Energy Gang

Wood Mackenzie

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Feb 10, 2017 • 59min

Will Electric Buses Take Over the Transit World?

By 2020, one-third of new fleet bus purchases will be electric. By 2025, electric buses will make up half of new sales to transit agencies. By 2030, every single transit bus sold will run on electricity. That's what Ryan Popple, the CEO of electric bus manufacturer Proterra, believes will happen. And there's plenty of evidence that the shift is underway, even if the current fleet is mostly diesel and compressed natural gas. In this week's podcast, we'll talk with Popple about his plan to kick combustion engines out of transit. We'll also talk about his career path that brought him from the Army to Tesla to venture capital, and eventually to Proterra. Then, renewables are becoming the “new normal” in the U.S. We will glimpse at two important reports on solar jobs and the American energy economy that put the current clean energy boom in perspective. This podcast is sponsored by KACO New Energy, a leading solar inverter company with superior engineering and unmatched customer service: http://kaco-newenergy.com/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Feb 4, 2017 • 1h 13min

Making Sense of Donald Trump

This week, we’re live from Columbia University’s Energy Symposium in New York City. The Gang was joined by former NRG CEO David Crane for a lively conversation about Trumpland. We start the conversation off with a look at the turbulent first weeks of the Trump Administration. We’ve had nominations, executive orders, blackouts, bans, proposed budget cuts, resignations, rogue twitter accounts and growing protests. We’re just 14 days into the Trump Administration – what can we expect for the next 100 days? Then, we turn the mic around on David Crane. In 2014, while CEO of NRG, he wrote a letter to shareholders saying the power provider needed to become the google, apple or amazon of the energy sector. It didn’t take long for shareholders to sour on that vision –- so what does this say about how hard it is to transition from brown to green? Finally, how to get a job. We go through many of the questions that people ask us when looking for a job in cleantech, and we’ll try to pass on some advice worth following. This podcast is sponsored by KACO New Energy, a leading solar inverter company with superior engineering and unmatched customer service: http://kaco-newenergy.com/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Jan 20, 2017 • 42min

The Grid as a Digital Lab

America’s first power plant was built in Manhattan. The first transmission of electricity occurred between Niagara Falls and Buffalo. And the first public power organization was founded in New York State. Today, that power provider, the New York Power Authority -- or NYPA -- is working to digitize the state’s grid end-to-end. We’ll talk with NYPA CEO Gil Quiniones about his push to create a "digital foundry" where the next generation of electricity inventors and innovators can re-imagine the grid. In the second half of the show, Katherine Hamilton gives us an update from the World Economic Forum, where thinkers from all across the globe are also re-imagining the energy system -- while also grappling with a new world order in the wake of America's election. Make sure to come to our live show on February 3 in New York City. We'll be at the Columbia Energy Symposium debating the latest developments in energy and cleantech: http://www.cuenergysymposium.com/ This podcast is sponsored by KACO New Energy, a leading solar inverter company with superior engineering and unmatched customer service: http://kaco-newenergy.com/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Jan 13, 2017 • 1h 3min

Autonomous Car Fleets: A Dystopian or Utopian Future?

For years, researchers have been working behind the scenes to improve autonomous vehicles. And all of a sudden that work is playing out in a very public way. Top tech companies and automakers are testing new models on the streets, talking bullishly about fleets of self-driving cars, and thinking about how to combine electrification with automation. Meanwhile, regulators and city planners are trying to keep up with the pace of technological change. This year will likely mark the beginning of the commercial autonomous car era. Will that era bring sweeping efficiency improvements to the transportation sector? Or will it result in a chaotic, overcrowded hellscape for our streets? The decisions we make today will determine our fate. In this week's show, we'll talk with Joshua Goldman, a senior policy analyst for clean vehicles at the Union of Concerned Scientists, about those two potential futures. In the second half of the show, we’ll examine Uber’s attempt to help city planners by opening up some of its data. And we’ll discuss President Obama's article in Science magazine arguing that the clean energy transition is "irreversible." This podcast is sponsored by KACO New Energy, a leading solar inverter company with superior engineering and unmatched customer service. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Dec 14, 2016 • 47min

2016 Year-End Extravaganza

There are just two weeks left of 2016. And you know what? We're tapping out early. This is the last podcast of the year. It’s been such a crazy 12 months for news that we’re packing it up and saving our energy for 2017. Throughout the year, we've discussed every big story impacting the industry -- bankruptcies, acquisitions, legal challenges, the bloodbath in the public markets, new products, and, yes, the election of Donald Trump. Before we call it a year, we are strapping on our seat belts one last time and taking you with us on a ride through the twists and turns of 2016. We'll kick off with a look at Trump's picks of ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson for Secretary of State, former Texas Governor Rick Perry for Energy Secretary, and Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to lead the Environmental Protection Agency. And then we'll discuss our other top stories in federal policy, state policy, international developments, business deals and technological improvements. Finally, we'll launch our Predict-O-Meter for 2017. Endless thanks to our devoted listeners. We'll be back in early January. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Nov 30, 2016 • 1h 2min

