Everyone agrees we need more distributed energy. The harder question is: who pays for it?

That's the question Molly Bauch has been wrestling with.

As North American Connected Energy Lead at Accenture, Molly helped develop a new model that connects one of the fastest-growing sources of electricity demand with one of the country's biggest energy challenges.

The idea is surprisingly simple.

Data centers need community support and faster paths to power. Millions of low-income households need access to affordable solar and storage. What if those two needs could solve each other?

In this conversation, Molly explains how Accenture, Grid Alternatives, and a growing coalition of partners are creating a playbook that helps data centers invest directly in distributed energy, lowering energy costs for families today while laying the foundation for tomorrow's virtual power plants.

If it scales, this isn't just another financing model. It could reshape how we think about paying for grid infrastructure altogether.

Expect to learn:

🔹 Why one in five American households is now behind on their electricity bill

🔹 How data centers can help fund solar and storage deployment

🔹 Why virtual power plants may outcompete new peaker plants on both cost and speed

🔹 What still has to happen before this model becomes fully bankable

Whether you work in utilities, distributed energy, infrastructure, or data centers, this conversation offers a fresh perspective on one of the biggest questions facing the industry today:

How do we build the grid we need without asking ratepayers to shoulder the entire burden?

Are there other technologies you’ve scouted on the frontlines of the Clean Energy Revolution that you think we should be covering here on SunCast?

Hit us up - [email protected] with your feedback & recommendations.

If you want to connect with today's guest, you’ll find links to their contact info in the show notes on the blog at https://suncast.media/episodes/.

Our Platinum Presenting Sponsor for SunCast is CPS America!

You can learn more about all the sponsors who help make this show free for you at www.suncast.media/sponsors.

Remember, you can always find resources, learn more about today’s guest and explore recommendations, book links, and more than 875 other founder stories and startup advice at www.suncast.media.

Subscribe to Valence, our weekly LinkedIn Newsletter, and learn the elements of compelling storytelling: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/valence-content-that-connects-7145928995363049472/

You can connect with me, Nico Johnson, on:

Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/nicomeo

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickalus

What determines whether a battery project performs safely over its lifetime?

According to Kathleen McCaffery and Jeff Zwijack, the answer has as much to do with process, preparation, and quality assurance as it does with the battery itself.

In this special live SunCast broadcast, Nico Johnson sits down with Kathleen McCaffery, retired Battalion Chief and former Global Fire Liaison for Tesla, and Jeff Zwijack, Associate Director of Energy Storage at Clean Energy Associates, to discuss what hundreds of inspections reveal about battery safety, operational readiness, and risk management across the energy storage industry.

Drawing from hundreds of factory inspections and years of real-world fire response experience, Kathleen and Jeff explore the lessons the industry is learning as battery projects grow larger, more complex, and increasingly important to grid reliability.

From supplier selection and factory acceptance testing to emergency response planning and long-term asset management, this conversation highlights the systems and processes that help prevent problems before they become operational, financial, or reputational risks.

Expect to learn:

🔹 What hundreds of inspections reveal about today's most common battery storage quality challenges

🔹 Why quality assurance extends far beyond the battery itself

🔹 How developers can identify and mitigate risks before equipment reaches the field

🔹 Why local fire departments should be part of every project's planning process

🔹 What industry leaders are learning about building safer, more resilient storage projects

As battery storage becomes an increasingly critical part of the energy transition, the industry's success depends not only on technology, but on the discipline and preparation behind every project.

If you're developing, financing, building, operating, or insuring energy storage assets, this conversation offers practical lessons from two professionals who have spent their careers focused on safety, quality, and risk.

Give it a listen.

Massive Fire at Fredericktown, Mo. Battery Plant

Original Live Broadcast

Download the Report: Most Common BESS Manufacturing Defects of 2024

Are there other technologies you’ve scouted on the frontlines of the Clean Energy Revolution that you think we should be covering here on SunCast?

Hit us up - [email protected] with your feedback & recommendations.

If you want to connect with today's guest, you’ll find links to their contact info in the show notes on the blog at https://suncast.media/episodes/.

Our Platinum Presenting Sponsor for SunCast is CPS America!

You can learn more about all the sponsors who help make this show free for you at www.suncast.media/sponsors.

Remember, you can always find resources, learn more about today’s guest and explore recommendations, book links, and more than 875 other founder stories and startup advice at www.suncast.media.

