More Power To You®️

This episode is a graduate-level course on tracking renewable energy from generation to the end user, and the complexities of how policies, processes and markets all interact. My guest is Ben Gerber, the Executive Director of M-RETS, the Midwest Renewable Energy Tracking System based in Minneapolis. And this episode is a first for this podcast as I invite a guest co-host to join me—Tanuj Deora, Vice President of Market Development at Simple Energy. Tanuj is well known in clean energy circles – among his many previous roles he’s served as the Director of the Colorado Energy Office and more recently as EVP at SEPA, the Smart Electric Power Alliance, a role in which he’s been a guest on this podcast before.

Ben, Tanuj and I start our conversation with the basics – what is MRETS and what does it do, and how do Renewable Energy Certificates, or RECs, work? We look at how the REC market landscape has been changing for both buyers and sellers, and we get into the debate that’s been happening within the REC community about the value of RECs and if they’ve outlived their usefulness. Tanuj and Ben square off about questions of additionality and look at the extent to which REC policies provide a necessary market incentive to build new renewable generation or whether they can serve as a disincentive in some scenarios.

From there we look at the applicability of tracking systems to other sectors such as energy efficiency and energy storage. Then we look more broadly at the implications of RECs for decarbonization, and specifically at how advances in the technology and different market and policy approaches can support meaningful climate action. And we close our conversation with a look at renewable natural gas.

We recorded this episode in back in February when Ben was in DC to speak at NARUC’s annual Winter Policy Conference. Though the conversation is a couple months old now, it has aged well aside from Tanuj’s gloating about the Patriots winning the Super Bowl.

Show references include:

• Orange Button
• Budweiser super bowl ad
• EPA Webinar: Renewable Natural Gas from Landfill Gas and Sustainability at L’Oréal

Recorded February 10, 2019. Published April 29, 2019.

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Sponsor message:

Is the climate crisis stressing you out?  You have a choice in what you do about it. Option 1: Scream into a pillow, or option 2: Drive sustainable corporate behavior through your investments. If you’re like most of us, you probably don’t know what your investment funds are supporting, and there’s a good chance they invest in fossil fuels.

Change Finance is a woman-owned and operated Public Benefit Corporation that builds investment funds to change the world. The investments are fossil fuel free, and align with your values without sacrificing returns. Go to change-finance.net/mpty to learn more and start investing today. 

Change Finance is a registered investment advisor. This is not an offer to buy or sell any product.

This is a special episode of More Power to You, in which I bring you an episode of Offshore Wind Insider, a podcast I launched a few months ago for the Business Network for Offshore Wind, which in full disclosure is a client of mine.

My guest is Liz Burdock, President and CEO of the Network. Our conversation covers both strengths and challenges facing the US offshore wind industry today.

We begin by looking at where the market stands today in terms of its potential capacity, current state commitments and the project development pipeline. We discuss recent lease activity, the entry of major international companies into the US market, what that says about investor confidence and what it may mean for the industry’s growth. We obviously talk about the IPF, the Network’s International Partnering Forum which is just a few weeks away in New York, as well as other activities the Network has planned later this year. Liz shares how the industry’s rapid growth also poses significant supply chain challenges, and she wraps up by looking West and discussing the possibilities for offshore wind in the Pacific.

At least I thought she was wrapping up, but then she turns the tables on me and starts asking me questions. So, I share some of what I’ve seen and learned as someone who’s still relatively new to the industry.

References:

• US Offshore Wind Market Update and Insights report
• 2019 International Partnering Forum

Recorded March 12, 2019. Published March 25, 2019.

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Is the climate crisis stressing you out?  You have a choice in what you do about it. Option 1: Scream into a pillow, or option 2: Drive sustainable corporate behavior through your investments. If you’re like most of us, you probably don’t know what your investment funds are supporting, and there’s a good chance they invest in fossil fuels.

