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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.

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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 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 News

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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.

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. 

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

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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.

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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 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, 2023

1. 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

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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.

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. 

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

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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.

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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!

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

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. 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, 2023

1. 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 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.

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. 

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

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. 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, 2023

1. 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 — Bloomberg

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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.

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. 

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

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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 channel

Show 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

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

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. 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, 2023

1. 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 [email protected]. 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. 

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

Tell us what you think of the show!

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.

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