Marijuana Legalization and Microgrids

It's often said that electric vehicles are the key to bringing back load growth for utilities in the U.S. But maybe there’s another way: Marijuana. After the November election, seven states and the district of Columbia have now legalized marijuana for recreational use. In the early states that legalized, energy use is already growing. In Washington State and Colorado, where marijuana has been legalized for years, utilities are seeing a spike in electricity consumption. In Denver, for example, cannabis growers account for 2 percent of electricity use. In Washington State, grow operations could suck up more electricity than electric cars over the coming decades. This may pose challenges to utilities, which are seeing increased outages and may have trouble addressing cannabis head-on because of the conflict between state and federal laws. It also presents an opportunity for serving a new class of customers. This week’s guest has been watching all of this play out. This week, we're talking with Tim Hade, the co-founder of Scale Energy Solutions, about the energy impact of marijuana legalization. He'll also talk about the financial opportunity -- and risks -- in managing that energy use. In the second half of the show, we’re going to discuss the legal, cultural and environmental motivations behind the Dakota Access pipeline protests that are rocking North Dakota. We’ll end with a quick discussion about what comes next for Tesla now that it has acquired SolarCity. Thanks to our sponsor, Mission Solar Energy: http://www.missionsolar.com/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Nov 22, 2016 • 39min

Chasing Donald Trump

Two weeks after the election, we have more clues about how president-elect Donald Trump may form a domestic energy policy and position America against the rest of the world on climate. But mostly we're dealing with speculation -- bits of insider information from the transition team, some new hires, and some deeper portraits of the people guiding Trump’s early energy policy. There are way more unknowns than knowns. That doesn’t mean there’s a lack of things to talk about. There's been a lot of compelling reporting over the last couple of weeks on the new world for energy, cleantech and the environment. Like last week, we're going to focus only on Trump’s energy and climate policy. The Gang was joined by Lisa Friedman, the editor of E&E Publishing’s ClimateWire, who helps us sift through the Trump's transition team picks, his statements about climate diplomacy, and the role of the business community in the next administration. Thanks to our sponsor, Mission Solar Energy. Find out more about Mission's American-made solar cells and modules: http://www.missionsolar.com/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Nov 18, 2016 • 46min

Art of the Deal: How Corporates Are Investing in Renewables

This week, we're coming to you live from General Motors' world headquarters, where we'll talk about how corporate renewable energy deals are structured, and what's motivating companies to keep investing. GTM's Stephen Lacey and Shayle Kann are joined by Hervé Touati, managing director of the Rocky Mountain Institute and co-manager of the Business Renewables Center. They're also joined by Rob Threlkeld, the general manager of renewable energy at General Motors. Thanks to Mission Solar for sponsoring this show. Find out more about the company's American-made solar cells and modules: www.MissionSolar.com And don't forget to come to our Storage Summit on December 7 in San Francisco. Energy Gang listeners get 15% off by using the promo code ENERGYGANG: https://www.greentechmedia.com/events/live/u.s.-energy-storage-summit-2016 See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Nov 10, 2016 • 45min

President Trump's Energy Policy

Whether or not you agreed with the top-down, government-centric, executive-level strategy of the Obama Administration -- it was, arguably, America's only federal political path forward on decarbonization. President-Elect Donald Trump plans to rip up that path as soon as he enters the White House. So how and where will he create a new one? This week, we’re trying to figure out what Trump's win means for the energy industry broadly – and what it means for the business of clean energy specifically. We fielded many questions from our listeners on Twitter yesterday. They asked about the Paris climate deal, domestic carbon regulations, renewable energy tax credits, coming legislation, and the role of states. So we’re going to break from our traditional format and try to address as many of them as possible. Thanks to our sponsor, Mission Solar Energy. Find out more about Mission's American-made solar cells and modules: http://www.missionsolar.com/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Nov 1, 2016 • 29min

Tesla's Solar Roof: A Guide for Skeptics

This is a free version of the Interchange. For more on how to access all our premium content, visit GTM Squared: https://www.greentechmedia.com/squared Back in August, Elon Musk broke into SolarCity's earnings call to make a surprise announcement: Tesla and SolarCity were designing a building-integrated solar product. "It's a solar roof as opposed to a module on a roof," said Musk. Just a few weeks earlier, Tesla went public with its intentions to acquire SolarCity. The solar roof was seen as an example of what the combined companies could create, market and sell. "We don't want to show all of our cards right now, but I think people are going to be really excited about what they see," said Musk. Their cards are now on the table after Musk unveiled the solar roof last Friday. The product was stunning -- but Tesla failed to release any substantive details about cost, performance, financing, or its business model for deploying solar roofs. (Given that very few building-integrated PV companies have actually succeeded, the lack of details was particularly fishy.) In this week's podcast, we dig into all the knowns and unknowns about Musk's mysterious solar roof. Does this represent a radical new business opportunity? Or is it just glitzy PR designed to convince investors of Tesla's plan to buy SolarCity? See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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