Subscribe to Valence, our weekly LinkedIn Newsletter, and learn the elements of compelling storytelling: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/valence-content-that-connects-7145928995363049472/

You can connect with me, Nico Johnson, on:

Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/nicomeo

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickalus

There are 43 years of decisions compressed into this episode.

And if you work in energy, utilities, infrastructure, manufacturing, or public policy, it's worth your attention.

Tom Fanning spent four decades at Southern Company, including 13 years as CEO, helping guide one of the largest and most influential power companies in the United States through extraordinary change. Along the way, he oversaw everything from international development and grid modernization to cyber security and the completion of Vogtle, the first new commercial nuclear plant built in America in more than 30 years.

In this special Energy Empire x SunCast collaboration, Jigar Shah and Nico Johnson sit down with Tom to explore what it actually takes to build large-scale infrastructure in America.

If you heard this conversation first on Energy Empire, we're excited to bring it to the SunCast audience as well.

The conversation begins with Vogtle, but quickly expands into a broader discussion about leadership, national competitiveness, energy markets, workforce development, cyber security, and the future of the electric grid.

Tom shares why he believes "vision and courage" remain the most important ingredients in building transformational projects, why organized electricity markets struggle to support long-duration infrastructure investments, and why America needs a coherent national energy strategy if it hopes to meet growing demand from AI, manufacturing, and electrification.

🔹 Why Tom believes America has lost the ability to build major infrastructure projects efficiently

🔹 The two words he credits for completing Vogtle despite bankruptcy, COVID, and years of setbacks

🔹 Why organized electricity markets struggle to support large-scale nuclear investment

🔹 What workforce shortages reveal about the future of U.S. manufacturing and energy

🔹 How cyber threats have evolved and what keeps utility leaders awake at night

🔹 Why Tom believes energy policy is now inseparable from national security

🔹 What a true national energy strategy would look like and why America needs one

This is not a conversation about technology.

It's a conversation about execution.

About what it takes to align capital, talent, institutions, and political will around projects that take decades to build and generations to benefit from.

If you've ever wondered why some nations seem capable of building at scale while others struggle to move beyond planning, this episode offers one of the clearest perspectives you'll hear all year.

Hit play. One of the most experienced voices in American energy has a lot to say, and he's not wasting any of it.

Leadership transitions reveal what companies value most.

When FTC Solar recently tapped Anthony Carroll as the new CEO, they chose someone who has spent more than two decades helping build some of clean energy's most recognizable companies. From helping scale Power Electronics from a small Spanish manufacturer into a global powerhouse, to leading Powin during a period of extraordinary growth, Anthony has experienced both the excitement and the hard lessons that come with building businesses in rapidly evolving markets.

Now, after stepping away from the industry to lead automated manufacturing initiatives outside of energy, he's back with a new mandate: help guide FTC Solar through its next phase of growth.

In this conversation, Anthony shares lessons from across his career, why this is the right next opportunity for him, and why he believes execution, trust, and innovation will determine which companies thrive in the years ahead.

Expect to learn:

🔹 Why Anthony says "the dream is not enough" when building energy companies

🔹 What he learned scaling businesses through periods of rapid growth and market turbulence

🔹 Why trust and leadership often matter more than product specifications

🔹 How FTC Solar is thinking about automation and the future of utility-scale deployment

Whether you're building projects, leading teams, raising capital, or navigating your own company's next chapter, this conversation offers hard-earned lessons from someone who has lived through multiple cycles of the clean energy transition.

Listen in and hear what FTC Solar's new CEO sees coming next.

Are there other technologies you’ve scouted on the frontlines of the Clean Energy Revolution that you think we should be covering here on SunCast?

Hit us up - [email protected] with your feedback & recommendations.

If you want to connect with today's guest, you’ll find links to their contact info in the show notes on the blog at https://suncast.media/episodes/.

Our Platinum Presenting Sponsor for SunCast is CPS America!

You can learn more about all the sponsors who help make this show free for you at www.suncast.media/sponsors.

Remember, you can always find resources, learn more about today’s guest and explore recommendations, book links, and more than 875 other founder stories and startup advice at www.suncast.media.

Subscribe to Valence, our weekly LinkedIn Newsletter, and learn the elements of compelling storytelling: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/valence-content-that-connects-7145928995363049472/

You can connect with me, Nico Johnson, on:

Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/nicomeo

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickalus

What if the most compelling case for clean energy isn't climate change, economics, or energy independence?

