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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. 

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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, 2024

This week’s “Cleantecher of the Week” is Rondo Energy's Helen Sweet. Nominate your picks for "Cleantecher of the Week" by emailing the show.

1. Winter storm tests Texas green grid upgrades — The Washington Post
2. Octopus Energy Has Texas-Size Ambitions — The Wall Street Journal
3. States with big climate goals strip local power to block green projects — AP News
4. California Has Dealt a Blow to Renewable Energy, Some Businesses Say — The New York Times
5. Companies are hiding their climate progress. A new report explains why. — Grist

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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. 

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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, 2024

This 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.

1. The Problem With De-Risking: Transitioning to Clean Energy Requires Trade With China — Foreign Affairs
2. Housing wind fall — Semafor
3. Smart Energy Use Draws Big Money From Private Equity — Bloomberg
4. New York jump-starts the "building decarbonization" trend — Axios
5. Power companies paid civil rights leaders in the US south. They became loyal industry advocates — Floodlight News

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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.

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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, 2023

This week’s “Cleantecher of the Week” is Julia McPherson, Manager of Community Relations at EDP Renewables. Send your nominations, and story recommendations, to [email protected].

1. What No One at COP28 Wanted to Say Out Loud: Prepare for 1.5 Degrees — New York Times
2. Volkswagen, Audi, And Porsche Finally Commit To Using Tesla’s NACS Plug — InsideEV’s
3. The United States is producing more oil than any country in history — CNN
4. US Treasury unveils rules for clean energy manufacturing subsidy — Reuters
5. The Power Grab — WOSU Public Media

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Help make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to [email protected]. And don’t forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.

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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

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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, 2023

This week’s “Cleantecher of the Week” is Robin Laine, co-founder and CEO of renewable SaaS company Transect.

1. Transmission rulings pave path for renewable energy — E&E News
2. Tesla recalls nearly all vehicles on US roads over lack of Autopilot safeguards — Reuters
3. Solar and Wind to Top Coal Power in US for First Time in 2024 — Bloomberg
4. Nations at COP28 Agree for First Time to Transition From Fossil Fuels — Wall Street Journal
5. 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 [email protected]. And don’t forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.

Energy policy on your mind? Check out all episodes of the Factor This Policycast

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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, 2023

This 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 YouTube

Help make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to [email protected]. And don’t forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.

Energy policy on your mind? Check out all episodes of the Factor This Policycast

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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

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