Energy Dialogues

On this episode of the Energy Perspectives Podcast, recorded at the 2026 Carbon Solutions Forum in San Diego, Yuhau Lin, Vice President, Head of Environmental Markets, Americas at Morgan Stanley, and Statton Hammock, General Counsel at Verra, join Chris Davis, Senior Fellow, The Carbon Policy and Markets Initiative at High Tide Foundation.

They explore the shift to a carbon market 2.0, where project promises are written into contracts and checked with better monitoring. They also cover the new demand coming from Article 6 and CORSIA, and whether enough high-integrity supply can be delivered in volume and on time to meet it.

Lin explains why capital-intensive carbon projects need financing in place at the time of commitment, and who should carry the risk that remains.

Hammock describes why buyers want credits with demonstrated, measurable outcomes, and how digital MRV (measurement, reporting, and verification) can speed up project reviews.

Tune in to hear the one change each guest would make to accelerate the market, from better technology to an institution that steps in to assume some of the risk.

• Financing capital-intensive carbon projects

• Measurable outcomes and credit integrity

• Digital MRV and real-time project data

• Reversal risk and who carries it

• 0:00 Introductions

• 0:47 The state of the carbon market

• 2:36 Financing capital-intensive projects

• 5:04 From meeting a standard to measurable outcomes

• 6:23 Putting project commitments into contracts

• 9:04 Digital MRV and real-time data

• 11:14 Removals and reversal risk

• 12:11 Who should carry residual risk

• 13:33 Buffer pools and new insurance products

• 14:34 One change to accelerate the market

• 17:39 Enough supply to meet new demand

• 18:26 Closing

Register for our upcoming forums below:

Carbon Solutions Forum + Geothermal Day, San Diego, California, February 17 to 19, 2027, https://energy-dialogues.com/events/carbon-solutions-forum/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=csf27&utm_content=verra-ms-podcast-description North American Gas Forum, Washington, DC, November 30 to December 2, 2026, https://energy-dialogues.com/events/north-american-gas-forum/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=nagf26&utm_content=verra-ms-podcast-description

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Website: https://www.energy-dialogues.com/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=ytwebsite&utm_content=verra-ms-podcast-description

In this episode of the Energy Perspectives Podcast, recorded at the 2026 Carbon Solutions Forum in San Diego, Brad Townsend from the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, sits down with J. Andrew McAllister, Commissioner at the California Energy Commission, and Francisco Leon, President and CEO of California Resources Corporation.

The conversation explores how California is balancing decarbonization goals with a return to electricity load growth, where permitting is moving and where it still slows projects, and how integrated approaches across power, fuels, and carbon management are meeting surging demand. Topics include the CEC's new Opt-In permitting pathway, California's first EPA Class VI carbon sequestration permit, next-generation geothermal and long-duration storage, and the case for shifting financing from ratepayers to private capital.

Key Themes:

• California's load growth outlook, driven by transportation electrification with data center demand on the horizon

• Permitting reform and the CEC's new Opt-In pathway

• Integrated carbon management: CRC's first-in-state CCS project, compressed air storage, advanced geothermal

• Shifting the financing model from ratepayer recovery to private balance sheets

Chapters

0:00 Introduction 2:30 California's load growth outlook 4:33 Why electrification is an affordability play 7:08 What hyperscalers want from the grid 12:45 What California has built in six years 15:00 The CEC's Opt-In permitting pathway 18:00 CRC's integrated carbon management thesis 20:14 Modernizing existing facilities 22:00 The first EPA Class VI permit and Kern County project 24:05 Capital, speed, and the cost of solving for perfect 27:33 Changing the financing model

29:30 Closing

Learn more about the Carbon Solutions Forum: https://energy-dialogues.com/events/carbon-solutions-forum/

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In the data center world, every client conversation starts in the same place: speed to power. DG Matrix and Satterfield & Pontikes Construction built a turnkey partnership around that demand, and this episode is the story of how it came together.

Michael Wood III, Director, Commercial Development at DG Matrix, and Cam Thrutchley, VP, Mission Critical at Satterfield & Pontikes Construction, join Monika Simões, CEO and Founder of Energy Dialogues, and host Will Bernholz. Wood describes customers who arrive asking for one thing, megawatts delivered as fast as possible, and how that pushed DG Matrix to line up partners across the entire data center life cycle. Thrutchley explains how Texas Senate Bill 6, and its requirements above seventy-five megawatts for behind-the-meter power and battery storage, pointed Texas projects toward a multi-port power router and made the partnership obvious.

