We’re still laughing that we actually did this pod. Why it seemed like a good idea to book two of our favorite (outspoken) people, Jigar Shah (most recently led the DOE LPO) and Tim Hade (co-founder Scale Microgrids), at the same time continues to confound us. With two legends on the couch that each have a wealth of knowledge, it was basically impo…

We’re back with our longest pod ever! And deservedly so. When you get Lisan al Gaib on the couch, you use all the time you have to pick his brain. Jesse Peltan is one of our favorite thinkers in the entire space, and his brilliant insights are endless. We probably need another 3 hours with him to get even more out! In it, we discuss: the fundamenta…

After a brief haitus to focus on 2025 planning, we’re back! Last week we sat down with Astrid Atkinson, CEO and co-founder of Camus Energy. We talked about all kinds of fun stuff: how this moment of grid expansion is like the expansion of cloud services, how it isn’t, how we can connect large loads faster via flexibility, where Astrid sees the grid…

Last week we sat down with Dana Guernsey, co-founder and CEO of Voltus. There was A LOT to talk about in this one. As you’d expect we went deep on Dana’s backstory, the history of DR, new DER participation models, and where we think the future is headed. But also, Voltus just went through a settlement with FERC and this was Dana’s first podcast app…

We’re back! And this time, we’re starting a holy war. Duncan launched an amazing paper on solar (wow, total sleight of hand! Don’t you mean GAS BACKUP?) microgrids for data centers with Stripe’s climate team and other DERTF OGs like Kyle Baranko, and some big names on Twitter lost their s**t. Tune in to hear about the churches of Matt Yglesias, Mar…

DERVOS, 10/25/24, NYC Demand growth has returned to the US electricity sector for the first time in two decades and the cracks are showing in the system. Reindustrialization, electrification, and the AI juggernaut have catapulted us into a new era. New loads are suddenly having trouble getting grid connections, interconnection times for new generat…

DERVOS, 10/25/24, NYC New energy technologies can thrive or die due to regulatory policy. This unbelievable policy panel will feature regulators who have actually supported new technologies and advocates who have successfully fought for paradigm-shifting policies. We know we have great technologies--this panel will explore how we get them to scale.…

Where else can you witness a pot of water boil in just a few seconds, learn about a micro nuclear reactor that skips boiling water altogether, insane AI-powered electro-cartography, and SpaceX-caliber EV charging infrastructure? Tons of companies applied to showcase their products at DERVOS and DER Task Force selected these four because, well, they…

DERVOS, 10/25/24, NYC David Roberts (Volts podcast) and Mary Powell (CEO of Sunrun and DER legend) will sit down in a “fireside chat” style session to review the past year and chart a course for the future of DERs as two giants in our space. Speakers: David Roberts (Volts) and Mary Powell (Sunrun) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss …

DERVOS, 10/25/24, NYC Renewables have been breaking many of the mechanisms in our power markets, irrespective of structure. Across energy only, IRP, and capacity markets, we have been seeing "weirdness" in price action and regulatory responses as solar and wind continue to dominate new installs. It’ll be an acronym stew: from PCM and RUC buying in …

DERVOS, 10/25/24, NYC Tim Hade is the co-founder of Scale Microgrids and the godfather of DER Task Force. He’s been an inspiration to so many in our community, so we couldn’t think of a better person to kick us off at DERVOS this year. After this keynote we heard someone say “I’m ready to run through a wall for Tim” and we can’t claim to have felt …

A truly wild story is unfolding in Pakistan. Over the past few years the country has become the globe’s third largest importer of Chinese solar panels, and yet none of the resulting projects are operated by, or even visible to, the national utility. Simultaneously, demand from the grid has dropped 9.1% over the past 12 months, which has many scared…

We’re back! This time with Nic Freschi, Senior Associate at Gable Associates and all around PJM wizard. Nic is a friend and OG member of the DERTF. Almost a year ago, Nic’s models began predicting the ~10x increase in PJM capacity prices we saw in the recent auction. How did he know? In this ep, we go deep on every acronym you could ever imagine: E…

Last week we were lucky enough to sit down with Arushi Sharma Frank, the policy wizard who while at Tesla Energy helped turn Texas into one of the DER capitals of the world. She gives us the in depth history of of how ERCOT’s VPP program was forged — a story our co-host James was also a part of. We also talk about the rest of her time at Tesla, cas…

We’re back! This time with Charlotta Holmquist, President and Co-Founder of Blixt. Blixt is based in Sweden and just closed a fundraise led by Union Square Ventures. Their solid state circuit breaker and x-verter technology have the potential to fundamentally change how we approach building the grid. We’ve never left a conversation so excited about…

We’re back for our first solo pod in months! We talk about what everyone is talking about these days… VPPs and load growth from AI. Is all this hype and talk about our space a good thing? Tune in to hear the Task Force unpack and set the narrative straight. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access…

We’re back, this time with Allison Bates Wannop, DERTF’s policy lead! We cover an absolute ton of stuff in this one: * Allison's background and introduction, Mother's Day acknowledgments * Mary Powell's influence, DER advocacy, the significance of FERC v. EPSA in shaping energy policy * Favorite DER categories, Vermont initiatives, impact of extrem…

Last week we sat down with Dave Riess, the CEO and co-founder of Wunder. They’re working hard to scale mid-sized commercial solar projects, where they believe the real TAM is in this market. Dave is an awesome guy who’s been grinding in the space for years now, so we naturally had a ton to talk about. * (00:02:55) Introduction and Guest Overview: I…

We’re back! This time with Casey Handmer, founder and CEO of Terraform Industries. Terraform is building a system to turn cheap solar electricity into methane. To pull this off they’ll need to commercialize the most performant and lowest-cost electrolysis, carbon capture, and Sabatier reactors ever seen. Casey had a ton of interesting thoughts abou…

We’re back! This time we sat down with Quincy Lee, CEO and co-founder of Electric Era, an electric vehicle refueling company. Quincy has a super cool background - starting with designing skyscrapers, then moving on to space technology, and now he’s der-pilled. We talk about all kinds of stuff in this one: * what SpaceX and Starlink were like * why …

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.dertaskforce.com We’re back! This time with a VIDEO POD. We recorded this live at DTECH a few weeks ago and haven’t had time to upload it. But this is a fun one that you don’t want to miss. Not only did we finally find out what a DERMS is, but we also became fully converted distribut…

We’re back, this time joined by Jesse Jenkins - professor at Princeton and lead of the Zero Lab. We cover a ton of ground in this one, including: * Jesse’s DERs journey, including skepticism at times and optimism at others. * A ton of discussion on rate design. * Jesse’s recent pod on rooftop solar. * How the hell is rooftop solar so expensive here…

We’re back! This time with Lynne Kiesling, Director of the Institute for Regulatory Law & Economics (IRLE) at Northwestern University. Lynne is an Economist who has been working on power systems issues since the early 2000s, with a focus on power markets, transactive energy, and “quarantining the monopoly” as she says. Lynne was a panelist at DERVO…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.dertaskforce.com Back in November we threw DERVOS, our annual distributed energy summit. It turned out awesome. We really couldn’t be happier or more grateful for how it went. The panels and speakers were great, the crowd that turned up was amazing, and the vehicle to rave afterparty…

We’re back! This time we sat down with Pier LaFarge, co-founder and CEO of Sparkfund. Those who listened to the DERVOS recording released last week may remember Pier pitching a utility-led DER deployment model. It was a pretty interesting idea that we felt deserved its own deep dive on a pod, so we invited Pier on to make the case for what is likel…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.dertaskforce.com Back in November we threw DERVOS, our annual distributed energy summit. It turned out awesome. We really couldn’t be happier or more grateful for how it went. The panels and speakers were great, the crowd that turned up was amazing, and the vehicle to rave afterparty…

Tune in for a chat on why ‘24 is TIME TO DER. Duncan and James reflect on the past 5 years before looking ahead at 2024 and beyond—and why the future is so exciting. We re-hash Dervos, retro our ‘23 new years resolutions, state our ‘24 resolutions, look back on the last 5 years in the space and where it is now, the current tech environment, buildin…

We’re back! This time with a perfect warmup for DERvos in a few days with DERTF OG Ben Carron. Ben has not only worked for FERC, Nat Grid, SunRun, E3, and now Enel X, but also was one of the earliest presenters at our original, pre-pandemic “DG Beers” happy hours. We wanted to have Ben on to get back to our energy market wonkery roots, so don’t wor…

We’re back! And this time just Duncan and James to talk about weird twitter discourse again! Sorry… we promise we’ll go back to talking about wonky energy stuff in the next episodes. In this ep, we talk about Duncan’s Dad’s epic utility pole story, James’ other less successful business ventures, announcing the first ever V2R (Vehicle 2 Rave) applic…

We’re back! Well, 2/3 of us are. In the first ever duo episode, Duncan and James wade deep into CDR, degrowth meme analysis, more thoughts on nuclear, and corporate environmentalism. They talk about climate week, CDR, the narrow focus of mainstream environmentalism on carbon and where the tree huggers at, comparing the popular memes of population d…

We’re back! And this time we peeled away from climate week events to record a late night ep with self-proclaimed Nuclear Bro, Mark Nelson. Grab a drink for this marathon of an episode and sink in as we wax poetic about one of our favorite religions, Nuclear Power. And we mean that in the best way. Tune in as we discuss Mark’s journey into nuclear a…

We’re back! And this time with a solo ep, for free! Going forward, we’re un-paywalling all eps and going NPR style: PLEASE think about donating $5 anyways. Here’s why: We are launching a policy team! The policy team will be focusing on enforcing the DERTF Bill of Rights. In order to do that, we need to raise money to pay a part-time or full-time po…

