1.5 billion in annual revenue. But for her, the true metric of success isn't about spreadsheets or numbers but is instead about empowering the people on both sides of a utility bill.
Meghan sits at the intersection of massive corporate scale and human-centric innovation. From the Emerging Technology Office and customer prototype labs to large-scale transportation electrification, her team is essentially designing a blueprint for how utilities can operate in the short and long term. She’s the engine behind how Duke Energy scales high-value solutions while also prioritizing customer experience in a way that resonates.
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week's episode features special guest Ivan Penn from The New York Times, who wrote about surging optimism for nuclear power in the U.S.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Mariangela Hungria, a Brazilian agronomist and microbiologist who won the 2025 World Food Prize for her work on microbes that feed plants nitrogen, allowing farmers to cut fertilizer costs and pollution.
This Week in Cleantech — January 9, 2026
- Trump administration halts offshore wind projects from Virginia to New England, in major blow to clean power — POLITICO
- The 4 Things Standing Between the U.S. and Venezuela’s Oil — Heatmap News
- The Positive Climate News You May Have Missed This Year — Bloomberg
- China’s BYD overtakes Tesla as world’s top EV seller for first time — CNBC
- Optimism About Nuclear Energy Is Rising Again. Will It Last? — New York Times
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week's episode features special guest Dana Clare Redden from our “Cleantecher of the Year” committee, who announced our “Cleantechers of the Year.”
This Week in Cleantech — December 19, 2025
- Electricity Is Now Holding Back Growth Across the Global Economy — Bloomberg
- Ford pulls the plug on the all-electric F-150 Lightning pickup truck – NPR
- There’s a New Color for Hydrogen: Orange – Heatmap News
- Trump moves to dismantle major US climate research center in Colorado – USA Today
- How the planet fared in 2025 — the good, the bad, and the ugly — Grist
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
Transforming the grid to meet skyrocketing energy demand isn't just about switching generation sources but is instead about fundamentally redesigning the entire energy market. It's going to require unlocking the true potential of every Distributed Energy Resources (DER) that we have, and integrating them seamlessly into a complex, resilient system.
That’s easy to say but exceptionally complicated to do logistically and in a way that makes sense for a given market, which is why we wanted to talk with someone who isn’t just supporting this transformation, but is also actively working with utilities to better understand what’s happening at the grid edge to make informed decisions. Jo-Jo Hubbard is the Co-founder and CEO of Electron, which helps network utilities and grid operators adopt and scale flexibility markets to manage grid congestion, improve connection rates, and lower bills. Among other things, we discuss:
- Why utilities need to shift from a static view of the distribution grid to a real-time, dynamic model
- How smart coordination of DERs creates a resilient and efficient grid
- What it means to make DER orchestration simpler and more compelling to utilities
- How tiny efficiencies can lead to billions in savings at scale.
- The single biggest lesson learned that utilities need to have top of mind when designing their own DER aggregation and dispatch programs
Want to make a suggestion for an upcoming episode? Get in touch to let us know what people, projects and technology you’d like to see us to further explore.
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week's episode features special guest Jael Holzman from Heatmap News, who wrote about several senators who came out against the SPEED Act, a bill that would change the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Ryan Johnson, the CEO of Culdesac Tempe, a rental development outside of Phoenix. He modeled a blueprint for living in a walkable place, so residents don’t need to use cars. Johnson said quote, “It’s one of the best things we can do for climate, health, happiness, low cost of living, and even low cost of government.” Congratulations, to Ryan!
This Week in Cleantech — December 12, 2025
- Federal judge throws out Trump order blocking development of wind energy – AP News
- How a Nuclear-Fossil Fuel Alliance Is Winning the Fight for Energy Dominance — Bloomberg
- Driving Xiaomi's Electric Car: Are we Cooked? — Marques Brownlee
- Will the Self-Driving Cars of the Future Lower Emissions? — The New York Times
- Exclusive: Key Senate Democrats Oppose Permitting Bill — Heatmap News
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week's episode features special guest Justin Worland at TIME Magazine, who wrote about the fires that hit Los Angeles in January 2025, and how to prevent similar disasters in the future.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Josh Silverman, the CEO of Windfall Bio, which figured out how to create microbes that consume leaking methane from cow manure lagoons as their food source. His team’s system tackles one of agriculture’s toughest climate challenges with a low-cost, farm-ready solution. Congratulations, Josh!
This Week in Cleantech — December 5, 2025
- Climate urgency means bypassing COP is necessary, says COP30 boss — The Financial Times
- Data center boom drives internal fight at largest US grid operator — Semafor
- India’s Desert State Reignites Coal-Fired Power Debate — Bloomberg
- Kentucky officials will appeal decision they say is unfair to Kentucky Power ratepayers – Kentucky Lantern
- Amid the Ashes — TIME
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate in 15 minutes or less featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week's episode features special guest Amy Harder from Axios, who wrote about an oil industry lobbying groupspending big to advertise during Paramount’s second season of “Landman."
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Glenna Gannon, an assistant professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Glenna led research for an agrivoltaics project in Alaska, helping grow potatoes, kale and spinach underneath the panels. Congratulations, Glenna!
This Week in Cleantech — November 21, 2025
- Hydropower Is Getting Less Reliable as the World Needs More Energy — The New York Times
- Why the Time Has Finally Come for Geothermal Energy – The New Yorker
- US loans Constellation $1 billion for Three Mile Island reactor reboot — Reuters
- World Is Off Course on Pledge to Rein in Emissions of Heat-Trapping Methane — Bloomberg
- "Landman" TV show reflects oil industry's renewed swagger — Axios
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
Sponsored content.
In this episode of the Factor This podcast, Content Director Jeremiah Karpowicz interviews Henrik Mannesson, General Manager of Energy Infrastructure at Texas Instruments (TI). The two explore how TI's analog and embedded processing chips are driving a shift in energy and expectations in both the short and long term as well as:
- the need for deeper utility collaboration
- innovation at market inflection points
- semiconductors as a short-term grid solution that open up long term opportunities
Want to make a suggestion for an upcoming episode? Get in touch to let us know what people, projects and technology you’d like us to further explore: https://www.renewableenergyworld.com/contribute-content/
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate in 15 minutes or less featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week's episode features special guest Rachel Frazin from The Hill, who wrote about Democrats' plans to continue to focus on rising electricity prices in hopes that it's a winning strategy.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Tyler Norris, Head of Market Innovation at Google. Tyler wrote an op-ed in The New York Times about how we can manage rising electricity demand without driving up costs for households. His main point is that load growth presents an opportunity to offset upward pressure on electricity rates, if we plan the system to make fuller use of the infrastructure we’ve already paid for. Congratulations, Tyler!
This Week in Cleantech — November 14, 2025
- China’s clean-energy revolution will reshape markets and politics — The Economist
- 10 Years After the Paris Climate Agreement, Here's Where We Are — The New York Times
- New U.S. nuclear power boom begins with old, still-unsolved problem: What to do with radioactive waste — CNBC
- Data Centers and Natural Gas Are Bending the Climate Transition Curve, IEA Says – Heatmap News
- Democrats see electricity prices as a winning issue for 2026 – Rachel Frazin
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
Ready or not, electric vehicle adoption is happening in America. It feels like we’ve reached an inflection point- especially as range increases, EVs are simply proving to be a better mousetrap- and now there’s a race coast-to-coast to bulk up the charging infrastructure needed to enable the scaling of fleets and longhaul trucking.
That’s no easy thing to figure out- developers must work closely with utilities to bring these power-sucking sites online without overworking the local grid. And since everyone needs power YESTERDAY, there’s a timeliness component to this too- and we all know time means money.
The Electric Power Research Institute, better known as EPRI, is taking on the challenge of connecting the dots and facilitating a planning process for the deployment of EV charging projects.
On this episode, Factor This Content Director Paul Gerke is joined by EPRI director of transportation Britta Gross to discuss GridFAST, a central, secure portal designed to improve communication between stakeholders, bringing them together early on to ensure everyone gets what they want, when they want it- or as close to it as possible.
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate in 15 minutes or less featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week's episode features special guest David Roberts, host of the Volts podcast, who recently sat down with clean-energy analyst Michael Liebreich to discuss calls for a “climate reset” that emphasizes costly technologies over proven clean energy solutions.
This week's "Cleantechers of the Week" are:
- Andrew Otazo who has hauled more than 17 tons of trash, mostly from the islands around Biscayne Bay. Otazo wants to clear as much trash as he can.
- Forrest Smith, former chief petroleum engineer for the National Park Service. Forrest was the only individual responsible for cleaning up dozens of abandoned oil and gas wells at national parks across the country. Last month, he was forced to step down and the NPS is not looking to replace him.
- Juan Naula. Juan struggled to find funding for his ride-sharing startup, so he quit his job to pick up trash on the streets of L.A. Juan started a social media account titled, “Clean L.A. With Me,” and started a nonprofit to raise money and recruit volunteers to help him.
This Week in Cleantech — November 07, 2025
- How virtual power plants could meet data centre energy demand — The Financial Times
- White House Fossil Fuel Bet Is Losing to Green Energy — Bloomberg
- Slow rollout throttled Biden’s big clean energy ambitions, former staffers say — POLITICO
- $615,000 a Day: Order to Keep Coal Plant Open Ignites Debate in Michigan — The Wall Street Journal
- Michael Liebreich on a "pragmatic climate reset" – Volts
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate in 15 minutes or less featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week's episode features special guest Shannon Osaka from The Washington Post, who wrote about a new study that blames rising electricity bills on the rising fixed costs of the power grid, rather than just data center growth.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Jonathan Shaw, CEO of Nuru. Under his leadership, Nuru commissioned the Democratic Republic of Congo’s first commercial solar mini-grid in 2017, followed by three more that are now powering communities across the country. The company is currently building the largest solar mini-grid in sub-Saharan Africa. Congratulations, Jonathan!
This Week in Cleantech — October 31, 2025
- DOE's latest move the most direct yet to smooth data centers' path – Axios
- Simpler Solar Regulations Would Save Americans $1.2 Trillion — Heatmap News
- US government and Westinghouse strike $80bn nuclear reactor deal — The Financial Times
- Georgia has lost $2.9B in clean energy projects amid fed pullback, report says — The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
- The real reason electricity prices are rising, and it’s not data centers — The Washington Post
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
In this episode of the Factor This podcast, Content Director Jeremiah Karpowicz interviews Eric Meier, Planning Modeling Supervisor at ERCOT. The two discuss Meier's thoughts around how ERCOT is pioneering methods to integrate rapid load growth while maintaining system reliability as well as...
- why timing is everything
- the nature of new large loads
- market-based solutions and the role of flexibility
Want to make a suggestion for an upcoming Factor This episode? Get in touch to let us know what people, projects and technology you’d like us to further explore: https://www.renewableenergyworld.com/contribute-content/
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate in 15 minutes or less featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey. Clarion Events Content Director Jeremiah Karpowicz is filling in for Paul Gerke while Paul is on paternity leave.
This week's episode features special guest Kate Yoder from Grist, who wrote about how Democrats are downplaying the term “climate change” after the 2024 election.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Cédric Ringenbach, creator of the card game Climate Fresk. The game is based on the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and helps people understand the connections between climate science and climate disasters. Congratulations, Cédric!
This Week in Cleantech — October 24, 2025
- Oil, gas and the tax code — The New York Times
- Why Nucor and Meta are supporting a new low-carbon iron factory — Trellis
- DOE cancels more than $700M in battery, manufacturing projects — E&E News
- New England Says Goodbye to Coal as Merrimack Station Powers Down — Inside Climate News
- Why Democrats aren't talking about climate change much anymore — Grist
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate in 15 minutes or less featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week's episode features special guest Evan Halper from The Washington Post, who wrote about how global economics are accelerating a renewable surge led by China and India.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Rishan Wong, former CEO of Reddit and CEO of Terraformation. Terraformation just rolled out its latest product, which is a subscription-based model where individuals can fund reforestation for the monthly cost of a streaming service.
This Week in Cleantech — October 17, 2025
- Resilience of the lambs: Some US solar projects are farming much more than sunlight – Factor This
- How mega batteries are unlocking an energy revolution – The Financial Times
- Trump administration quietly canceled the nation’s largest solar project – CNN
- Base Power, a Battery-Focused Power Company, Raises $1 Billion — The New York Times
- The real winners of Trump’s attack on clean energy aren’t American — The Washington Post
More episodes of Factor This Policycast
Tell us what you think of the show!
The U.S. residential solar industry has seen better days.
Electricity bill credits in rooftop solar-saturated states like California are a fraction of what they once were. Tariffs have made components more expensive, just as federal tax credits are set to sunset. Anti-renewables legislation is casting a long and dark shadow, and a series of bankruptcies among established names in the space has cast further doubt on whether the dollars and cents still make dollars and sense.
But at least one man thinks residential solar can reach a point of profitability. In fact, he's actively proving it.
TJ Rogers, the CEO of SunPower, has led an illustrious career in the solar and semiconductor space. An outspoken free-market evangelist, Rodgers possesses a clear vision of what he believes an American home solar company should be. In this episode of the Factor This podcast, Rodgers shares his recipe for success with host Paul Gerke, detailing the challenges and opportunities in the market. Topics of discussion include:
- The acquisition of SunPower and its plans for the future
- SunPower's path to profitability and the company's lean, quality-focused approach
- Tariffs, subsidies, and their impact on industry efficiency
- The potential of virtual power plants and microgrids
Like, subscribe, and let us know what you think of the Factor This podcast!
Want to make a suggestion for This Week in Cleantech? Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate in 15 minutes or less featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week's episode features special guest Alexandra White from the Financial Times, who wrote about how private equity firms are rapidly acquiring utilities to capitalize on soaring electricity demand.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Baltimore-based blind man, Kevin Stanley. A Bloomberg story notes that Kevin survives on disability payments, but says his energy bill payments are 80% higher than they were 3 years ago, demonstrating the ripple effect of data center buildout. Kudos to Yann Brandt for recommending this Bloomberg story!
This Week in Cleantech — October 10, 2025
- China's Clean Energy Exports Are Beating US Fossil Fuels — Bloomberg
- Buildings are turning to 'ice batteries' for sustainable air conditioning – The Associated Press
- Renewables overtake coal as world's biggest source of electricity — BBC
- US Hydrogen Gets Another Look From Investors — Bloomberg
- Private equity bets big on utilities — The Financial Times
Want to make a suggestion for This Week in Cleantech? Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate in 15 minutes or less featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week's episode features special guestClaire Hao from The Houston Chronicle, who wrote about a Texas-based nuclear and data center start-up co-founded by former Gov. Rick Perry that went public on Wednesday after being founded just earlier this year.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Samuel Gantner, founder of the Miombo Woodland Restoration Project. His new initiative in Zambia aims to employ 50,000 farmers to protect forests from being cleared for charcoal and to plant tens of thousands of trees, removing about 2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide each year by 2030. Congratulations, Samuel!
This Week in Cleantech — October 3, 2025
- EVgo Open to Buying Charging Firms as Key Tax Credit Expire — Bloomberg
- US government takes 5% stakes in Lithium Americas and joint venture with GM — Reuters
- The world's first carbon border tax will soon go live — shaking up global trade — CNBC
- White House threat of new green cuts has Democrats seeing red — POLITICO
- Wall Street joins Rick Perry's bet on nuclear and the AI boom as Fermi America goes public — The Houston Chronicle
Want to make a suggestion for This Week in Cleantech? Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate in 15 minutes or less featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week's episode features special guest Christopher Mims from The Wall Street Journal, who wrote about how several startups are bringing solar-powered vehicles closer to reality.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Ramón Méndez Galain, Uruguay’s energy secretary. Under his leadership, the country went from relying heavily on fossil fuels to establishing a stable grid powered almost entirely by renewable sources. Within just five years after he took over, renewables powered 98% of the country. Congratulations, Ramón!
This Week in Cleantech — September 26, 2025
- Pennsylvania Governor Says Biggest US Power Grid Needs Overhaul – Bloomberg
- Judge allows work to restart on New England wind project that Trump halted — POLITICO
- Decent work on climate, Gavin Newsom. I still hope California's next governor is better — LA Times
- The Race Is on to Make Rare Earth Magnets Outside China — The New York Times
- Solar-Powered Cars and Trucks Are Almost Here — The Wall Street Journal
Want to make a suggestion for This Week in Cleantech? Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate in 15 minutes or less featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Tom Steyer, Co-Executive Chair of Galvanize. He reminds us that when we talk about climate now, the conversation is about technology, costs, and politics, which is important. However, we cannot lose sight of what this is truly about: passing on a livable planet. Tom reminds us about this after a weekend camping with his grandkids. Congratulations Tom!
This Week in Cleantech — September 19, 2025
- Fossil-fuel firms receive US subsidies worth $31bn each year, study finds — The Guardian
- Oil Giant Saudi Arabia Is Emerging as a Solar Power — The Wall Street Journal
- Rodatherm Energy wants to make geothermal more efficient, but will it be cheaper? — TechCrunch
- Rushing to Meet AI’s Energy Needs: Oil-Field Servicers — The Wall Street Journal
- The Fed Is Cutting Again. That’s Good for Renewables — But Maybe Not Good Enough. — Heatmap News
Want to make a suggestion for This Week in Cleantech? Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Tell us what you think of the show!
In a special edition of the Factor This podcast from the road at RE+ 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada, host Paul Gerke meets up with Chris Seiple, the Vice Chairman of global consulting firm Wood Mackenzie's Power & Renewables group.
Over the course of a diverse discussion, the two touch on recent reports issued by WoodMac that show how stakeholders are handling increased electricity demand and navigating shifting federal policy to get clean energy projects connected to the grid. Other topics include:
- The reality of project cancellations
- Rapid growth of battery energy storage deployment and its benefits
- The ways in which stakeholders are handling data centers
- How utilities are thinking about cost allocation and ratepayer protection
- The role of flexibility in the 'grid of the future'
Want to make a suggestion for This Week in Cleantech? Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate in 15 minutes or less featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week’s episode, recorded at RE+ in Las Vegas, features special guest Jake Spring from The Washington Post, who wrote about the Trump administration's plans to cancel permits for a wind project off the coast of Massachusetts that would initially power about 400,000 homes.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Nantu Canelos, executive director of The Kara Solar Foundation. The foundation, led by Indigenous engineers and community leaders, has delivered 12 solar-powered canoes to villages in Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Suriname and the Solomon Islands. In many communities, rivers are the only roads and solar boats spare them the cost of fuel while reducing pollution.
This Week in Cleantech — September 12, 2025
- Big Solar Developers Sees Delays in US Project Approvals — Bloomberg
- Why nuclear is now a booming industry — The Economist
- Oil Tycoons Bet Big on Trump. It’s Paying Off. — The Wall Street Journal
- Exclusive: US warns hidden radios may be embedded in solar-powered highway infrastructure — Reuters
- Trump’s war on wind just got much bigger — The Washington Post
Want to make a suggestion for This Week in Cleantech? Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Tell us what you think of the show!
This summer, key stakeholders across the state of California teamed up for a first-of-its-kind, coordinated test of virtual power plant (or VPP) capabilities. Thousands of systems dispatched a whopping 535 megawatts and reduced net load during the evening peak in a successful demonstration of the potential impact that distributed energy resources can have.
On this episode of the podcast, Factor This host Paul Gerke welcomes Kendrick Li, who handles demand response for Pacific Gas and Electric Company, one of the three California utilities that teamed up for the massive VPP test. Their conversation starts at the 101 level, then gets deep into the weeds on how these systems work, how they might be deployed, and the roadblocks to larger customer adoption.
Want to make a suggestion for This Week in Cleantech? Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate in 15 minutes or less featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week’s episode features special guest Jennifer Hiller from The Wall Street Journal, who wrote about utilities' fears that overbuilding for planned data centers could increase rates for consumers if the projected demand does not materialize.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Paul Riley, CEO of Lululemon-backed recycling startup Samsara Eco. The company’s technology uses AI to break down tough-to-recycle materials with enzymes, allowing the waste to be converted into resins and made into new products. Congratulations, Paul!
This Week in Cleantech — September 5, 2025
- In windy Iowa, a GOP lawmaker faces a reckoning over Trump’s clean energy war — POLITICO
- The energy transition is now a national security issue. Just ask India — Reuters
- How farming inspired the EU’s affordable energy plan — The Financial Times
- Every fusion startup that has raised over $100M — Techcrunch
- Data Centers That Don’t Exist Yet Are Already Haunting the Grid — The Wall Street Journal
Want to make a suggestion for This Week in Cleantech? Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate in 15 minutes or less featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week’s episode features special guest Dharna Noor from The Guardian, who wrote about how household electricity bills have increased by 10% since Trump re-entered the White House.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Jingjing Zhang, a Chinese lawyer who pioneered environmental lawsuits at home. Now, she helps communities in the Global South hold Chinese state-owned companies, like mining firms behind toxic spills in Zambia, legally accountable for pollution and human rights abuses tied to China’s Belt and Road projects. Congratulations Jingjing.
This Week in Cleantech — August 29, 2025
- African Imports of Chinese Solar Panels Surge in Energy Shakeup — Bloomberg
- Home batteries are saving America from blackouts — The Washington Post
- I Drove an EV Deep Into the Wilderness. I Never Feared Running Out of Juice. – The Wall Street Journal
- Trump administration halts work on New England offshore wind project – Axios
- Trump tariffs and green energy rollbacks push household electricity bills up 10% — The Guardian
Want to make a suggestion for This Week in Cleantech? Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate in 15 minutes or less featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week’s episode features special guest Tim McDonnell from Semafor, who wrote about Google's moves to drive down the energy consumption of AI search queries to lower its carbon footprint.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Guy Nicholson, head of zero-carbon grid solutions at Statkraft. StatKraft is a Norwegian startup that created a 100-ton spinning machine turning at 3,000 rotations per minute to help stop blackouts as more cheap solar power is added to the grid. It can absorb excess power, if there’s too much, or inject power into the grid, if there’s too little. Akshat Rathi covered this company in a Bloomberg piece, and Guy was the spokesperson. Congratulations, Guy!
This Week in Cleantech — August 22, 2025
- Why Can’t the U.S. Build 5-Minute E.V. Chargers? — The New York Times
- Will Oil Demand Peak Soon? Trump Administration Doesn’t Want to Hear It. — The New York Times
- Texas Energy Crunch To Worsen as Trump Policies Target Solar, Wind Power — Bloomberg
- Solar panels that fit on your balcony or deck are gaining traction in the US — Associated Press
- Google wants to make AI’s energy footprint a ‘non-consideration,’ but it’s not there yet – Semafor
Want to make a suggestion for This Week in Cleantech? Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate in 15 minutes or less featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey. It recently ranked 13th on Feedspot’s 50 Best Solar Energy Podcasts and cracked the top-25 in its 80 Best Energy Transition Podcasts.
This week’s episode features special guest Camila Domonoske from NPR, who wrote about how Ford plans to retool an assembly plant to build a more affordable midsize electric pickup truck.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Saad Dara, CEO of Mangrove Lithium. Last week he hosted British Columbia Premier David Eby and several Canadian officials visited their groundbreaking new plant, which will be the first electrochemical refining facility in North America.
This Week in Cleantech — August 15, 2025
- Suddenly, the Trump Administration Tightens the Vise on Wind Farms – The New York Times
- Plastic Waste Is Piling Up, but Alternative Materials Struggle to Get Off the Ground – The Wall Street Journal
- U.S. Clean Tech Leadership at Risk Due to Trump Policies, Investors Warn – Newsweek
- The lessons of Europe’s upside-down power market – Financial Times
- Ford says it will roll out a cheaper electric pickup truck – NPR
Want to make a suggestion for This Week in Cleantech? Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Tell us what you think of the show!
Agrivoltaics, or using land for both farming and solar energy generation, is becoming more popular in the United States. Such dual-use practices are a 'middle ground' between critics who argue too much prime farmland is being used for utility-scale solar projects and proponents, who point out significantly more real estate is dedicated to ethanol production.
In many situations, it's an attractive proposition for land owners to lease a chunk of their property to a developer for 20-30 years, at which point, the plot is restored to its original state and can resume crop production. Each agrivoltaics project is a custom fit, requiring community engagement from the first planning stages. Accordingly, developers of dual-use projects must become fast friends with farmers, creating a symbiotic relationship that ensures each endeavor ends up a win-win.
On this episode of the Factor This podcast, host Paul Gerke is joined by three foremost agrivoltaics experts to share stories, discuss best practices, and pontificate on perfecting policy. Topics include establishing dual-use markets, detailing new pilots and innovations, recalling memorable interactions with landowners, and more.
Want to make a suggestion for This Week in Cleantech? Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate in 15 minutes or less featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week’s episode features special guest Dan Gearino from Inside Climate News, who wrote about how an Ohio utility has won a fight over who foots the costs of grid infrastructure upgrades from the buildout of data centers.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Russ Bates, Founder of NXTGEN Energy Solutions. Russ was asked to testify as an expert witness before the Georgia Public Service Commission. Georgia Power Company imposes size limits on solar-plus-storage and provides little meaningful access to community solar. Russ explained how these concerns are already addressed by inverter technology, export-limiting capabilities, and Georgia’s own interconnection review process. Now, the Commission has expanded access to clean energy across churches, schools and the like. They also put community solar on a clear path forward.
This Week in Cleantech — July 25, 2025
- Trump administration taking new steps to block wind and solar projects, undisclosed memo says — POLITICO
- With One Call, Trump Alters the Fate of a Contested Power Project — The New York Times
- Wall St. Firms Are Buying Utilities to Tap Into the A.I. Boom — The New York Times
- Lobbyists spent millions to save green energy. Wins were few. — E&E News
- Consumers (and a Utility) Get a Win in Ohio, While Data Centers Take the Loss — Inside Climate News
Want to make a suggestion for This Week in Cleantech? Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Tell us what you think of the show!
In the shadow of the ongoing federal dismantling of renewable energy policy, a growing number of states are exploring the benefits of community solar. On this episode of the Factor This podcast, Jorge Vargas, the co-founder and CEO of distributed generation platform Aspen Power, rallies behind his industry at a critical moment, detailing the importance of such projects amid unprecedented electric load growth.
Want to make a suggestion for This Week in Cleantech? Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate in 15 minutes or less featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week’s episode features special guest Sam Black, a filmmaker and journalist for More Perfect Union, who began investigating the early impacts of political uncertainty on clean energy sectors following Donald Trump's re-election.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Kevin Doffing, from Project Vanguard, who just shared a post on solar and farmland. He cites the 100 acres of land for ethanol = 1 acre of land for solar stat, then asks the questions: Do we want to keep burning food for fuel? Or use a fraction of that land to power our homes, cars, and grid?
This Week in Cleantech — July 18, 2025
- Why Americans Can’t Buy the World’s Best Electric Car — The New York Times
- Supercharging Solar With Quantum Dots — The Wall Street Journal
- Dems couldn’t save Biden’s energy programs — so they’ll try to make them a weapon against the GOP — POLITICO
- 4.6 Billion Years On, the Sun Is Having a Moment — The New Yorker
- He Voted For Trump. It Cost Him His Job – More Perfect Union
Want to make a suggestion for This Week in Cleantech? Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate in 15 minutes or less featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week’s episode features special guest Mark Gongloff from Bloomberg, who wrote about how Senate Republicans are proposing nearly $18 billion in new subsidies for fossil-fuel companies over the next decade.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Mark Jacobs, co-founder of EVmath. Mark led marketing for the DOE-funded EMPOWER Project which helps workplaces install EV chargers for their employees.