What if it's public health?

Former EPA Administrator Michael Regan has spent his career connecting pollution, environmental protection, and energy policy to the everyday health of American communities. In this special collaboration between SunCast and Energy Empire, Nico Johnson and Jigar Shah sit down with Regan to explore why he viewed the EPA as a public health agency first, and what today's clean energy leaders can learn from communities demanding a greater voice in decisions that affect their lives.

From North Carolina's landmark coal ash settlement to EPA's Journey to Justice initiative, Regan shares how listening to communities reshaped the way he approached enforcement, regulation, and environmental protection. The conversation also tackles one of the industry's most pressing challenges: how to build the infrastructure America needs while maintaining public trust amid rising concerns over affordability, data centers, and rapid load growth.

For developers, investors, policymakers, and industry leaders, this episode offers a timely reminder that successful energy transitions depend not only on technology and capital, but on people.

Expect to learn:

🔹 Why Michael Regan believes the EPA is fundamentally a public health agency

🔹 How community engagement led to stronger environmental enforcement and better outcomes

🔹 What today's data center debates reveal about trust, affordability, and energy planning

🔹 Why clean energy messaging resonates most when framed around health, competitiveness, and national security

Whether you're developing projects, deploying capital, shaping policy, or leading organizations through the energy transition, this conversation offers practical lessons on building trust, finding common ground, and creating solutions that work for everyone.

Listen now to hear one of America's most influential environmental leaders explain why the future of clean energy is ultimately about protecting people.

Are there other technologies you’ve scouted on the frontlines of the Clean Energy Revolution that you think we should be covering here on SunCast?

Hit us up - [email protected] with your feedback & recommendations.

If you want to connect with today's guest, you’ll find links to their contact info in the show notes on the blog at https://suncast.media/episodes/.

Our Platinum Presenting Sponsor for SunCast is CPS America!

You can learn more about all the sponsors who help make this show free for you at www.suncast.media/sponsors.

Remember, you can always find resources, learn more about today’s guest and explore recommendations, book links, and more than 875 other founder stories and startup advice at www.suncast.media.

Subscribe to Valence, our weekly LinkedIn Newsletter, and learn the elements of compelling storytelling: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/valence-content-that-connects-7145928995363049472/

You can connect with me, Nico Johnson, on:

Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/nicomeo

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickalus

Rare earths are having a moment. And if you work anywhere near clean energy, batteries, EVs, data centers, defense, or domestic manufacturing, this conversation should be on your radar.

And, when it comes to rare earths (aka critical minerals), it seems everyone talks about mining.

But according to Mark LaVerghetta, that's not where the real critical minerals challenge lies.

Nico got a chance to sit down with Mark, co-founder of ReElement Technologies, in person finally, and learned that the true bottleneck in the clean energy transition is refining. You can dig rare earth elements out of the ground, but they still need to be separated, purified, and transformed into the high-purity materials used in batteries, EVs, defense systems, data centers, and advanced electronics.

Today, much of that refining capacity remains concentrated overseas (yes, largely China), creating vulnerabilities that extend far beyond clean energy. As AI accelerates demand for advanced materials and geopolitical tensions reshape global trade, domestic refining has become a matter of economic resilience and national security.

Mark explains why ReElement is pursuing an "innovation, not imitation" approach to rare earth processing, using chromatography to create a more flexible and scalable refining platform designed to respond quickly to shifting market needs.

Expect to learn:

🔹 Why refining, not mining, may be the real critical minerals bottleneck

🔹 How China built leverage through rare earth separation and processing

🔹 Why AI, data centers, defense, and clean energy are competing for the same materials

🔹 How innovative refining technologies could strengthen domestic supply chains

If you've ever wondered what actually happens between digging minerals out of the ground and building the technologies that power modern life, this conversation will change how you think about the clean energy supply chain.

Hit play and discover the rare earth problem nobody talks about.

Are there other technologies you’ve scouted on the frontlines of the Clean Energy Revolution that you think we should be covering here on SunCast?

Hit us up - [email protected] with your feedback & recommendations.

If you want to connect with today's guest, you’ll find links to their contact info in the show notes on the blog at https://suncast.media/episodes/.

Our Platinum Presenting Sponsor for SunCast is CPS America!

You can learn more about all the sponsors who help make this show free for you at www.suncast.media/sponsors.

Remember, you can always find resources, learn more about today’s guest and explore recommendations, book links, and more than 875 other founder stories and startup advice at www.suncast.media.

