Iran, energy shocks, and the case for distributed power
Open Circuit
BYOCD as Bridge and Long-Term Tool
Julia and hosts agree BYO distributed capacity can be both a bridge strategy and a permanent grid tool in places.
President Trump’s war with Iran has rattled global energy markets. Oil prices have surged, LNG markets are tightening, and shipping through the Strait of Hormuz — a chokepoint that carries roughly 20% of the world’s oil supply — has been severely disrupted.
Tankers are stalled, shipping costs are soaring, and energy markets are bracing for one of the largest oil supply disruptions in history.
The result: higher fuel prices, rising electricity costs, and a reminder of how vulnerable modern economies still are to fossil-fuel geopolitics.
This week, we look at the wide-ranging impacts of the shock, from global oil and LNG markets to electricity prices and grid security. We’ll also ask the question: will this accelerate the shift toward clean, distributed energy or just push countries toward more coal? Or both?
That leads us to a big idea that is getting a lot of attention: the “bring your own distributed capacity” model where large electricity customers help unlock grid headroom through demand response, efficiency, batteries, and other distributed resources.
Guest co-host Julia Hamm joins us to talk about how the concept works, why it’s gaining traction among utilities and hyperscalers, and the pathway for distributed capacity to become a real solution to the grid’s growing constraints.
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