This Week in Cleantech — July 11, 2025
- Trump’s crackdown on renewable energy has just begun — The Washington Post
- The Permitting Crisis for Renewables — Heatmap News
- How the Trump tax bill could help China win at A.I. — The Washington Post
- America invents. Others deploy. — Latitude Media
- The GOP Wants to Give Big Oil a Handout It Doesn’t Need — Bloomberg
Want to make a suggestion for This Week in Cleantech? Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate in 15 minutes or less featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week’s episode features special guest Maeve Allsup from Latitude Media, who wrote about how a a new startup allowed an Oracle data center using Nvidia GPUs to cut its power consumption 25% during hours of peak grid demand without sacrificing performance.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is JoeBen Bevirt, founder of Joby Aviation, a company developing electric air taxis for commercial passenger service. This week, its electric air taxi completed a series of piloted, vertical-takeoff-and-landing wingborne flights in Dubai. Congratulations, JoeBen!
This Week in Cleantech — July 07, 2025
- Ford Forced to Idle Multiple US Plants on China Magnet Shortage – Bloomberg
- China's Clean Energy Boom Could Win the Race to Power the Future – New York Times
- Climate threat to U.S. infrastructure is accelerating. Here's what's most at risk – CNBC
- Red States–And AI–Are Big Losers From Trump’s Clean Energy Massacre – Forbes
- Nvidia and Oracle tapped this startup to flex a Phoenix data center – Latitude Media
Want to make a suggestion for This Week in Cleantech? Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate in 15 minutes or less featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week’s episode features special guest Michael Grunwald from the Atlantic, who wrote aobut how we won’t meet climate goals without fixing our food system.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Kakani Katija, creator of the gaming app FathomVerse. This summer, Katija’s team plans to test an AI underwater robot that will search for specific marine species and collect data. The goal is to deploy a fleet of underwater AI-enabled drones constantly monitoring marine animals to gain insight into the ocean’s impact on global climate.
This Week in Cleantech — June 27, 2025
- The U.S. Gave Up Its Lead in Clean Energy Sectors Before. It Might Be Doing It Again. — The Wall Street Journal
- Blackouts, Brownouts, and Freaked-Out Grid Operators: The Summer of Load Has Arrived — Heatmap News
- ‘Throwing us off a cliff’: Megabill could derail hundreds of planned clean energy projects — POLITICO
- New York to Build One of First U.S. Nuclear-Power Plants in Generation — The Wall Street Journal
- Humanity Can Quit Fossil Fuels—But Not Food — The Atlantic
Want to make a suggestion for This Week in Cleantech? Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Tell us what you think of the show!
Since 2022, the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), a nonprofit, independent research and development group focused on the generation, delivery, and use of electricity, has been developing a framework to help utilities enhance the resilience of their infrastructure. The Climate READi initiative aims to strengthen the power sector’s collective approach to managing climate risk to power systems.
On this episode of the Factor This podcast, host Paul Gerke chats with EPRI's Laura Fischer and Andrea Staid about the ongoing initiative, a robust collaboration including insights from more than 40 electric companies, 100 academic, consulting, and finance institutions, as well as national labs, regulators, and government agencies.
Want to make a suggestion for This Week in Cleantech? Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate in 15 minutes or less featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week’s episode features special guest Scott Waldman from E&E News, who wrote about how the Trump administration is "crippling" the government’s ability to research global warming.
This week's "Cleantechers of the Week" are the slain and wounded MN legislators, Rep. Melissa Hortman and Sen. John Hoffman. Rep. Hortman was the key legislative leader who shepherded Minnesota’s landmark climate and clean energy bill in 2023. With the passage of that legislation, Minnesota became the 22nd state in the nation to commit to 100% carbon-free electricity, requiring the state’s investor-owned utilities to be fully carbon-free by 2040.
This Week in Cleantech — June 23, 2025
- The winners and losers of the Senate's take on the 'One Big Beautiful Bill' – Factor This!
- The U.S. invested in EV battery plants. Now they may be stranded – The Washington Post
- Energy Abundance Won’t Fix Electricity Bills – The Atlantic
- What a pioneering project means for ocean carbon removal – Trellis
- How Trump’s assault on science is blinding America to climate change – E&E News
Want to make a suggestion for This Week in Cleantech? Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate in 15 minutes or less featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week’s episode features special guest Ari Natter from Bloomberg, who wrote about how the Trump administration plans to repurpose Biden’s $400 billion green bank to fund loans for nuclear, geothermal, and critical mineral projects
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Mayor Mondale Robinson of Enfield, North Carolina. He led a plan to build a solar farm, resilience hub, and weatherization center in Enfield, cutting $650 monthly energy bills, replacing crumbling grid infrastructure, and using clean energy to bring jobs and economic independence to a historically Black, underserved rural community.
This Week in Cleantech — June 6, 2025
- The Supreme Court Just Started a Permitting Revolution — Heatmap
- U.S. Oil Companies Are ‘Battening Down the Hatches’ — The New York Times
- Why Wind And Solar Make Grids More Vulnerable to Blackouts — The Wall Street Journal
- Chinese battery glut plugs into solar boom to power Pakistan — The Financial Times
- Trump Plans to Tap Biden’s Green Bank to Make Billions in Loans — Bloomberg
Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate in 15 minutes or less featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week’s episode features special guest Kathiann Kowalski from Canary Media who wrote about how Ohio’s House Bill 1 is seen as a win by the solar industry.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Adam Hall, who had his 8th grade students give him a “Solar Mohawk” at their Viva el Drágon festival. Students at the festival demonstrated the power of the sun with student-built solar models. Congratulations, Adam!
This Week in Cleantech — May 30, 2025
- BYD beats Tesla in European EV sales despite EU tariffs in 'watershed moment,' report says — CNBC
- Trump Tariffs Blocked by U.S. Court of International Trade — The New York Times
- Trump policy kick-starts nuclear test reactors in the U.S. — Axios
- Fate of $20 Billion US Home Solar Market Lies in GOP Senate Hands — Bloomberg
- Why the solar industry is counting Ohio’s newest energy law as a win — Canary Media
Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate in 15 minutes or less featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week’s episode features special guest Jack Ewing from The New York Times, who wrote about how Massachusetts start-up Factorial Energy, led by Siyu Huang, has successfully tested its solid-state battery in a Mercedes-Benz EQS sedan
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Carlo Angeles, of the Biodiversity Credit Alliance who posted about how defaunation is breaking our forests. He shared that there is a 68% decrease in forest regeneration when key dispersers are gone, along with other information that we’ll include in our episode writeup. Congratulations, Carlo!
This Week in Cleantech — May 22, 2025
- Tax bill passed by House Republicans would gut Biden-era clean energy tax credits –– AP News
- Swiss Clean-Energy Startup Produces Diesel From Solar Power –– The Wall Street Journal
- Trump orders the government to stop enforcing rules he doesn’t like –– The Washington Post
- Renewable Energy Is Booming in Texas. Republicans Want to Change That. –– The New York Times
- A Decade-Long Search for a Battery That Can End the Gasoline Era –– The New York Times
Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate in 15 minutes or less featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week’s episode features special guest Nico Rivero from The Washington Post, who wrote about how some startups are are reviving zeppelins as a low-emissions option for cargo and tourism.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is one of our previous ‘This Week in Cleantech’ guests, Michael Thomas, founder at Cleanview and Distilled. He analyzed Cleanview data showing that 78% of post-IRA clean energy projects—and $100 billion in investment—benefit Republican districts, warning that repealing the IRA would hurt those communities most. Congratulations, Michael!
This Week in Cleantech — May 16, 2025
- US House targets big climate, clean energy rollbacks in budget proposal — Reuters
- How Donald Trump blew the offshore wind industry off course — The Verge
- How this coal company could help break U.S. dependence on China for rare earths — CNBC
- Energy prices push chemicals groups to explore exit from Europe — The Financial Times
- Why these start-ups think zeppelins could be the future of air travel — The Washington Post
Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Tell us what you think of the show!
Utilities are doing all they can to accommodate large load customers like AI data centers, but some worry those efforts come at a cost to other customers. On this episode of the Factor This podcast, West Monroe Partner Sam Uyeno explains how the proliferation of data centers could actually lower electricity prices. In a far-reaching discussion, Uyeno and host Paul Gerke touch on demand flexibility, the potential benefits of AI in grid planning, and the complexities of co-location and supply chain issues. Uyeno also previews his participation in the upcoming DTECH Data Centers & AI event in San Jose, California.
Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate in 15 minutes or less featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week’s episode features special guest Alex Kaufman, who wrote for the The Atlantic about how Trump’s administration is fast-tracking domestic mining projects, pushing executive orders and green-lighting new rare earth and mineral ventures to reduce reliance on foreign sources like China.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Meredith Connolly, who shared a story from her first road trip in an electric vehicle. Charging her car cost just $22, but the station was in front of a Target so she ended up spending more inside the store than she did on charging. Her point: businesses should want EV chargers, because they bring in more customers.
This Week in Cleantech — May 6, 2025
- Why Going Nuclear Is the Only Good Choice: Merryn Talks Money — Bloomberg
- Republicans say EVs don’t pay their fair share. Here’s the math. — The Washington Post
- India Sees a Future Making Solar Panels for Itself, and Maybe the World — The New York Times
- United Bets on Photosynthesis and Limestone to Fuel Net-Zero Flight Path — The Wall Street Journal
- The Missing Part of Trump’s Minerals Math — The Atlantic
Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate in 15 minutes or less featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week’s episode features special guest Molly Taft from WIRED, who wrote about how several states and startups are suing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), arguing its strict, slow regulations stifle innovation in small nuclear reactor development.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Maddy Mowrey, Event Specialist at National Grid Renewables. She was the point person for the National Grid Executive Parnter Summit event in Nashville last week. Congratulations Maddy!
This Week in Cleantech — May 2, 2025
- U.S. Needs More Power for AI—but Critical Equipment Is Pricey and Scarce — The Wall Street Journal
- Video: Underwater windmills could revolutionize our energy systems — CNN Business
- How a Carbon Pipeline Is Turning Iowa Against Wind — Heatmap News
- Farmers are making bank harvesting a new crop: Solar energy — Grist
- States and Startups Are Suing the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission — WIRED
Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate in 15 minutes or less featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week’s episode features MIT Technology Review's Casey Crownhart, who wrote about how $8 billion of US climate tech projects have been canceled so far this year.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Rev. Nate Pyle, senior pastor at Christ’s Community Church in Fishers, Indiana for supporting rooftop solar on his church and helping show the community how caring for the planet is part of their faith.
This Week in Cleantech — April 25, 2025
- US Imposes Tariffs Up to 3,521% on Asian Solar Imports — Bloomberg News
- The Heat Coming Out of Your Car’s Tailpipe? Some Can Be Turned Into Electricity — The Wall Street Journal
- Scientists say they can calculate the cost of oil giants’ role in global warming — The Washington Post
- As Tesla Falters, These New EVs Are Picking Up the Pace – Bloomberg
- $8 billion of US climate tech projects have been canceled so far in 2025 — MIT Technology Review
Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Tell us what you think of the show!
Sponsored content.
In the territories of many electric utilities, wildfires loom as an increasing threat, becoming larger and more frequent, necessitating proactive solutions.
In this episode of the Factor This podcast, host Paul Gerke taps into the brain of a leading expert, Craig Clements of San Jose State University, to discuss the evolving threat wildfires pose to utility infrastructure and explore how a rigorously tested product, Hexion's ArmorBuilt, could stand as an effective means of protecting vital equipment.
Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate in 15 minutes or less featuring John Engel and Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week’s episode features Jake Spring from The Washington Post, who wrote about how the Trump administration ordered an immediate halt to construction on the Empire Wind project, a major offshore wind development off the coast of New York.
This week's "Cleantechers of the Week" are Andrea Giampoli & Alyssa Edwards who were Chairs for the (sold out!) ACP Siting + Permitting Conference in Seattle this week. Congratulations Andrea and Alyssa!
This Week in Cleantech — April 18, 2025
- This Massive Hydrogen Project Could Hurt the Climate More Than It Helps — Heatmap News
- Google’s geothermal energy ambitions are growing — The Verge
- New technologies are helping to regrow Arctic sea ice — Grist
- Bringing back evaporative cooling for data centers — Latitude Media
- Trump administration halts New York offshore wind project — The Washington Post
Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate in 15 minutes or less featuring John Engel and Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week’s episode features Akshat Rathi from Bloomberg, who wrote about Trump's new tariffs will affect the U.S. clean energy industry.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Charles Bolden who leads SEIA’s energy and carbon portfolio. He has previously helped lead an Energy and Commerce Committee round table on diversity in the energy industry. Charles has played an important role in industry lobbying days on Capitol Hill. Congratulations, Charles!
This Week in Cleantech — April 11, 2025
- 'States are not powerless' against federal clean energy pushback. It's community solar's time to shine — Factor This
- Key EU lawmaker says 90% emissions cut too ambitious for 2040 climate goal — Reuters
- Trump’s new goal: Revive a major climate pollutant that power markets have turned against — POLITICO
- Scoop: DOE proposes shutting down clean energy office — Axios
- Clean Energy Already Has Big Trade Barriers. Now Comes Trump — Bloomberg
Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Tell us what you think of the show!
Sponsored Content.
Decarbonizing the power sector attracts most of the energy transition’s attention. While replacing fossil fuel generation with solar, wind, and battery storage is a critical step to combating climate change, it only addresses a piece of the challenge. Modernizing the power grid from interconnected poles and wires to an intelligent and dynamic machine is paramount to meeting the moment.
The digital grid is coming, and just in time. Utilities in the U.S. are still in the early stages of realizing this opportunity, but change is coming swiftly, and their European counterparts have created a blueprint for what that could look like.
Episode 83 of the Factor This Podcast features Arnaud Cantin, senior vice president of digital power at Schneider Electric.
Cantin shares why a smart grid, not only clean power, is crucial for the energy transition. Why do we need it, what it could do, and what’s stopping us?
That’s all next on Factor This.
Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate in 15 minutes or less featuring John Engel and Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week’s episode features Cat Clifford from Cipher News, who write about how geothermal has emerged as the only renewable energy source seen favorably by the Trump administration.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Tom Weirich at EDP Renewables for hosting a terrific Transformers Summit. He’s put on this summit for 3 years in a row. Congratulations, Tom!
This Week in Cleantech — April 4, 2025
- US electricity prices are surging. These Louisiana companies want out – Floodlight News
- The Trump administration could green-light deep-sea mining for the first time – The Verge
- Dow drops 1,400 as US stocks lead worldwide sell-off after Trump's tariffs ignite a COVID-like shock – AP News
- Pension Funds Push Forward on Climate Goals Despite Backlash – New York Times
- Geothermal is the rare renewable energy winning favor in Trump’s America – Cipher News
Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate in 15 minutes or less featuring John Engel and Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week’s episode features Seth Borenstein from the Associated Press, who wrote about how worldwide installations of renewable energy hit a new high last year, driven largely by China.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Andrew Reagan, President of Clean Energy for America, who is one of the many clean energy advocates on Capitol Hill pushing the Trump administration to keep the energy tax credits that create good-paying jobs, lower energy bills, and strengthen domestic manufacturing. Congratulations, Andrew!
This Week in Cleantech — March 28, 2025
- DOE axes 4 major efficiency rules — E&E News
- Startups That Set Out to Fix the Climate Are Now Talking About Jet Fighters — WSJ
- The Vicious Cycle of Extreme Heat Leading to More Fossil Fuel Use — The New York Times
- Climate groups could beat Trump in fight for $20B. It may be too late. — POLITICO
- Renewable energy jumps to new high, powered by China solar boom — AP News
Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week’s episode features Aaron Clark from Bloomberg, who wrote about efforts to reduce "forever chemicals" in semiconductor production.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Gregor Hintler. He shared that we should not be fooled by the negative rhetoric about renewables from the current administration, since clean energy is growing exponential in the US, and globally. Gregor shared some images of solar growth in certain regions. Congratulations, Gregor!
This Week in Cleantech — March 21, 2025
- BYD charging breakthrough is another sign of China's EV lead over Tesla — Axios
- Big gas turbine manufacturers aren’t ready to bet on the AI boom — Semafor
- The Republicans Pushing Trump to Save Biden’s Clean Energy Tax Credits — The New York Times
- Solar Generation Surge Sends European Power Prices Below Zero — Bloomberg
- As Chips Race Spews ‘Forever Chemicals,’ Startups Emerge to Destroy Them — Bloomberg
Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Elliot Coad, founder of 30x30 United Kingdom and Ecologi, who shared research that stated the world is losing 4-14% of its staple crops due to microplastics, since they are hindering plant photosynthesis. Researchers say this problem could increase the number of people at risk of starvation by 400M in the next two decades. Thanks to Elliot Coad for sharing this new information, and kudos to Damian Carrington at The Guardian for reporting on the research.
This Week in Cleantech — March 14, 2025
- The Biggest US Banks Have All Backed Out of a Commitment to Reach Net Zero — WIRED
- This Startup Has A Way To Make Cheap, Clean Hydrogen–Without Federal Subsidies — Forbes
- Solar Energy, Criticized by Trump, Claims Big U.S. Gain in 2024 — The New York Times
- Khosla Backs Startup Aiming to Pull Carbon From Air in New Mexico — Bloomberg
- US Considers Emergency Powers to Restart Closed Coal Plants, Doug Burgum Says — Bloomberg
Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week’s episode features Lisa Martine Jenkins from Latitude Media, who wrote about how Trump's tariffs will complicate the U.S. energy supply chain.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" isDhruv Patel, COO of Renewable Energy at McCarthy. He celebrated National Energy Efficiency Day with his team at McCarthy on Wednesday and shared his experience on LinkedIn with the quote, “But what really sticks with me isn’t just the megawatts we build—it’s the impact we leave behind.”
This Week in Cleantech — March 7, 2025
- Justin Peterson, The D.C. Power Broker Embroiled in a Global Hacking Scandal — The Wall Street Journal
- Tumbling Tesla Shares Leave Investors Bracing for More Losses — Bloomberg
- Column: Time for California to get serious about cheaper, cleaner energy — LA Times
- Zero: Why (Almost) Everyone Hates ESG Right Now — Bloomberg
- Tariff havoc begins, complicating energy supply chains — Latitude Media
Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week’s episode features Kate Yoder from Grist, who wrote about how the solar industry is rebranding itself as a symbol of American "energy dominance" to survive a second Trump term.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Daniela V. Fernandez, Founder and CEO of Sustainable Ocean Alliance. Daniela shared a Consumer Reports study on LinkedIn about the chemicals and microplastics found in our food, and how it is impacting our health. She shares a petition for a strong global plastics treaty. Congratulations, Daniela!
This Week in Cleantech — February 28, 2025
- Trump Administration Moves to Fast-Track Hundreds of Fossil Fuel Projects — The New York Times
- Trump Paralyzes the U.S. Wind Power Industry — The Wall Street Journal
- AI giants learn to share Trump’s zeal for fossil fuels — The Washington Post
- How Tariffs Could Shock America’s Power System — The Wall Street Journal
- Can solar power avoid Trump’s culture wars? — Grist
Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week’s episode features Jennifer McDermott from the Associated Press, who wrote about how enhanced geothermal company Eavor is starting up their first commercial power plant in Germany using techniques from the oil and gas industry to drill deep and extract heat from hot rock.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" isJohanna Anderson, who shared her experience as one of the Federal employees terminated last Friday. Despite this setback, she remains deeply committed to climate action and making a difference. Her resilience is a testament to the passion and perseverance driving the clean energy transition forward. Congratulations, Johanna!
This Week in Cleantech — February 21, 2025
- You already know Elon Musk. You need to know Harold Hamm. — HEATED
- White House Starts Unwinding Environmental Permitting Rules — Bloomberg Law
- California’s Push for Electric Trucks Sputters Under Trump — The New York Times
- The False AI Energy Crisis — The Atlantic
- Major test case for new geothermal technology launches in small German town — AP News
Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Tell us what you think of the show!
Sponsored by OATIThe energy industry loves a shiny new object.
Distributed energy resource management systems, or DERMS, land squarely in that bucket. The software’s ability to autonomously control and communicate with millions of potential devices, while facilitating power market participation, could be the Swiss Army Knife the energy transition so desperately needs. It's also a key enabler of virtual power plants, which have received a fair amount of hype on their own.
But this rapidly growing market has created an environment of ambiguity. Even the acronym, DERMS, doesn’t have a clear industry definition, creating an opportunity for half-baked solutions to cash in on the optimism. So what's real?
In this episode of the Factor This podcast, Linda Stevens, the chief strategy officer for smart grids and smart cities at OATI, joins me to demystify DERMS.
That's all next on Factor This.
Watch the full episode on YouTube
Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week’s episode features Tim McDonnell from Semmafor, who wrote about how Trump's return could freeze clean energy investments by rejecting or clawing back DOE’s $400B Loan Programs Office (LPO) funding.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Peter Roy, International Consultant for Soluz Honduras. Peter recently took a trip to Honduras to witness the company’s operations in Yoro, where solar energy was brought to a remote, off-grid community that used to rely on wood sap for light.
This Week in Cleantech — February 14, 2025
- Record-breaking growth in renewable energy in US threatened by Trump — The Guardian
- How China Became The World's New Nuclear Energy Superstar — HuffPost
- Trump Sets 25% Steel, Aluminum Tariffs, Widening Trade War — Bloomberg
- Green Energy Ambitions of European Companies Take a Beating — The New York Times
- Trump’s unpredictability scares energy investors, Biden’s green banker says — Semafor
Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week’s episode features Matthew Zeitlin from Heatmap News, who wrote about how how huge load growth in Georgia, partially from its green manufacturing boom, is keeping coal plants open.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Liz Burdock, CEO of Oceantic Network. Liz was open about the tough road ahead for offshore wind, but reminds us that despite the obstacles, we must stay united and keep fighting for our future as a community. Congratulations, Liz!
This Week in Cleantech — February 7, 2025
- Trump Has Paralyzed Renewables Permitting, Leaked Memo Reveals — Heatmap News
- Boiling Point: Farewell to Ivanpah, the world's ugliest solar plant — LA Times
- $100 Billion Stargate AI Venture Touted by Trump to Depend Partly on Solar Power — Bloomberg
- Big Tech wants to plug data centers right into power plants. Utilities say it's not fair — AP News
- Georgia’s Green Manufacturing Boom Is Keeping Coal Plants Open — Heatmap News
Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week’s episode features Alexander Kaufmann from HuffPost, who wrote about President Trump declaring an “energy emergency” in his inaugural speech to boost oil drilling, weaken environmental protections, and cut gasoline and electricity prices in half.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week," is Adrien Lelièvre, CEO of Pi POP, a French company that has designed the first e-bike that uses supercapacitors instead of heavy lithium-ion batteries. It works by storing energy while braking or coasting downhill and releases it for acceleration or climbing. Congratulations Adrien!
This Week in Cleantech — January 24, 2025
- Trump temporarily halts leasing and permitting for wind energy projects — AP News
- Trump plots a return to fossil fuel expansionism — Semafor
- Trump Orders Agencies to Halt Spending From Biden’s Climate Law — Bloomberg
- Smoke from fire at California lithium battery plant raises concerns about air quality — AP News
- Energy Production Is At A Record, But Trump Declares An Emergency — HuffPost
Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week’s episode features Brendan Koerner from WIRED Magazine, who wrote about the lives of young men recruited by door-to-door solar sales companies.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week," is Will Heegaard, CEO of Footprint Power. Footprint Power’s South California team are bringing mobile solar power and other renewable energy resources to base camps and distribution sites, and supporting 92,000 displaced people due to the LA wildfires.
This Week in Cleantech — January 17, 2025
- The Insurance Crisis That Will Follow the California Fires — The New Yorker
- Los Angeles Utilities’ Decisions to Keep Power On Are Scrutinized – The New York Times
- This group says natural gas bans hurt minorities. It has gas industry ties. — The Washington Post
- REC Silicon pulls the plug on polysilicon production at Moses Lake plant — Renewable Energy World
- The Spectacular Burnout of a Solar Panel Salesman — WIRED Magazine
Watch the full episode on YouTube
Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week’s episode features Rachel Frazin from The Hill, who wrote about how the Biden administration finalized fairly strict climate rules for the nascent hydrogen energy industry, that determine which facilities can qualify for hydrogen tax credits.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week," is Aaron Nichols from Exact Solar, who reminds us that solar in the U.S. continued to expand during Trump’s first term. Shout out to Aaron for bolstering our determination as we face this unprecedented time. Congratulations Aaron!
This Week in Cleantech — January 10, 2025
- EVs, Nuclear and Forever Chemicals: Climate Predictions for 2025 — Bloomberg
- Banks Celebrate the New Year by Quitting Their Climate Pledges — The New Republic
- Trump Says He Wants No Wind Farms Built During Presidency — Bloomberg
- Climate-friendly electricity sees big battery projects soar again for 2024 — AP News
- Biden administration adds exemptions into new climate rules for hydrogen energy — The Hill
Watch the full episode on YouTube
Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week’s episode features Dana Clare Redden, from our “Cleantecher of the Year” committee, who has picked our Cleantecher of the Year!
This Week in Cleantech — December 20, 2024
- Trump’s Energy Pick, Chris Wright, Argues Fossil Fuels Are Virtuous — The New York Times
- Cipher analysis: Emerging clean technologies see sharp drop in investments this year — Cipher News
- The Age of Electrons Has Arrived, but Maybe Not for the Right Reasons — Heatmap News
- PG&E Secures $15 Billion Loan From U.S. Energy Department — The New York Times
Watch the full episode on YouTube
**Cleantechers of the Year
Most Impactful -** Bill Weihl - Climatevoice
Bill Weihl, transitioned from ClimateVoice’s Co-Executive Director to the role of Founder & Chief Strategic Advisor. ClimateVoice leverages corporate influence from climate-positive companies to win policy battles.
Most Entrepreneurial - Emilie Oxel O'Leary - Green Clean Wind LLC
Emilie is actively urging her LinkedIn followers to reach out for their solar recycling needs, highlighting the growing concern over solar components ending up in landfills. She’s asking for every steel pile, aluminum racking component, nut, and bolt, so she can help clean up your site.
Most Disruptive - Michael Tekabe/Hayat Bedene - Kübik
Michael Tekabe, Chief Operating Officer, and Hayat Bedane, Engineering Lead at Kubik, an Africa-based startup, make building materials out of recycled plastic for affordable, sustainable, and easy-to-deploy homes, clinics, and warehouses. Their construction materials reduce 5x less carbon pollution than traditional materials.
Most Innovative - Gregg Patterson- Origami Solar
Gregg is leading the effort to reframe the global solar industry with recycled steel, replacing aluminum solar module frames. This entire effort is designed to lower the carbon pollution footprint of the global solar industry.
Cleantecher of the Year - Jonathan Foley - Drawdown
Jonathan Foley, climatologist and Project Drawdown Executive Director, wrote a piece that shares the impact of agricultural pollution, and how we need to prioritize sustainable agricultural practices. Jonathan shared that total carbon pollution from the food system, including food waste, transport, packaging and refrigeration sits at 34%, making food the single largest polluting economic sector — more than power generation or industry, which both sit at roughly 23%.
Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week’s episode features Camila Domonoske from NPR, who wrote about how under a second Trump administration, an "all-of-the-above" energy policy is likely to return, meaning support for oil, gas, and renewable energy sources together.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week," is Kevin Minton, Vice President of Spruce Power, who represented the company on a mission to a small village in Kenya. Over the course of three days, they installed two solar arrays, inverters, and batteries to power facilities, including a schoolhouse, a dispensary, and a small hospital room. These systems also supported laptops for children to learn and televisions for instructional videos. Congratulations, Kevin!
This Week in Cleantech — December 13, 2024
- The Israeli Investigator Who Delivered Dirt on Exxon’s Enemies — The Wall Street Journal
- Does talking about climate ‘tipping points’ inspire action — or defeat? — Grist
- What 4 Years of Delay Means to an Offshore Wind Project — Heatmap News
- Chinese Carmakers Are Taking Mexico by Storm While Eyeing U.S. — The New York Times
- Under Trump, an 'all of the above' energy policy is poised for a comeback — NPR
Watch the full episode on YouTube
Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week’s episode features Izzy Ross from Grist, who wrote about how Michigan's fast-tracking of renewable energy projects under a new law, Public Act 233, is facing legal pushback from about 80 townships and counties.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week” is Robert Wilson and Louisa Ziane, Co-Founders of Toast Brewing, which brews beer with the surplus of fresh bread from bakeries, reducing agricultural demand for barley and food waste. Every second loaf of bread is wasted in the UK, but since 2016, Toast Brewing has saved enough bread to stack more than four times the height of Mount Everest. Congratulations Robert and Louisa!
This Week in Cleantech — December 6, 2024
- Utilities build flow batteries big enough to oust coal, gas power plants — The Washington Post
- Northvolt, Europe’s Hope for a Battery Champion, Files for Bankruptcy — The New York Times
- US Solar Installs Facing Flat Growth — and That’s Before Trump — Bloomberg
- A strange new climate era is beginning to take hold — The Washington Post
- Michigan wants to fast-track renewable development. Local townships are suing — Grist
Watch the full episode on YouTube
Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week’s episode features Amanda Chu from the Financial Times, who wrote about how Albemarle, the largest lithium producer in the world, said it is not economically viable to build a lithium supply chain in North America or Europe.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week” is Mary Powell, CEO of Sunrun. Mary just was named to the 2024 TIME100 Climate List of Most Influential Leaders In Climate. TIME recognized Mary for her climate leadership, advancing residential clean energy adoption to strengthen the nation’s energy grid. Congratulations, Mary!
This Week in Cleantech — November 22, 2024
- The hidden emissions impact of grid congestion is bigger than you think — Latitude Media
- Trump picks fracking CEO Chris Wright to be energy secretary — The Washington Post
- This seaside town will power thousands of homes with waves — The Washington Post
- A Court Just Broke America’s Most Divisive Environmental Law. Here’s What Happens Next. — Heatmap News
- Lithium producer says west cannot end reliance on China in critical minerals — The Financial Times
Watch the full episode on YouTube
Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week’s episode features Katie Brigham from Heatmap, who wrote about how climate tech companies are uncertain, but hopeful, of their future under a Trump presidency.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week” is Sara Samanieg, Latin America’s first recycling influencer. She has taught people how to sort recyclables and brought attention to Bogotá’s often-overlooked community of recyclers. Congratulations, Sara!
This Week in Cleantech — November 15, 2024
- What Trump means for Tesla — Fast Company
- Exxon’s chief has a warning for Republicans — POLITICO
- US Unveils Plan to Triple Nuclear Power by 2050 as Demand Soars — Bloomberg
- COP29 host Azerbaijan hits out at West in defense of oil and gas — Reuters
- Climate Tech Companies Plan For Survival Under Trump – Heatmap
Watch the full episode on YouTube
Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week’s episode features Tim McDonnell from Semafor, who wrote about how many in cleantech believe the clean energy transition will happen regardless of who is in the White House, since the growth of U.S. clean energy industries is driven by fundamental economics.
This Week in Cleantech — November 8, 2024
- Utility regulators take millions from industries they oversee. What could go wrong? — Floodlight News
- Oil giant BP is killing 18 hydrogen projects, chilling the nascent industry — TechCrunch
- World’s largest transformer maker warns of supply crunch — The Financial Times
- US Regulator Rejects Amazon-Talen Nuclear Power Agreement — Bloomberg
- Donald Trump will test how fragile the energy transition really is — Semafor
Watch the full episode on YouTube
Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week’s episode features Shannon Osaka from The Washington Post, who wrote about how districts that favored Trump in 2020 received three times as much Inflation Reduction Act investment as those who favored Biden.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week," is Colin Hughes from Rebel, who just shared his bikeshare experience in Rotterdam, Netherlands with BAQME’s e-assist cargo bikes. He shared that the company had at least one bike within a 5-minute walk, and that the cost was usually under $5 per trip around the city. Thank you for sharing your bikeshare experience, Colin!
This Week in Cleantech — November 1, 2024
- U.S. approves massive lithium mine in Nevada, overriding protests — The Washington Post
- Cheap Solar Panels Are Changing the World — The Atlantic
- A new solar-storage project is powering Amazon data centers. It took 7 years to get online — Latitude Media
- Green jet fuel producers are crossing a daunting climate tech barrier — Semafor
- See how the Inflation Reduction Act is affecting your community — The Washington Post
Watch the full episode on YouTube
Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week’s episode features Washington Post reporter Evan Halper, who covered how a coal power plant's life was extended when Meta and Google data centers came to town.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Michael Graham of the Columbia-Willamette Clean Cities & Communities Coalition. Michael leads the EMPOWER project, which helps workplaces install EV chargers at their offices for free, and is a Workplace EV Charging Coach. Congratulations, Michael!
This Week in Cleantech — October 18, 2024
- Google Backs New Nuclear Plants to Power AI — The Wall Street Journal
- Is LNG worse for the climate than coal? — The Financial Times
- IEA report signals "age of electricity" — Axios
- Watch this robot expertly take apart electronics so they can be used again — Fast Company
- A utility promised to stop burning coal. Then Google and Meta came to town. — The Washington Post
Watch the full episode on YouTube
Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week’s episode features Maddie Stone from Grist, who wrote about how Hurricane Helene caused the temporary closure of Spruce Pine, NC's two main quartz mines, which has disrupted the solar supply chain.
This week we have multiple "Cleantechers of the Week.” The industry has truly come together to support those impacted by Hurricane Helene:
- Maggie Sasser from Pine Gate Renewables has organized efforts to help rebuild.
- Nico Johnson from Suncast Media and Tom Weirich from EDP Renewables have raised awareness and shared ways to support affected communities.
- Jason Grumet and the American Clean Power Association co-hosted a Hurricane Helene Relief Fund Reception.
- Also thanks to all the other cleantechers this week who donated and helped John Engel bring gas cans, water, food and blankets to those in Asheville, NC.
This Week in Cleantech — October 11, 2024
- Cost of Producing Green Hydrogen Makes It Prohibitive, Says Study - Wall Street Journal
- Form Energy raises $405mn to develop rust-powered batteries - Financial Times
- U.S. Ramps Up Hunt for Uranium to End Reliance on Russia - New York Times
- This country ditched coal. Here’s what the world can learn from it - Washington Post
- The solar supply chain runs through this flooded North Carolina town - Grist
Watch the full episode on YouTube
Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Tell us what you think of the show!
Hello, Factor This! listeners. This is John Engel, editor-in-chief of Renewable Energy World and POWERGRID International. As many of you know, I live in Asheville, which was devastated from Tropical Storm Helene.
This conversation between myself and Renewable Energy World content director Paul Gerke was hastily recorded on Wednesday, Oct. 2, so please excuse the production quality. Some of the conditions discussed in this podcast have changed since recording-- gas is now readily available in Asheville and Duke Energy has restored power to at least 90% of the Carolinas.
I love Asheville. To see many of its best elements destroyed is beyond tragic. 10 days after the storm, most of the city remains without water. Remote mountain regions are impassable. People are still missing. We need your help.
Please consider supporting these organizations:
- North Carolina Disaster Relief Fund
- Beloved Asheville
- Samaritan's Purse
- Footprint Project
Thank you to all of you who continued to support Asheville's recovery. It means the world to me.
Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week’s episode features Catherine Boudrea, a Business Insider reporter who wrote about Constellation Energy's plans to restart the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania.
This week’s “Cleantecher of the Week” is Robin Swanhuyser, the Executive Director of Twende Solar. Twende Solar empowers under-resourced communities with renewable energy systems. Their vision is to have renewable energy be the solution for eliminating poverty, strengthening economies, protecting ecosystems, and achieving a more equitable society. Congratulations, Robin!
This Week in Cleantech — September 30, 2024
- Under a Texas sun, agrivoltaics offer farmers a new way to make money — The Washington Post
- America's Oil Country Increasingly Runs on Renewables — The New York Times
- What The Fed’s Interest Rate Cut Means For Climate Change — HuffPost
- From Norway to New York, electric ferries are taking over the globe — NY Post
- Tech bros and bankers rally around nuclear power to fuel AI's rapid rise — The Business Insider
Watch the full episode on YouTube
Registration is live for GridTECH Connect Forum - Northeast. Join us in Newport Rhode, Island October 28-30 for the interconnection event. Click the link in the episode description to get 10% off your ticket. The conference program is available here.
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week's episode features Ivan Penn from the New York Times, who wrote about how one of the country's largest coal plants, located in Minnesota, is being replaced by solar and storage. It will be the largest solar farm in the Upper Midwest when completed, but some residents are worried about the change.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is President of rPlus Energies. Luigi recently called on his LinkedIn following to form a solar industry equivalent rallying cry of the “Got Milk?” campaign. He mentions that other industries have found a way to emotionally engage people, but the solar industry is lagging behind. Congratulations, Luigi!
This Week in Cleantech — September 20, 2024
- Trump vows to pull back climate law’s unspent dollars — POLITICO
- America’s New Climate Delusion — The Atlantic
- Natural Gas Is Critical To Achieving Global Climate Goals. Here’s Why — Forbes
- What If We Get Fusion — But Don’t Need It? — Heatmap
- Coal Power Defined This Minnesota Town. Can Solar Win It Over? — New York Times
Watch the full episode on YouTube
Registration is live for GridTECH Connect Forum - Northeast. Join us in Newport Rhode, Island October 28-30 for the interconnection event. Click the link in the episode description to get 10% off your ticket. The conference program is available here.
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week's episode features Tim De Chant from TechCrunch, who wrote about a possible path to reduce or eliminate carbon emissions from the airline and shipping industries: a startup working to develop "green" methanol, which is made without fossil fuels.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Nora Zacharski, Press Secretary at Center for Climate and Energy Solutions. Nora recently graduated with her Master’s in Political Communications, and shared her Capstone project online, which analyzed Facebook messaging by opponents of land-based and offshore wind energy. Congratulations, Nora!
This Week in Cleantech — September 6, 2024
- What Will We Do With Our Free Power? — New York Times
- How much more water and power does AI computing demand? Tech firms don't want you to know — LA Times
- Local opposition is now a ‘leading cause’ of canceled clean energy projects — Latitude Media
- More cleantech companies fail as fundraising challenges emerge — Financial Times
- Oxylus Energy strikes 'beautiful balance' to make e-fuels for aviation and shipping — TechCrunch
Watch the full episode on YouTube
Registration is live for GridTECH Connect Forum - Northeast. Join us in Newport Rhode, Island October 28-30 for the interconnection event. Click the link in the episode description to get 10% off your ticket. The conference program is available here.
Tell us what you think of the show!
The energy transition was always going to produce some form of tension. That isn't altogether negative— friction keeps a speeding train on the tracks, after all. In the energy industry, it's electric utilities and clean energy developers who most often collide, one positioned as the gatekeeper of the grid and the other a disrupter.
Plenty of challenges face the energy transition, but one underpins nearly all of them: interconnection. Utilities and developers, meanwhile, are beginning to recognize the importance of collaboration, and that fences must be mended to reach our goals.
Episode 82 of the Factor This! podcast features Carrie Gill, the head of electric regulatory strategy at Rhode Island Energy, and Ed Brolin, the vice president of policy and distributed government relations at RWE. Both will be featured speakers at the interconnection event GridTECH Connect Forum - Northeast, which will be held in Newport, Rhode Island in October.
Gill and Brolin break down the challenges and solutions to interconnection in the Northeast and preview what you can expect at GridTECH Connect Forum. Register today using the promo code PODCAST to receive 10% off your admission.
That's all next on Factor This!Watch the full episode on YouTube
Registration is live for GridTECH Connect Forum - Northeast. Join us in Newport Rhode, Island October 28-30 for the interconnection event. Click the link in the episode description to get 10% off your ticket. The conference program is available here.
Tell us what you think of the show!
his Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week's episode features Dan Gearino from Inside Climate News, who wrote about how progress in solid-state battery technology may soon enable electric vehicles to achieve up to 600 miles of range.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Emilie Oxel O’Leary, founder of Green Clean Wind LLC. Emilie is actively urging her LinkedIn followers to reach out for their solar recycling needs, highlighting the growing concern over solar components ending up in landfills. She’s asking for every steel pile, aluminum racking component, nut, and bolt, so she can help clean up your site. Congratulations Emilie!
This Week in Cleantech — August 30, 2024
- Far-Right ‘Terrorgram’ Chatrooms Fuel Wave of Power Grid Attacks — Bloomberg
- The Case for a Clean Energy Marshall Plan — Foreign Affairs
- Scoop: Swell is shutting down — Latitude Media
- Hungry for Clean Energy, Facebook Looks to a New Type of Geothermal — New York Times
- Want an EV With 600 Miles of Range? It’s Coming — Inside Climate News
Watch the full episode on YouTube
Registration is live for GridTECH Connect Forum - Northeast. Join us in Newport Rhode, Island October 28-30 for the interconnection event. Click the link in the episode description to get 10% off your ticket. The conference program is available here.
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week's episode features CNET senior editor Jon Reed, who visited an energy-efficient home in Vermont that will eventually be part of a virtual power plant, or VPP.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Jim Kapsis, CEO of the Ad Hoc Group, who recently wrote about his 531-mile trip from Virginia to Maine in an electric vehicle. Jim wrote about his experience traveling the long electric miles, both the good and bad. We’ll link his piece in our YouTube bio. Congratulations Jim!
This Week in Cleantech — August 23, 2024
- Big Tech’s bid to rewrite the rules on net zero — The Financial Times
- EVs are starting to overtake gas-powered cars in a surprising place — CNN
- Clean Fuel Startups Were Supposed to Be the Next Big Thing. Now They Are Collapsing. — The Wall Street Journal
- Coal Power Defined This Minnesota Town. Can Solar Win It Over? — The New York Times
- The US Power Grid Has a Problem. Your House Could Help Solve It — CNET
Watch the full episode on YouTube
Registration is live for GridTECH Connect Forum - Northeast. Join us in Newport Rhode, Island October 28-30 for the interconnection event. Click the link in the episode description to get 10% off your ticket. The conference program is available here.
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week’s episode features Business Insider reporter Catherine Boudreau, who wrote about Con Edison's plans to capture heat from data centers and large commercial buildings to power underground thermal energy networks.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Samuel Truthseeker, CEO of Solvari Solar. His system view of rooftop solar enables panels to be installed in 2 minutes rather than 20 minutes, and is based on over 20 years developing solar products. Congratulations Samuel!
This Week in Cleantech — August 16, 2024
- How Solar-Friendly Is Your State? We Scored Them All — CNET
- This Texas Energy Is So Bountiful, They Pay You to Take It Away — New York Times
- Americans tapped $8 billion in tax credits on home energy upgrade — Washington Post
- Delays hit 40% of Biden’s major IRA manufacturing projects — Financial Times
- How New York City's data centers and Rockefeller Center could help power a climate solution — Business Insider
Watch the full episode on YouTube
Registration is live for GridTECH Connect Forum - Northeast. Join us in Newport Rhode, Island October 28-30 for the interconnection event. Click the link in the episode description to get 10% off your ticket. The conference program is available here.
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week’s episode features MIT Technology Review reporter Casey Crowhart, who covered how new tech turns air conditioners into batteries.
This Week in Cleantech — August 8, 2024
- Red-State Republicans Say They’ll Defend Biden-Era Green Jobs — Bloomberg
- Former Rooftop Solar Giant SunPower Files for Bankruptcy — Bloomberg
- Around a third of carbon credits fail new benchmark test — Reuters
- Indiana’s dependence on coal is costing ratepayers millions and holding back clean energy growth — Energy News Network
- Your future air conditioner might act like a battery — MIT Technology Review
Watch the full episode on YouTubeHelp make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to rew@clarionevents.com. And don’t forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.
Join us every Friday for new episodes of This Week in Cleantech in the Factor This! podcast feed, and tune into new episodes of Factor This! every Monday.
This Week in Cleantech is hosted by Renewable Energy World senior content director John Engel and Tigercomm president Mike Casey. The show is produced by Brian Mendes with research support from Alex Petersen and Clare Quirin.
Registration is live for GridTECH Connect Forum - Northeast. Join us in Newport Rhode, Island October 28-30 for the interconnection event. Click the link in the episode description to get 10% off your ticket. The conference program is available here.
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week’s episode features Jael Holzman, a senior reporter at Heatmap, who reported on how the clean energy industry is colliding with climate activists over a long-awaited energy permitting bill.
This Week in Cleantech — August 2, 2024
- The Rush to Shore Up the Power Grid Against Hurricanes, Heat and Hail — The Wall Street Journal
- How to Avoid A Climate Backlash — TIME
- Energy Companies Turn to Robots to Install Solar Panels — The New York Times
- Applied Carbon's farm robot turns plant waste into biochar to capture CO2 — TechCrunch
- The Climate Case Against the Permitting Deal — Heatmap News
Watch the full episode on YouTubeHelp make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to rew@clarionevents.com. And don’t forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.
Join us every Friday for new episodes of This Week in Cleantech in the Factor This! podcast feed, and tune into new episodes of Factor This! every Monday.
This Week in Cleantech is hosted by Renewable Energy World senior content director John Engel and Tigercomm president Mike Casey. The show is produced by Brian Mendes with research support from Alex Petersen and Clare Quirin.
Registration is live for GridTECH Connect Forum - Northeast. Join us in Newport Rhode, Island October 28-30 for the interconnection event. Click the link in the episode description to get 10% off your ticket. The conference program is available here.
Tell us what you think of the show!
The energy industry often pits utilities and clean energy advocates as enemies duking it out from opposite corners of the ring.
As the narrative goes, utilities drag innovation in favor of the status quo. They're lobbying, some say, has tanked the value of distributed energy resources, leaving the residential solar and storage industry in turmoil.
But one company doesn't bother with that framing, even if it may be true in some cases. Instead, they're going inside utilities with the belief that there's only one realistic path to scaling DERs— being on the same team.
Episode 81 of the Factor This! podcast features Sparkfund CEO Pier LaFarge, who is partnering with some of the largest utilities to deploy hundreds of DERs on their behalf.
LaFarge shares how Sparkfund's approach upends consensus thinking around the energy transition, why he's bullish on investor-owned utilities, and what the upcoming presidential election means for clean energy.
That's all next on Factor This!Watch the full episode on YouTube
Registration is live for GridTECH Connect Forum - Northeast. Join us in Newport Rhode, Island October 28-30 for the interconnection event. Click the link in the episode description to get 10% off your ticket. The conference program is available here.
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week’s episode features Financial Times' Brett Christophers, who reported on China's exponential growth in the renewables industry.
This Week in Cleantech — July 26, 2024This week’s “Cleantecher of the Week” is Jonathan Foley, climate scientist and Executive Director at Project Drawdown!
- Get Ready to Pay More for Less-Reliable Electricity - Wall Street Journal
- EPA awards $4.3 billion to fund projects in 30 states to reduce climate pollution - Associated Press
- IRA’s biggest climate program has ‘decimal dust’ for oversight - POLITICO
- Can the solar industry keep the lights on? - Financial Times
- We must not mistake China’s success on green energy for a global one -Financial Times
Watch the full episode on YouTubeHelp make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to rew@clarionevents.com. And don’t forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.
Join us every Friday for new episodes of This Week in Cleantech in the Factor This! podcast feed, and tune into new episodes of Factor This! every Monday.
This Week in Cleantech is hosted by Renewable Energy World senior content director John Engel and Tigercomm president Mike Casey. The show is produced by Brian Mendes with research support from Alex Petersen and Clare Quirin.
Registration is live for GridTECH Connect Forum - Northeast. Join us in Newport Rhode, Island October 28-30 for the interconnection event. Click the link in the episode description to get 10% off your ticket. The conference program is available here.
Tell us what you think of the show!
Five years ago, PG&E's reputation was shattered. California's largest utility had filed for bankruptcy after admitted missteps led to catastrophic wildfires. The climate crisis had wreaked havoc in the state most committed to fighting it.
But the urgency of the energy transition required a rebirth of PG&E, especially in light of California's quickly approaching climate deadlines. Today, PG&E is dispelling the myth of the infallible utility by lifting the veil on its shortcomings and calling on industry to fill the gaps.
Episode 80 of the Factor This! podcast features Quinn Nakayama, senior director of grid research innovation and development at PG&E, who is charged with shaping the utility's vision around AI, load growth, and decarbonization.
Can utilities, often criticized for dragging innovation, lead the energy transition?
Watch the full episode on YouTube
Registration is live for GridTECH Connect Forum - Northeast. Join us in Newport Rhode, Island October 28-30 for the interconnection event. Click the link in the episode description to get 10% off your ticket. The conference program is available here.
Tell us what you think of the show!
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week’s episode features Heatmap writer Katie Brigham, who reported on rising interest in sodium-ion batteries as an alternative to lithium-ion.
This Week in Cleantech — July 19, 2024
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Scott Wopata of the Rice County Community Action Center. This community offers net-zero housing for people experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity. They have an innovative wall design that delivers over a 60% reduction in energy use.
- A Seismic Supreme Court Decision — New York Times
- Climate Change Leaves World's Electricity Networks Unable to Cope — Bloomberg
- Biden faces criticism over his gas car ban. But he doesn't have one — NPR
- This climate tech startup wants to capture carbon and help data centers cool down — The Verge
- Is Sodium-Ion the Next Big Battery? — Heatmap
Watch the full episode on YouTubeHelp make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to rew@clarionevents.com. And don’t forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.
Join us every Friday for new episodes of This Week in Cleantech in the Factor This! podcast feed, and tune into new episodes of Factor This! every Monday.
This Week in Cleantech is hosted by Renewable Energy World senior content director John Engel and Tigercomm president Mike Casey. The show is produced by Brian Mendes with research support from Alex Petersen and Clare Quirin.
Registration is live for GridTECH Connect Forum - Northeast. Join us in Newport Rhode, Island October 28-30 for the interconnection event. Click the link in the episode description to get 10% off your ticket. The conference program is available here.
Virtual power plants were always doomed to fall into clean tech's notorious hype cycle.
There are plenty of reasons for that, but start with the name. 'Virtual power plant' means everything and nothing all at once. Then there's the origin story—one rooted in the far-less-sexy, and decades-old concept of demand response. Round that out with projections that utilities could save as much as $35 billion in just 10 years by embracing VPPs and you have the makings of a hype cycle even green hydrogen can't reach.
But VPPs are proving to have staying power. Federal and state policies have opened new markets. The tech works, and projects are being deployed at breakneck speed.
Episode 79 of the Factor This! podcast features Michael Smith, CEO of the leading C&I virtual power plant provider CPower, who breaks down the technology behind VPPs, where the industry stands today, and the critical markets no one is looking at.
That's all next on Factor This!
Watch every new episode of the Factor This! podcast on the Renewable Energy World YouTube channel, and make sure to subscribe while you're there!
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week’s episode features Semafor climate and energy editor Tim McDonnell, who reported on AI's impact on the grid and how the technology could be used to ease the strain.
This Week in Cleantech — June 28, 2024 This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Warwick Wise, Head of Video at ABB. He went out to the plains of New Mexico to see how the latest detection and monitoring technology helped find methane leaks and seal them off. Congratulations, Warwick!
- Supreme Court halts enforcement of the EPA's plan to limit downwind pollution from power plants — AP News
- US energy production exceeds consumption by widest-recorded margin — Reuters
- Coal power plant outages remain historically high, NERC report finds — E&E News
- Wildfire Threats Make Utilities Uninsurable in US West — Bloomberg
- The solution to the AI power boom is a better grid, not a bigger one - Semafor
Watch the full episode on YouTubeHelp make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to rew@clarionevents.com. And don’t forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.
Join us every Friday for new episodes of This Week in Cleantech in the Factor This! podcast feed, and tune into new episodes of Factor This! every Monday.
This Week in Cleantech is hosted by Renewable Energy World senior content director John Engel and Tigercomm president Mike Casey. The show is produced by Brian Mendes with research support from Alex Petersen and Clare Quirin.
Watch every new episode of the Factor This! podcast on the Renewable Energy World YouTube channel, and make sure to subscribe while you're there!
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week’s episode features Newsweek editor Jeff Young, who reported on President Biden's effort to link his climate goals to good-paying jobs.
This Week in Cleantech — June 21, 2024This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Megawatt-X founder Laurent Segalen!
- Solar Power’s Giants Are Providing More Energy Than Big Oil - Bloomberg
- Green Peace: How the Fight Against Climate Change Can Overcome Geopolitical Discord - Foreign Affairs
- A Trump Win Puts $369 Billion in Clean Energy Incentives at Risk, BI Says - Bloomberg
- Solugen scores $214 million loan from DOE to make chemicals from corn sugar not petroleum - CNBC
- Biden Links Green Power to Good Pay With Clean Energy Wage Rules - Newsweek
Watch the full episode on YouTubeHelp make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to rew@clarionevents.com. And don’t forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.
Join us every Friday for new episodes of This Week in Cleantech in the Factor This! podcast feed, and tune into new episodes of Factor This! every Monday.
This Week in Cleantech is hosted by Renewable Energy World senior content director John Engel and Tigercomm president Mike Casey. The show is produced by Brian Mendes with research support from Alex Petersen and Clare Quirin.
Registration is LIVE for GridTECH Connect Forum - California. Join us in Newport Beach June 24-26 for the interconnection event. We're bringing together utilities, developers, and regulators to take on one of the biggest challenges facing the energy transition. Click here to save 10% on your ticket. Join partners from PG&E, CAISO, ENGIE, AES, and more.
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week’s episode features Michael Thomas, author of the "Distilled" newsletter, who reported on the growing size of clean energy projects in the U.S.
This Week in Cleantech — June 14, 2024This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Andrew Savage, vice president and founding team at electric vehicle and bike sharing company, Lime.
- The World Needs More Batteries for Electric Vehicles — But Not This Many — Bloomberg
- House hearing to be held to consider bill to reform how public utility regulators are appointed — WOSU Public Media
- Long-Range EVs Now Cost Less Than the Average New Car in the US — Bloomberg
- World faces ‘staggering’ oil glut by end of decade, energy watchdog warns — Financial Times
- The Rise of the Clean Energy Megaproject — Distilled
Watch the full episode on YouTubeHelp make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to rew@clarionevents.com. And don’t forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.
Join us every Friday for new episodes of This Week in Cleantech in the Factor This! podcast feed, and tune into new episodes of Factor This! every Monday.
This Week in Cleantech is hosted by Renewable Energy World senior content director John Engel and Tigercomm president Mike Casey. The show is produced by Brian Mendes with research support from Alex Petersen and Clare Quirin.
