Welcome back to the show, Roger Ballentine, President, Green Strategies, Inc.

Our show has been on a  bit of a hiatus but we are coming back with a vengeance, driven by the conversation you're about to listen to. We are following what's happening in Washington constantly, as the tax bill and the Trump Administration are trying to drive change to our industry. But there's a secondary fight that we're tracking now - major changes are coming to green house gas emission accounting. This is critical in terms of how companies buy and measure their renewable energy. If these changes go forward, they can be as detrimental to our market as losing the investment tax credit or some of the anti-IRA efforts that are being pushed in Washington today. 

Please also read our blog on how to take action as soon as you can. The timing is really important, and it has to happen now.

Thank you for tuning in! We hope you enjoy the conversation.

In our first episode of 2025, Experts Only host Jon Powers speaks with Lynn Abramson, President of the Clean Energy Business Network (CEBN), about effective advocacy strategies for engaging the 119th Congress and Trump Administration.

CEBN is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that serves as a bridge to federal energy policies and programs for more than 8,200 small business and community leaders across the nation. In this conversation, Lynn particularly focuses on combatting divisive narratives around clean energy tax incentives. She highlights the decades of bipartisan support that have led to these credits, and the fact that the majority of these investments have gone to Republican districts. She also discusses the transformational impact they have had on small businesses—and the need for business and community leaders to express their priorities to their elected officials. Learn more about these topics in this accompanying post from CEBN.

Tune into the conversation and learn more about CEBN’s strategy and impact in their 2024 Annual Report.

(Note: This episode was recorded a week prior to the inauguration so does not touch upon any developments in the early days of the Trump Administration.)

The maturation of clean energy policy, technology, and finance has paved the way for a sustainable future. Now, in the face of escalating weather events that are placing our energy infrastructure at risk, we all have an important role to play in advancing decarbonization efforts. By leveraging investments and policy frameworks, there's an opportunity to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and foster the growth of clean energy sources. This interactive session will highlight case studies demonstrating both feasibility and economic viability in transitioning to renewables, even in the most unconventional of cases.

Moderator:

- Jon Powers, President, CleanCapital

Panelists:

- Jaime Carlson, Head of Commercialization and Market Risk, SB Energy

- Sean Gallagher, Senior Vice President, Policy, Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA)

- Peter Muhoro, PhD, SEPA Board Member & Chief Strategy, Technology and Innovation Officer, Rappahannock Electric Cooperative

- Marta Stoepker, Senior Director of Corporate Communications, Qcells

Host Jon Powers sits down with Jenn Miller, CEO of Renewable IPP, an Alaska-based renewable energy developer that we partner with at CleanCapital.

Under Jenn's leadership, RIPP is creating the next frontier of opportunities in Alaska.

They discuss the challenges Jenn and her team are facing in Alaska, the opportunities that solar presents, and how to grow and scale a company like RIPP in the current market.

Both Jon and Jenn will be at RE+ in September. To set up a meeting, please visit cleancapital.com/re-plus-2024.

Welcome back Abby Hopper, President & CEO at Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), to the show!

Abby and our host Jon Powers reflect now that we're two years into the Inflation Reduction Act. They discuss what it was like to see it pass, the opportunities and challenges of the past two years, and how it's going.

We're looking forward to joining SEIA at RE+ in Anaheim, CA this September! Make sure you register for this conference. It's the go-to event to engage with the solar and storage industry. See you there!

Our guest host, ScottySolar, is back by popular demand!

This week, he welcomes COSSA's Mike Kruger, President & CEO, and Ellen Kutzer, General Counsel, to the show.

This year, Colorado passed several bills and a suite of policy changes that will expedite the deployment of distributed energy resources and help the state meet its ambitious decarbonization targets.

You'll hear from the dynamic duo at the front lines of Colorado's march toward a carbon-free energy future. Mike and Ellen unpack what happened during the 2024 legislative session and explore the emerging opportunities in Colorado's clean energy economy.

Thanks for tuning in!

Welcome back to Experts Only Podcast! There’s been a lot of excitement about unleashing a community solar market in California, and the potential to make it one of the most equitable community solar programs in the country.

However, a March 4th proposed decision by the California Public Utilities Commission has put a community-solar plan backed by lawmakers, pro-solar groups, environmental-justice advocates, unions and homebuilders in jeopardy.

This episode, our guest host, Scott Elias, better known as "ScottySolar," welcomes Derek Chernow from the Coalition for Community Solar Access, Matthew Freedman from The Utility Reform Network, and Alexis Sutterman from the California Environmental Justice Alliance to unpack the effort to revamp California's community solar market amidst the CPUC's proposed decision.

Thank you for listening!

For more information:

- Comments of the Coalition for Community Solar Access on Proposed Decision Modifying Green Access Program Tariffs and Adopting a Community Renewable Energy Program: https://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/PublishedDocs/Efile/G000/M527/K884/527884666.PDF

- Former FERC Chair and CCSA challenge Proposed Decision on California community solar in opening comments: https://communitysolaraccess.org/news/former-ferc-chair-and-ccsa-challenge-proposed-decision-on-california-community-solar-in-opening-comments

- Our Sun. Our Power. California: https://oursunourpower.com/state/california/

Welcome back to Experts Only for our annual interview about the 2024 Sustainable Energy in America Factbook!

Our host Jon Powers welcomes Lisa Jacobson, President of the Business Council for Sustainable Energy (BCSE), back to the show for her 7th appearance! He also welcomed Tara Narayanan, Lead Analyst, US Regional Trends at BloombergNEF, for her inaugural interview!

They discuss the Factbook, which is published by the BCSE, in partnership with BloombergNEF. This Factbook is the best compilation of data in our industry in terms of investment, manufacturing, production, mobility, and more.

You can download the Factbook at https://bcse.org/market-trends/.

Thanks for listening!

Happy Women's History Month!

Welcome to the show Lynn Abramson, President of the Clean Energy Business Network.

Lynn and her organization annually release a report on the state of clean energy, which dives into the numbers of how we are impacting states at the local level for jobs, investment, and deployment.

Tune in to hear Lynn and Jon's conversation around advocacy, the industry's impact, and challenges we're facing.

Check out the report at cebn.org.

Thank you Lynn for being on the show, and thank you for listening!

Thank you for being on the show, Kelly Worden, VP, ESG and Investing for Health at IWBI!

Kelly and our host Jon Powers dive into the world of ESG and healthy buildings, a space in which Kelly is an expert. Tune into have a better understanding of the connection between public health and our buildings, as well as the emergence of ESG, and how we measure those things -- both at the portfolio level for investors and the building level so people can demand better buildings to work in.

The progress that we are making in this space is important for all of us. Thank you for tuning in!