Subscribe to Valence, our weekly LinkedIn Newsletter, and learn the elements of compelling storytelling: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/valence-content-that-connects-7145928995363049472/

You can connect with me, Nico Johnson, on:

Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/nicomeo

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickalus

Risk looks different depending on where you're standing.

In Episode 936 (Jason Kaminsky & 2026 The Solar Risk Assessment), we explored risk through the lens of data, operations, and asset performance.

Today’s episode looks at it through the eyes of someone who spent four decades preparing organizations for uncertainty, disruption, and worst-case scenarios.

General Robert Neller served as the 37th Commandant of the United States Marine Corps, leading one of the world's most respected organizations through an era of rapid technological change, evolving threats, and global instability.

In this conversation, General Neller joins Nico to discuss how great leaders think about risk before it becomes a crisis, why resilience is more than a buzzword, and what the energy industry can learn from organizations that operate where failure is not an option.

Along the way, the conversation explores cybersecurity, critical infrastructure, energy resilience, military innovation, entrepreneurship, and the leadership principles that matter when the stakes are high.

Expect to learn:

🔹 What a 4-star general sees differently about risk and preparedness

🔹 Why resilience starts long before a disruption occurs

🔹 How military thinking applies to energy infrastructure and cybersecurity

🔹 Why veterans often make exceptional founders and business leaders

🔹 The leadership traits that help organizations navigate uncertainty

Whether you're developing projects, leading teams, investing capital, or building companies, this episode offers a rare look inside the mindset of someone who spent a career preparing for challenges most people hope never arrive.

Listen now to hear what a 4-star general knows about risk that most leaders don't.

Are there other technologies you’ve scouted on the frontlines of the Clean Energy Revolution that you think we should be covering here on SunCast?

Hit us up - [email protected] with your feedback & recommendations.

If you want to connect with today's guest, you’ll find links to their contact info in the show notes on the blog at https://suncast.media/episodes/.

Our Platinum Presenting Sponsor for SunCast is CPS America!

You can learn more about all the sponsors who help make this show free for you at www.suncast.media/sponsors.

Remember, you can always find resources, learn more about today’s guest and explore recommendations, book links, and more than 875 other founder stories and startup advice at www.suncast.media.

Subscribe to Valence, our weekly LinkedIn Newsletter, and learn the elements of compelling storytelling: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/valence-content-that-connects-7145928995363049472/

You can connect with me, Nico Johnson, on:

Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/nicomeo

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickalus

Solar projects are increasingly being financed and operated as long-life infrastructure assets. That means the industry can no longer rely on assumptions about risk—we need evidence.

In this episode, Jason Kaminsky, CEO of kWh Analytics, walks us through what the latest Solar Risk Assessment reveals, and answers a deceptively simple question: Which solar risks actually matter?

Drawing on dozens of partners’ fleet-scale operational and underwriting data, Jason explains how the industry is moving beyond anecdotes to identify the risks that have a measurable impact on long-term performance, resilience, and project finance.

Expect to learn:

🔹 Why the solar industry finally has enough data to challenge long-held assumptions

🔹 What recent findings say about fire risk, bio-soiling, tracker performance, and equipment failures

🔹 How seemingly minor operational issues can become major financial variables at portfolio scale

🔹 Why insurers, lenders, and asset owners are paying closer attention to resilience

🔹 How the best operators are turning better data into stronger long-term outcomes

If you've seen the latest Solar Risk Assessment was released, but haven't had time to dig into it, this conversation is your guided tour through the findings that matter most.

Listen now to learn how the industry is turning better data into more resilient power.

Are there other technologies you’ve scouted on the frontlines of the Clean Energy Revolution that you think we should be covering here on SunCast?

Hit us up - [email protected] with your feedback & recommendations.

If you want to connect with today's guest, you’ll find links to their contact info in the show notes on the blog at https://suncast.media/episodes/.

Our Platinum Presenting Sponsor for SunCast is CPS America!

You can learn more about all the sponsors who help make this show free for you at www.suncast.media/sponsors.

Remember, you can always find resources, learn more about today’s guest and explore recommendations, book links, and more than 875 other founder stories and startup advice at www.suncast.media.

Subscribe to Valence, our weekly LinkedIn Newsletter, and learn the elements of compelling storytelling: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/valence-content-that-connects-7145928995363049472/

You can connect with me, Nico Johnson, on:

Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/nicomeo

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickalus

A solar moratorium nearly shut down Alabama’s emerging solar market before most of the industry even saw it coming.