Change Finance is a woman-owned and operated Public Benefit Corporation that builds investment funds to change the world. The investments are fossil fuel free, and align with your values without sacrificing returns. Go to change-finance.net/mpty to learn more and start investing today. 

Change Finance is a registered investment advisor. This is not an offer to buy or sell any product.

My guest this episode is climate advocate Will Hackman. Will hails from America’s heartland, spent three seasons as a commercial fisherman in Alaska, has attended the past three UN climate conferences, and works in DC advancing climate and clean energy policy in the NGO community. We start our conversation by discussing the need for climate action. Why do we need to keep global warming within 2° C, and what will that look like if we’re to take the steps needed to meet that target? Will then sets the record straight on a number of common misconceptions people have about the climate debate. And we close by looking at the federal Administration and at Congress – what impacts have current policies and laws been having, and what are the prospects for more impactful change?

Resources mentioned:

• Three articles written by Will:
  • The Business Case for U.S. Policy Leadership in Combating Climate Change: Part One
  • The Business Case for U.S. Policy Leadership in Combating Climate Change: Part Two
  • The Rise of Cities and States in Fighting Climate Change: Key Takeaways from the 2017 United Nations Climate Conference
• Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
• Renewable Energy: A Key Climate Solution (IRENA, 2017)
• We Are Still In

Recorded January 10, 2019. Published January 16, 2019.

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Dedicated to covering America’s transition to a clean energy economy, the Energy News Network features both original reporting and daily aggregated content. You can subscribe for free to any of its regional services covering the Northeast, Southeast, Midwest and West, or to its national service—US Energy News—at energynews.us.

In this episode we focus on energy efficiency in rural America. My guest is Mary Shoemaker, State Policy Analyst at ACEEE, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. Our conversation focuses on both challenges and solutions, and we cover a broad range of issues, starting with what makes rural America unique in terms of energy efficiency and its overall energy burden.  We discuss a number of topics including what ACEEE has been doing to address the rural space; the importance of broadband; different financing solutions; data and customer engagement, and economic development and job creation. Mary offers a number of specific examples where these programs are being implemented, and we also spend some time talking about Appalachia in particular because Mary is part of a team developing policy recommendations for the Central Appalachian Network.

Show references include:

ACEEE publications: 

• Reaching Rural Communities with Energy Efficiency(report)
• Rural Energy Burdens(report) + accompanying fact sheet
• State Energy Efficiency Scorecard(report) + accompanying fact sheet
• Rural Energy Conference(conference page and presentation PDFs)

Other references: 

• Ameren Missouri proposal offers customers fast-charge electric vehicle stations, improved air quality and new choices(Cision PR Newswire)
• Oncor’s MainStreet Efficiency program
• Southern Virginia Higher Education Center
• Efficiency Vermont
• Co-Mo builds on Connect to launch SmartHub (Co-Mo Electric Cooperative blog post)
• USDA’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Loan Program (EECLP)
• USDA’s Rural Energy Savings Program (RESP)
• Mountain Association for Community Economic Development (MACED)’s How$martKY
• Minnesota’s Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs)
• Clean Energy Leadership Institute (CELI)
• Central Appalachian Network (CAN)
• Natural Capital Investment Fund
• Rural Support Partners
• Solar Workgroup of Southwest Virginia

Recorded December 11, 2018. Published December 17, 2018. 

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Dedicated to covering America’s transition to a clean energy economy, the Energy News Network features both original reporting and daily aggregated content. You can subscribe for free to any of its regional services covering the Northeast, Southeast, Midwest and West, or to its national service—US Energy News—at energynews.us.

In this episode we focus on carbon pricing and its prospects both federally and in the states. My guests are Andres Jimenez, Senior Director of Government Affairs, and Jamie DeMarco, State-Level Carbon Pricing Coordinator, for Citizens' Climate Lobby. In a purely coincidental bit of good timing, the morning that our interview was scheduled, a bipartisan group of Congressmembers introduced a major new federal carbon price bill. We start the interview by discussing the bill, what it does and what its prospects are, and then we shift gears and discuss the state landscape for carbon pricing.