Registration is LIVE for GridTECH Connect Forum - California. Join us in Newport Beach June 24-26 for the interconnection event. We're bringing together utilities, developers, and regulators to take on one of the biggest challenges facing the energy transition. Click here to save 10% on your ticket. Join partners from PG&E, CAISO, ENGIE, AES, and more.
Christian Roselund has a strategy for when a new solar tariff petition drops.
Turn off your phone. Then get to reading. Had he failed to follow these rules in April, Roselund, a senior policy analyst at Clean Energy Associates, would have gotten an ear full from developers fearful of yet another tariff fight.
U.S. solar manufacturing giants First Solar and QCells are putting their weight behind the latest threat to an already fragile supply chain, and it could be much worse than the one that brought the industry to its knees just two years ago.
Roselund joined Episode 78 of the Factor This! podcast to break down the impact of the newest attempt to tamp down China's solar dominance.
Watch the full episode on YouTube
Registration is LIVE for GridTECH Connect Forum - California. Join us in Newport Beach June 24-26 for the interconnection event. We're bringing together utilities, developers, and regulators to take on one of the biggest challenges facing the energy transition. Click here to save 10% on your ticket. Join partners from PG&E, CAISO, ENGIE, AES, and more.
Watch every new episode of the Factor This! podcast on the Renewable Energy World YouTube channel, and make sure to subscribe while you're there!
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week's episode features The Guardian's Dharna Norr, who reported on an effort by Vermont leaders to force fossil fuel companies to pay for their emissions impacts.
This Week in Cleantech — June 7, 2024
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is CleanCapital co-founder Jon Powers!
- Renewable Energy Wins for Now in Michigan as Local Control Measure Fails to Make Ballot — Inside Climate News
- World’s biggest solar farm goes online, big enough to power a country — The Independent
- How Electric Car Batteries Might Aid the Grid (and Win Over Drivers) — The New York Times
- How a simple fix could double the size of the U.S. electricity grid — The Washington Post
- ‘Game-changing’: Vermont becomes first state to require big oil to pay for climate damages — The Guardian
Watch the full episode on YouTube
Help make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to rew@clarionevents.com. And don’t forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.
Join us every Friday for new episodes of This Week in Cleantech in the Factor This! podcast feed, and tune into new episodes of Factor This! every Monday.
This Week in Cleantech is hosted by Renewable Energy World senior content director John Engel and Tigercomm president Mike Casey. The show is produced by Brian Mendes with research support from Alex Petersen and Clare Quirin.
Registration is LIVE for GridTECH Connect Forum - California. Join us in Newport Beach June 24-26 for the interconnection event. We're bringing together utilities, developers, and regulators to take on one of the biggest challenges facing the energy transition. Click here to save 10% on your ticket. Join partners from PG&E, CAISO, ENGIE, AES, and more.
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week’s episode features Stephen Robert Miller, who wrote for Yale E360 about an effort to convert existing oil wells for long-duration storage of solar energy.
This Week in Cleantech — May 31, 2024
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Gregg Patterson, CEO of Origami Solar!
- The U.S. just took its biggest step yet to end coal mining — The Washington Post
- Opinion | Can Biden Win America’s Green Tech Trade War With China? — The New York Times
- How red Texas became a model for green energy — The Financial Times
- Biden’s Long Game on Climate — Heatmap News
- Can a California Oilfield Be Retrofitted to Store Solar Energy? — Yale Environment 360
Watch the full episode on YouTubeHelp make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to rew@clarionevents.com. And don’t forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.
Join us every Friday for new episodes of This Week in Cleantech in the Factor This! podcast feed, and tune into new episodes of Factor This! every Monday.
This Week in Cleantech is hosted by Renewable Energy World senior content director John Engel and Tigercomm president Mike Casey. The show is produced by Brian Mendes with research support from Alex Petersen and Clare Quirin.
Registration is LIVE for GridTECH Connect Forum - California. Join us in Newport Beach June 24-26 for the interconnection event. We're bringing together utilities, developers, and regulators to take on one of the biggest challenges facing the energy transition. Click here to save 10% on your ticket. Join partners from PG&E, CAISO, ENGIE, AES, and more.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has unveiled landmark new rules in attempt to jumpstart the beleaguered transmission system in the U.S. Many are already calling it the most impactful action by the agency in decades, providing a path to meet the needs of the energy transition.
Taken together, Orders 1920 and 1977 total more than 1,500 pages, requiring long-term, proactive transmission planning and providing a backstop to some key siting disputes.
But experts say there's still plenty of work ahead, and challenges to the rules are likely.
Episode 77 of the Factor This! podcast features Tory Lauterbach, a partner in the energy and climate practice at Foley Hoag LLP, who breaks down what FERC did, and didn't, do to boost transmission.
Watch the full episode on YouTube
Disclaimer: This interview was recorded on May 14, 2024. Relative time references like “yesterday” or ”two days ago” refer to the timing on the date of recording. Tory Lauterbach's commentary is provided for educational and entertainment purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
Registration is LIVE for GridTECH Connect Forum - California. Join us in Newport Beach June 24-26 for the interconnection event. We're bringing together utilities, developers, and regulators to take on one of the biggest challenges facing the energy transition. Click here to save 10% on your ticket. Join partners from PG&E, CAISO, ENGIE, AES, and more.
Watch every new episode of the Factor This! podcast on the Renewable Energy World YouTube channel, and make sure to subscribe while you're there!
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week's episode features Oliver Milman, an environment reporter for The Guardian, who covered a new report that casts doubt on sustainable aviation fuel prospects.
This Week in Cleantech — May 17, 2024
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Paul Carp, Independent Climate Consultant for his recently launched Carpe Diem Climate Consulting
- Biden sharply hikes US tariffs on an array of Chinese imports — Reuters
- FERC shakes up power industry with landmark grid rule — E&E News
- What Trump promised oil CEOs as he asked them to steer $1 billion to his campaign — The Washington Post
- As Ohio clamps down on clean energy, recent changes make it easier to force landowners to allow oil and gas drilling — Energy News Network
- ‘Magical thinking’: hopes for sustainable jet fuel not realistic, report finds — The Guardian
Watch the full episode on YouTube
Help make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to rew@clarionevents.com. And don’t forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.
Join us every Friday for new episodes of This Week in Cleantech in the Factor This! podcast feed, and tune into new episodes of Factor This! every Monday.
This Week in Cleantech is hosted by Renewable Energy World senior content director John Engel and Tigercomm president Mike Casey. The show is produced by Brian Mendes with research support from Alex Petersen and Clare Quirin.
Registration is LIVE for GridTECH Connect Forum - California. Join us in Newport Beach June 24-26 for the interconnection event. We're bringing together utilities, developers, and regulators to take on one of the biggest challenges facing the energy transition. Click here to save 10% on your ticket. Join partners from PG&E, CAISO, ENGIE, AES, and more.
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This Week in Cleantech — May 10, 2024This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Lara Hamsher, Director of Stakeholder Relations, Social Impact and Sustainability for AES Clean Energy!
- Battery Recycling Shatters the Myth of Electric-Vehicle Waste — Bloomberg
- Renewable energy passes 30% of world’s electricity supply — The Guardian
- A Century-Old Company The Government Owns Wants To Solve A Big Energy Problem — HuffPost
- Giant Batteries Are Transforming the Way the U.S. Uses Electricity — New York Times
- Biden's tax credits for sustainable aviation fuel allow a big role for corn ethanol — Semafor
Watch the full episode on YouTubeHelp make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to rew@clarionevents.com. And don’t forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.
Join us every Friday for new episodes of This Week in Cleantech in the Factor This! podcast feed, and tune into new episodes of Factor This! every Monday.
This Week in Cleantech is hosted by Renewable Energy World senior content director John Engel and Tigercomm president Mike Casey. The show is produced by Brian Mendes with research support from Alex Petersen and Clare Quirin.
Registration is LIVE for GridTECH Connect Forum - California. Join us in Newport Beach June 24-26 for the interconnection event. We're bringing together utilities, developers, and regulators to take on one of the biggest challenges facing the energy transition. Click here to save 10% on your ticket. Join partners from PG&E, CAISO, ENGIE, AES, and more.
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week’s episode features Washington Post climate reporter Maxine Joselow, who reported on a new ruling by the EPA to curb power plant emissions.
This Week in Cleantech — May 3, 2024This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Justina Whipkey, the mill supervisor at a JM Steel plant outside Pittsburgh that just tripled capacity to supply trackers to solar projects throughout the region.
- In America’s Biggest Oil Field, the Ground Is Swelling and Buckling — Wall Street Journal
- Musk Plans More Layoffs as Two Senior Tesla Executives Depart — The Information
- Sodium Batteries From Michigan Challenge Lithium’s Grip on Energy Transition — Bloomberg
- Biden completes permitting rule — Axios
- New rules will slash air, water and climate pollution from U.S. power plants — Washington Post
Help make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to rew@clarionevents.com. And don’t forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.
Join us every Friday for new episodes of This Week in Cleantech in the Factor This! podcast feed, and tune into new episodes of Factor This! every Monday.
This Week in Cleantech is hosted by Renewable Energy World senior content director John Engel and Tigercomm president Mike Casey. The show is produced by Brian Mendes with research support from Alex Petersen and Clare Quirin.
Registration is LIVE for GridTECH Connect Forum - California. Join us in Newport Beach June 24-26 for the interconnection event. We're bringing together utilities, developers, and regulators to take on one of the biggest challenges facing the energy transition. Click here to save 10% on your ticket. Join partners from PG&E, CAISO, ENGIE, AES, and more.
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week’s episode features AP News climate solutions reporter Alexa St. John, who reported on new polling that tests whether or not the Inflation Reduction Act is resonating with voters.
This Week in Cleantech — April 26, 2024
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Antoine Wagschal, Sales Director of Southeast Asia at Nextracker!
- Why Europe is the fastest-warming continent on Earth — NPR
- Biden wants to triple China tariffs on steel, aluminum imports — CNBC
- U.S. Solar Factories Urge Biden To Crack Down On China — HuffPost
- Energy-Guzzling AI Is Also the Future of Energy Savings — Wall Street Journal
- Climate change concerns grow, but few think Biden's climate law will help, an AP-NORC poll finds — AP News
Help make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to rew@clarionevents.com. And don’t forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.
Join us every Friday for new episodes of This Week in Cleantech in the Factor This! podcast feed, and tune into new episodes of Factor This! every Monday.
This Week in Cleantech is hosted by Renewable Energy World senior content director John Engel and Tigercomm president Mike Casey. The show is produced by Brian Mendes with research support from Alex Petersen and Clare Quirin.
Registration is LIVE for GridTECH Connect Forum - California. Join us in Newport Beach June 24-26 for the interconnection event. We're bringing together utilities, developers, and regulators to take on one of the biggest challenges facing the energy transition. Click here to save 10% on your ticket. Join partners from PG&E, CAISO, ENGIE, AES, and more.
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week’s episode features E&E News reporter Christian Robles who covered the controversial debate over federal green hydrogen incentive rules.
This Week in Cleantech — April 5, 2024This week’s “Cleantecher of the Week” goes to Bill Weihl, who is transitioning from ClimateVoice’s Co-Executive Director to the role of Founder & Chief Strategic Advisor.
- Berkeley Will Repeal Its Landmark Ban on Natural Gas in New Homes — The New York Times
- BlackRock Issued Legal Warning Over ESG Strategy by Mississippi — Bloomberg
- Can We Engineer Our Way Out of the Climate Crisis? — The New York Times
- NOAA gets dire warning about solar geoengineering — POLITICO
- How do you ensure hydrogen is ‘clean’? Treasury rules draw fire. – E&E News
Watch the full episode on YouTubeHelp make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to rew@clarionevents.com. And don’t forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.
Registration is LIVE for GridTECH Connect Forum - California. Join us in Newport Beach June 24-26 for the interconnection event. We're bringing together utilities, developers, and regulators to take on one of the biggest challenges facing the energy transition. Click here to save 10% on your ticket. Join partners from PG&E, CAISO, ENGIE, AES, and more.
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week's episode features Kelly Livingston of ABC News who covered the EPA's new vehicle standards meant to spur the adoption of electric and hybrid vehicles.
This Week in Cleantech — March 29, 2024This week’s “Cleantecher(s) of the Week” are Michael Tekabe, chief operating officer, and Hayat Bedane, engineering lead at Kubik, an Africa-based startup.
- Yellen Warns China Against Flood of Cheap Green Energy Exports — The New York Times
- Oil Executives Are Getting Refreshingly Honest These Days — The New Republic
- US Announces $6 Billion to Clean Up Heavy Manufacturing — Bloomberg
- The Last Coal-Fired Power Plants in New England Are to Close — The New York Times
- New EPA vehicle standards would cut US emissions, ramp up pressure for more EVs — ABC News
Watch the full episode on YouTube
Help make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to rew@clarionevents.com. And don’t forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.
Registration is LIVE for GridTECH Connect Forum - California. Join us in Newport Beach June 24-26 for the interconnection event. We're bringing together utilities, developers, and regulators to take on one of the biggest challenges facing the energy transition. Click here to save 10% on your ticket. Join partners from PG&E, CAISO, ENGIE, AES, and more.
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week’s episode features Heatmap's Andrew Moseman who reported on a dilemma facing rooftop solar owners and the beleaguered industry: is it better to save your solar, or sell it?
This Week in Cleantech — March 22 2024This week’s “Cleantecher of the Week” is Sylvia Leyva Martinez, Principal Analyst at Wood Mackenzie!
- How the World’s Biggest Plane Would Supersize Wind Energy — The Wall Street Journal
- Bill Gates’ TerraPower plans to build first US next-generation nuclear plant — Financial Times
- The Zombies of the U.S. Tax Code: Why Fossil Fuels Subsidies Seem Impossible to Kill — New York Times
- Britain to import energy from US under plan for transatlantic power cable — The Telegraph
- Is It Better to Save Your Solar, or Sell It? — Heatmap
Watch the full episode on YouTubeHelp make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to rew@clarionevents.com. And don’t forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.
Registration is LIVE for GridTECH Connect Forum - California. Join us in Newport Beach June 24-26 for the interconnection event. We're bringing together utilities, developers, and regulators to take on one of the biggest challenges facing the energy transition. Click here to save 10% on your ticket. Join partners from PG&E, CAISO, ENGIE, AES, and more.
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week's episode features Syris Valentine, who reported in Grist on private capital that has followed the Inflation Reduction Act.
This Week in Cleantech — March 15, 2024This week’s “Cleantecher of the Week” is Riley Neugebauer!1. How China Came to Dominate the World in Solar Energy — The New York Times
2. Emissions hit a record high in 2023. Blame hydropower — MIT Tech Review
3. How changes to Hawaiʻi’s home battery program could hinder its clean energy transition — Grist
4. Does Rooftop Solar Actually Help the Climate? — Heatmap’s “Shift Key”
5. The IRA has injected $240 billion into clean energy. The US still needs more. — Grist
Watch the full episode on YouTubeHelp make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to rew@clarionevents.com. And don’t forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.
Registration is LIVE for GridTECH Connect Forum - California. Join us in Newport Beach June 24-26 for the interconnection event. We're bringing together utilities, developers, and regulators to take on one of the biggest challenges facing the energy transition. Click here to save 10% on your ticket. Join partners from PG&E, CAISO, ENGIE, AES, and more.
Distributed generation doesn't quite grab the headlines like utility-scale. A megawatt here, a few megawatts there pales in comparison to multi-gigawatt projects spanning thousands of acres.
But Nexamp — the Boston-based community solar developer — is proving scale isn't monolithic. Bit by bit, the company has become one of the most influential developers in the country, both in deploying projects and influencing policy, with a private valuation surpassing $1 billion. That's unicorn status for a so-called small player.
Episode 76 of the Factor This! podcast features Zaid Ashai, the cerebral CEO who built Nexamp into a forceful DG platform. Ashai shares his outlook for the crowded community solar market, the potential impact of Donald Trump returning to the White House, and why, now, solar is only the beginning.
That's all next on Factor This!
Registration is LIVE for GridTECH Connect Forum - California. Join us in Newport Beach June 24-26 for the interconnection event. We're bringing together utilities, developers, and regulators to take on one of the biggest challenges facing the energy transition. Click here to save 10% on your ticket. Join partners from PG&E, CAISO, ENGIE, AES, and more.
Watch every new episode of the Factor This! podcast on the Renewable Energy World YouTube channel, and make sure to subscribe while you're there!
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This Week in Cleantech — March 8, 2024This week’s “Cleantecher of the Week” is EDP CEO Miguel Stilwell d'Andrade!
- Spanish Power Is Almost Free With Renewables Set for Record — Bloomberg
- Fury after Exxon chief says public to blame for climate failures — The Guardian
- New York Awards Offshore Wind Deals to Orsted, Equinor — Bloomberg
- New satellites will make oil and gas companies’ methane emissions public — The Washington Post
- Amid explosive demand, America is running out of power
Watch the full video on YouTubeHelp make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to rew@clarionevents.com. And don’t forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.
Registration is LIVE for GridTECH Connect Forum - California. Join us in Newport Beach June 24-26 for the interconnection event. We're bringing together utilities, developers, and regulators to take on one of the biggest challenges facing the energy transition. Click here to save 10% on your ticket. Join partners from PG&E, CAISO, ENGIE, AES, and more.
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less. This week's episode was recorded live from DISTRIBUTECH International, North America's largest transmission and distribution utility event.
This week's episode features Latitude Media co-founder Stephen Lacey, whose podcast Carbon Copy, broke down the latest data on clean energy investment and whether it's enough to achieve climate goals.
This Week in Cleantech — March 2, 2024This week’s “Cleantecher of the Week” is Jon Pevitali from VDE Americas.1. Profiteering Hampers U.S. Grid Expansion — IEEE Spectrum
2. Coal's influence on energy generation is fading fast — Axios
3. Why Oil Stocks Aren’t That Hot — The New York Times
4. How BYD and CATL’s Solid-state Battery Partnership Impacts Toyota And Tesla — TopSpeed
5. Views on the $1.8 trillion clean energy economy — Latitude Media’s “Carbon Copy”
Watch the full episode on YouTubeHelp make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to rew@clarionevents.com. And don’t forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.
This Week in Cleantech is hosted by Renewable Energy World senior content director John Engel and Tigercomm president Mike Casey. The show is produced by Brian Mendes with research support from Alex Petersen and Clare Quirin.
Registration is LIVE for GridTECH Connect Forum - California. Join us in Newport Beach June 24-26 for the interconnection event. We're bringing together utilities, developers, and regulators to take on one of the biggest challenges facing the energy transition. Click here to save 10% on your ticket. Join partners from PG&E, CAISO, ENGIE, AES, and more.
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less. Produced by Renewable Energy World and Tigercomm, This Week in Cleantech will air every Friday in the Factor This! podcast feed wherever you get your podcasts.
This week’s episode features Amanda Chu, US energy reporter for the Financial Times, who reported on President Biden’s challenge of making investments in clean energy and infrastructure resonate with voters.
This Week in Cleantech — Feb. 23, 2024
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Dan Shugar, CEO of the Nextracker, which was recently featured on CNBC's "Mad Money" for its successful IPO and stock performance.
- JPMorgan, State Street quit climate group, BlackRock steps back — Reuters
- 'We got your money, see ya': Customers frustrated by Encor Solar closure — WRAL
- How the housing industry is working to stop energy efficient homes — The Washington Post
- A traditional automaker just turned a profit on EVs — CNN
- Biden’s clean energy conundrums — Financial Times
Watch the full episode on YouTube
Help make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to rew@clarionevents.com. And don’t forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.
Registration is LIVE for GridTECH Connect Forum - California. Join us in Newport Beach June 24-26 for the interconnection event. We're bringing together utilities, developers, and regulators to take on one of the biggest challenges facing the energy transition. Click here to save 10% on your ticket. Join partners from PG&E, CAISO, ENGIE, AES, and more.
Most CEOs are deliberate and careful, often neutering commentary of any hint of controversy. Sheldon Kimber is not like most CEOs.
He's known to pen a thousand words, or two, on the ebbs and flows of the energy transition. His comments are not always complimentary. But they're aimed at pushing the industry toward new heights.
Don't be mistaken— Kimber is deliberate, too. He uses his voice not for attention, but because he passionately believes the clean energy industry needs an unashamed advocate.
His latest campaign may be his most bold. In Episode 75 of the Factor This! podcast, Kimber shares why you should forget everything you know about clean energy development. He's convinced a fresh business model is necessary to sustain an industry battered by rising capital costs, which have shaken even the likes of sector king NextEra.
Clean energy is in desperate need of a new bellwether, and way of thinking, to survive and thrive. Kimber, and Intersect Power, say they are ready to lead the charge.
Watch the full episode on YouTube
Registration is LIVE for GridTECH Connect Forum - California. Join us in Newport Beach June 24-26 for the interconnection event. We're bringing together utilities, developers, and regulators to take on one of the biggest challenges facing the energy transition. Click here to save 10% on your ticket. Join partners from PG&E, CAISO, ENGIE, AES, and more.
Watch every new episode of the Factor This! podcast on the Renewable Energy World YouTube channel, and make sure to subscribe while you're there!
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less. Produced by Renewable Energy World and Tigercomm, This Week in Cleantech will air every Friday in the Factor This! podcast feed wherever you get your podcasts.
This week’s episode features Latitude Media founding reporter Maeve Allsup, who covered some of the challenges facing one of the first virtual power plants deployed in the U.S.
This Week in Cleantech - Feb. 16, 2024
This week’s “Cleantecher of the Week” is world-renowned Climate Scientist Michael Mann.
- This Arctic Circle Town Expected a Green Energy Boom. Then Came Bidenomics. — New York Times
- California could make — or break — the Western grid — E&E News
- The world is reducing its reliance on fossil fuels – except for in three key sectors — The Guardian
- Fervo Energy Is Quickly Making Geothermal Cheaper — Heatmap News
- Under the hood of PG&E's summer VPP pilot with Sunrun — Latitude Media
Watch the full episode on YouTube
Help make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to rew@clarionevents.com. And don’t forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.
Registration is LIVE for GridTECH Connect Forum - California. Join us in Newport Beach June 24-26 for the interconnection event. We're bringing together utilities, developers, and regulators to take on one of the biggest challenges facing the energy transition. Click here to save 10% on your ticket. Join partners from PG&E, CAISO, ENGIE, AES, and more.
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less. Produced by Renewable Energy World and Tigercomm, This Week in Cleantech will air every Friday in the Factor This! podcast feed wherever you get your podcasts.
This week’s episode features USA Today national correspondent Elizabeth Weise, who reported on overwhelming local opposition to clean energy projects.
This Week in Cleantech — February 9, 2024This week’s “Cleantecher of the Week” is Tom Matzzie, CEO of CleanChoice Energy.
- Summer Has Long Stressed Electric Grids. Now Winter Does, Too. — New York Times
- ‘Gold’ hydrogen: The next clean fuel? — E&E News
- How bad is Tesla’s hazardous waste problem in California? — The Verge
- EV Slowdown Turns the Table for Leaders and Laggards — Bloomberg
- Across America, clean energy plants are being banned faster than they're being built — USA Today
Watch the full episode on YouTube
Help make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to rew@clarionevents.com. And don’t forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.
Registration is LIVE for GridTECH Connect Forum - California. Join us in Newport Beach June 24-26 for the interconnection event. We're bringing together utilities, developers, and regulators to take on one of the biggest challenges facing the energy transition. Click here to save 10% on your ticket. Join partners from PG&E, CAISO, ENGIE, AES, and more.
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less. Produced by Renewable Energy World and Tigercomm, This Week in Cleantech will air every Friday in the Factor This! podcast feed wherever you get your podcasts.
This week's episode features Associated Press climate change reporter Matthew Daly, who reported on President Biden's controversial pause on considering new LNG export terminals.
This Week in Cleantech — Feb. 2, 2024 (not Jan. 26!)
This week’s “Cleantecher of the Week” is Jimmy Rogers, Manager of Communications at Redaptive.
- The Rooftop Solar Industry Could Be On the Verge of Collapse — TIME
- U.S. Oil Drillers Are Going Electric—if They Can Get the Electricity — Wall Street Journal
- China Leads Global Clean Energy Spending, Which Record $1.8 Trillion in 2023 — Bloomberg
- The Coolest Thing in Climate Tech is a Super Hot Rock — Heatmap News
- Liquefied Natural Gas: What to know about LNG and Biden's decision to delay gas export proposals — Associated Press
Watch the full episode on YouTubeHelp make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to rew@clarionevents.com. And don’t forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.
Registration is LIVE for GridTECH Connect Forum - California. Join us in Newport Beach June 24-26 for the interconnection event. We're bringing together utilities, developers, and regulators to take on one of the biggest challenges facing the energy transition. Click here to save 10% on your ticket. Join partners from PG&E, CAISO, ENGIE, AES, and more.
By all accounts, community solar looks like an unstoppable force. One of the hottest clean energy sectors continues to flourish thanks to new markets and rich incentives.
But it's also getting tougher. First-mover states are saturating, fueling intense competition. And those rich incentives? They're increasingly tied to serving elusive low-income customers often skeptical of promises that are too good to be true.
So what's in store for community solar in 2024?
Episode 74 of the Factor This! podcast features Bruce Stewart, the CEO of community solar subscriber management platform Perch Energy.
Stewart maps out new markets on the way this year, breaks down the challenge of acquiring, and keeping, low-income customers, and shares the latest on the highly-anticipated reboot of California's troubled community solar program.
Watch the full episode on YouTube
Registration is LIVE for GridTECH Connect Forum - California. Join us in Newport Beach June 24-26 for the interconnection event. We're bringing together utilities, developers, and regulators to take on one of the biggest challenges facing the energy transition. Click here to save 10% on your ticket. Join partners from PG&E, CAISO, ENGIE, AES, and more.
Watch every new episode of the Factor This! podcast on the Renewable Energy World YouTube channel, and make sure to subscribe while you're there!
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less. Produced by Renewable Energy World and Tigercomm, This Week in Cleantech will air every Friday in the Factor This! podcast feed wherever you get your podcasts.
This week's episode features Quillian Robinson, an associate fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, who wrote an op-ed in TIME about the true cost of China's clean energy dominance.
This Week in Cleantech — Jan. 25, 2024This week’s “Cleantecher of the Week” is David Arfin, CEO of NineDot Energy. Send your nominations and story recommendations to rew@clarionevents.com.
1. Biden needs young voters. Can his climate policy rally them? — E&E News
2. US unveils solar energy plan for western public lands — Reuters
3. How Biden’s climate law spurred a tax credit revolution — Financial Times
4. Growth in low-emissions power expected to cover demand - IEA — Reuters
5. The True Cost of Chinese Solar Panels — TIMEWatch the full episode on YouTube
Help make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to rew@clarionevents.com. And don’t forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.
Registration is LIVE for GridTECH Connect Forum - California. Join us in Newport Beach June 24-26 for the interconnection event. We're bringing together utilities, developers, and regulators to take on one of the biggest challenges facing the energy transition. Click here to save 10% on your ticket. Join partners from PG&E, CAISO, ENGIE, AES, and more.
A common knock on distributed energy resources, or DERs, is that they don't scale.
DERs uniquely provide resilience and defer grid upgrades. But their bespoke nature leads to highly-customized and expensive projects compared to larger projects that offer more routine system designs.
But what if DERs could capitalize on the same efficiencies that fueled the rapid deployment of utility-scale solar and storage? Small-scale could go big… in a big way.