For years, the prevailing assumption has been that clean energy growth would be concentrated in politically progressive states while places like Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi lagged behind.

But that’s not what Monika Gerhart is seeing (and doing!) on the ground.

As Executive Director of the Gulf States Renewable Energy Industries Association (GSREIA), Monika operates at the intersection of policy, infrastructure, resilience, and market development across some of the most politically and operationally complex energy markets in America. And increasingly, she says the future of clean energy growth is being shaped locally — through trust, coalition-building, reliability concerns, and resilience planning.

In this conversation, Nico and Monika unpack the fight that nearly derailed Alabama’s solar market before most of the industry even noticed, how Hurricane Ida transformed the conversation around distributed energy and microgrids in Louisiana, and why resilience infrastructure is rapidly becoming a life-safety issue across the Gulf Coast.

They also explore:

• why state-level advocacy increasingly determines whether markets survive long enough to mature
• how local relationships shape energy policy more than national narratives
• the emerging role of neighborhood-scale resilience planning and community microgrids
• why lawmakers are becoming more open to renewables as electricity demand accelerates
• and what developers, manufacturers, investors, and operators should understand about building durable markets in politically complicated regions

This is a conversation about far more than solar policy.

It’s about how energy markets are actually built — and why some of the industry’s most important battles are happening far from the headlines.

Are there other technologies you’ve scouted on the frontlines of the Clean Energy Revolution that you think we should be covering here on SunCast?

Hit us up - [email protected] with your feedback & recommendations.

If you want to connect with today's guest, you’ll find links to their contact info in the show notes on the blog at https://suncast.media/episodes/.

Our Platinum Presenting Sponsor for SunCast is CPS America!

You can learn more about all the sponsors who help make this show free for you at www.suncast.media/sponsors.

Remember, you can always find resources, learn more about today’s guest and explore recommendations, book links, and more than 875 other founder stories and startup advice at www.suncast.media.

Subscribe to Valence, our weekly LinkedIn Newsletter, and learn the elements of compelling storytelling: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/valence-content-that-connects-7145928995363049472/

You can connect with me, Nico Johnson, on:

Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/nicomeo

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickalus

Climatetech is entering a different phase.

The era of easy capital, oversized narratives, and growth-at-all-costs expectations is giving way to something more demanding: disciplined execution, durable business models, strong commercialization pathways, and teams that can scale proven solutions in real markets.

In this live conversation, Nico Johnson sits down with longtime investor David Kirkpatrick, Managing Director at SJF Ventures, to unpack what experienced investors are actually paying attention to now and why the companies attracting long-term conviction may not be the ones making the loudest headlines.

David has spent decades investing across renewable energy, efficiency, industrial innovation, resilience, and sustainability. He has watched the industry evolve from early-stage optimism into a global market measured in gigawatts, infrastructure, and real deployment. That long view makes this conversation especially timely for founders, operators, developers, policymakers, and anyone trying to understand how the market is maturing.

This episode is less about chasing the next shiny technology and more about what it takes to build companies that can survive, scale, and create lasting value.

Expect to learn:

🔹 What experienced investors look for before backing a company

🔹 Why capital discipline matters more than ever in today’s market

🔹 How deployment and commercialization are reshaping investment priorities

🔹 Why resilience, efficiency, and proven technologies are gaining momentum

🔹 What founders often misunderstand about raising and scaling capital

If you’re building in the energy transition or trying to understand where sophisticated capital is placing long-term conviction, this conversation is worth your attention.

Are there other technologies you’ve scouted on the frontlines of the Clean Energy Revolution that you think we should be covering here on SunCast?

Hit us up - [email protected] with your feedback & recommendations.

If you want to connect with today's guest, you’ll find links to their contact info in the show notes on the blog at https://suncast.media/episodes/.

Our Platinum Presenting Sponsor for SunCast is CPS America!

You can learn more about all the sponsors who help make this show free for you at www.suncast.media/sponsors.

Remember, you can always find resources, learn more about today’s guest and explore recommendations, book links, and more than 875 other founder stories and startup advice at www.suncast.media.

Subscribe to Valence, our weekly LinkedIn Newsletter, and learn the elements of compelling storytelling: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/valence-content-that-connects-7145928995363049472/

You can connect with me, Nico Johnson, on:

Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/nicomeo

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickalus