Experts Only

We are back with new Experts Only episodes after taking a break after RE+.

In this episode, our host Jon Powers interviews Greg Ridderbusch, CEO of Connexus Energy. He just announced his retirement after leading one of the most interesting utilities in Minnesota, helping to drive the energy transition.

Utilities play a significant role in:

- moving forward, driving, and scaling renewable energy

- bringing more to the grid

- helping to manage the grid in a way that's reliable and affordable

Hear Greg's vision of where we're headed, and the opportunities and challenges ahead.

We are ramping back up for 2024, and we thank you for tuning in!

Welcome back to the show, Jigar Shah, Director, DOE Loan Programs Office. You've heard from Jigar, a commercial financing expert, before in Experts Only Podcast #104.

Now, hear from him LIVE at RE+ with Experts Only host Jon Powers.

"This recording took place at the PowerUp Live Podcast Stage at RE+ Las Vegas in 2023. PowerUp Live is where attendees can top-up on all things energy, featuring interviews with clean energy experts and conversations with podcasters around the industry. - SunCast Media"

Thank you for tuning in!

In 2023, the world experienced extreme weather events from rising ocean temperatures to detrimental wildfire smoke to the hottest consecutive days the Earth has ever seen.

However, renewable energy is at a historical moment in time where policy, technology, and finance have aligned in a way to make a generational impact against the climate crisis.

Thanks to the implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) over the last year, the industry has built significant momentum.

We are witnessing a generational opportunity to drive both public and private sector investment into clean energy solutions.

Tune in as Jon Powers, President of CleanCapital, is joined by Thomas Byrne, CEO of CleanCapital; Alex McDonough, Partner at Pioneer Public Affairs; and Marta Stoepker, Director of Public Relations at Qcells discuss the following:

- Why the clean energy transition is at an historic inflection point as policy, technology, and finance align.

- How the IRA has reshaped climate policy, and navigating those real-time policy changes.

- How U.S. manufacturing of clean energy technology is increasing and what more to expect based on the IRA incentivizes for Domestic Products.

- Understanding how climate legislation is unleashing billions of dollars in private capital to build assets like solar and energy storage.

Welcome Barney Schauble, Chairman of Nephila Climate, to Experts Only!

During this episode, Barney and host Jon Powers discuss the exciting future for the clean energy industry.

Barney and Jon dive into insurance -- not just insurance on our assets, but also how we're insuring the broader risk of climate.

Barney is also Chair of the Board of Ceres (a non-profit devoted to sustainable capitalism).

He has been working in this space, both on the risk side and the capital markets side, for his entire career.

They explore how he ended up working in climate, and the importance of thinking about risk and how we can better do it across the market.

Tune in to hear more about the the work that needs to be done to ensure that we can address these issues overall in the climate crisis.

Welcome back Roger Ballentine, energy and sustainability strategist, to the show.

Roger first appeared on Experts Only five years ago. Listeners got to know Roger as he discussed his experience in the clean energy space, helping to form the conversation around climate the last few decades. 106 podcast episodes have passed since then, and we're grateful to have him back on the show!

During this episode, Roger and host Jon Powers discuss the Clean Air Task Force's report: "Modernizing How Electricity Buyers Account and are Recognized for Decarbonization Impact and Climate Leadership." Tune in to hear more about the work this report is trying to affect, and Roger's work at Green Strategies, Inc.

Thank you for listening!

Welcome Zoe Berkery, CleanCapital's very first employee, to the show!

Zoe and host Jon Powers go way back to their days working at The White House together when she was an intern.

Zoe is now an emerging leader in the clean energy space.

They discuss her career, the growth of CleanCapital, and how she navigates the challenges of managing hundreds of megawatts of distributed generation for the company.

How does asset management need to change to help CleanCapital scale? Tune in to learn!

Host Jon Powers welcomes his longtime industry colleague Paul Curran, CEO of BQ Energy, to the show.

BQ Energy is brownfield and landfill developer. They've developed hundreds of megawatts of wind and solar. CleanCapital acquired BQ Energy in June 2022 to scale up what they were already doing.

Hear more about the unique work of turning brownfields to brightfields. Paul explains that you have to know what you're doing -- but the potential to solve the climate crisis and utilize the under-utilized, or impossible, land that are brownfields and landfills could be a critical piece of the climate crisis solution.

Paul was doing renewables well before renewables were cool. Tune in to hear more from him!

Thanks for listening!

Host Jon Powers welcomed Lisa Jacobson, President of the Business Council for Sustainable Energy (BCSE), and Ethan Zindler, Head of Americas for BloombergNEF, back for their sixth annual conversation about the Sustainable Energy in America 2023 Factbook.

This conversation is an annual tradition that covers the data in the Factbook, highlighting where the industry is today. The Factbook has been published every year for over a decade, so now you can track the growth in the market over the last 10 years.

Tune in as Jon, Lisa and Ethan look both backwards and out of where the market is.

The Factbook is available to download here: https://bcse.org/market-trends/.

Thanks for listening!

Host Jon Powers welcomes Joe Bryan, Chief Sustainability Officer & First Senior Advisor to the Secretary, United States Department of Defense.

Joe is an expert in creating change and doing interesting, innovating things both internally and externally, and he brings out the Department as a leader in both the markets and internationally.

This conversation brings our host back to his days of working at the Pentagon with Joe. He was excited to dive back in and see the work Joe is doing to bring change on the issues they care about.

Welcome to the show, Joe!

In August Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act, a landmark climate and clean energy bill. Six months later, we're asking: where are we now?

We recently hosted a webinar titled "How is the Inflation Reduction Act Affecting Clean Energy Developers" for listeners to better understand how the rollout of IRA policies will impact clean energy developers.

- What are the steps to full implementation?

- What progress has been made on tax and other key policy levels within the administration?

CleanCapital's Jon Powers was joined by Tax Expert Elizabeth Crouse and IRA Expert Elizabeth Gore to recap recent & upcoming announcements and the exciting potential outcomes for solar and storage developers.

Hosted by:

- Jon Powers

President, CleanCapital

Panelists:

- Elizabeth Crouse

Tax Partner & Co-Lead of Power, K&L Gates

- Elizabeth Gore

Senior Vice President, Political Affairs at Environmental Defense Fund