Episode 73 of the Factor This! podcast features Dr. Michael Stadler, who wrote much of the early research on microgrid design and optimization. He's now the chief technology officer for software startup Xendee, which aims to bring speed and efficiency to DER deployment.
Watch the full episode on YouTube
Registration is LIVE for GridTECH Connect Forum - California. Join us in Newport Beach June 24-26 for the interconnection event. We're bringing together utilities, developers, and regulators to take on one of the biggest challenges facing the energy transition. Click here to save 10% on your ticket. Join partners from PG&E, CAISO, ENGIE, AES, and more.
Watch every new episode of the Factor This! podcast on the Renewable Energy World YouTube channel, and make sure to subscribe while you're there!
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less. Produced by Renewable Energy World and Tigercomm, This Week in Cleantech will air every Friday in the Factor This! podcast feed wherever you get your podcasts.
This week’s episode features Grist reporter Kate Yoder, who breaks down a new trend of corporations "greenhushing," or limiting what they say about sustainability efforts.
This Week in Cleantech — Jan. 19, 2024This week’s “Cleantecher of the Week” is Rondo Energy's Helen Sweet. Nominate your picks for "Cleantecher of the Week" by emailing the show.
- Winter storm tests Texas green grid upgrades — The Washington Post2. Octopus Energy Has Texas-Size Ambitions — The Wall Street Journal3. States with big climate goals strip local power to block green projects — AP News4. California Has Dealt a Blow to Renewable Energy, Some Businesses Say — The New York Times5. Companies are hiding their climate progress. A new report explains why. — GristWatch the full episode on YouTubeHelp make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to rew@clarionevents.com. And don’t forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.
Registration is LIVE for GridTECH Connect Forum - California. Join us in Newport Beach June 24-26 for the interconnection event. We're bringing together utilities, developers, and regulators to take on one of the biggest challenges facing the energy transition. Click here to save 10% on your ticket. Join partners from PG&E, CAISO, ENGIE, AES, and more.
Three decades ago, FERC recommended implementing independent entities to manage regional power markets and system planning.
The resulting seven RTOs and ISOs have largely been successful. But now experts believe they've become part of the problem, exacerbating the country's woefully inadequate supply of transmission, allegedly by pandering to utility interests.
Episode 72 of the Factor This! podcast features Ari Peskoe, an expert on transmission policy and the director of the Electricity Law Initiative at Harvard.
Peskoe shares his recent research on how regional grid operators have failed to evolve with the advent of clean energy technology, and why a reboot could be the key to realizing an electrified future.
Watch the episode on YouTube
Registration is LIVE for GridTECH Connect Forum - California. Join us in Newport Beach June 24-26 for the interconnection event. We're bringing together utilities, developers, and regulators to take on one of the biggest challenges facing the energy transition. Click here to save 10% on your ticket. Join partners from PG&E, CAISO, ENGIE, AES, and more.
Watch every new episode of the Factor This! podcast on the Renewable Energy World YouTube channel, and make sure to subscribe while you're there!
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week’s episode features Floodlight News investigative reporter Mario Alejandro Ariza, who reported on how utilities used money to influence civil rights leaders in the South.
This Week in Cleantech — Jan. 11, 2024This week’s “Cleantecher of the Week” is Scott Kubly, who last week shared an introspective post about the challenges and joys of launching, and leading, a cleantech company. Nominate your picks for "Cleantecher of the Week" by emailing the show.
- The Problem With De-Risking: Transitioning to Clean Energy Requires Trade With China — Foreign Affairs
- Housing wind fall — Semafor
- Smart Energy Use Draws Big Money From Private Equity — Bloomberg
- New York jump-starts the "building decarbonization" trend — Axios
- Power companies paid civil rights leaders in the US south. They became loyal industry advocates — Floodlight News
Watch the full episode on YouTube
Help make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to rew@clarionevents.com. And don’t forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.
Registration is LIVE for GridTECH Connect Forum - California. Join us in Newport Beach June 24-26 for the interconnection event. We're bringing together utilities, developers, and regulators to take on one of the biggest challenges facing the energy transition. Click here to save 10% on your ticket. Join partners from PG&E, CAISO, ENGIE, AES, and more.
When Jenny Chase speaks or, more frequently, tweets, the solar industry listens.
For nearly 20 years, Chase has chronicled the twists and turns of solar's meteoric growth as a market analyst for BloombergNEF. Her research is indispensable. Her annual prediction mega-threads are legendary.
As much as the moniker makes her squirm, Chase is the closest solar has to an oracle. She joined Episode 71 of the Factor This! podcast to discuss her spiciest predictions for 2024, as well as the release of the second edition of her book, Solar Power Finance Without the Jargon, which is available now.
Watch the full episode on YouTube
Registration is LIVE for GridTECH Connect Forum - California. Join us in Newport Beach June 24-26 for the interconnection event. We're bringing together utilities, developers, and regulators to take on one of the biggest challenges facing the energy transition. Click here to save 10% on your ticket. Join partners from PG&E, CAISO, ENGIE, AES, and more.
Watch every new episode of the Factor This! podcast on the Renewable Energy World YouTube channel, and make sure to subscribe while you're there!
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week’s episode features reporter Renee Fox from WOSU Public Media, which launched a new podcast series chronicling the $61 million bribery scandal involving FirstEnergy and former Ohio House of Representatives Speaker Larry Householder.
This Week in Cleantech — Dec. 22, 2023This week’s “Cleantecher of the Week” is Julia McPherson, Manager of Community Relations at EDP Renewables. Send your nominations, and story recommendations, to rew@clarionevents.com.
- What No One at COP28 Wanted to Say Out Loud: Prepare for 1.5 Degrees — New York Times
- Volkswagen, Audi, And Porsche Finally Commit To Using Tesla’s NACS Plug — InsideEV’s
- The United States is producing more oil than any country in history — CNN
- US Treasury unveils rules for clean energy manufacturing subsidy — Reuters
- The Power Grab — WOSU Public Media
Watch the full episode on YouTube
Help make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to rew@clarionevents.com. And don’t forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.
Registration is LIVE for GridTECH Connect Forum - California. Join us in Newport Beach June 24-26 for the interconnection event. We're bringing together utilities, developers, and regulators to take on one of the biggest challenges facing the energy transition. Click here to save 10% on your ticket. Join partners from PG&E, CAISO, ENGIE, AES, and more.
Battery storage is booming in the U.S., and for good reason. So much intermittent renewable energy on the grid demands flexible resources to fill gaps. And, short of reverting back to fossil fuels, batteries are the best answer to support the energy transition.
Investors have poured billions of dollars into battery storage development to cash in, largely based on speculative opportunities. But there's one problem: markets have been slow to evolve, leading to an uptick in consolidation and growing uncertainty about the path ahead.
A battery bubble may be forming. What happens if it pops?
Episode 70 of the Factor This! podcast answers that question by taking an intimate look at the two top battery markets in the U.S. — California and Texas — and their diverging trajectories.
Guests:
Jason Burwen, VP of Policy & Strategy, GridStor
Cody Hill, SVP, REV Renewables
Renae Steichen, Director of Regulatory Affairs, REV Renewables
Watch the full episode on YouTube
Registration is LIVE for GridTECH Connect Forum - California. Join us in Newport Beach June 24-26 for the interconnection event. We're bringing together utilities, developers, and regulators to take on one of the biggest challenges facing the energy transition. Click here to save 10% on your ticket. Join partners from PG&E, CAISO, ENGIE, AES, and more.
Watch every new episode of the Factor This! podcast on the Renewable Energy World YouTube channel, and make sure to subscribe while you're there!
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week’s episode features science journalist Maddie Stone who reported in Grist about the challenges facing electric vehicle battery repair.
This Week in Cleantech — Dec. 15, 2023This week’s “Cleantecher of the Week” is Robin Laine, co-founder and CEO of renewable SaaS company Transect.
- Transmission rulings pave path for renewable energy — E&E News
- Tesla recalls nearly all vehicles on US roads over lack of Autopilot safeguards — Reuters
- Solar and Wind to Top Coal Power in US for First Time in 2024 — Bloomberg
- Nations at COP28 Agree for First Time to Transition From Fossil Fuels — Wall Street Journal
- EV battery repair is dangerous. Here’s why mechanics want to do it anyway — Grist
Watch the full episode on YouTube
Help make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to rew@clarionevents.com. And don’t forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.
Registration is LIVE for GridTECH Connect Forum - California. Join us in Newport Beach June 24-26 for the interconnection event. We're bringing together utilities, developers, and regulators to take on one of the biggest challenges facing the energy transition. Click here to save 10% on your ticket. Join partners from PG&E, CAISO, ENGIE, AES, and more.
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week’s episode features Inside Climate News reporter Dan Gearino who breaks down plummeting prices for batteries, and why it's good news for the climate.
This Week in Cleantech — Dec. 8, 2023This week’s “Cleantecher of the Week” is Ryan Quint, Director of Engineering and Security Integration at NERC. You can hear more about Ryan in Episode 67 of Factor This! 1. Hydrogen Industry Signals Alarm Over Proposed US Tax Credits — Bloomberg
2. New California rules are crushing the solar industry — PBS
3. Treasury Department lays out EV tax credit foreign sourcing rules — Axios
4. Congress spent billions on EV chargers. But not one has come online — Politico
5. Battery Prices Are Falling Again, and That’s a Good Thing — Inside Climate News
Watch the full episode on YouTubeHelp make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to rew@clarionevents.com. And don’t forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.
Registration is LIVE for GridTECH Connect Forum - California. Join us in Newport Beach June 24-26 for the interconnection event. We're bringing together utilities, developers, and regulators to take on one of the biggest challenges facing the energy transition. Click here to save 10% on your ticket. Join partners from PG&E, CAISO, ENGIE, AES, and more.
I first met Dominion Energy CEO Bob Blue at a shipping terminal in Norfolk, Virginia.
We stood two years ago at the site that would one day support Dominion's buildout of the first commercial-scale offshore wind project in the U.S.
Since then, Siemens Gamesa, the turbine manufacturer plagued by a billion-dollar quality control flop, has pulled out of that project. And Dominion's Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind farm is one of only a few to survive (so far) the rough seas facing the nascent industry.
Offshore wind's future, while at times feeling bleak, got me thinking about the evolving role of investor-owned utilities in the energy transition. To be sure, utilities aren't seen as bastions of innovation, and are often criticized for slow-walking the fight against climate change. But maybe no other entity is equipped to shoulder the risk of incubating the raft of emerging technologies we desperately need for decarbonization.
Blue joined Episode 69 of the Factor This! podcast to break down Dominion's own ambitious carbon reduction plan, offshore wind's turbulent waters, and why the utility is leaning in on long-duration battery tech.
Watch the full episode on YouTube
Registration is LIVE for GridTECH Connect Forum - California. Join us in Newport Beach June 24-26 for the interconnection event. We're bringing together utilities, developers, and regulators to take on one of the biggest challenges facing the energy transition. Click here to save 10% on your ticket. Join partners from PG&E, CAISO, ENGIE, AES, and more.
Watch every new episode of the Factor This! podcast on the Renewable Energy World YouTube channel, and make sure to subscribe while you're there!
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week’s episode features Associated Press green energy reporter Jennifer McDermott who breaks down a monumental achievement for enhanced geothermal energy.
This Week in Cleantech — Dec. 1, 2023 This week’s “Cleantecher of the Week” is Lisa Jacobson, head of Business Council for Sustainable Energy. Send your nominations for "Cleantecher of the Week" to thisweekincleantech@tigercomm.us.
- The Biden Energy Slush Fund — Wall Street Journal
2. How Solar Sales Bros Threaten the Green Energy Transition — TIME
3. BP pays £254mn to take full control of solar joint venture Lightsource — Financial Times
4. The Salton Sea has even more lithium than previously thought, new report finds — LA Times
5. New Google geothermal electricity project could be a milestone for clean energy — Associated PressWatch the full episode on YouTubeHelp make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to ThisWeekInCleantech@tigercomm.us. And don’t forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.
Registration is LIVE for GridTECH Connect Forum - California. Join us in Newport Beach June 24-26 for the interconnection event. We're bringing together utilities, developers, and regulators to take on one of the biggest challenges facing the energy transition. Click here to save 10% on your ticket. Join partners from PG&E, CAISO, ENGIE, AES, and more.
Jeff Waters is always looking for a challenge. He thrives on chasing growth and the rush that comes by solving hard problems. And a maturing market often signals the need for a fresh start.
So it may come as no surprise that Waters found his way to battery storage, and one of its darlings, Oregon-based Powin Energy. The company, with 3 GWh of assets in operation, and another 12 GWh in production, is steadily separating itself from a pack of would-be contenders.
Waters got his start in semiconductors and later led solar module manufacturer Maxeon in its spinoff from SunPower into public markets. Only a few months into his new role as Powin's CEO, he's already positioning the company to be "IPO ready" for the time when the right opportunity arises. And it could be soon.
On Episode 68 of the Factor This! podcast, Waters highlights opportunities ahead for battery storage, weighs in on concerns of market saturation, and discusses a potential IPO timeline.
Watch the full episode on YouTube
Registration is LIVE for GridTECH Connect Forum - California. Join us in Newport Beach June 24-26 for the interconnection event. We're bringing together utilities, developers, and regulators to take on one of the biggest challenges facing the energy transition. Click here to save 10% on your ticket. Join partners from PG&E, CAISO, ENGIE, AES, and more.
Watch every new episode of the Factor This! podcast on the Renewable Energy World YouTube channel, and make sure to subscribe while you're there!
Solar, wind, and battery projects are displacing fossil fuel assets in an urgent push to address the threats of climate change.
But the race to decarbonize has created a new problem: In the absence of clear reliability standards, inverter-based resources are misbehaving and messing up the grid, despite repeated warnings.
Episode 67 of the Factor This! podcast features Ryan Quint, who oversees engineering and security integration for the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, which manages the bulk power system.
Quint shares why the sprint to deploy clean energy assets is leaving the grid vulnerable to reliability failures, and why the U.S. can't slow-walk a fix.
Watch the full episode on YouTube
Registration is LIVE for GridTECH Connect Forum - California. Join us in Newport Beach June 24-26 for the interconnection event. We're bringing together utilities, developers, and regulators to take on one of the biggest challenges facing the energy transition. Click here to save 10% on your ticket. Join partners from PG&E, CAISO, ENGIE, AES, and more.
Watch every new episode of the Factor This! podcast on the Renewable Energy World YouTube channel, and make sure to subscribe while you're there!
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week’s episode features Washington Post climate reporter Shannon Osaka, who reports why car dealer skepticism could be one of the biggest threats to electric vehicle adoption.
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Sarah Chatterjee, Director of Electrification Strategies and Programs at Electric Power Engineers. Send your nominations for "Cleantecher of the Week" to thisweekincleantech@tigercomm.us.
This Week in Cleantech — Nov. 17, 20231. Is advanced nuclear in trouble? What’s next after NuScale cancellation — E&E News
2. Alarmed' By Climate Change, U.S. And China Forge New Partnership To Tackle Fossil Fuels — HuffPost
3. Plug Power Shares Tank Most in a Decade on Hydrogen Crunch — Bloomberg
4. China’s Spending on Green Energy Is Causing a Global Glut — Wall Street Journal
5. Electric vehicles are hitting a road block: Car dealers — Washington Post
Watch the full episode on YouTube
Help make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to ThisWeekInCleantech@tigercomm.us. And don’t forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.
Registration is LIVE for GridTECH Connect Forum - California. Join us in Newport Beach June 24-26 for the interconnection event. We're bringing together utilities, developers, and regulators to take on one of the biggest challenges facing the energy transition. Click here to save 10% on your ticket. Join partners from PG&E, CAISO, ENGIE, AES, and more.
George Hershman's term as chair of solar's leading trade group began with optimism and excitement.
He stepped into the role with the Solar Energy Industries Association, or SEIA, in January 2020, when the industry's meteoric rise was all but cemented. Today, we know the tumultuous stretch that quickly followed.
A pandemic, supply chain constraints, and a potentially existential tariff fight made even the "solar coaster" moniker appear ill-equipped to describe the moment. But his tenure also featured a legacy-defining legislative victory in the Inflation Reduction Act.
Hershman joined Episode 66 of the Factor This! podcast to take us inside the critical behind-the-scenes deliberations that helped save solar.
As he prepares to vacate his chairmanship at the end of the year, Hershman defended SEIA’s not-so-subtle spat with the Biden administration in the Auxin Solar tariff fight, shared the organization's own battle to stay afloat, and laid out his vision for the sector's renewed growth trajectory.
Watch the full episode on YouTubeShow notes:
-George Hershman appeared on Episode 20 of the Factor This! podcast
Registration is LIVE for GridTECH Connect Forum - California. Join us in Newport Beach June 24-26 for the interconnection event. We're bringing together utilities, developers, and regulators to take on one of the biggest challenges facing the energy transition. Click here to save 10% on your ticket. Join partners from PG&E, CAISO, ENGIE, AES, and more.
Watch every new episode of the Factor This! podcast on the Renewable Energy World YouTube channel, and make sure to subscribe while you're there!
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week’s episode features The Hill energy and environment reporter Zack Budryks for a deeper look at Maine's public power referendum.
This Week in Cleantech — Nov. 10, 2023This week's Cleantecher of the Week is Karl Shinn, the Site GM at Soluna’s Project Dorothy. Karl has led Soluna’s operations team in the company’s flagship green data center, which is helping set the foundation for renewable energy’s future. Project Dorothy has already used and monetized over 4,000 GWh of green energy that would otherwise have been wasted through curtailment. Congratulations to Karl Shinn, our Cleantecher of the Week.
1. Can America’s south-east unseat Detroit as ‘Motown’ of the EV age? — Financial Times
2. This wind turbine looks like nothing you've ever seen before — Fast Company
3. Who Will Pay For All the Carbon Removal? — WSJ Climate and Energy Newsletter
4. How the fossil-fuel lobby weaponized Julia Child's gas stove — Vox
5. Mainers vote down ballot measure to create consumer-owned utility — The HillWatch the full video on YouTubeHelp make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to ThisWeekInCleantech@tigercomm.us. And don’t forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.
Registration is LIVE for GridTECH Connect Forum - California. Join us in Newport Beach June 24-26 for the interconnection event. We're bringing together utilities, developers, and regulators to take on one of the biggest challenges facing the energy transition. Click here to save 10% on your ticket. Join partners from PG&E, CAISO, ENGIE, AES, and more.
What does AI really mean for clean energy? These days, the answer is increasingly hard to find.
The AI craze, fueled by the popularization of tools like ChatGPT, has produced a frothy layer of contenders and pretenders.
But under it all are applications that could have a big impact on the energy transition. And we need all the help we can get.
To make sense of what's what, Albert Hofeldt, the senior vice president of technology for solar and battery storage software provider Stem, joins Episode 65 of the Factor This! podcast.
Hofeldt has spent a career analyzing and developing AI tools, and he explains how to separate meaningful technology from marketing hype. He also shares why Stem thinks you should be able to talk to, and with, your projects, and what they're building to make that a possibility very soon.
Watch the full episode on YouTube
Registration is LIVE for GridTECH Connect Forum - California. Join us in Newport Beach June 24-26 for the interconnection event. We're bringing together utilities, developers, and regulators to take on one of the biggest challenges facing the energy transition. Click here to save 10% on your ticket. Join partners from PG&E, CAISO, ENGIE, AES, and more.
Watch every new episode of the Factor This! podcast on the Renewable Energy World YouTube channel, and make sure to subscribe while you're there!
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week’s episode features Semafor climate and energy editor Tim McDonnell.
This Week in Cleantech — Nov. 3, 2023Congratulations to Lauren Glickman, and the Encore Renewable Energy team, for being named the first "Cleantecher of the Week!" Earlier this week, Encore energized the new Solar Research and Training Facility at the University of Vermont alongside Sen. Bernie Sanders. The facility will provide students with hands-on learning opportunities and help build the pipeline of talent the clean energy industry so desperately needs to continue growing. Congrats to Lauren and Encore!
1. Why some of the 'clean' hydrogen hubs in the U.S. plan to use natural gas, a fossil fuel — CNBC2. US commits $1.3 billion for power lines in West, Northeast — Reuters3. Ørsted cancels N.J. project in major blow to offshore wind — E&E News4. Toyota more than doubles investment and job creation at North Carolina battery plant — AP News5. A referendum on Biden’s climate agenda is coming — SemaforWatch the full episode on YouTubeHelp make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to ThisWeekInCleantech@tigercomm.us. And don’t forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.
Join us every Friday for new episodes of This Week in Cleantech in the Factor This! podcast feed, and tune into new episodes of Factor This! every Monday.
This Week in Cleantech is hosted by Renewable Energy World senior content director John Engel and Tigercomm president Mike Casey. The show is produced by Brian Mendes with research support from Alex Petersen and Clare Quirin.
Registration is LIVE for GridTECH Connect Forum - California. Join us in Newport Beach June 24-26 for the interconnection event. We're bringing together utilities, developers, and regulators to take on one of the biggest challenges facing the energy transition. Click here to save 10% on your ticket. Join partners from PG&E, CAISO, ENGIE, AES, and more.
Corporate demand for renewables, and the urgency of fighting climate change, fueled a decade of meteoric growth in clean energy.
But the facilitator of that surge — cheap capital — has all but disappeared. Inflation, high interest rates, and insufficient tax equity now call into question whether the growth trajectory can continue.
Episode 64 of the Factor This! podcast features Thomas Byrne, CEO of CleanCapital, a clean energy financier, developer, and asset owner.
Byrne shares how CleanCapital is navigating a "new normal" in clean energy capital markets, and breaks down the impact of macroeconomic headwinds on the speed of the energy transition.
Registration is LIVE for GridTECH Connect Forum - California. Join us in Newport Beach June 24-26 for the interconnection event. We're bringing together utilities, developers, and regulators to take on one of the biggest challenges facing the energy transition. Click here to save 10% on your ticket. Join partners from PG&E, CAISO, ENGIE, AES, and more.
Watch every new episode of the Factor This! podcast on the Renewable Energy World YouTube channel, and make sure to subscribe while you're there!
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week’s episode features Bloomberg senior reporter for climate Akshat Rathi, author of the forthcoming book Climate Capitalism.
This Week in Cleantech — Oct. 20, 20231.The Great Cash-for-Carbon Hustle — The New Yorker2. Why Arizona is threatening to pull the plug on solar — Semafor3. These seven U.S. regions will receive $7 billion in federal funding to produce hydrogen — CNBC4. Plus Power Raises $1.8 Billion for US Battery Projects — Bloomberg5. Climate Change Can't Overcome Capitalism, and That's OK — BloombergWatch the full episode on YouTubeHelp make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to ThisWeekInCleantech@tigercomm.us. And don’t forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.
Join us every Friday for new episodes of This Week in Cleantech in the Factor This! podcast feed, and tune into new episodes of Factor This! every Monday.
This Week in Cleantech is hosted by Renewable Energy World senior content director John Engel and Tigercomm president Mike Casey. The show is produced by Brian Mendes with research support from Alex Petersen and Clare Quirin.
Registration is LIVE for GridTECH Connect Forum - California. Join us in Newport Beach June 24-26 for the interconnection event. We're bringing together utilities, developers, and regulators to take on one of the biggest challenges facing the energy transition. Click here to save 10% on your ticket. Join partners from PG&E, CAISO, ENGIE, AES, and more.
More than 100 years ago, the electric grid was built by, and for, large industrial companies. What started with on-site power supply evolved into a network of factories that would later extend to nearby homes.
But along the way, the focus, at least for utilities, changed. Expensive upgrades, prolonged timelines, and reliability shortfalls are now fueling a trend of industrials taking back their power.
Episode 63 of the Factor This! podcast features Jereme Kent, CEO of One Energy, a C&I developer and asset owner pouncing on the opportunity to serve the nation's 53,000 largest energy consumers.
Kent takes us inside the shifting dynamic between industrials and utilities and One Energy's $300 million push into public markets.
Watch the full episode on YouTube
Registration is LIVE for GridTECH Connect Forum - California. Join us in Newport Beach June 24-26 for the interconnection event. We're bringing together utilities, developers, and regulators to take on one of the biggest challenges facing the energy transition. Click here to save 10% on your ticket. Join partners from PG&E, CAISO, ENGIE, AES, and more.
Watch every new episode of the Factor This! podcast on the Renewable Energy World YouTube channel, and make sure to subscribe while you're there!
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This Week in Cleantech — Oct. 13, 2023
1. Vermont Utility Plans to End Outages by Giving Customers Batteries — The New York Times
2. Saudi oil giant Aramco announces pilot project to suck CO2 out of the air, but some scientists are skeptical — CNBC
3. Siemens Energy considers factory, office closures at wind division — Reuters
4. What does the transition to EVs mean for workers? — The Hill
5. Three New California Climate Programs to Watch — Heatmap NewsWatch the full video on YouTube
Help make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to ThisWeekInCleantech@tigercomm.us. And don't forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.
This Week in Cleantech is hosted by Renewable Energy World senior content director John Engel and Tigercomm president Mike Casey. The show is produced by Brian Mendes with research support from Alex Petersen and Clare Quirin.
Registration is LIVE for GridTECH Connect Forum - California. Join us in Newport Beach June 24-26 for the interconnection event. We're bringing together utilities, developers, and regulators to take on one of the biggest challenges facing the energy transition. Click here to save 10% on your ticket. Join partners from PG&E, CAISO, ENGIE, AES, and more.
Monetizing clean energy tax credits is already tough enough. Critical to clean energy deployment, tax equity financing is both inefficient and undersupplied. And it could get a lot worse.
A rule proposed by banking authorities could have big impacts on the few remaining tax equity financiers by upending how they weight project risk. Simply put, the rule would quadruple capital requirements for banks holding tax equity investments.
Episode 62 of the Factor This! podcast features Hilary Lefko, a partner at the law firm Norton Rose Fulbright.
Lefko shares why the “Basel III” ruling could lead to "dire consequences" for the tax equity market and clean energy goals.
Watch the full episode on YouTube
Registration is LIVE for GridTECH Connect Forum - California. Join us in Newport Beach June 24-26 for the interconnection event. We're bringing together utilities, developers, and regulators to take on one of the biggest challenges facing the energy transition. Click here to save 10% on your ticket. Join partners from PG&E, CAISO, ENGIE, AES, and more.
Watch every new episode of the Factor This! podcast on the Renewable Energy World YouTube channel, and make sure to subscribe while you're there!
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less. Produced by Renewable Energy World and Tigercomm, This Week in Cleantech will air every Friday in the Factor This! podcast feed wherever you get your podcasts.
This week’s episode features Wall Street climate finance reporter Amrith Ramkumar who breaks down a major fundraising deal for green hydrogen startup Electric Hydrogen.
This Week in Cleantech — October 6, 20231. Americans don't hate living near solar and wind farms as much as you might think — The Washington Post and Renewable Energy Is Reckoning With Its Perception in Rural America — CNET
2. The US power grid quietly survived record summer heat waves without outages — Vox
3. Renewable energy stocks hit hard by higher interest rates — Financial Times
4. Underground thermal energy networks are becoming crucial to the US’s energy future — MIT Technology Review
5. The Secret Behind the First $1 Billion Green Hydrogen Startup — The Wall Street Journal Watch the full episode on YouTubeHelp make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to ThisWeekInCleantech@tigercomm.us. And don't forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.