Simões traces what happens when two industries with different clocks end up in the same room. Energy thinks in multi-year permitting and interconnection timelines. Data centers do not. The three also cover where this started: Wood and Thrutchley met at the North American Gas Forum years before any business came of it, when Wood was still a student, and Thrutchley describes what it is like to now be doing business with someone he first met as a mentee.

Key Themes

• Speed to power is the first thing clients raise in every data center conversation
• Texas Senate Bill 6 requirements above seventy-five megawatts pushed Texas projects toward behind-the-meter power and battery storage
• Energy works on multi-year permitting and interconnection timelines, and data center schedules do not
• Trade partners choose who they build for, which turns relationships into a delivery constraint
• A connection made at an Energy Dialogues forum became a commercial partnership years later

Chapters

(0:00) Speed to power and what data center customers are buying (3:15) How the Texas turnkey partnership came together (6:31) Two industries, two different clocks (9:11) Michael Wood III's path from student to DG Matrix (13:22) Legacy, mentorship, and being a great neighbor (17:16) What happens after the forum (21:43) Building a network that produces partnerships (25:49) Selling down to the trade partners (27:56) Closing thoughts

Register for our upcoming forums:

Permian Energy Dialogues, Austin, Texas, September 15 and 16, 2026 https://energy-dialogues.com/events/permian-energy-dialogues/

North American Gas Forum, Washington, D.C., November 30 to December 2, 2026 https://energy-dialogues.com/events/north-american-gas-forum/

Subscribe and follow for more conversations from Energy Dialogues forums.

Follow Energy Dialogues:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/energy-dialogues/ Website: https://www.energy-dialogues.com/

In this episode of the Energy Perspectives Podcast, recorded at the Carbon Solutions Forum in San Diego in February 2026, Trevor Best (CEO, Syzygy Plasmonics) and Kevin Norfleet (Global Sustainability Director, Celanese) join Elias B. Hinckley (Partner, Baker Botts) to examine what it takes to turn carbon capture and low-carbon fuel technologies into bankable projects.

Best shares how Syzygy Plasmonics secured a 100% offtake with Trafigura for its first commercial sustainable aviation fuel plant and the technology pathway to competing with traditional jet fuel on cost at scale. Norfleet describes Celanese's experience building one of the first large-scale CCU-to-methanol facilities, the voluntary demand landscape for low-carbon materials, and the certification infrastructure gaps the industry still faces.

Key Themes:

• Offtake as the decisive hurdle for project finance

• Building a CCU facility before customer demand is proven

• The gap between fuel mandates and voluntary materials markets

• Scaling technology to compete with traditional fuels on cost

• The missing carbon accounting infrastructure

Chapters

• 0:00 Introductions

• 1:23 Celanese's CCU-to-Methanol Project

• 2:15 Building the Business Case for CCU

• 3:49 The Primacy of Viable Offtake

• 5:16 Selling into Mandate Markets

• 6:17 Voluntary Demand in Materials Markets

• 8:25 Building Before Demand Is Certain

• 9:31 The Certification Infrastructure Gap

• 10:43 Financing the Next Facility

• 13:31 Finding Long-Term Investors

• 14:14 Internal vs. External Capital

• 15:01 One Lever to Fix Carbon Markets

• 17:17 Closing

Learn more about the Carbon Solutions Forum: https://energy-dialogues.com/events/carbon-solutions-forum/

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Follow Energy Dialogues: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/energy-dialogues/ Website: https://www.energy-dialogues.com

In this episode of the Energy Perspectives Podcast, recorded at the 2025 North American Gas Forum in Washington, D.C., Victor Pascucci III (Co-Founder and Managing General Partner, Energy Capital Ventures) and David Finan (Managing Partner, EIV Capital) join Diana Glassman, Director at Federated Hermes Limited, for a conversation on how capital is flowing into the natural gas value chain.

Pascucci's fund backs innovation across the natural gas ecosystem, from methane management to hydrogen, RNG, and CCUS. Finan's firm invests in lower-to-mid market energy infrastructure across traditional and renewable projects. Glassman brings the perspective of universal-owner pension fund clients representing $2.2 trillion in assets under advisement.

Key Themes:

• Hyperscalers and data centers as a demand-pull moment for natural gas infrastructure

• Why customer contracts, not subsidies, are the real test for any technology

• Emissions measurement and stewardship as drivers of asset value at exit

• "Last mile" infrastructure investment and who pays for the buildout

Note: This episode was recorded in December 2025, some references may no longer reflect current conditions.

Chapters

0:00 Introduction

2:30 The thesis: investing in the natural gas value chain

6:20 From supply push to demand pull

11:08 Technology is energy now

13:37 Where venture capital meets natural gas

14:46 Companies have to stand on their own

19:45 Emissions stewardship and exit value

23:08 Regulators and hyperscalers

25:43 Who pays for the buildout

27:30 Closing

Learn more about the North American Gas Forum: https://energy-dialogues.com/events/north-american-gas-forum/

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Website: https://www.energy-dialogues.com

In preparation for her keynote at the upcoming Permian Energy Dialogues, Texas General Land Office Commissioner Dawn Buckingham, MD, joins Monika Simoes for a conversation about the role of state lands in Texas energy, mineral development, public education funding, and grid reliability.

Starting from the office's stewardship of 13 million acres and its role in funding Texas public education through the Permanent School Fund, the conversation moves to the practical questions facing a fast-growing state:

• Produced water reuse for agriculture and data center cooling

• Rare earth minerals and building Texas supply chains

• Geothermal, natural gas, and other dispatchable generation as load growth tests the grid

• The Land Office's partnerships with industry across water, hydrogen, and energy development

Chapters

• 0:00 Introducing Dawn Buckingham and the Texas General Land Office

• 0:45 From medicine to public service

• 1:45 The Land Office's 13 million acres

• 3:30 Mineral rights and Texas energy

• 5:15 Produced water and data center cooling

• 7:25 Industry problem-solving and partnerships

• 8:40 Rare earth minerals and Texas supply chains

• 10:15 Dispatchable energy and grid reliability

• 11:05 A message for Permian Energy Dialogues attendees

Learn more about Permian Energy Dialogues: https://energy-dialogues.com/events/permian-energy-dialogues/

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Website: https://www.energy-dialogues.com

In this episode of the Energy Perspectives Podcast, Charif Souki, Chairman, Phoenix Energy, joins Monika Simoes, CEO, Energy Dialogues, to discuss how U.S. oil and LNG have changed the global energy security picture.

Souki describes why recent disruption has not become a broader energy crisis, how flexible U.S. LNG capacity has changed the market, and why LNG is moving from destination-based supply toward a more liquid commodity model. He also explains Phoenix Energy's focus on low-cost American molecules, feedgas, infrastructure, and capacity on other terminals rather than another race to build liquefaction.

• U.S. oil and LNG as shock absorbers in global energy markets

• The flexibility built into American LNG capacity and contract structures

• LNG's shift from point-to-point supply to commodity liquidity

• Affordability and food-security stakes for LNG-importing countries

• Phoenix Energy's molecule-focused model

• 0:00 Welcome and market context

• 0:59 Oil disruption without a full energy crisis

• 5:20 Why the Americas are less exposed

• 5:43 U.S. LNG flexibility and global supply

• 7:31 LNG's role in the energy future

• 11:17 Energy affordability for lower-income markets

• 14:49 Lessons from Cheniere and Tellurian

• 18:28 The feedgas challenge for LNG projects

• 19:47 Phoenix Energy's model

• 24:32 What the industry still misunderstands

• 25:55 Advice for the next generation

• 28:56 Closing remarks

Learn more about the North American Gas Forum: https://energy-dialogues.com/events/north-american-gas-forum/

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In this episode of the Energy Perspectives Podcast, recorded at the North American Gas Forum in December 2025, former U.S. Senator Mary L. Landrieu of Natural Allies for a Clean Energy Future leads a panel of former officials on the role of natural gas in energy affordability, reliability, and economic growth.

Former U.S. Representative Tim Ryan, former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, and former Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter draw on their records in Ohio, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. The conversation runs from gas exports and coal displacement to household energy costs and the rising demand that AI and data centers place on the grid.

Key Themes:

• Natural gas, coal displacement, and emissions

• Energy affordability and reliability for households

• Jobs, manufacturing, and economic development

• Rising demand from AI and data centers

Note: This episode was recorded in December 2025, some references may no longer reflect current conditions.

Chapters

(0:00) Introduction

(0:38) Natural gas and the middle class

(2:46) Virginia's energy mix

(4:28) Pipelines and gas capacity

(5:45) Energy costs and housing

(8:02) Climate goals and reliability

(9:47) Pennsylvania gas exports

(10:16) The role of governors

(12:42) Data centers and energy demand

(13:15) Permitting and infrastructure

(15:11) New England energy costs

(17:38) Closing thoughts

Learn more about the North American Gas Forum: https://energy-dialogues.com/events/north-american-gas-forum/

Subscribe to our channel for more conversations from Energy Dialogues forums.

Follow Energy Dialogues:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/energy-dialogues/
• Website: https://www.energy-dialogues.com

In this episode of the Energy Perspectives Podcast, recorded live at the North American Gas Forum in Washington, D.C. in 2025, Magatte Wade (Entrepreneur & Author of "Heart of the Cheetah") sits down with Timothy M. Egan (Former President & CEO, Canadian Gas Association) to discuss her new initiative, Prosperity Not Poverty, and the case for affordable, reliable, abundant energy as the foundation of human flourishing.

From her childhood in Senegal to her work advocating for free markets and energy access across Africa, the conversation explores why energy poverty is a humanitarian issue, how indoor air pollution from biomass cooking affects millions every year, and why the same dynamics show up in developed economies where vulnerable populations face rising energy costs.

Key Themes:

• Energy access as the foundation of economic prosperity

• Indoor air pollution and the public health cost of energy poverty

• A target of 2.5 billion prosperous Africans by 2050

• Why cultural engagement, not just policy, drives energy decisions

Chapters

0:00 Introduction

0:27 Magatte's story: Senegal to Germany

2:36 The defining question

3:48 Why Africa remains poor: over-regulation

4:22 The goal: 2.5 billion prosperous Africans by 2050

5:18 Why energy access is a prerequisite for prosperity

6:19 Indoor air pollution and biomass cooking

8:50 Operating at the cultural level

10:30 The Calgary classroom: energy is everywhere

16:30 Why youth are the focus of Prosperity Not Poverty

18:30 Energy poverty in the US, Canada, and the UK

20:30 Why the Africa story shifts the conversation

22:00 Closing

Learn more about Energy Dialogues and upcoming forums at: https://www.energy-dialogues.com

Learn more about the North American Gas Forum: https://energy-dialogues.com/events/north-american-gas-forum/

Subscribe for more episodes of the Energy Perspectives Podcast.

Recorded live at the Carbon Solutions Forum 2026 in San Diego, this conversation captures what Day One surfaced and what Day Two needs to deliver.

Will Bernholz sits down with Reg Manhas, Co-Founder and CEO of Lapis Carbon Solutions, and Monika Simoes, Founder and CEO of Energy Dialogues, to unpack the through-line of CSF 2026: permitting reform is gaining real momentum, decarbonization conversations have been recontextualized around affordability and reliability, and the end users (hyperscalers, airlines, logistics) are now squarely at the table.

Reg shares why investor perception of CCS permitting risk is the central question for the financing sessions, and previews Lapis's first CO2 injection target by end of 2026. Monika reflects on how 15 years of convening has converged on a single discipline: pragmatism, and the synergies that get real projects financed and built.

Key Themes:

- Why permitting reform is moving from talking point to action

- How affordability and reliability reframed the decarbonization conversation

- What hyperscalers and airlines need from the energy industry

- The financing question every CCS developer is wrestling with

- Predictions for CSF 2027: CCS, geothermal, EOR, and the role of AI demand

Chapters

00:00 Intro from CSF 2026 in San Diego

00:33 Meet the guests: Reg Manhas (Lapis Carbon Solutions) and Monika Simoes (Energy Dialogues)

01:20 Day One takeaways: permitting reform momentum and EPA Region 6

03:03 What hyperscalers and end users are saying: Google, Microsoft, FedEx, Delta

05:30 AI, agents, and the energy demand picture

06:38 From decarbonization rhetoric to commercial viability

07:10 What to watch on Day Two: data center economics and project finance

08:43 Year three of CSF: pragmatism, synergies, and who needs to be in the room

10:44 Predictions for CSF 2027: CCS projects injecting, geothermal, EOR, hyperscalers as enablers

12:50 Closing thoughts

Learn more about Energy Dialogues and upcoming forums at: https://www.energy-dialogues.com

Learn more about the Carbon Solutions Forum: https://energy-dialogues.com/events/carbon-solutions-forum/

Subscribe for more episodes of the Energy Perspectives Podcast.

Follow Energy Dialogues on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/energy-dialogues/