Podcasts about wunder capital

In this episode: Emily's conversation with Bryan Birsic, the co-founder and former CEO of Wunder Capital.Since its launch in 2014, Wunder has exploded onto the solar scene. It quickly became the top financier in commercial solar—which is a big deal, because commercial solar is extremely hard to finance. But Wunder cracked the code.This conversation was recorded in 2018 in front of a live audience at Powerhouse's headquarters in Oakland, CA. Powerhouse partners with leading corporations and investors to help them lead the next century of clean technology innovation. Our fund, Powerhouse Ventures, invests in founding teams building innovative software to rapidly transform our global energy and mobility systems. You can learn more about Powerhouse at https://www.powerhouse.fund/

Today's guest is Dave Riess, Co-Founder & CEO of Wunder Capital. In this episode, Dave walks me through his career path and how he got hooked on energy. We talk about Wunder Capital, its initial hypothesis, and how the company has evolved. We also dive into how the solar revolution has developed, Dave's thoughts on the future of solar, and how to accelerate the clean energy transition. I enjoyed having Dave on the podcast!Enjoy the show!You can find me on twitter @jjacobs22 or @mcjpod and email at info@myclimatejourney.co, where I encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.Episode recorded November 25th, 2020If you want to learn more about this episode, visit www.myclimatejourney.co/episodes/dave-riessWunder Capital is a technology company that's financing the renewable energy revolution. It develops software and partners with leading solar organizations and financial institutions to build large scale solar projects for businesses, municipalities, nonprofits, and communities. Founded in 2014, Wunder Capital is the #1 commercial solar financing company in the U.S. To learn more about the Wunder Capital, check out their website at https://www.wundercapital.com/ 

Green tech. Solar Energy. What do you think when you here those words? Probably putting on your roof, right? Or maybe your local electricity provider. Wunder Capital is coming at it from a different direction. They are filling the gap to help finance commercial solar - think community solar project, solar panels on warehouses, and more. According to Dave Riess, Co-Founder & CEO at Wunder Capital, there is a lot of untapped potential.

Calls to ActionLearn more about Wunder Capital: https://www.wundercapital.com/aboutListen to an interview with Dave about how to use first principles to build an intentional career in clean energy: https://blog.wundercapital.com/2019/02/26/gtm/Learn more about the challenges and opportunities for C&I solar projects to have an impact on curbing carbon emissions: https://www.pv-magazine.com/2018/10/20/the-weekend-read-ci-challenges-and-innovations/   

On the docket this week: curtailment of renewable energy.Historically, we've thought about curtailment as a waste of valuable clean electricity — a financial penalty for renewable generators who need to monetize every last electron.It's already an issue today. California has so much solar power, in certain months it is dialing back tens of thousands of megawatt-hours of PV generation. It's happening in other states, to a lesser degree. And it's so many people are focused on storage.But our perception of curtailment is changing. New modeling suggests that overbuilding wind and solar is actually the most economic solution for achieving high levels of renewables — not necessarily relying on storage.So, how should we think about curtailment? As a liability for generators and grid operators, or a tool for cleaning up the grid?Recommended reading:LA Times: California Has Too Much Solar Power. That Might Be Good for RatepayersGreenBiz: A Radical Idea to Get a High-Renewable Electric GridClean Power Research: Curtailment of Low-Cost Renewables a Cost-Effective Alternative to Seasonal StorageSupport for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E's service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E's EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.We're also sponsored by Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.

This week on Watt It Takes: How a Ukrainian immigrant quietly toiled away on a new battery chemistry and created a billion-dollar unicorn.Powerhouse CEO Emily Kirsch sits down with Gene Berdichevsky, the CEO of Sila Nanotechnologies.Sila is developing a new lithium-ion battery chemistry that uses silicon in place of graphite — leading to an improvement in battery density by 20 percent. This spring, Daimler led a $170 million round in Sila, valuing the startup at $1 billion.Berdichevsky was the seventh employee at Tesla, where he developed the Roadster’s battery.For the last eight years, Berdichevsky’s team at Sila has been working on a drop-in replacement for today’s lithium-ion batteries.This conversation was recorded live at Powerhouse’s headquarters. Buy tickets for upcoming events.Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E’s service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.We're also sponsored by Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.Subscribe to The Energy Gang podcast via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or wherever you find your audio content.