Join us every Friday for new episodes of This Week in Cleantech in the Factor This! podcast feed, and tune into new episodes of Factor This! every Monday.
This Week in Cleantech is hosted by Renewable Energy World senior content director John Engel and Tigercomm president Mike Casey. The show is produced by Brian Mendes with research support from Alex Petersen and Clare Quirin.
Registration is LIVE for GridTECH Connect Forum - California. Join us in Newport Beach June 24-26 for the interconnection event. We're bringing together utilities, developers, and regulators to take on one of the biggest challenges facing the energy transition. Click here to save 10% on your ticket. Join partners from PG&E, CAISO, ENGIE, AES, and more.
40,000? 50,000? More? Whatever the number, there were a lot of people at this year's RE+ in Las Vegas.
While the event's exhibits are a focal point of the event — especially for pros sourcing solar modules, inverters, and batteries — the real action takes place in the side rooms, restaurants, and bars.
Episode 61 of the Factor This! podcast features Standard Solar president and CEO Scott Wiater, who takes us inside those critical conversations.
Watch the full episode on YouTube
Wiater offers a look into the headaches linked to Inflation Reduction Act implementation and financial market turmoil, as well as the unmissable sense of optimism that the industry will continue its meteoric growth.
That's all next on Factor This!
Registration is LIVE for GridTECH Connect Forum - California. Join us in Newport Beach June 24-26 for the interconnection event. We're bringing together utilities, developers, and regulators to take on one of the biggest challenges facing the energy transition. Click here to save 10% on your ticket. Join partners from PG&E, CAISO, ENGIE, AES, and more.
Watch every new episode of the Factor This! podcast on the Renewable Energy World YouTube channel, and make sure to subscribe while you're there!
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less. Produced by Renewable Energy World and Tigercomm, This Week in Cleantech will air every Friday in the Factor This! podcast feed wherever you get your podcasts.
This week’s episode features Washington Post business reporter Evan Halper who shares insights from his reporting on forced labor concerns linked to electric vehicle supply chains.
This Week in Cleantech — September 22, 20231. New battery recycling rules could be a game-changer in the EU's search for EV minerals — Grist
2. As Climate and Trade Become Intertwined, a Bipartisan Push for Carbon Tariffs is Emerging — TIME Magazine
3. How To Build A Climate-Friendly Skyscraper: Start Small. Petri-Dish Small. — Forbes
4. Inside Exxon’s Strategy to Downplay Climate Change — Wall Street Journal
5. EV makers’ use of Chinese suppliers raises concerns about forced labor — Washington Post
Watch the full episode on YouTubeHelp make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to ThisWeekInCleantech@tigercomm.us. And don't forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.
Join us every Friday for new episodes of This Week in Cleantech in the Factor This! podcast feed, and tune into new episodes of Factor This! every Monday.
This Week in Cleantech is hosted by Renewable Energy World senior content director John Engel and Tigercomm president Mike Casey. The show is produced by Brian Mendes with research support from Alex Petersen and Clare Quirin.
Registration is LIVE for GridTECH Connect Forum - California. Join us in Newport Beach June 24-26 for the interconnection event. We're bringing together utilities, developers, and regulators to take on one of the biggest challenges facing the energy transition. Click here to save 10% on your ticket. Join partners from PG&E, CAISO, ENGIE, AES, and more.
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less. Produced by Renewable Energy World and Tigercomm, This Week in Cleantech will air every Friday in the Factor This! podcast feed wherever you get your podcasts.
This week’s episode features Bloomberg energy reporter Mark Chediak who breaks down solar's growing pains and experiencing RE+ for the first time.
This Week in Cleantech — September 15, 20231. A Huge Lithium Discovery That Economists Were Expecting — Bloomberg
2. Carbon-free grid? There may not be enough workers to build it. — E&E News
3. Big Batteries Are Booming. So Are Fears They'll Catch Fire — WIRED
4. Update needed for 1872 mining law to boost clean energy, report says — Washington Post
5. US Solar’s Extraordinary Boom Brings Growing Pains — BloombergWatch the episode on YouTubeHelp make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to ThisWeekInCleantech@tigercomm.us. And don't forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.
Join us every Friday for new episodes of This Week in Cleantech in the Factor This! podcast feed, and tune into new episodes of Factor This! every Monday.
This Week in Cleantech is hosted by Renewable Energy World senior content director John Engel and Tigercomm president Mike Casey. The show is produced by Brian Mendes with research support from Alex Petersen and Clare Quirin.
Registration is LIVE for GridTECH Connect Forum - California. Join us in Newport Beach June 24-26 for the interconnection event. We're bringing together utilities, developers, and regulators to take on one of the biggest challenges facing the energy transition. Click here to save 10% on your ticket. Join partners from PG&E, CAISO, ENGIE, AES, and more.
The stakes couldn't be higher.
The Inflation Reduction Act launched a market for green hydrogen. But more than a year later the Treasury Department is still working out the details for critical tax incentives.
The delay has provided room for a multi-million-dollar battle to flare up between trade groups and environmentalists. And nothing less than a pillar to achieving the Biden administration's ambitious climate goals hangs in the balance.
Episode 60 of the Factor This! podcast features Andy Marsh, CEO of Plug Power, which wants to become the everything green hydrogen company, from manufacturing electrolyzers, to producing, storing, and transporting green hydrogen itself.
Marsh believes the U.S. could become a green hydrogen superpower. Or it could squander the opportunity of a lifetime.
That's all next on Factor This!Watch this episode on the Renewable Energy World YouTube channelShow notes:
-Episode 12: "Green hydrogen: What’s next for the energy transition’s secret weapon?"
-Episode 53: "Will the U.S. get green hydrogen right? One decision has big climate implications" - Featuring Princeton University professor Jesse Jenkins
You've heard me talk a lot about the GridTECH Connect Forum - Northeast event being held in Newport, Rhode Island Oct. 23-25. Well, registration is now LIVE. We're excited to partner with the DOE to bring together DER developers, utilities, and regulators around the critical issue of interconnection in the Northeast. Click here to register today.
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less. Produced by Renewable Energy World and Tigercomm, This Week in Cleantech will air every Friday in the Factor This! podcast feed wherever you get your podcasts.
This week’s episode features MIT Tech Review climate and clean energy reporter Casey Crownhart, who shares insights around the Biden administration's $400 million loan to alternative battery maker Eos Energy.
This Week in Cleantech — September 8, 20231. Texas fracking billionaire brothers fuel rightwing media with millions of dollars — The Guardian
2. Batteries helped keep Texas grid afloat, but operators worry ERCOT rules could 'chill' the industry — San Antonio Express-News
3. Powered by wind, this $10B transmission line will carry more energy than the Hoover Dam — Associated Press
4. White House launches billion-dollar effort to speed EV production — Axios
5. Zinc batteries that offer an alternative to lithium just got a big boost — MIT Tech Review
Watch the show on YouTube
Help make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to ThisWeekInCleantech@tigercomm.us. And don't forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.
Join us every Friday for new episodes of This Week in Cleantech in the Factor This! podcast feed, and tune into new episodes of Factor This! every Monday.
This Week in Cleantech is hosted by Renewable Energy World senior content director John Engel and Tigercomm president Mike Casey. The show is produced by Brian Mendes with research support from Alex Petersen and Clare Quirin.
Clogged interconnection queues and an inefficient permitting process have the attention of federal policymakers. At last. But even big recent wins leave much work to be done.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's Order 2023 is a positive first step, advocates say, despite its favoring utility interests. Siting guidelines for transmission and clean energy projects on federal land, meanwhile, remain cumbersome and require immediate overhaul to achieve sustainability goals.
Episode 59 of the Factor This! podcast features Luigi Resta, a clean energy industry veteran and president of rPlus Energies, a developer of utility-scale solar, wind, battery storage, and pumped hydro projects.
Resta breaks down the impact of FERC's interconnection reform plan and shares his vision for the policy battle still ahead.
The Factor This! podcast is growing! We're adding a weekly climate and clean energy news roundup episode to the feed, co-hosted by John Engel and cleantech PR veteran Mike Casey. Beginning July 21, "This Week in Cleantech" will give you all of the top stories in 15 minutes or less, and feature a leading journalist or market analyst to share the juice behind the headlines. Email story ideas and topics to ThisWeekinCleantech@tigercomm.us.
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less. Produced by Renewable Energy World and Tigercomm, This Week in Cleantech will air every Friday in the Factor This! podcast feed wherever you get your podcasts.
This week’s episode features Reuters correspondent Nichola Groom, who shares insights from a lackluster offshore wind auction in the Gulf of Mexico.
This Week in Cleantech – September 1, 20231. Google to begin selling maps data to companies building solar products, hopes to generate $100 million in first year — CNBC
2. Tennessee secured $7B in clean energy business this past year — representing nearly 80% of new investments — WPLN News
3. MSG Sphere announces plan to power 70% of Las Vegas arena with renewable energy, pending approval — USA Today
4. Chemical fertilizer is a climate disaster. Can high-tech biology fix it? — Canary Media
5. First US offshore wind auction in Gulf of Mexico attracts paltry interest — Reuters
Help make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to ThisWeekInCleantech@tigercomm.us. And don't forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.
Join us every Friday for new episodes of This Week in Cleantech in the Factor This! podcast feed, and tune into new episodes of Factor This! every Monday.
This Week in Cleantech is hosted by Renewable Energy World senior content director John Engel and Tigercomm president Mike Casey. The show is produced by Brian Mendes with research support from Alex Petersen and Clare Quirin.
On a quest to find the cutting edge of the energy transition, Utah is unlikely to be the first stop. It may not even make the itinerary.
A Republican governor and supermajority legislature lead the state. Rocky Mountain Power, a historically conservative, vertically integrated utility, supplies most of its electricity (and the biggest source is coal).
But the Beehive State has laid out an improbable blueprint for clean energy and resilience. Here, more than 3,000 home batteries are intelligently managed to serve seven critical grid functions. Every single day. And, no, it's not a pilot.
Episode 58 of the Factor This! podcast features Blake Richetta, CEO of the American division of sonnen, a German battery manufacturer and provider of the virtual power plant software that makes Rocky Mountain Power's innovative program tick.
Richetta breaks down the nuances behind the ambiguously named VPP and shares the fascinating story of how unlikely collaborators helped launch one of the most sophisticated programs in the country.
The Factor This! podcast is growing! We're adding a weekly climate and clean energy news roundup episode to the feed, co-hosted by John Engel and cleantech PR veteran Mike Casey. Beginning July 21, "This Week in Cleantech" will give you all of the top stories in 15 minutes or less, and feature a leading journalist or market analyst to share the juice behind the headlines. Email story ideas and topics to ThisWeekinCleantech@tigercomm.us.
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less. Produced by Renewable Energy World and Tigercomm, This Week in Cleantech will air every Friday in the Factor This! podcast feed wherever you get your podcasts.
This week’s episode features Bloomberg energy and environmental policy reporter Jennifer Dlouhy for a breakdown of the Commerce Department's final ruling in the Auxin Solar tariff case.
This Week in Cleantech – August 25, 20231. Fixing our failing electric grid ... on a budget – NPR
2. Europe’s Gas-Guzzling Days Are Fading – Wall Street Journal
3. Pioneering wind-powered cargo ship sets sail – BBC
4. Solar panels to surround Dulles Airport will deliver power to 37,000 homes – Associated Press
5. Chinese Solar Makers Face New Tariffs After US Says They're Dodging Duties – Bloomberg
Notes:
Mike Casey will be participating in a discussion at RE+ in Las Vegas titled: "From NIMBYs to Neighbors: Emerging Patterns in Developer Experiences and the Views of Rural Americans the Clean Energy Industry Needs to Win Over" in Veronese 2405, Level 2, The Venetian from 2:30-3:00 p.m. PT on Sept. 13.
Watch a video version of the show on YouTube.
Help make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to ThisWeekInCleantech@tigercomm.us. And don't forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.
Join us every Friday for new episodes of This Week in Cleantech in the Factor This! podcast feed, and tune into new episodes of Factor This! every Monday.
This Week in Cleantech is hosted by Renewable Energy World senior content director John Engel and Tigercomm president Mike Casey. The show is produced by Brian Mendes with research support from Alex Petersen and Clare Quirin.
In the year since the Inflation Reduction Act supercharged clean energy manufacturing, rarely does a week go by without a new solar factory notice. Rich incentives have led to unprecedented investments.
But making solar panels is really hard. Not only does it require a lot of energy, but complicated global supply chains leave profit margins razor thin. And existing technology is bumping up against theoretical efficiency limits.
Industry heavyweights see perovskite solar cells as the heir apparent to the crystalline chemistries that currently dominate global supply. They're betting that perovskites will offer a domestically produced, higher-efficiency, flexible, and cheaper alternative.
The perovskite revolution is not without its detractors, though. Sizeable achievements are needed to take perovskites from labs to commercial viability.
Episode 57 of the Factor This! podcast features Joseph Berry, a Senior Research Fellow at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and Paul Warley, the CEO of Ascent, a company working to commercialize perovskites for agriculture and space applications.
Perovskites could be the missing link as terawatt-scale solar and broad decarbonization are pursued. Or, they could end up on the proverbial ash heap of history. Which is it?
The Factor This! podcast is growing! We're adding a weekly climate and clean energy news roundup episode to the feed, co-hosted by John Engel and cleantech PR veteran Mike Casey. Beginning July 21, "This Week in Cleantech" will give you all of the top stories in 15 minutes or less, and feature a leading journalist or market analyst to share the juice behind the headlines. Email story ideas and topics to ThisWeekinCleantech@tigercomm.us.
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less. Produced by Renewable Energy World and Tigercomm, This Week in Cleantech will air every Friday in the Factor This! podcast feed wherever you get your podcasts.
This week’s episode features The Hill energy and environment reporter Rachel Frazin for a breakdown of the Inflation Reduction Act's impact after one year.
This Week in Cleantech – August 11, 20231. Big Oil’s Talent Crisis: High Salaries Are No Longer Enough – Wall Street Journal
2. The U.S. Government Will Pay to Remove Carbon From Atmosphere – Heatmap News
3. The future of East Coast wind power could ride on this Jersey beach town – Washington Post
4. A Republican 2024 Climate Strategy: More Drilling, Less Clean Energy – New York Times
5. Year after Biden’s climate bill sees spike in renewable energy investment, industry says – The Hill
Help make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to ThisWeekInCleantech@tigercomm.us. And don't forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.
Join us every Friday for new episodes of This Week in Cleantech in the Factor This! podcast feed, and tune into new episodes of Factor This! every Monday.
This Week in Cleantech is hosted by Renewable Energy World senior content director John Engel and Tigercomm president Mike Casey. The show is produced by Brian Mendes with research support from Alex Petersen and Clare Quirin.
A simple mention of the word can send shivers down a developer's spine.
Interconnection.
It's the bogeyman of the energy transition. Long delays and steep upgrade costs can doom projects before they ever get off the ground. The interconnection slog may be the single biggest threat to national and local clean energy and climate goals. And the people critical to improving the process — developers, utilities, and regulators — don't always get along, to say the least.
In Episode 56 of the Factor This! podcast, we head to the Northeast for a deeper insight into why this single issue has grown to be such a problem and how they just might fix it. We'll have the help of, you guessed it, a developer, a utility, and a regulator.
This episode features National Grid's distributed generation ombudsperson Michael Porcaro; Convergent Energy and Power regulatory affairs manager Emma Marshall-Torres, and Rhode Island PUC Commissioner Abigail Anthony.
By the way, they'll also each be speaking at the GridTECH Connect Forum - Northeast in Newport, Rhode Island, October 23-25. Listeners can get 20% off admission to the event by clicking this link.
The Factor This! podcast is growing! We're adding a weekly climate and clean energy news roundup episode to the feed, co-hosted by John Engel and cleantech PR veteran Mike Casey. Beginning July 21, "This Week in Cleantech" will give you all of the top stories in 15 minutes or less, and feature a leading journalist or market analyst to share the juice behind the headlines. Email story ideas and topics to ThisWeekinCleantech@tigercomm.us.
You've heard me talk a lot about the GridTECH Connect Forum - Northeast event being held in Newport, Rhode Island Oct. 23-25. Well, registration is now LIVE. We're excited to partner with the DOE to bring together DER developers, utilities, and regulators around the critical issue of interconnection in the Northeast. Click here to register today.
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less. Produced by Renewable Energy World and Tigercomm, This Week in Cleantech will air every Friday in the Factor This! podcast feed wherever you get your podcasts.
This week's episode features Reuters correspondent Valerie Volcovici for a deep-dive on FERC's monumental interconnection ruling.
This Week in Cleantech - August 4, 20231. The U.S. Clean-Energy Company That Hit the Subsidies Jackpot — Wall Street Journal
2. Vogtle Unit 3 nuclear reactor, long delayed, starts delivering power Vogtle Unit 3 nuclear reactor, long delayed, starts delivering power — CNBC
3. MIT engineers developed a new type of concrete that can store energy — Fast Company
5. US moves to link more wind and solar projects to electric grid — Reuters
Help make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to ThisWeekInCleantech@tigercomm.us. And don't forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.
Join us every Friday for new episodes of This Week in Cleantech in the Factor This! podcast feed, and tune into new episodes of Factor This! every Monday.
This Week in Cleantech is hosted by Renewable Energy World senior content director John Engel and Tigercomm president Mike Casey. The show is produced by Brian Mendes with research support from Alex Petersen and Clare Quirin.
The Factor This! podcast is growing! We're adding a weekly climate and clean energy news roundup episode to the feed, co-hosted by John Engel and cleantech PR veteran Mike Casey. Beginning July 21, "This Week in Cleantech" will give you all of the top stories in 15 minutes or less, and feature a leading journalist or market analyst to share the juice behind the headlines. Email story ideas and topics to ThisWeekinCleantech@tigercomm.us.
Kyle Udseth helped media giants like DIRECTV and Netflix craft their customer experiences. Now, he's working to scale a new national player in residential solar and storage with that same focus.
After stints with Sunrun and Sunnova, Udseth founded Pineapple Energy believing that the crowded field of residential solar providers was still ripe with opportunity. His company is scaling through strategic acquisitions of successful regional installers with established brands and pipelines in an attempt to compete with industry heavyweights.
Udseth joined Episode 55 of the Factor This! podcast to share how the residential solar market is adapting to policy uncertainty and macroeconomic headwinds, and why he believes the sector is primed for consolidation.
Is there room for another national residential solar provider?
The Factor This! podcast is growing! We're adding a weekly climate and clean energy news roundup episode to the feed, co-hosted by John Engel and cleantech PR veteran Mike Casey. Beginning July 21, "This Week in Cleantech" will give you all of the top stories in 15 minutes or less, and feature a leading journalist or market analyst to share the juice behind the headlines. Email story ideas and topics to ThisWeekinCleantech@tigercomm.us.
You've heard me talk a lot about the GridTECH Connect Forum - Northeast event being held in Newport, Rhode Island Oct. 23-25. Well, registration is now LIVE. We're excited to partner with the DOE to bring together DER developers, utilities, and regulators around the critical issue of interconnection in the Northeast. Click here to register today.
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less. Produced by Renewable Energy World and Tigercomm, This Week in Cleantech will air every Friday in the Factor This! podcast feed wherever you get your podcasts.
This Week in Cleantech - July 28, 20231. Solar Manufacturing in the US Is Facing a Bleak Future, Analysts Warn - Bloomberg
2. Small-town GOP officials are torn over Biden’s clean energy cash - Washington Post
3. These moisture-sucking materials could transform air conditioning - MIT Tech Review
4. There’s not enough land to solve climate change with wood buildings and biofuels - Semafor
5. Rivian anchors BrightNight solar plant at former coal mine - AxiosHelp make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to ThisWeekInCleantech@tigercomm.us. And don't forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.
Join us every Friday for new episodes of This Week in Cleantech in the Factor This! podcast feed, and tune into new episodes of Factor This! every Monday.
This Week in Cleantech is hosted by Renewable Energy World senior content director John Engel and Tigercomm president Mike Casey. The show is produced by Brian Mendes with research support from Alex Petersen and Clare Quirin.
Battery storage deployment is surging to fill the gaps left by intermittent renewable energy resources. And, sometimes, those gaps extend days beyond what lithium-ion can handle.
For the past six years, Form Energy has positioned itself as the company to solve for the multi-day challenge. What started with splashy renderings and nearly $1 billion in fundraising announcements has evolved into real contracts with utilities like Xcel and Southern Company, and a commercial-scale iron-air battery plant under construction in West Virginia.
Episode 54 of the Factor This! podcast features Form Energy CEO Mateo Jaramillo, a former Tesla executive pushing for deep decarbonization on the grid.
Jaramillo breaks down the technology behind Form Energy's 100-hour battery, how the company was able to convince risk-averse utilities to buy in, and the challenges still ahead for multi-day energy storage.
That's all next on Factor This!
The Factor This! podcast is growing! We're adding a weekly climate and clean energy news roundup episode to the feed, co-hosted by John Engel and cleantech PR veteran Mike Casey. Beginning July 21, "This Week in Cleantech" will give you all of the top stories in 15 minutes or less, and feature a leading journalist or market analyst to share the juice behind the headlines. Email story ideas and topics to ThisWeekinCleantech@tigercomm.us.
You've heard me talk a lot about the GridTECH Connect Forum - Northeast event being held in Newport, Rhode Island Oct. 23-25. Well, registration is now LIVE. We're excited to partner with the DOE to bring together DER developers, utilities, and regulators around the critical issue of interconnection in the Northeast. Click here to register today.
This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less. Produced by Renewable Energy World and Tigercomm, This Week in Cleantech will air every Friday in the Factor This! podcast feed wherever you get your podcasts.
This Week in Cleantech - July 21, 2023 1. How Biden's climate law will — and won’t — transform America - The Washington Post 2. US announces first offshore wind rights sale in Gulf of Mexico - Reuters3. Conservation concerns mean some environmentalists say no to solar projects - NPR 4. New Land Grab by Oil Giants Is Deep Underground - WSJ 5. Enhanced geothermal power is finally a reality - VoltsHelp make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to ThisWeekInCleantech@tigercomm.us. And don't forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.
Join us every Friday for new episodes of This Week in Cleantech in the Factor This! podcast feed, and tune into new episodes of Factor This! every Monday.
This Week in Cleantech is hosted by Renewable Energy World senior content director John Engel and Tigercomm president Mike Casey. The show is produced by Brian Mendes with research support from Alex Petersen and Clare Quirin.
The Factor This! podcast is growing! We're adding a weekly climate and clean energy news roundup episode to the feed, co-hosted by John Engel and cleantech PR veteran Mike Casey. Beginning July 21, "This Week in Cleantech" will give you all of the top stories in 15 minutes or less, and feature a leading journalist or market analyst to share the juice behind the headlines. Email story ideas and topics to ThisWeekinCleantech@tigercomm.us.
Green hydrogen could be a key tool to meet climate goals. It could also make things a lot worse, if we get this one critical step wrong.
The U.S. is developing rules for green hydrogen incentives as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, and the options are up for grabs.
The Biden administration faces pressure from developers, trade groups, and environmentalists over how to phase in zero carbon requirements for green hydrogen production, and new research suggests the direction it chooses could have a major impact on the climate.
Episode 53 of the Factor This! podcast features Jesse Jenkins, assistant professor and ZERO Lab lead at Princeton University, who is calling out a leading clean energy trade group for a piece of its green hydrogen agenda.
Jenkins shares how one recommendation from the American Clean Power Association could result in $200 BILLION in taxpayer subsidies responsible for 700 million metric tons of CO2 emissions.
Will the U.S. get green hydrogen right?
That's all next on Factor This!
You've heard me talk a lot about the GridTECH Connect Forum - Northeast event being held in Newport, Rhode Island Oct. 23-25. Well, registration is now LIVE. We're excited to partner with the DOE to bring together DER developers, utilities, and regulators around the critical issue of interconnection in the Northeast. Click here to register today.
Amanda Li found herself in the thick of the arduous and disorganized project finance lifecycle.
It was 2014, and she had been hired as Generate Capital's first employee. Li was responsible for all aspects of the deal: originating and underwriting, closing, portfolio management, you name it. Each stage had its own litany of documents, and required endless hours to maintain.
It was obvious to Li that the process needed a major upgrade for trillions of dollars to efficiently flow into clean energy, and our climate goals would depend on it.
Episode 52 of the Factor This! podcast features Amanda Li, the co-founder and COO of Banyan Infrastructure, a fintech company streamlining clean energy project finance by digitalizing and housing each step in a single platform.
Li shares how technology is activating fresh capital for distributed energy projects and bringing new players to the table. Just in time.
That's all next on Factor This!
You've heard me talk a lot about the GridTECH Connect Forum - Northeast event being held in Newport, Rhode Island Oct. 23-25. Well, registration is now LIVE. We're excited to partner with the DOE to bring together DER developers, utilities, and regulators around the critical issue of interconnection in the Northeast. Click here to register today.
The U.S. solar industry is primed for significant growth in the coming years, emboldened by big federal incentives and even bigger demand for renewable energy.
But asset owners are increasingly talking about extreme weather, underperformance, and labor shortages as growing risks to solar’s growth prospects. These are some of the uncomfortable issues in opposition to the industry's rosy public outlook.
Episode 51 of the Factor This! podcast features Jason Kaminsky, CEO of clean energy insurance provider kWh Analytics, which just dropped its fifth annual Solar Risk Assessment. And it's loaded with valuable insights.
Kaminsky shares the data behind solar's biggest risks, along with pathways to avoid potholes down the road.
That's all next on Factor This!Show notes:
-Read the fifth annual Solar Risk Assessment from kWh Analytics
After a year of producing Factor This, we want to hear from you. Let us know what you've liked and how we can improve. Do you want more frequent episodes? Different topics? Click the link in the episode description to fill out our first audience survey. And help make Factor This the best it can be.
The GridTECH Connect Forum is coming to Newport, Rhode Island October 23rd through the 25th.
Click the link in the description to save the date for this unique event that's bringing together developers, utilities, and regulators to take on the critical issue of interconnection in the Northeast.
We'll be sharing more details on the agenda and speakers soon. Check out Grid TECH Connect dot com to learn more.
In the spring of 2016, Jeff Bishop was developing wind projects when he came across an analyst chart that caught his eye.
Battery storage, the analysts forecasted, would follow a similar cost curve as solar. Costs would plummet as deployment ramped up to support a grid ever more dependent on intermittent renewable energy resources.
Bishop quit his job by the summer and launched Key Capture Energy, a developer, owner, and operator of grid-scale battery storage projects.
Turns out, the analysts were right. Seven years later, battery storage deployment is booming.
But the industry is still finding its way. Developers and regulators face questions about how to best use batteries, and what policy structures are needed to facilitate deployment. Moreover, the industry is learning on the fly about how these assets will perform under various state and utility demands.
Bishop joined Episode 50 of the Factor This! podcastto break down how states should, and shouldn't, go about procuring battery storage, and why software is a crucial piece of the puzzle. Plus, stick around for the inside story of how Key Capture went from the brink of insolvency to raising $100 million.
After a year of producing Factor This, we want to hear from you. Let us know what you've liked and how we can improve. Do you want more frequent episodes? Different topics? Click the link in the episode description to fill out our first audience survey. And help make Factor This the best it can be.
Praise for the solar industry's meteoric growth often shines on developers and their multi-gigawatt pipelines and portfolios. Seldom does the limelight extend to the construction crews putting steel in the ground.