We’re back! This time with Nick Van Osdol of “Keep Cool”, who is… pretty damn cool himself. Nick has a refreshing perspective and lens on climate reporting: equal parts skeptical, optimistic, empathetic, and rational. If only more people could engage like he does. In this wide-ranging ep we talk nuclear fusion, how to think about climate risk, if w…

Ever found yourself tangled in the labyrinth that is energy policy? This episode offers a unique perspective, with Mike, an industry insider, shedding light on the nitty-gritty of acquiring permits for energy projects. He shares his six-year-long odyssey in Kern County, unveiling the engineering challenges and triumphs he encountered on the way. Ha…

We’re back! And this time we hosted OG DERTF Heads James McWalter (the better James) and Kyle Baranko from Paces at the David Energy HQ. They are working on one of the gnarliest problems in the entire clean energy space: permitting and interconnection. We go deeeep on the problem, so you don’t want to miss this. We are massive fans of them and what…

By JP Warren

We’re back! And this time with THEE GOD Julian Spector. It’s our longest episode ever because we just couldn’t help ourselves going in with a member of the OG GTM Mafia. It’s worth it. Julian just had some super rad reporting on how the South is building a vibrant clean energy manufacturing hub, and we sat down to discuss. We nerd out on this one f…

On this episode Mike and JP discuss the recent move in California to begin to communicate environmental impacts of foreign sources of oil and what that potentially means for policy makers. We discuss Biden visiting California and his clean power initiatives and how it affects more than just California. We discuss the recent increase in gas prices i…

We’re back! And this time with Alfred Johnson, Founder and CEO of Crux. Crux just raised a seed round led by Lowercarbon Capital and is building a marketplace to help climate companies unlock billions in IRA tax credits. If you want to understand the IRA, look no further! We nerd out on everything from the ins and outs of transferability, what the …

Mike and JP sit down with a very special guest Duncan S Campbell, one of the founders of Scale-Smartgrids, and DER Task Force. It was great hearing his perspective on the current energy and electricity grid capacity of today. We dived into the future of energy, the realities of a healthy energy mix, and some exciting technology advancements in the …

The oil & gas industry has historically been a place of low public communication, not trying to influence or change its perception, and have not taken the center stage with energy demand and benefits of locally produced energy. Now is the time for this to change. Mike and JP discuss what they have been busy with over the last week, as well as dive …

JP and Mike take a dive into the goals, mandates, and targets of recent headlines when it comes to energy. How does the leap into "green energy" affect everyday consumers? Has this been thought through with real-world examples and circumstances? Engaging in energy conversations and how to begin a dialogue. #energy #energypolicy #headlines…

We’re back! And this time with Matt Huber, an absolute legend and advocate for centralized public power. This was a different ep, but one of our favorite in awhile. In it, we talk about Marxist geography, how bizarre peak oil discourse was, the coming shift to electricity from oil, becoming un-DER-pilled, the possibilities of a centrally-planned de…

Join Mike and JP as they discuss the new executive order by Gavin Newsom as he plans to put together a strike force and bypass the bureaucratic red tape that plagues government agencies. JP sounds skeptical, and Mike is extremely optimistic and hopeful. How will this shake out? Time will tell, but clearly, it's a step in the right direction. #calif…

Join JP and Mike as they delve into the hot topic dominating headlines—the natural gas appliance ban. In this engaging discussion, they explore the true implications of this proposal. Is it a genuine step toward achieving its intended goals, or merely another NIMBY policy? Discover the realities behind electrification and the future of natural gas …

In this episode of Energy Facts Chats, hosts Mike Umbro and JP Warren delve into the topic of electrifying port and rig fleets in California. They explore the implications for consumers and the challenges that come with moving goods around the country in an all-electric vehicle (EV) fleet. Join them as they discuss the practical realities of this a…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.dertaskforce.com We’re back with a solo ep! And yeah, this one is paid. The NYT wrote an article on decarb bros and we have some thoughts. Tune in to listen to us talk about our first ever eco rave in LA right after we serve up a taxonomy of bros and their varying ethics: the decarb …

On this episode, Mike and JP catch up as to what they have been up to. They discuss the recent move by California politicians to move to all EV fleets of rigs, as well as the environmental impact of foreign sources of oil.By JP Warren

We’re back! This time on a FULLY SOLAR POWERED POD with absolute legends Corey and Xtina of the Solar Punks Club. We threw the first proper Eco Rave—a solar + storage powered party—at their HQ in LA. Tune in to hear us chat about it the night before the event, and check out more from the day of here. We talked about how they got DER-pilled as non-e…

On this episode Mike and JP start off ranting what's going on in the global energy market, as well as what it could mean for energy security. We then dive into the recent natural gas appliance direction California is taking, and discuss this decision and what this potentially means for the every day consumer.…