This week, we're challenging our long-held beliefs about whether individual actions matter. Even if we drastically altered our lifestyles, would it do anything to address climate change?We all want to believe that our individual life choices will have a meaningful impact on carbon emissions. But a focus on solar panels, LEDs and vegetarianism may just be a distraction.This week, Stephen is going to take the position that individual actions are inconsequential. Shayle will argue the other side.This is the second installment that addresses this theme. Last episode, we asked: do people care about energy? Listen here. Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E's service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E's EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.We're also sponsored by Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.

It’s been a decade since the fracking boom reshaped U.S. energy markets — so when will we ever use our drilling prowess to create a similar geothermal boom?That’s the hope. The Department of Energy just released a massive new report revisiting America’s geothermal potential in conventional hydrothermal, enhanced geothermal, direct use and heat pumps. And the potential is enormous — but it’s just sitting there, largely untapped. We’re going to open up DOE’s report and see which borehole it takes us down.Then, the Biden and Warren campaigns both unveiled their energy and climate plans. Have they risen to the political and environmental stakes?Finally, are states squandering billions in settlement dollars from the VW diesel scandal?Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E’s service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.We're also sponsored by Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.Subscribe to GTM podcasts via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content, or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.

Over the next two weeks, we are challenging our long-held assumptions about energy.We're going to take the opposite stance of an argument that we agree with. Can we change our minds?In part 1, we're revisiting the assumption that most people do not care about energy. Most people care about convenience, lifestyle and price. But do they care enough about their energy use to make a change for environmental reasons without external pressure? Shayle is going to take the opposite stance of what he believes — he's going to argue that consumers do care. Stephen will respond by arguing that people don't care.For your reading pleasure, here's the article Shayle references on “flight shame” in Sweden.Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E's service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E's EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.We're also sponsored by Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.

It may be a couple election cycles late, but we’re finally getting a wave of climate plans from presidential candidates. The issue is now front and center in the Democratic primaries.We’ve spent the last week collecting the plans from leading candidates, surveying the stances of the rest of the field, and monitoring the reactions. We’ll sort through them in this week’s Energy Gang episode. In the first half of the show, we’ll compare and contrast the unique plans from Elizabeth Warren, Jay Inslee, Beto O’Rourke, Michael Bennet and John Delaney. What is unique about each candidate’s proposal?Then, we’ll tackle the rest of the field in the second half of the episode. Most of them are either using the Green New Deal as a fallback, or using it as a foil. We will take an account of how that short-but-influential congressional resolution — and the activism behind it — is having an impact on the presidential campaign.Recommended reading:Buzzfeed: Democrats Want To Make 2020 The Climate Change ElectionBeto O’Rourke’s climate planJay Inslee’s “Evergreen Economy” planElizabeth Warren’s plan to make the military climate-readyMichael Bennet’s climate planJohn Delaney’s climate planSupport for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E’s service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.We're also sponsored by Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.Subscribe to GTM podcasts via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content, or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.

What would a truly bold presidential plan to decarbonize the economy look like?Democratic candidates are offering up their visions.Elizabeth Warren is focusing on banning fossil fuel extraction on public lands and using the military to counter climate threats; Beto O'Rourke is looking to executive action; Joe Biden is teasing a “middle ground” plan.Then there's Washington State Governor Jay Inslee. He just released his second climate plan — it's more of a manifesto — called the The Evergreen Economy. It's a culmination of a decade and a half of his thinking, writing and policymaking on climate.The document was so good, we decided to devote a whole episode to talking about it. You can read it here. And check out Dave Roberts' supplemental analysis here.Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E's service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E's EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.We're also sponsored by Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.

A new report from the International Monetary Fund shows that the world spent $5.2 trillion on fossil fuel subsidies in 2017. That’s half a trillion dollars more than in 2015.But it also shows that fossil fuel subsidy spending is down by half since 2012. What gives? How much are we actually spending to make fossil fuels cheaper?We’ll clarify the different ways economists are measuring that spending.Then, U.S. tax subsidies for solar and wind are set to ramp downward as part of a deal struck in 2015. But some are calling for an extension of those credits once again. Wait, didn’t the industry say it would be just fine without them? We’ll look at arguments for and against another extension.Finally, PG&E is warning California customers about planned blackouts during this year’s fire seasons. Does this open up a new opportunity for commercial microgrids and residential battery backup?Recommended reading:Atlantic: The Hidden Subsidy of Fossil FuelsGTM: US Solar Industry Braces for ITC Stepdown While Making the Case for Another ExtensionBloomberg: Democrats Try to Extend Wind, Solar Aid They Agreed to Let DieSF Chronicle: Fire Danger Could Force SF Blackout, PG&E SaysSupport for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E’s service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.We're also sponsored by Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.Subscribe to GTM podcasts via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content, or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.