References include:

• Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act (HR 7173)
• Bill summary from Rep. Ted Deutch's office 
• CCL's webpage on the bill
• Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report 15
• Fourth National Climate Assessment

Articles:

• Bipartisan group of lawmakers propose landmark carbon tax (Timothy Cama and Miranda Green, The Hill, Nov. 28)
• House lawmakers introduce first bipartisan carbon tax bill in a decade (Josh Siegel, Washington Examiner, Nov. 28)
• A hopeless carbon tax bill that's still worth watching (Ben Geman, Axios, Nov. 28)

Recorded: November 28, 2018. Published: November 29, 2018.

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More Power To You is sponsored by the Energy News Network. With original reporting on clean energy and daily digests of timely aggregated content, the Energy News Network is dedicated to covering America's transition to a clean energy economy. Subscribe for free to its regional services covering the West, Midwest, Northeast and Southeast, or to its national service—US Energy News—at energynews.us.

In this episode we put on our energy geek hats to focus on demand response, and explore how utilities are implementing demand response programs across the US. My guest is Brenda Chew, an analyst at SEPA – the Smart Electric Power Alliance, and lead author of SEPA’s 2018 Utility Demand Response Market Snapshot report which serves as the basis for our conversation.

We begin by discussing how SEPA defines demand response and what it covers for purposes of the report. We look at some big-picture numbers, then go sector by sector, looking at different types of demand response programs and some specific utility case studies. For me, the really intriguing aspect of demand response is how it relates to the broader transition to a smarter, cleaner and more renewable electric grid. And in that vein we discuss some of the customer behavior aspects of demand response, and explore its applications to the energy storage and electric vehicles sectors. We close by looking ahead at how the demand response ecosystem may continue to evolve in the years ahead.

Show references include:

• SEPA's 2018 Utility Demand Response Market Snapshot
• Stem wins big with 85MW of energy storage in SCE procurement (Greentech Media, Nov. 5, 2014)
• Maui Electric's EV charging time of use rates information page
• SDG&E 'Power Your Drive" EV charging time of use information page
• Arizona utility will use 'reverse demand response' to avoid renewables curtailment, (Utility Dive, Sept. 27, 2017)

Recorded October 9, 2018. Published November 12, 2018.

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This is a special episode of More Power To You, the first episode recorded in front of a live audience. Earlier this month the Maryland Clean Energy Center hosted its annual Maryland Clean Energy Summit in College Park, and I moderated a panel titled The Mechanics of Offshore Wind: Moving to the Grid of the Future. The four panelists were:

• Jason Folsom, Offshore Wind Representative for the Americas for Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy
• Prem Pereira, Project Construction Director for Deepwater Wind
• Markian Melnyk, President of Atlantic Grid Development, and
• Belton Zeigler, Partner and Co-Leader of the Energy and Natural Resources Team at the law firm Womble Bond Dickinson

This wide-ranging conversation touches on a broad range of issues that all relate to offshore wind, including the economics of offshore wind, different approaches to building the offshore transmission infrastructure, grid integration, load balancing and much more.

Presenters' slide decks:

• Prem Pereira: Deepwater Wind
• Markian Melnyk: Atlantic Grid Development

Recorded October 9, 2018. Published October 29, 2018.

Welcome to the sixth and final episode in a special series of More Power To You, produced in partnership with the Maryland Clean Energy Center for National Clean Energy Week 2018. Each episode spotlights a different clean energy technology, and features some of the people and companies leading the way in Maryland. 

In this episode, we focus on bioenergy. My guests are Shawn Kreloff, CEO of the Americas for BTS BioEnergy, and Andy Moss, Technical Director for Planet Found Energy Development. It's a two-part episode as each interview was recorded separately. As you'll hear, bioenergy is a really interesting sector because it has a lot of overlap with the agriculture sector. It poses some interesting challenges but also offers some neat opportunities.

