Shift Key with Robinson Meyer
Heatmap News
Every week, Heatmap News Executive Editor Robinson Meyer and Princeton University Professor and energy systems expert Jesse Jenkins make sense of the biggest shift of our time -- navigating the energy transition away from fossil fuels. Drawing on their years of experience reporting on and researching climate change and decarbonization, Meyer and Jenkins unpack the most important issues of the week and how the impacts of climate change and efforts to address it are transforming our economy, politics, and society at large. Music by Adam Kromelow. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Apr 7, 2026 • 1h 3min
How Utilities Actually Think
Alice Yake, an energy-systems expert and VP of GRIDS at Breakthrough Energy who formerly led planning at Xcel Energy, walks through decades of utility decisionmaking. She covers how past buildouts and regulation shaped today’s grid. Short takes explore planning tools, demand flexibility, distributed batteries, transmission risks, and how alignment speeds change.
9 snips
Apr 1, 2026 • 47min
A New Look at Why Electricity Prices Have Gone Up in Your ZIP Code
Lauren Sidner, a policy and regulatory analyst from MIT, and Brian Deese, a former White House economic adviser and MIT fellow, join to unveil a new Electricity Price Hub. They discuss why local electricity pricing was opaque, how the Hub breaks down rates into generation, transmission, and distribution, and what regional, weather, and data-center pressures reveal about rising bills.
24 snips
Mar 31, 2026 • 43min
There’s a New Playbook for Cutting Power Prices
Arjun Krishnaswami, a senior advisor at the Federation of American Scientists and former White House clean energy policy adviser, explains practical state and local levers to cut power bills. He explores why prices rose, boosting utility oversight, strengthening regulators, speeding permitting and siting, and using public finance to lower costs. Short, clear ideas for making government deliver cheaper electricity.
63 snips
Mar 27, 2026 • 38min
The Oil Industry Will Never Be the Same
Karim Fawaz, an S&P Global Energy director and oil and refineries expert, breaks down how the Iran war has reshaped global energy. He explains the scale and duration risks of supply disruptions. He highlights why jet fuel and Asia are under acute strain. He explores refinery shutdowns, strategic stockpiles versus lost flows, and how the shock could speed electrification while complicating climate choices.
15 snips
Mar 20, 2026 • 48min
The Big Reveal in China’s New Five-Year Plan
Lauri Myllyvirta, lead analyst and co-founder of the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, explains China’s draft five-year plan. He breaks down surprising rollbacks on climate targets. He explores shifts in coal language, new green-fuel pushes, and why energy security and industrial strategy shape policy. He also unpacks a mysterious change in carbon‑intensity accounting and what to watch next.
8 snips
Mar 18, 2026 • 35min
The Rivian R2 Couldn’t Have Come at a Better Time
Jesse Jenkins, a Princeton energy systems professor who advises on decarbonization and grid strategy, joins to dissect Rivian’s R2 launch and its timing. They debate whether R2 can compete on price and production scale. Conversation turns to global market shocks from a Strait of Hormuz closure and the rising use of behind-the-meter gas and batteries at data centers.
11 snips
Mar 11, 2026 • 52min
A New Theory About Why Biden’s Big Climate Law Failed
Alexander Gazmarian, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Michigan who studies the political economy of decarbonization, explains why the Inflation Reduction Act’s local projects rarely translated into political credit. He discusses how governors and companies took credit, how tax credits and state roles obscured federal visibility, and why framing, unions, and local capacity shape political returns.
40 snips
Mar 6, 2026 • 43min
A Tale of Two Energy Shocks
Katie Brigham, a Heatmap writer on long-duration storage and iron-air batteries; Matthew Zeitlin, a Heatmap reporter on energy and geopolitics. They discuss two linked energy shocks: Gulf-driven LNG and oil disruptions and promising iron-air battery advances. Short takes jump between fertilizer risks, U.S. domestic impacts, geopolitics, and Form Energy’s big Google storage deal.
18 snips
Mar 2, 2026 • 28min
Why the Iran War Is a Warning for Natural Gas
Gregory Brew, an Iran scholar and Eurasia Group energy analyst, walks through the opening strikes and Tehran’s responses. He traces military aims, possible campaign timelines, and civilian and regime consequences. He explains why the Strait of Hormuz matters and makes the case that LNG, not just oil, could see major disruption and price shocks.
18 snips
Feb 27, 2026 • 36min
The Peril of Talking About Electricity Affordability
Jane Flegal, a senior fellow who previously worked on climate policy at the White House and Stripe, discusses electricity affordability and decarbonization. She debates whether centering affordability helps or distracts. Conversations cover grid planning, transmission financing, limits of demand-shaving tools like virtual power plants, data center impacts, and ideas to shift from scarcity to growth-focused power policy.