It took four decades for America to install a million solar systems. And it took just three years to install the second million.From here on out, the U.S. market will likely see a million systems every couple of years, according to the latest data from Wood Mackenzie.To mark this new era of scale, we’re going to look back at the most important trends that got us to the first couple of million systems — and the most important trends that will keep many more millions coming.Then, Tesla has a new way to package and sell solar online. Will it work?Finally, what’s the best way to frame climate change and the clean energy transition? Presidential candidates are talking about the issues, and press outlets are trying to reframe coverage. What's working and what needs to change?Recommended reading:GTM: US Surpasses 2 Million Solar Installations as Industry Looks to ‘Dominate’ the 2020sGTM: Tesla Embraces New Solar Strategy But Analysts Remain SkepticalNew York Times: These Days, It’s Not About the Polar BearsColumbia Journalism Review: The Climate Crisis Is a Story for Every BeatSupport for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E’s service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.We're also sponsored by Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.Subscribe to GTM podcasts via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content, or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.

Uber and Lyft are now public — and now under more investor pressure to expand quickly. What does that mean for energy use and carbon emissions as more cars hit the roads?Multiple new studies show that these transportation networking companies are causing more traffic and pulling people away from public transit. Meanwhile, cities and states are trying to clean up those fleets by promoting electrification.Will we be able to clean up ride-hailing fleets fast enough?This week, in honor of the Uber and Lyft IPOs, we are looking at the negative and positive consequences of ride hailing.Recommended reading:GTM: Electric Ridesharing Benefits the Grid, and EVgo Has the Data to Prove ItPBS: Why is Your Uber or Lyft Stuck in Traffic? Most lLikely bBecause of Uber and LyftSchaller Consulting: Lyft, Uber and the Future of American CitiStreets Blog: Uber and Lyft Caused U.S. Transit DeclineSupport for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E's service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E's EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.We're also sponsored by Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.

Big energy giants around the world are investing heavily in renewables and cleantech. But there's a whole class of companies making moves in the sector behind the scenes.In this episode, we're looking at the unsung corporate heroes of the clean energy transition.Shayle and Stephen share their picks for companies that are making surprising moves into renewable energy, electrification and clean materials. What does it tell us about how deeply clean energy is embedded in the corporate world?Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E's service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E's EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.We're also sponsored by Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.

For well over a decade, researchers have been modeling the cost of state renewable energy mandates.The results break down in predictable ways: conservative and progressive groups often come to very different conclusions based about costs and benefits.An authoritative 2015 report from the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab found that compliance costs for state renewables targets only make up 2 percent of retail rates in most U.S. states.After a lull, the debate over the cost of renewable energy targets is re-emerging. A new working paper from economists at the University of Chicago concludes that mandates are the most expensive way to reduce carbon pollution — and that they are much bigger drivers of rate increases than previously thought.Many researchers are pushing back on the economists’ modeling of electricity rates. But it’s worth revisiting this debate, since renewables and carbon-free energy targets are used as placeholders for more ambitious climate policy.In this week’s podcast, we’re discussing the findings of this study, the criticism, and how it fits into current trends U.S. in energy policy.Then, Rivian continues to bring in money for electric trucks. What do Amazon and Ford see in the company? Are trucks the next big target for electrification?Finally, a brief look at 5G networks. They could revolutionize energy services, but they’re also fraught with geopolitical and cybersecurity risk. Will the benefits outweigh the risk?Recommended reading:Twitter threads from Jesse Jenkins, Alex Gilbert, Jacob Mays, and Sam Ori.University of Chicago working paperNew York Times: Ford to Invest $500 Million in Rivian, a Tesla RivalNew Yorker: The Terrifying Potential of the 5G NetworkSupport for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E’s service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.We're also sponsored by Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.

This week on Watt It Takes: How a product manager at Google saw promise in geothermal heat pumps — and applied the lessons of solar to an underserved market.In this episode, Powerhouse CEO Emily Kirsch sits down with Kathy Hannun, the co-founder of Dandelion, a home geothermal company that uses a proprietary drilling technique, simple product design, and financing to cut the cost of ground-source heating and cooling.For seven years, Kathy was on the rapid evaluation team at Alphabet X — formerly Google X — evaluating technology moonshots. That’s where she stumbled upon the opportunity in geothermal. We’re going to hear from Kathy about what she learned trying to tackle a tough tech like home geothermal. We’ll also hear about what she learned from her time at Google, how she built her team, and why raising money as an expecting mother presented some unique challenges. This conversation was recorded live at Powerhouse’s headquarters. Buy tickets for upcoming events.Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E’s service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.We're also sponsored by Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.Subscribe to The Energy Gang podcast via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or wherever you find your audio content.