Special Offer for MPTY listeners:

Next month, the Maryland Clean Energy Center is hosting its annual Maryland Clean Energy Summit, a three-day conference from October 8-10 in College Park. The conference focuses on cutting-edge technologies, modern business models, and innovative regulations and financing solutions to ensure a secure, resilient and transactive power grid. More Power To You listeners will get a 10 percent discount on registration if you enter the coupon code MPTY at checkout. 

Recorded September 14 and 17, 2018. Published September 27, 2018.

Welcome to Part Five in a special six-part series of More Power To You, produced in partnership with the Maryland Clean Energy Center for National Clean Energy Week 2018. Each episode spotlights a different clean energy technology, and features some of the people and companies leading the way in Maryland. 

This week’s focus is electric transportation. My guests are: 

• Genevieve Cullen, President of the Electric Drive Transportation Association
• Mahi Reddy, CEO of SemaConnect, which in full disclosure is a client of mine, and
• David Clamage, consultant to Generate Capital where he oversees day-to-day operations of customer finance offerings for BYD, the world’s largest electric bus maker

 For the interview I sat down in person with Genevieve and Mahi, and recorded David separately.

The conversations collectively touch on a range of topics including with the rapid growth of electric transportation, and the evolution of policy, technology and customer awareness. We look at the critical role of EV charging infrastructure, how the paradigm is shifting in terms of how drivers fuel up, and how smart, managed charging can help mitigate the need for new generation capacity. We disuss Electrify America’s massive charging infrastructure investment plan and the job and economic development implications of electrification. In the segment with David Clamage we look at buses and fleets, and touch on financing, public policy and more.

Special Offer for MPTY listeners:

Next month, the Maryland Clean Energy Center is hosting its annual Maryland Clean Energy Summit, a three-day conference from October 8-10 in College Park. The conference focuses on cutting-edge technologies, modern business models, and innovative regulations and financing solutions to ensure a secure, resilient and transactive power grid. More Power To You listeners will get a 10 percent discount on registration if you enter the coupon code MPTY at checkout. 

Recorded July 20 and August 2, 2018. Published September 27, 2018.

Welcome to Part Four in a special six-part series of More Power To You, produced in partnership with the Maryland Clean Energy Center for National Clean Energy Week 2018. Each episode spotlights a different clean energy technology, and features some of the people and companies leading the way in Maryland. 

This week’s focus is offshore wind energy, and my guest is someone who’ll be familiar to regular listeners: Liz Burdock, President and CEO of the Business Network for Offshore Wind.

Our conversation begins with a review of some major state developments over the past few months. We discuss the importance of scale in developing the offshore wind supply chain, the role of smaller projects in growing the industry, and the importance of state policy and legislation, particularly in Maryland. Liz recounts the history of the Network which she co-founded in Maryland several years ago, and we close by discussing some new Network initiatives including the new Offshore Wind Insider podcast, and look ahead to next year’s IPF, the Network’s signature event.

In full disclosure, the Network is a client of mine, and I’m an unabashed supporter not just of offshore wind as a clean energy source, but of the Network. And as an example of just how fast the offshore wind industry is advancing, we recorded this show exactly two weeks ago. As you’ll hear in the interview, we were discussing how New Jersey would be releasing a solicitation some time in the future. Just last week New Jersey issued its solicitation for 1,100 MW of offshore wind, the largest single state OSW solicitation in US history.

Special Offer for MPTY listeners:

Next month, the Maryland Clean Energy Center is hosting its annual Maryland Clean Energy Summit, a three-day conference from October 8-10 in College Park. The conference focuses on cutting-edge technologies, modern business models, and innovative regulations and financing solutions to ensure a secure, resilient and transactive power grid. More Power To You listeners will get a 10 percent discount on registration if you enter the coupon code MPTY at checkout. 

Recorded September 12, 2018. Published September 26, 2018.