But clean electrons aren't generated by hope, targets, and schematics. It's the engineering, procurement, and construction firms that are executing the vision for a clean energy transition.
Therein lies an overlooked hurdle on the horizon: There simply aren't enough qualified EPCs, and workers, to meet the booming demand for solar projects. And rich incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act only stand to magnify the glut in supply.
Episode 49 of the Factor This! podcast features Chris Dunbar, CEO of Blue Ridge Power, for an inside look at how one of the industry's leading utility-scale solar and storage EPCs is navigating a chronic labor shortage and a tumultuous market plagued by supply chain constraints, trade disputes, and the interconnection slog.
Sure, gigawatts of solar projects are in motion. But who's going to build them?
After a year of producing Factor This, we want to hear from you. Let us know what you've liked and how we can improve. Do you want more frequent episodes? Different topics? Click the link in the episode description to fill out our first audience survey. And help make Factor This the best it can be.
For more than 20 years, Adam Browning was solar's biggest cheerleader.
There was 165 MW of interconnected solar in the U.S. in 2002 when Browning founded Vote Solar. The organization quickly evolved into the industry's preeminent advocacy group. When he stepped down as executive director in 2021, that figure stood at 122 GW.
Today, Browning has his sights set on the next big decarbonization story, using lessons learned from solar's twists and turns to take on a "biblical" challenge.
Episode 48 of the Factor This! podcast features an old friend to many in solar.
Browning, now the executive vice president of policy and communications for the startup Forum Mobility, looks back on his storied career leading Vote Solar, reacts to the controversial NEM 3.0 ruling in California, and shares why he's starting over to takeon fleet electrification.
After a year of producing Factor This, we want to hear from you. Let us know what you've liked and how we can improve. Do you want more frequent episodes? Different topics? Click the link in the episode description to fill out our first audience survey. And help make Factor This the best it can be.
The GridTECH Connect Forum is coming to Newport, Rhode Island October 23rd through the 25th.
Click the link in the description to save the date for this unique event that's bringing together developers, utilities, and regulators to take on the critical issue of interconnection in the Northeast.
We'll be sharing more details on the agenda and speakers soon. Check out Grid TECH Connect dot com to learn more.
Hurry up and wait.
We launched the Factor This! podcast one year ago — May 9, 2022 — to share a fresh and introspective account of the Auxin Solar tariff petition.
It's been a dark cloud hanging over the solar industry ever since—delaying projects and dampening enthusiasm around the Inflation Reduction Act.
May 2023, for better or worse, was supposed to restore certainty at last with a final determination from the Commerce Department. But that ruling was punted to August, yet again drawing out the industry's prolonged panic attack.
Episode 47 of the Factor This! podcast features an interview with Tim Brightbill, a partner and co-chair for the international trade practice at DC law firm Wiley Rein. He's also an adjunct international trade law professor at Georgetown.
Brightbill broke down the latest in the Auxin case and where it goes from here. Plus, a look back on the exclusive interview with Auxin Solar CEO Mamun Rashid that established the Factor This! as a must-listen for the solar industry.
That's all next on Factor This!
After a year of producing Factor This, we want to hear from you. Let us know what you've liked and how we can improve. Do you want more frequent episodes? Different topics? Click the link in the episode description to fill out our first audience survey. And help make Factor This the best it can be.
Agrivoltaics -- solar PV paired with livestock or crops -- make for rich marketing materials. Good luck finding a developer brochure free of grazing sheep.
But the project segment is far more than a kitschy niche.
While the concept is well-understood in Europe, the U.S. is still finding its way with agrivoltaics. Early iterations lacked scalability due to added costs and irrational system requirements established by policymakers.
Lucy Bullock-Sieger wants you to forget everything you think you know about agrivoltaics.
As the vice president of strategy for Boston-based developer Lightstar Renewables, Bullock-Sieger is on a mission to prove that agrivoltaics is ready for primetime with a new approach.
In addition to establishing a cost-neutral agrivoltaics development process, Lightstar has experienced improved community relations, expedited permits, and a mitigant to the interconnection nightmare.
Bullock-Sieger joined Episode 46 of the Factor This! podcast to break down the rosy future for agrivoltaics.
After a year of producing Factor This, we want to hear from you. Let us know what you've liked and how we can improve. Do you want more frequent episodes? Different topics? Click the link in the episode description to fill out our first audience survey. And help make Factor This the best it can be.
The GridTECH Connect Forum is coming to Newport, Rhode Island October 23rd through the 25th.
Click the link in the description to save the date for this unique event that's bringing together developers, utilities, and regulators to take on the critical issue of interconnection in the Northeast.
We'll be sharing more details on the agenda and speakers soon. Check out Grid TECH Connect dot com to learn more.
A decarbonized grid, powered primarily by solar and wind, will require a lot of energy storage. Lithium-ion batteries, while the technology du jour, won't come close to solving the impending problem on their own.
The long-duration energy storage dilemma is multi-pronged: today's market structures don't adequately reward energy storage of longer than four hours, and potential solutions are mired in technical challenges and steep capex costs.
But one company may have cracked the code.
Episode 45 of Factor This! features Robert Piconi, CEO of Energy Vault, a company well on its way to deploying long-duration gravity storage systems at scale.
Energy Vault first made its splash with towering cranes lifting and lowering blocks under the guiding principles that have made pumped hydro the world's most significant energy storage resource.
Now, with a redesigned concept, the company is deploying its systems in partnership with major players like Enel… and even landed a green hydrogen deal with Pacific Gas & Electric, California's largest utility.
Can long-duration energy storage finally break through?
After a year of producing Factor This, we want to hear from you. Let us know what you've liked and how we can improve. Do you want more frequent episodes? Different topics? Click the link in the episode description to fill out our first audience survey. And help make Factor This the best it can be.
The GridTECH Connect Forum is coming to Newport, Rhode Island October 23rd through the 25th.
Click the link in the description to save the date for this unique event that's bringing together developers, utilities, and regulators to take on the critical issue of interconnection in the Northeast.
We'll be sharing more details on the agenda and speakers soon. Check out Grid TECH Connect dot com to learn more.
The news from Entergy Louisiana may have required a second reading. And a third. The utility wants to go (really) big on solar. Why now?
Entergy Louisiana asked state regulators in March to approve 3 GW of new solar resources. That's on top of its request from a few weeks earlier for 225 MW of new solar, which would have nearly doubled the state's existing capacity.
Louisiana isn't known as the friendliest to solar. What led to the sudden change of heart?
Entergy Louisiana CEO Phillip May joined Episode 44 of the Factor This! podcast to share an inside look at a Southern utility's view on the energy transition. May shared his outlook for solar, energy storage, green hydrogen, offshore wind, and more.
After a year of producing Factor This, we want to hear from you. Let us know what you've liked and how we can improve. Do you want more frequent episodes? Different topics? Click the link in the episode description to fill out our first audience survey. And help make Factor This the best it can be.
The GridTECH Connect Forum is coming to Newport, Rhode Island October 23rd through the 25th.
Click the link in the description to save the date for this unique event that's bringing together developers, utilities, and regulators to take on the critical issue of interconnection in the Northeast.
We'll be sharing more details on the agenda and speakers soon. Check out Grid TECH Connect dot com to learn more.
More than a decade since John Berger founded Sunnova… the company is one of the largest residential solar and storage providers in the country. That would be enough for a lot of people. But success hasn't stopped Berger from pushing the envelope.
He recognized early on in his career, from his time at Enron and then the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, that the way we viewed and consumed energy was broken. He didn't necessarily know the answer then… but knew he would do whatever he could to fix it.
From Sunnova's push to create a micro-utility in California, to the aggregation of tens of thousands of residential solar and battery systems to compete with the monopolistic utility model, the company, and Berger, have set out to upend the status quo.
In Episode 43 of the Factor This, Berger gives his unvarnished take on decarbonization and taking on Goliath.
That's all next on Factor This!
After a year of producing Factor This, we want to hear from you. Let us know what you've liked and how we can improve. Do you want more frequent episodes? Different topics? Click the link in the episode description to fill out our first audience survey. And help make Factor This the best it can be.
The GridTECH Connect Forum is coming to Newport, Rhode Island October 23rd through the 25th.
Click the link in the description to save the date for this unique event that's bringing together developers, utilities, and regulators to take on the critical issue of interconnection in the Northeast.
We'll be sharing more details on the agenda and speakers soon. Check out Grid TECH Connect dot com to learn more.
A new era of cleantech innovation is here. And it’s a good time to take stock of what’s in the pipeline. Green hydrogen, circular economies, and next-gen batteries are at the heart of “Cleantech 2.0.” These innovations could take the clean economy to new heights when paired with fresh federal incentives for fighting climate change.
Alok Sindher, a partner at the venture capital firm Fifth Wall, joined Episode 42 of the Factor This! podcast to break down what’s on the way and who’s positioned to cash in.
Fifth Wall is one of the largest VCs driving cleantech innovation with $2.9 billion under management. The firm recently led the $30 million Series A round for solar module recycling startup SOLARCYCLE.
That's all next on Factor This!
After a year of producing Factor This, we want to hear from you. Let us know what you've liked and how we can improve. Do you want more frequent episodes? Different topics? Click the link in the episode description to fill out our first audience survey. And help make Factor This the best it can be.
The GridTECH Connect Forum is coming to Newport, Rhode Island October 23rd through the 25th.
Click the link in the description to save the date for this unique event that's bringing together developers, utilities, and regulators to take on the critical issue of interconnection in the Northeast.
We'll be sharing more details on the agenda and speakers soon. Check out Grid TECH Connect dot com to learn more.
How do you measure the impact of someone like Dan Shugar?
He's been a mainstay in the solar industry since the early days. Before the solar coaster defined the twists and turns of the evolving industry.
He led PowerLight to a $335 million dollar acquisition. Helped grow SunPower into the behemoth it is today. And was the CEO of solar module manufacturer Solaria, before co-founding Nextracker, one of the world's leading tracker manufacturers.
Dan Shugar is solar. Undeniably the face, and voice, driving the industry to heights unthinkable when he started out nearly 30 years ago.
In Episode 41 of the Factor This! podcast, Dan Shugar returns fresh off Nextracker's $638 million IPO that is, so far, this year's biggest. Not just for a clean tech company— for any company.
What's left for the industry leader affectionately known by so many as Shug?
That's all next on Factor This!
The GridTECH Connect Forum is coming to Newport, Rhode Island October 23rd through the 25th.
Click the link in the description to save the date for this unique event that's bringing together developers, utilities, and regulators to take on the critical issue of interconnection in the Northeast.
We'll be sharing more details on the agenda and speakers soon. Check out Grid TECH Connect dot com to learn more.
Concentrated solar power has had a rough go in the US. But that's not because it's a poor resource.
Using mirrors and towers, CSP can cleanly generate electricity, provide long-duration thermal energy storage, and decarbonize heavy industry by producing heat. Still, solar PV deployment dwarfs installed CSP capacity 113 GW to 2.
Why hasn't it caught on here?
Episode 40 of the Factor This! podcast features Craig Wood, CEO of the Australian next-gen CSP company Vast, which thinks it can change CSP's fortunes in the US.
Vast is planning to list on the New York Stock Exchange at a valuation of more than a half-billion dollars to deploy its next-gen CSP technology. Wood breaks down CSP's less-than-sunny history, why it's getting a fresh look, and its role in the energy transition.
The GridTECH Connect Forum is coming to Newport, Rhode Island October 23rd through the 25th.
Click the link in the description to save the date for this unique event that's bringing together developers, utilities, and regulators to take on the critical issue of interconnection in the Northeast.
We'll be sharing more details on the agenda and speakers soon. Check out Grid TECH Connect dot com to learn more.
Bonus episode!
Today, we're dropping in an episode from our friends over at the Suncast podcast that we know you'll enjoy.
Nico Johnson has an interesting and important conversation with Steph Spiers, co-founder and CEO of the community solar manager Solstice about equity in the energy transition.
Speirs believes that "the role of power and privilege is to use it to open up doors for other folks to access that same power". Her company, Solstice, aims to democratize the clean energy revolution and create energy equity through community solar, and they do this by increasing access to solar power for households that are locked out of the solar marketplace. She has won more than three dozen accolades and awards for her private market innovation and entrepreneurship, as well as her public sector work, which includes developing Middle East policy as the youngest policy director at the White House National Security Council.
You can find the episode blog, as well as the full Suncast episode library, here.
Make sure to subscribe to Suncast and Factor This! wherever your podcasts.
The GridTECH Connect Forum is coming to Newport, Rhode Island October 23rd through the 25th.
Click the link in the description to save the date for this unique event that's bringing together developers, utilities, and regulators to take on the critical issue of interconnection in the Northeast.
We'll be sharing more details on the agenda and speakers soon. Check out Grid TECH Connect dot com to learn more.
While the energy transition is well underway, the power dynamics that have ruled the industry for generations are still largely the same.
Kiran Bhatraju, founder and CEO of Arcadia, is upending that paradigm by taking control of energy data and using it to fuel the rapid deployment of distributed energy assets.
Arcadia manages more community solar subscribers than almost anyone else, and its software platform, Arc, uses data from thousands of utilities to pinpoint where, and when, to build and use DERs.
Still commonly referred to as a startup, Arcadia is now a billion-dollar cleantech unicorn.
Bhatraju joined Episode 38 of the Factor This! podcast to discuss Arcadia's climb and the energy transition's next big thing.
Factor This! is produced by Renewable Energy World and Clarion Energy. Connect with John Engel, the host of Factor This!, on LinkedIn and Twitter.
If you enjoy receiving this podcast every week, and want to support our work, please take a quick second to leave a rating and review wherever you're listening. It has a huge impact on the podcast's success and will help us reach more listeners like you. Thanks again for listening to Factor This! from Renewable Energy World.
As the renewable energy industry has grown up, its legal risks have too.
Sure, we as an industry talk all the time about NIMBYism. But what about zoning and permitting litigation? What happens when a project produces stormwater runoff that damages a neighboring property? And how about all of these new incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act… who's on the hook if a project falls short of its obligations?
Episode 38 of the Factor This! podcast features two attorneys working really closely on these issues.
Matthew Karmel is the principal and chair of the Environmental and Sustainability Practice Group at the national law firm Offit Kurman. Yana Spitzer is in-house counsel at ENGIE North America.
Karmel and Spitzer take us inside the courtroom for a look at the legal risk plaguing project developers today, and they point out the potholes to watch out for in the future.
WRISE Speaker SpotlightThis week's WRISE Speaker Spotlight features Patricia Vega, founder and CEO of Quantum New Energy. Patricia's expertise includes asset management, corporate social responsibility, energy efficiency, and more. Contact Patricia for a speaking engagement, view other speakers, or join the Speakers Bureau yourself at WRISEenergy.org.
Factor This! is produced by Renewable Energy World and Clarion Energy. Connect with John Engel, the host of Factor This!, on LinkedIn and Twitter.
If you enjoy receiving this podcast every week, and want to support our work, please take a quick second to leave a rating and review wherever you're listening. It has a huge impact on the podcast's success and will help us reach more listeners like you. Thanks again for listening to Factor This! from Renewable Energy World.
The proverbial light bulb that sparked Tasha McCarter's interest in energy was an actual light bulb.
A third grade experiment using a hand crank to produce electricity led to an accomplished career developing power plants for SunPower, Silicon Ranch, and most recently RWE as their vice president of solar engineering.
For McCarter, who is Black, the rise to become one of the energy industry's foremost engineering leaders was anything but easy. While the industry's well-known diversity problem is slowly improving, there's still a long way to go.
McCarter joined Episode 37 of the Factor This! podcast to talk about her career, Black History Month, and the energy industry's pursuit of a more diverse workforce.
If you enjoy receiving this podcast every week, and want to support our work, please take a quick second to leave a rating and review wherever you're listening. It has a huge impact on the podcast's success and will help us reach more listeners like you. Thanks again for listening to Factor This! from Renewable Energy World.
There’s a press release almost every week.
Increasing demand for solar modules, paired with supply chain constraints and trade disputes, have some new players eyeing the US market.
Some module manufacturers are building new factories to capitalize on fresh federal incentives to boost the domestic solar supply chain. Others are hoping to import their products into the US.
Both have created a set of new, largely unknown players for buyers to make sense of. And standard certifications don’t go far enough to determine a module's long-term performance and reliability.
Episode 36 of the Factor This! podcast features Tristan Erion-Lorico, VP of sales and marketing for PV Evolution Labs. The firm helps manufacturers prove themselves to new markets, and offers investors and asset owners an extra level of certainty over long-term performance.
Show notes:
-PVEL's 2022 PV Module Reliability Scorecard
Factor This! is produced by Renewable Energy World and Clarion Energy. Connect with John Engel, the host of Factor This!, on LinkedIn and Twitter.
If you enjoy receiving this podcast every week, and want to support our work, please take a quick second to leave a rating and review wherever you're listening. It has a huge impact on the podcast's success and will help us reach more listeners like you. Thanks again for listening to Factor This! from Renewable Energy World.
It's time that we talk about energy storage.
Not just because solar-plus-storage is a natural fit, but more and more developers will soon be branching out into the world of batteries, emboldened by new federal incentives.
That transition could be overwhelming for some. Energy storage deployment comes with its own unique set of nuances and challenges.
What differentiates one energy storage company from another? How do investors view the nascent sector? What are some of the risks to avoid?
Yann Brandt, CCO of the energy storage solution provider FlexGen, joined Episode 35 of the Factor This! podcast to answer those questions and more.
If you've worked in solar long enough, you probably know Yann— either from his various stops throughout the industry or SolarWakeup, his must-read daily newsletter that has become a staple for industry insiders.
Fresh off his election as the first-ever chair of the Energy Storage division at the Solar Energy Industries Association, Yann answers your burning questions about energy storage.
That's all next on *Factor This!
Factor This! is produced by Renewable Energy World and Clarion Energy. Connect with John Engel, the host of Factor This!*, on LinkedIn and Twitter.
If you enjoy receiving this podcast every week, and want to support our work, please take a quick second to leave a rating and review wherever you're listening. It has a huge impact on the podcast's success and will help us reach more listeners like you. Thanks again for listening to Factor This! from Renewable Energy World.
Our grid is vulnerable to disruption and even failure. Wildfires, floods, and more frequent extreme weather events routinely highlight the imperative of adding distributed energy not just for resiliency, but to reach our climate goals.
But incumbents, purposefully or not, are delaying the transition. And markets still don't fully value the qualities of distributed energy resources. Will we come to embrace DER's myriad benefits before it's too late?
Episode 34 of the Factor This! podcast features Tim Hade, the co-founder and COO of Scale Microgrid Solutions.
This wide-ranging conversation covered the role of distributed energy for the grid of the future, the perils of scaling a climate tech hardware company, and what's holding back the Inflation Reduction Act.
Hade shared how his time in the military mobilized him to fight climate change, why he's so optimistic that DERs will one day breakthrough, and his five tips for anyone starting a clean energy company. Spoiler alert: get smart on tax equity. Or find someone who is.
That's all next on *Factor This!
Factor This! is produced by Renewable Energy World and Clarion Energy. Connect with John Engel, the host of Factor This!*, on LinkedIn and Twitter.
If you enjoy receiving this podcast every week, and want to support our work, please take a quick second to leave a rating and review wherever you're listening. It has a huge impact on the podcast's success and will help us reach more listeners like you. Thanks again for listening to Factor This! from Renewable Energy World.
California is a leader in the energy transition. There's no doubt about it.
But even the most mature solar market in the country hasn't always gotten it right.
A community solar program implemented in 2013 never really panned out. And while the community solar sector grew rapidly in other states, California watched as few projects got built.
Episode 33 of the Factor This! podcast features Aaron Halimi, president and founder of the California-based community solar developer Renewable Properties. Halimi breaks down the state of community solar, the impact of the Inflation Reduction Act, and California's second attempt to craft a successful program.
Can they get it right this time?
That's all next on Factor This!
About the sponsor:This episode of Factor This! is sponsored by Heila Technologies, a Kohler Company.
Heila is changing the way complex microgrids are managed and operated with its EDGE control and optimization platform, which makes each asset in a system smarter while making the whole microgrid more efficient and resilient.
The EDGE helps EPCs and developers simplify microgrid deployment through a flexible approach that ensures systems operate reliably while unlocking new revenue streams.
Heila is a proud sponsor of the 2023 GridTech Connect Forum. Register now at www.gridtechconnect.com to learn more about Heila and the EDGE platform.
Factor This! is produced by Renewable Energy World and Clarion Energy. Connect with John Engel, the host of Factor This!, on LinkedIn and Twitter.
If you enjoy receiving this podcast every week, and want to support our work, please take a quick second to leave a rating and review wherever you're listening. It has a huge impact on the podcast's success and will help us reach more listeners like you. Thanks again for listening to Factor This! from Renewable Energy World.
The pitfalls of the energy transition are on full display in a Southeast state.
A 2021 law set North Carolina on its way to slashing carbon emissions by 70% by the end of the decade and reaching carbon neutrality by 2050. HB 951 represented an unprecedented, bipartisan effort for a state to tackle climate change and deploy clean energy.
But clashes between Duke Energy, the utility governed by the law, and clean energy developers showcase that historic policy is only part of the equation. Execution is just as challenging.
Episode 32 of the Factor This! podcast features Steve Levitas and Tyler Norris, who both work on clean energy policy for utility-scale solar and storage developers. They share why what's happening in North Carolina should be a warning to the rest of the country.
About the sponsors:This episode of Factor This! is sponsored by Rolls Battery.
Available in four popular case sizes, Rolls Battery's new R-Series 12-volt & 24-volt lithium models offer a maintenance-free, lightweight alternative to traditional deep-cycle batteries. With fast charge/discharge capability and up to 4 in-series and 4 in-parallel connectivity for 48-volt system configuration, Rolls LFP lithium are a true drop-in replacement. Lithium iron phosphate technology and built-in protections ensure safe operation and exceptional cycle life, and all models are backed by a 3-year, full-replacement manufacturer warranty. Visit RollsBattery.com to find a distributor near you.
This episode of Factor This! is also sponsored by Heila Technologies, a Kohler Company.
Heila is changing the way complex microgrids are managed and operated with its EDGE control and optimization platform, which makes each asset in a system smarter while making the whole microgrid more efficient and resilient.
The EDGE helps EPCs and developers simplify microgrid deployment through a flexible approach that ensures systems operate reliably while unlocking new revenue streams.
Heila is a proud sponsor of the 2023 GridTech Connect Forum. Register now at www.gridtechconnect.com to learn more about Heila and the EDGE platform.
Factor This! is produced by Renewable Energy World and Clarion Energy. Connect with John Engel, the host of Factor This!, on LinkedIn and Twitter.
If you enjoy receiving this podcast every week, and want to support our work, please take a quick second to leave a rating and review wherever you're listening. It has a huge impact on the podcast's success and will help us reach more listeners like you. Thanks again for listening to Factor This! from Renewable Energy World.
This episode of Factor This! is sponsored by Heila Technologies, a Kohler company.
Episode 31 of the Factor This! podcast features Aaron Bates, the CEO and founder of Toledo Solar, a manufacturer of cadmium telluride thin-film solar modules.
Bates cares deeply about who is making solar modules and, just as importantly, where. And he has strong opinions about the direction the solar industry is heading.
In response to the Inflation Reduction Act, Toledo Solar is scaling its production capacity to 2.3 gigawatts by 2027. It's bringing the technology that made First Solar a household name to the commercial and residential sectors, and doing it right down the street from First Solar's factory in Ohio.
Bates discusses Toledo Solar and its ties to Ohio's rich history of manufacturing, silicon vs. CadTe modules, tariffs, and what he calls the "untruths" behind Made in America solar.
About the sponsor:This episode of Factor This is sponsored by Heila Technologies, a Kohler Company.
Heila is changing the way complex microgrids are managed and operated with its EDGE control and optimization platform, which makes each asset in a system smarter while making the whole microgrid more efficient and resilient.
The EDGE helps EPCs and developers simplify microgrid deployment through a flexible approach that ensures systems operate reliably while unlocking new revenue streams.
Heila is a proud sponsor of the 2023 GridTech Connect Forum. Register now at www.gridtechconnect.com to learn more about Heila and the EDGE platform.
Factor This! is produced by Renewable Energy World and Clarion Energy. Connect with John Engel, the host of Factor This!, on LinkedIn and Twitter.
If you enjoy receiving this podcast every week, and want to support our work, please take a quick second to leave a rating and review wherever you're listening. It has a huge impact on the podcast's success and will help us reach more listeners like you. Thanks again for listening to Factor This! from Renewable Energy World.
This episode of Factor This! is sponsored by Heila Technologies, a Kohler company.
Corporate demand for clean energy couldn’t be hotter. And it’s not just for far-away solar and wind farms anymore.
In a year plagued by trade disputes, supply chain constraints, and missed targets, onsite commercial and industrial deployment of solar, batteries and EV charging grew in 2022 when other areas sank.
Leaders in the C&I space say it’s about to explode. That growth doesn’t come without its own challenges for grid reliability.
Episode 30 of the Factor This! podcast features Raphael Declercq, CEO of the C&I solar, storage, and EV charging developer PowerFlex.
Owned by EDF Renewables, PowerFlex is a leader in the C&I space, recently raising $100 million to expand its onsite energy management hardware and software offering.
Declercq weighed in on the impact of the California net metering decision, intelligent EV charging, and the outlook for an often overlooked segment of the industry.
About the sponsor:This episode of Factor This is sponsored by Heila Technologies, a Kohler Company.
Heila is changing the way complex microgrids are managed and operated with its EDGE control and optimization platform, which makes each asset in a system smarter while making the whole microgrid more efficient and resilient.
The EDGE helps EPCs and developers simplify microgrid deployment through a flexible approach that ensures systems operate reliably while unlocking new revenue streams.
Heila is a proud sponsor of the 2023 GridTech Connect Forum. Register now at www.gridtechconnect.com to learn more about Heila and the EDGE platform.
Factor This! is produced by Renewable Energy World and Clarion Energy. Connect with John Engel, the host of Factor This!, on LinkedIn and Twitter.
If you enjoy receiving this podcast every week, and want to support our work, please take a quick second to leave a rating and review wherever you're listening. It has a huge impact on the podcast's success and will help us reach more listeners like you. Thanks again for listening to Factor This! from Renewable Energy World.
It was a best-of-times, worst-of-times sort of year for solar: long-awaited federal policy support tempered by ongoing trade disputes involving some of the industry’s biggest suppliers.
As the year closes, giving new meaning to the term ‘solar coaster,’ we invited Paula Mints, who has been tracking the industry for more than two decades, to shed some light on what 2022 means to the solar industry and what to watch out for in the new year.
She joined Episode 29 of the Factor This! podcast to break down everything from the Auxin Solar petition to the Inflation Reduction Act and to discuss the industry’s path forward amid mounting headwinds.
Factor This! is produced by Renewable Energy World and Clarion Energy. Connect with John Engel, the host of Factor This!, on LinkedIn and Twitter.
If you enjoy receiving this podcast every week, and want to support our work, please take a quick second to leave a rating and review wherever you're listening. It has a huge impact on the podcast's success and will help us reach more listeners like you. Thanks again for listening to Factor This! from Renewable Energy World.
When the American clean energy industry met at RE+ in September, seemingly every conversation exuded an optimistic tone about the future.
Historic incentives for clean energy in the Inflation Reduction Act, paired with a generational industrial policy, brought U.S. climate goals within reach at a point when their prospects appeared bleak at best. Now, billions of dollars of investment is flowing into American clean energy manufacturing.