It's taken decades for renewables to compete with fossil fuels. But we're now entering the third phase of the clean energy transition, when new renewables are beating existing coal and gas plants on price alone. "We're on the verge of a new, radically different point in history,” argues futurist and technologist Ramez Naam.This phase of the energy transition will bring change that is faster and more disruptive than at any point in history.But will it happen fast enough? This week, we'll ask Ramez to outline the optimistic and pessimistic scenarios for our energy future. We'll look at how the energy transition may unfold, and what we can learn from other tech sectors.In the second half of the show, we'll talk about long-duration storage, the system-wide benefits of cheap batteries, the future of small-modular nuclear, and artificial superintelligence.Ramez is chair of energy & environmental systems at Singularity University. He is a computer scientist who worked at Microsoft developing products like Outlook and Internet Explorer. And he's also the author of the award-winning science fiction series, “Nexus.”Recommended reading from Ramez:The Third Phase of Clean Energy Will Be the Most Disruptive YetClean Technology is Disrupting Fossil Fuels Faster Than EverSupport for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E's service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E's EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.We're also sponsored by Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.

This week: we dig into the causes of PG&E's latest bankruptcy: wildfires.PG&E's restructuring is one of the biggest in U.S. history — and it could be considered the first climate bankruptcy. The utility faces tens of billions of dollars in liabilities after investigators pinned over a dozen wildfires on PG&E equipment. What does it tell us about the health of utility infrastructure and corporate preparedness for climate risk?The future structure of PG&E is still uncertain as it moves through bankruptcy proceedings. And California lawmakers are struggling with how to both protect and penalize utilities for wildfire damages.We are going to explain what wildfires mean for PG&E and other California utilities. We'll speak with Katherine Blunt of the Wall Street Journal about what her reporting has uncovered.Our current Interchange sponsor is PG&E. Please note: our sponsors have no influence on our editorial content in our podcasts. Read some of Katherine Blunt's reporting:California Governor Proposes Fixes to State's Wildfire CrisisPG&E Delayed Safety Work on Power Line That Is Prime Suspect in California WildfireJudge Moves to Curtail PG&E's Dividends Until it Reduces Wildfire RisksSupport for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E's service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E's EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.We're also sponsored by Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.

Global energy giants have been on a distributed energy acquisition spree over the last few years. With the formation of its New Energies unit in 2016, Shell is leading the oil & gas majors in investment and vision.Shell New Energies plans to invest $2 billion dollars in renewables, microgrids, batteries, electric vehicle charging, and other emerging tech every year. That number is just a tiny sliver of Shell's fossil fuel and chemical businesses, but it's enough money to start re-arranging the competitive landscape for clean electrification. Most recently, the company acquired sonnen, a leading behind-the-meter battery company, and First Utility, a UK retail supplier and smart home service provider. Shell is developing smart home offerings through both companies.This week, Brian Davis, the VP of energy solutions at Shell, joins us to discuss the company's strategy.His job: to help reshape the strategy of Shell and build up new businesses around biofuels and electrification. What does the New Energies strategy tell us about where Shell thinks the world is headed?We'll cover the following topics:Shell's acquisitions over the past two years: why those companies? How do we fit those puzzle pieces together?To what degree do they optimize for near-term profit vs. land-grabs in key areas?How will shell integrate all these businesses, both strategically and culturally?What are the biggest risks to Shell's strategy? What's the long-term profitability of the new energies business? How does it become more profitable?Will all supermajors eventually follow in Shell's footsteps?The most recent acquisition of First Utility provides snapshot of Shell's customer strategy: “We're offering a suite of smart home solutions, starting from smart thermostats that control your heating remotely. And then clearly over time we can offer an electric vehicle charger…we can come in and offer the benefits of energy storage if you have onsite solar. So we're offering all of that as packages to meet the needs of our customers under the Shell brand in the UK,” says Davis.Recommended reading/listening:Reuters: Shell Goes Green as It Rebrands UK Household Power SupplierGTM: Shell New Energies Director on Investing in Clean Energy: ‘It's About Survival'The Interchange: Solar Dwarfs Oil and Gas as World's Primary Source of Energy in Shell's Sky ScenarioSupport for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E's service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E's EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.We're also sponsored by Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.