The outlook couldn't be more different in Europe, where industry leaders recently came together at Enlit Europe in Frankfurt, Germany. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has exacerbated an already dire energy crisis, and the continent that once led the energy transition is watching its influence slip.
Two of Europe's clean energy leaders joined Episode 28 of the Factor This! podcast from Frankfurt to discuss Europe's path forward and the prospect for transformational industrial policy.
Guests:
Jochen Hauff, Director Corporate Strategy, Energy Policy & Sustainability, BayWa r.e.
Axel Thiemann, CEO, Sonnedix
Factor This! is produced by Renewable Energy World and Clarion Energy. Connect with John Engel, the host of Factor This!, on LinkedIn and Twitter.
If you enjoy receiving this podcast every week, and want to support our work, please take a quick second to leave a rating and review wherever you're listening. It has a huge impact on the podcast's success and will help us reach more listeners like you. Thanks again for listening to Factor This! from Renewable Energy World.
Clean energy is in broad agreement: the Inflation Reduction Act is a game-changer for the industry and our goals of staving off the worst effects of climate change.
But underneath the optimism is a shared anxiety that significant headwinds still plague the industry. Costly and time-consuming permitting and interconnection processes remain poison pills for projects.
On Episode 27 of the Factor This! podcast, we introduce you to two climate tech entrepreneurs who are taking on these challenges.
Robin Laine, CEO and co-founder of Transect, used her background as an environmental engineer to shrink the environmental assessment process down from weeks or months to just minutes.
James McWalter, CEO of Paces, is developing what he calls the "Google for site selection," which allows developers to start with a set of criteria, like distance to an interconnection point, to find available parcels for development in just minutes. The platform also tracks ever-changing policies that could impact projects all the way down to the local level.
Factor This! is produced by Renewable Energy World and Clarion Energy. Connect with John Engel, the host of Factor This!, on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Registration is now open for the GridTECH Connect Forum, a new event bringing together distributed energy developers and utilities to tackle the critical issue of interconnection.
Join us in San Diego on Feb. 6, 2023 for an event focused on the California market, like interconnection collaboration, vehicle-to-grid integration, demand response, and more.
Learn more at GridTECHConnect.com.
After a series of starts, stops, and outright confusion over the future of rooftop solar, California regulators have released their latest proposal to reform the state’s net metering program.
The process known as NEM 3.0 has pitted advocates against investor-owned utilities over how customers should be paid for sending excess solar power to the grid. And since it involves the country’s largest solar market, the entire industry is paying attention.
Vote Solar’s executive director, Sachu Constantine, returns to the Factor This! podcast to break down the latest proposal, which is drawing fire from both sides. Check out Constantine’s analysis of the original NEM 3.0 proposal in Episode 6 of the Factor This! podcast.
Factor This! is produced by Renewable Energy World and Clarion Energy. Connect with John Engel, the host of Factor This!, on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Registration is now open for the GridTECH Connect Forum, a new event bringing together distributed energy developers and utilities to tackle the critical issue of interconnection.
Join us in San Diego on Feb. 6, 2023 for an event focused on the California market, like interconnection collaboration, vehicle-to-grid integration, demand response, and more.
Learn more at GridTECHConnect.com.
A look around one of clean energy's largest events offered a common sight: There were a lot of men.
The challenge is well-known in renewables. Women make up only about a third of the workforce. And they hold an even smaller share of executive positions.
On Episode 25 of the Factor This! podcast, three senior female executives weigh in on how to effectively recruit women to clean energy.
Guests:
Julia Bell, Chief Commercial Officer, CleanCapital
Carey Kling, Director, BQ Energy Development
Jenn Miller, CEO, Renewable IPP
Factor This! is produced by Renewable Energy World and Clarion Energy. Connect with John Engel, the host of Factor This!, on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Registration is now open for the GridTECH Connect Forum, a new event bringing together distributed energy developers and utilities to tackle the critical issue of interconnection.
Join us in San Diego on Feb. 6, 2023 for an event focused on the California market, like interconnection collaboration, vehicle-to-grid integration, demand response, and more.
Learn more at GridTECHConnect.com.
Registration is now open for the GridTECH Connect Forum, a new event bringing together distributed energy developers and utilities to tackle the critical issue of interconnection.
Join us in San Diego on Feb. 6, 2023 for an event focused on the California market, like interconnection collaboration, vehicle-to-grid integration, demand response, and more.
Learn more at GridTECHConnect.com.
It's been more than 600 days since the lights went out for millions of Texans during Winter Storm Uri.
The near-total collapse of the Texas grid can be attributed to a number of culprits— and there has been no shortage of finger-pointing.
Promises were made that what happened in February 2021 would never happen again. And a market redesign that's underway is supposed to be the solution.
To better understand what's happening, and what's to come, Episode 24 of the Factor This! podcast features Texas Capitol mainstays Caitlin Smith of Jupiter Power, Mark Stover of Apex Clean Energy, and Doug Lewin, host of Renewable Energy World's Texas Power Podcast.
Show notes:
-Check out the "Don't California my Texas (electricity market)" episode of the Texas Power Podcast for a deep dive into a highly-anticipated report on the three electricity market redesign proposals.
-Read the ICF report commissioned by the Texas Consumer Association
Factor This! is produced by Renewable Energy World and Clarion Energy. Connect with John Engel, the host of Factor This!, on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Registration is now open for the GridTECH Connect Forum, a new event bringing together distributed energy developers and utilities to tackle the critical issue of interconnection.
Join us in San Diego on Feb. 6, 2023 for an event focused on the California market, like interconnection collaboration, vehicle-to-grid integration, demand response, and more.
Learn more at GridTECHConnect.com.
Bringing new distributed energy resources to the grid often comes with delays and costly upgrades. Interconnection woes create a contentious relationship between utilities and developers.
That’s why Clarion Energy is launching the GridTECH Connect Forum— a regional event designed to break down industry silos by bringing together DER developers and utilities to find common ground to improve the interconnection process.
Registration is now open for the inaugural GridTECH Connect Forum in San Diego, California on Feb. 6, 2023.
To learn more, be sure to download Episode 23 of Factor This! featuring GridTECH Connect Forum advisory board members Laurence Abcede, manager of distributed energy resources at San Diego Gas & Electric, and CJ Colavito, the vice president of engineering at Standard Solar.
Show notes:
-Learn more about GridTECH Connect Forum
-Follow the GridTECH Connect Forum on Twitter and LinkedIn
Factor This! is produced by Renewable Energy World and Clarion Energy. Connect with John Engel, the host of Factor This!, on LinkedIn and Twitter.
More than a decade ago, the proverbial lightbulb glowed over Chad Farrell’s head.
Trained as a brownfield remediation engineer, he decided to develop solar projects on otherwise unusable land. His company, Encore Renewable Energy, became a first-mover in brownfield solar development, boosted by federal incentives.
Fast forward to today, and Farrell sees an even brighter future for brownfield solar project development due to another big chunk of federal help: the Inflation Reduction Act.
On Episode 22 of the Factor This! podcast, Farrell shares how the IRA is impacting brownfield and energy community project bankability, and lays out the challenges that still remain.
Sponsor:
-This episode of Factor This! is sponsored by Rolls Battery. Find a distributor near you.
-Registration is now open for the GridTECH Connect Forum, an all-new event designed to bring utility leaders and clean energy developers together to tackle interconnection issues. Register today.
Factor This! is produced by Renewable Energy World and Clarion Energy. Connect with John Engel, the host of Factor This!, on LinkedIn and Twitter.
The market for procuring clean energy is enduring one of the most tumultuous stretches in history.
A global pandemic, trade disputes, and federal policy near-misses over the past two years contributed to fears that either side of a power purchase agreement was getting a raw deal. That volatility added pressure on developers, investors, and corporations pursuing net-zero goals.
But historic incentives for clean energy baked into the Inflation Reduction Act have shifted the industry’s trajectory, backed by the certainty of 10-year tax credits.
What impact is the IRA already having, and what’s in store for 2023?
Gia Clark, senior director of developer services for LevelTen Energy, joins Episode 21 of the Factor This! podcast to provide a first look at her company’s Q3 PPA Price Index report and insights from their PPA marketplace.
Show notes:
-LevelTen's Q3 PPA Index (available Oct. 18)
-Episode article
-Learn more about GridTECH Connect Forum
Sponsor:
This episode of Factor This! is sponsored by Rolls Battery. Find a distributor near you.
Factor This! is produced by Renewable Energy World and Clarion Energy. Connect with John Engel, the host of Factor This!, on LinkedIn and Twitter.
We're happy to share with you the first episode of Renewable Energy World's newest podcast, the Texas Power Podcast.
In each episode, Doug Lewin guides listeners through the complicated world of Texas energy, introducing them to the people and policies behind it all.
In Episode 1 of the Texas Power Podcast, host Doug Lewin is joined by Pat Wood, former chairman of both the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Public Utility Commission of Texas. He helped deliver former Texas Gov. George W. Bush's deregulation agenda in the 1990s.
Doug's conversation with Pat Wood covered the state's market redesign efforts, the enabling technologies that can support grid resilience, and the moment when then-governor Bush was first drawn to renewables.
If you like the Texas Power Podcast, please leave a rating and review!
The Texas Power Podcast is a production of Renewable Energy Worldand Clarion Energy.
You can connect with Texas Power Podcast host Doug Lewin on Twitter and LinkedIn. Show notes:
-Episode article
-Subscribe to the free Renewable Energy World newsletter
Solar and wind enjoy broad public support, but the fight in Congress over the Inflation Reduction Act showed that the industry can be held hostage by a single vote, as proven by Sen. Joe Manchin’s nail-bite tactics.
And for all the IRA promises to do to fuel clean energy deployment, the law doesn’t cure the industry’s persistent NIMBY problem.
On Episode 20 of the Factor This! podcast, veteran clean tech communicator Mike Casey shares his vision for establishing long-term political power to prevent the next Manchin-like holdout.
We’re also joined by SOLV Energy CEO George Herschman, whose company is developing the largest solar project in the US, to share strategies that clean energy developers can use to overcome NIMBY opposition.
Show notes:
-Episode article
-Check out the energy industry's newest event, the GridTECH Connect Forum, which will bring together utility leaders and DER developers to tackle interconnection issues.
Sponsor:
Learn more about Nextracker's proprietary TrueCapture software in a new white paper that's available for free download here. TrueCapture combines advanced sensing and machine-learning technologies to help mitigate energy losses and boost plant performance. Nextracker is the only tracker company with proven, third-party verified data and measured results that meet or exceed modeled predictions. See the results for yourself.
Factor This! is produced by Renewable Energy World and Clarion Energy. Connect with John Engel, the host of Factor This!, on LinkedIn and Twitter.
In June, President Joe Biden announced a two-year pause on new tariffs on solar modules imported from Southeast Asia— much-needed relief for the industry that was brought to a standstill.
Weeks later, though, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act took effect and has resulted in the detention of modules believed to have been manufactured in the Xinjiang region of China using forced labor.
Vulnerabilities in the solar supply chain have been magnified over the past year. With historic incentives for domestic solar production secured by the Inflation Reduction Act, can the US ramp up manufacturing capacity before new tariffs are potentially imposed as a result of the Auxin Solar petition?
On Episode 19 of the Factor This! podcast, leaders from Cypress Creek Renewables, Lightsource bp, and Qcells took on this all-important question live from RE+ in Anaheim.
Show notes:
-Episode article
-Watch the live recording of Factor This! at RE+ on the Renewable Energy World YouTube channel
-Check out the energy industry's newest event, the GridTECH Connect Forum, which will bring together utility leaders and DER developers to tackle interconnection issues.
-Introducing: The Texas Power Podcast
Sponsor:
-This episode is sponsored by Nextracker, the industry’s most advanced smart solar tracking systems. Learn more about how Nextracker is ramping up domestic manufacturing capacity to 10 GW here.
Factor This! is produced by Renewable Energy World and Clarion Energy. Connect with John Engel, the host of Factor This!, on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Before the Inflation Reduction Act, working and succeeding in clean energy came with quite a bit of risk. Now with the historic legislation in place, it's time to honor those risk takers for laying the groundwork for a new level of certainty not seen before in the industry.
Tom Weirich, who leads marketing efforts in North America for EDP Renewables, chronicles the stories of those clean energy visionaries in his forthcoming book We Took the Risk.
Weirich joined Episode 18 of the Factor This! podcast from Renewable Energy World to share some highlights from the book before it's released on October 1st.
Show notes:
-You can purchase "We Took the Risk" here
-Read the full article for this podcast episode here
Sponsor notes:
This episode of Factor This! is sponsored by Nextracker.
Learn more about Nextracker's proprietary TrueCapture software in a new white paper that's available for free download here. TrueCapture combines advanced sensing and machine-learning technologies to help mitigate energy losses and boost plant performance. Nextracker is the only tracker company with proven, third-party verified data and measured results that meet or exceed modeled predictions. See the results for yourself.
Factor This! is produced by Renewable Energy World and Clarion Energy. Connect with John Engel, the host of Factor This!, on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Over the past year, DroneBase, a company that conducts aerial assessments of utility-scale solar projects, drove up and down the western and eastern seaboards of North America to develop what it hopes will become a comprehensive database of every major solar project.
A resource like this would give DroneBase the ability to rate developers, EPCs, asset owners, and manufacturers of modules, trackers, and inverters, based on performance.
That report card could bring a new level of transparency, and a reckoning, to the solar industry.
Mark Culpepper, the general manager of DroneBase's solar division, joins Episode 17 of the Factor This! podcast to discuss the new platform and its implications for the industry.
Show notes:
-Read the article on DroneBase's announcement here
Sponsor notes:
Learn more about Nextracker's proprietary TrueCapture software in a new white paper that's available for free download here. TrueCapture combines advanced sensing and machine-learning technologies to help mitigate energy losses and boost plant performance. Nextracker is the only tracker company with proven, third-party verified data and measured results that meet or exceed modeled predictions. See the results for yourself.
Factor This! is produced by Renewable Energy World and Clarion Energy. Connect with John Engel, the host of Factor This!, on LinkedIn and Twitter.
As Labor Day weekend came to a close, a sense of dread settled in at the home of Allison Clements, who was appointed to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in 2020.
On the cusp of entering fifth grade, Clements' daughter was tasked with completing a homework assignment over the summer break. And of course, it wasn’t done.
Upgrading the U.S. electric grid is akin to the nation's own summer homework, Clements said on Episode 16 of the Factor This! podcast. And Labor Day weekend has long since passed as an opportunity to complete catch-up work.
Clements discussed record heat in the West, resiliency, and FERC’s effort to reform transmission planning and interconnection rules.
Show notes:
-Full article: FERC Commissioner Allison Clements on record heat, resiliency, and smart grids
Sponsor:
-This episode is sponsored by Nextracker, the industry’s most advanced smart solar tracking systems. Learn more about how Nextracker is ramping up domestic manufacturing capacity to 10 GW here.
Factor This! is produced by Renewable Energy World and Clarion Energy. Connect with John Engel, the host of Factor This!, on LinkedIn and Twitter.
The Inflation Reduction Act established historic incentives for clean energy and climate change. It may have also created a gold rush with potentially dangerous consequences.
In Episode 15 of the Factor This! podcast, Erik Lensch, founder and CEO of Leyline Renewable Capital, shares how the Inflation Reduction Act is impacting clean energy capital markets, which he said were already oversaturated with investors chasing projects before the climate bill passed.
Remember to leave a rating or review of FactorThis! wherever you get your podcasts.
Show notes:
-Check out Episode 10, "What's going on in clean energy capital markets" with Pine Gate Renewables CEO Ben Catt, who shared a developer's point of view of clean energy capital markets.
-Read the full article for this episode, ‘Gold rush’ fever stoked by new climate law is a real concern, investor warns
-Have questions for our next guess, FERC Commissioner Allison Clements? Email me! john.engel(at)clarionevents.com
-Subscribe to the free Renewable Energy World newsletter to stay up-to-date on the latest news in solar, wind, energy storage, green hydrogen, and more.
Factor This! is produced by Renewable Energy World and Clarion Energy. Connect with John Engel, the host of Factor This!, on LinkedIn and Twitter.
With the Inflation Reduction Act's historic investments in clean energy and climate change in place, U.S. solar power development is expected to explode over the next decade.
But meeting lofty decarbonization goals won't be easy— siting challenges, interconnection delays, and supply chain constraints all stand in the way.
In Episode 14 of the Factor This! podcast, Terabase co-founder and CEO Matt Campbell shares how his company is using software and automation to redefine how gigantic solar farms get built and are managed.
Show notes:
-Subscribe to the free Renewable Energy World newsletter to stay up-to-date on the latest news in solar, wind, energy storage, green hydrogen, and more.
Factor This! is produced by Renewable Energy World and Clarion Energy. Connect with John Engel, the host of Factor This!, on LinkedIn and Twitter.
The power purchase agreement has done wonders for the deployment of clean energy.
Corporations can offset their annual energy consumption with long-term offtake contracts for solar and wind farms.
But what if that financial model doesn't work for every business—especially smaller ones that still want to make an impact? And does traditional clean energy procurement offset as much carbon as possible?
There's a new player solar that thinks they can address both of those challenges. In Episode 12 of Factor This!, Laura Zapata explains the mission behind Clearloop.
Show notes:
-Subscribe to the free Renewable Energy World newsletter to stay up-to-date on the latest news in solar, wind, energy storage, green hydrogen, and more.
Factor This! is produced by Renewable Energy World and Clarion Energy. Connect with John Engel, the host of Factor This!, on LinkedIn and Twitter.
In this bonus episode of Factor This!, we introduce you to the RENWABLE+ Series™ from Renewable Energy World. Don't worry, we'll get back to tackling solar's biggest stories on Monday.
In this +Series discussion, panelists from EDP Renewables, Generate Capital, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory break down what's next for green hydrogen— the energy transition's secret weapon.
- Bryan Pivovar, Senior Research Fellow I-Materials Science, NREL
- Ana Quelhas, Managing Director for Hydrogen, EDP Renewables (EDPR)
- Brandon Moffatt, VP, Generate Capital
While green hydrogen’s versatility offers potential answers to some of the energy transition’s most challenging questions, factors such as scale, scope, and affordability remain daunting challenges.
Show notes:
-Read the roundtable recap article here
-You can watch this +Series webinar on-demand here and check out the full +Series archive here.
Factor This! is produced by Renewable Energy World and Clarion Energy. Connect with John Engel, the host of Factor This!, on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Around 70% of solar systems in the U.S. are less than five years old, and with a lifespan of 30 years or more, recycling may not seem urgent.
But multi-gigawatt demand for solar recycling awaits the industry in the decades to come. The International Renewable Energy Agency estimates global solar PV waste will reach 78 million tonnes by 2050—with those raw materials worth $15 billion.
How can solar recycling scale to meet the need, and who’s going to capture that market?
On Episode 11 of the Factor This! podcast, Suvi Sharma – the solar veteran who co-founded Solaria and Nextracker – shares how his latest startup, SOLARCYCLE, is taking on solar’s recycling imperative.
Show notes:
-Read the article: Can solar avoid a recycling problem? Suvi Sharma is convinced it can
-Register for the free RENEWABLE +Series on green hydrogen, featuring panelists from Generate Capital, EDP Renewables, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
-Subscribe to the free Renewable Energy World newsletter to stay up-to-date on the latest news in solar, wind, energy storage, green hydrogen, and more.
Factor This! is produced by Renewable Energy World and Clarion Energy. Connect with John Engel, the host of Factor This!, on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Think back to June. President Biden had just paused new tariffs on solar modules imported from Southeast Asia—a lifeline for the solar industry after months of tumult caused by the Auxin Solar tariff petition.
Shipments resumed. Projects restarted. Stability returned.
Then came rising interest rates, record inflation, and recession anxiety, all complicating the buildout of clean energy infrastructure.
In Episode 10 of the Factor This! podcast, Pine Gate Renewables CEO Ben Catt breaks down what's going on in clean energy capital markets, fresh off raising $500 million for his utility-scale solar and storage development company.
Show notes:
-Register for the free RENEWABLE +Series on green hydrogen, featuring panelists from Generate Capital, EDP Renewables, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
-Subscribe to the free Renewable Energy World newsletter to stay up-to-date on the latest news in solar, wind, energy storage, green hydrogen, and more.
Factor This! is produced by Renewable Energy World and Clarion Energy. Connect with John Engel, the host of Factor This!, on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Up until a few days ago, Congress had been a frequent disappointment to clean energy advocates. Even the current optimism around budget reconciliation is... cautious.
But a few blocks north of Capitol Hill, seismic change has been underway.
In June, FERC laid out a set of proposed rules to address what possibly is the biggest threat facing clean energy deployment goals in the US: interconnection delays.
The notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR) identified ways to tackle widespread challenges that have led to years-long interconnection request backlogs across the country.
Jeff Dennis, managing director for the advocacy group Advanced Energy Economy, and a former FERC policy staffer, joined Episode 9 of Factor This! to break down what's in the FERC interconnection NOPR and what comes next.
Factor This! is produced by Renewable Energy World and Clarion Energy. Connect with John Engel, the host of Factor This!, on LinkedIn and Twitter.
In a shocking turn of events late on the afternoon of July 27th, Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia announced that he had reached a deal with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on a budget reconciliation package that includes $369 billion.
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 includes:
- 10-year extensions of the ITC for residential and commercial solar
- A new ITC for standalone energy storage
- Credits for domestic solar manufacturing
- Credits for new and used EVs
Jose Zayas, EVP of Policy and Programs, American Council on Renewable Energy, joined the Factor This! podcast for a rapid reaction to the reconciliation news. You can read our recap of the legislation at Renewable Energy World here.
Factor This! is produced by Renewable Energy World and Clarion Energy. Connect with John Engel, the host of Factor This!, on LinkedIn and Twitter.
In Episode 7 of the Factor This! podcast, Nextracker founder and CEO Dan Shugar explains his company's decision to invest heavily in U.S. manufacturing amid supply chain constraints and trade disputes facing the solar industry.
Plus, he gives a sneak peek at Nextracker’s next manufacturing announcement.
Enjoying Factor This!? Leave a rating and review. Programming note: Factor This! will publish every Monday beginning Aug. 1.
Show notes:
- 'Big Horn' green steel solar farm in Colorado
- Subscribe to the Renewable Energy World newsletter
- Email me! john.engel(a)clarionevents.com and let me know what you think of Factor This!
Factor This! is produced by Renewable Energy World and Clarion Energy. Connect with John Engel, the host of Factor This!, on LinkedIn and Twitter.
In Episode 6 of the Factor This! podcast, rooftop solar's biggest fight — California's net energy metering reform process — is back on. The California Public Utilities Commission has reopened the docket for NEM 3.0, which rooftop solar advocates warn could have a devastating impact on the industry nationwide.
Vote Solar's new executive director, Sachu Constantine, takes Factor This! to the frontlines of the policy fight and shares how he plans to move one of the leading solar advocacy groups to its next chapter.
Are you enjoying Factor This? Please leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts. Show notes and an episode transcript are available here.
Factor This! is produced by Renewable Energy World and Clarion Energy. Connect with John Engel, the host of Factor This!, on LinkedIn and Twitter.
How to manage and monetize distributed energy resources is one of the most rapidly changing pieces of the energy transition.
Every few weeks it seems a new software startup has raised tens (sometimes, hundreds) of millions of dollars in pursuit of those challenges. Meanwhile, utilities are watching the electricity distribution model that has stood up for a hundred years get turned on its head.
In a special edition of Factor This!, live from DISTRIBUTECH and POWERGEN International in Dallas last May, hear from Jim Walsh, who leads GE Digital’s grid software business, about the enabling forces behind the energy transition.
Factor This! is produced by Renewable Energy World and Clarion Energy. Connect with John Engel, the host of Factor This!, on LinkedIn and Twitter.
In Episode 4 of the Factor This! podcast, Abigail Ross Hopper, CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association trade group, shares how the solar industry swayed President Joe Biden *to pause new tariffs on module imports from Southeast Asia, while also boosting domestic manufacturing.
And later in the episode, Intersect Power CEO Sheldon Kimber discusses the early days of Recurrent Energy, tariffs, and solar's path forward.
This is the fourth and final episode of the Factor This! Auxin Solar tariff petition series. The full series is available*wherever you get your podcasts.
Factor This! is a production of Renewable Energy World and Clarion Energy, and is hosted by John Engel.
In Episode 3 of the Factor This! podcast, Rhone Resch, the CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association from 2004-16, looks back at solar’s “boom” and his regret as the former head of the industry’s leading trade group of not prioritizing domestic solar manufacturing. He explains why now is the time to invest in a domestic supply chain.
Plus, Martin Pochtaruk, CEO of North American solar manufacturer Heliene, joins the podcast to talk about the Solar Energy Manufacturing for America Act and how proposed incentives for domestic manufacturing would impact production in the U.S.
Finally, Michael Parr, executive director of the Ultra Low Carbon Solar Alliance discusses how focusing on solar’s carbon footprint could spur domestic manufacturing. For show notes, visit here.
This episode is the third installment of a four-part series on the Auxin Solar tariff petition. If you missed our exclusive interview with Auxin Solar CEO Mamun Rashid, listen here.
Factor This! is produced by Renewable Energy World and Clarion Energy. Connect with John Engel, the host of Factor This!, on LinkedIn and Twitter.
In Episode 2 of the "Factor This!" podcast, Lightsource bp Americas CEO Kevin Smith describes how one of the world's largest solar developers is approaching the Auxin Solar tariff petition and the threat of additional tariffs on imported modules.
Also in this episode, American Clean Power Association CEO Heather Zichal, a former Obama administration climate and energy official, takes us behind the scenes of the $5 million to oppose the Biden Administration on tariffs.
The episode is the second in a 4-part series on the Auxin Solar petition. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. If you missed the first episode, and our exclusive interview with Auxin Solar CEO Mamun Rashid, listen here.
For the first episode of the "Factor This!" podcast, Auxin Solar CEO Mamun Rashid gives his first extensive interview since filing the tariff petition that has rocked the solar industry.
The episode is the first in a 4-part series on the Auxin Solar petition.
Find more information about the Auxin Solar tariff petition, show notes, and a transcript from this episode at Renewable Energy World. And don't forget to subscribe, wherever you get your podcasts so that you don't miss an episode of the series.
Connect with John Engel, the host of Factor This!, on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Designed solely for the solar industry, Factor This! is a biweekly podcast that provides in-depth and actionable content not available anywhere else. The podcast will feature industry leaders who actually move the needle in hopes of making you smarter, your solar job easier, and pushing the industry forward.
Over the next year, the solar industry will be intensely focused on the issue that impacts every aspect of the business: the Auxin Solar tariff petition. Factor This! will break down all angles of the story, including the history of solar tariffs in the U.S., the policy decisions that got us here, the limits and opportunities in domestic manufacturing, and the impact to net-zero targets going forward.
Subscribe now so you don't miss an episode. We can't wait for you to listen beginning May 9th.
May 9th: Who’s Auxin? (Pt. 1)
May 10th: A devastating impact (Pt. 2)
June 6th: Supply chain sacrifice (Pt. 3)
June 23rd: A net-zero nightmare? (Pt. 4)
Factor This is produced by Renewable Energy World and Clarion Energy, and is hosted by John Engel. Find show notes, transcripts and resources at RenewableEnergyWorld.com.