Within the next decade, automakers will invest up to $300 billion in electric models, according to a recent tally from Reuters. These automakers are also spending billions more on autonomy to compliment those investments. It could result in 21 million new electric cars, trucks and SUVs on the roads.A lot of that activity is happening in China. But we're also starting to see new investments in EV manufacturing in the U.S. For example, VW, Ford and Chevy are collectively putting over $2 billion into new or upgraded factories to produce EVs with autonomous functions.So with all this money sloshing around, who's doing what? And are any definitive leaders emerging?On this week's Interchange podcast, we'll look at the competitive landscape for EV manufacturing.Additional resources:GTM Squared: Major Auto Brands Unveil Their New Year's EV ResolutionsGTM Squared: The Rise of China's World-Leading EV MarketReuters: Analysis of 29 Global Automakers' EV SpendingBloomberg: Ford Invests $900 Million to Build Electric Vehicles in MichiganCNBC: VW Boosts Electric Vehicle Production by 50%Quartz: Are Automakers Overestimating Consumer Demand for EVs?Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E's service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E's EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.We're also sponsored by Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.

Lyft is set for an IPO on Friday; Uber is driving up to the IPO window soon. Investors seem enthusiastic, but skeptics see a lot of risks and a bumpy path to profitability.In 2018, transportation network companies — pretty much Lyft and Uber — gave 2.6 billion rides. Lyft gave a billion of those rides, doubling its revenue over 2017 to $2.2 billion.We know the consumer appetite is there. But as Lyft hits the public markets, many wonder if that volume can be turned into profits. Autonomous cars, competition from other shared mobility companies, and regulations are all a potential risk.So what does Lyft’s IPO — and soon Uber’s — tell us about where mobility is headed? We're discussing on this week's Energy Gang podcast.Then, one of America’s biggest utilities said recently it will offer only carbon-free energy by 2050. In the second half of the show, we’re going to dig into Xcel’s plan. How will they do it? And will it encourage other big power companies to do the same?Finally, Midwestern floods have caused $3 billion in damages and devastated rural communities. We’ll look at our poor infrastructure management, and where the floods fit into climate trends.Recommended reading:Seattle Times: As It Gets Set for IPO, Lyft Outlines All the Reasons Ride-Sharing Could FailNPR: Ride-Hailing Services Add To Traffic Congestion, Study SaysCityLab: If Your Car Is Stuck in Traffic, It's Not Uber and Lyft's FaultVox: For the First Time, a Major US Utility Has Committed to 100% Clean EnergyXcel Energy: Building a Carbon-Free FutureAtlantic: Midwestern Flooding Isn’t a Natural DisasterReport: Climate Change in the MidwestSupport for this podcast comes from Dandelion Energy, the leading home geothermal company. Dandelion is making it easier for homeowners to get geothermal. Customers who switch to geothermal heating save on average $2,250 per year. See if your home qualifies.We're also brought to you by Wunder Capital. Listen to our careers episode produced with Wunder Capital. We talked with Wunder CTO Dave Riess about the framework he used to completely change his career path into solar — eventually co-founding a successful company. Listen to that episode in The Interchange feed or find it here.Subscribe to The Energy Gang podcast via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or wherever you find your audio content.

We asked on a recent Interchange episode: how are we going to manage all this distributed energy on the grid?This week, we're asking: how to we manage all this centralized renewable energy hitting the grid?The answer is both simpler and more complex. We need to build a lot more transmission, yes. But getting that transmission in place is one of the hardest and most controversial pieces of decarbonizing the electric grid.There's plenty of disagreement about how exactly we clean up the grid. Whatever your preferred plan, it probably needs to include way more transmission infrastructure -- like $600 billion worth by 2050.This week, we're going to look at why lots of transmission is needed, how much is actually needed, and if we can even build it. What are the current models telling us?Recommended reading:New York Times: Missouri Regulators Approve Midwest Wind Energy Power LineUtility Dive: Electrification could drive $600B in transmission spending by 2050GTM: Siemens Buys Transmission Line to Take Iowa Wind to the Eastern GridSupport for this podcast comes from Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.

The latest numbers for U.S. energy storage activity are out. They show a surge of activity coming over the next five years, leading to 6x market growth.By 2024, the storage market will be worth $4.7 billion dollars, driven evenly by utility-scale and behind-the-meter battery projects.On this week's episode, we'll unpack the numbers in the latest Energy Storage Monitor from Wood Mackenzie and the Energy Storage Association. They show a doubling and then a tripling of storage to come — making batteries an important part of utility planning in every region of the country.Where’s growth happening, and what does it mean for grid planning?Then, with many farmers in crisis, more of them are putting solar on their land. That’s providing new sources of income, but many fear it could take prime croplands out of commission. How do we site solar on agricultural lands properly?And finally, what is going on over at Tesla? We’ll make try to make sense of the confusing series of decisions at the company.Recommended reading:GTM: US Energy Storage Broke Records in 2018, but the Best Is Yet to ComeGTM: APS Plans to Add Nearly 1GW of New Battery Storage and Solar Resources by 2025Washington Post: The Next Money Crop for FarmersInterchange podcast: What's Up With Tesla Energy?New York Times: Tesla Says Never Mind, It Raises Prices and Keeps Most StoresBloomberg: Musk Pledges Belt-Tightening as Tesla Cuts Prices, Warns of LossSupport for this podcast comes from Dandelion Energy, the leading home geothermal company. Dandelion is making it easier for homeowners to get geothermal. Customers who switch to geothermal heating save on average $2,250 per year. See if your home qualifies.We're also brought to you by Wunder Capital. Listen to our careers episode produced with Wunder Capital. We talked with Wunder CTO Dave Riess about the framework he used to completely change his career path into solar — eventually co-founding a successful company. Listen to that episode in The Interchange feed or find it here.Subscribe to The Energy Gang podcast via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or wherever you find your audio content.

This week, the history and future of Tesla Energy.Back in 2006, Elon Musk posted a manifesto outlining his vision for a high-end sports car that would push unit volume and lower costs. It also included hints about an integrated company that will sell solar and batteries alongside cars.More than a dozen years later, that vision is being put to the test. After launching a distributed and grid-scale battery business, acquiring SolarCity and then launching a half-baked solar roof, Tesla's energy services division faces a questionable future.Battery delays are a problem, the company is no longer a major solar player, solar roof production is feeble, and Tesla is moving entirely to online sales.So what exactly is Tesla Energy?We're going to revisit the chronology and explore where it's all headed.Recommended reading:Bloomberg: Did Elon Musk Forget About Buffalo?Listen to our earlier episode with Tesla's grid storage architect, Mateo Jaramillo.Fast Company: The Real Story Behind Elon Musk's $2.6 Billion Acquisition Of SolarCity GTM: What Happens to Tesla's Solar Business as Retail Stores Close and Sales Go Online?The Interchange is supported by Wunder Capital. Listen to our careers episode produced with Wunder Capital. We talked with Wunder CTO Dave Riess about the framework he used to completely change his career path into solar — eventually co-founding a successful company. Listen to that episode in the Interchange feed or find it here.Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.

This week on Watt It Takes: Terry Jester has seen it all in her four-decade career in solar and electronics. As both an engineer and an executive, she’s learned that timing is everything in the energy business. “I think as I’ve gotten older, I understand when best to strike…a good idea can not make it for bad timing, and a bad idea can go too far.”In this episode, Powerhouse CEO Emily Kirsch sits down with Terry, who is now chief executive of SolPad, maker of a modular home solar-storage system. Terry started her career at ARCO solar in 1979, where she worked on making products that could last decades. She’s since held operations or engineering positions at Shell, Siemens, SunPower, SolarWorld and Solaria — witnessing the initial evolution and eventual explosion of solar firsthand.Terry is now in the startup world, where she’s trying to help SolPad carve out a niche in the market for home solar-battery systems. So we’re going to hear about how she’s applying operations lessons from big corporations to a startup.This conversation was recorded live at the Women of Renewable Industries and Sustainable Energy forum in Denver, CO. Watt It Takes is a collaboration between Powerhouse and Greentech Media. The series is normally recorded in front of a live audience at Powerhouse headquarters in Oakland, California. Buy tickets for upcoming events.Support for this podcast comes from Dandelion Energy, the leading home geothermal company. Dandelion is making it easier for homeowners to get geothermal. Customers who switch to geothermal heating save on average $2,250 per year. See if your home qualifies.We're also brought to you by Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.

Distributed energy resources (DERs) are going to double on the U.S. grid by 2023, according to our researchers at Wood Mackenzie. By then, we'll likely have somewhere around 100 gigawatts of flexible capacity — made up of distributed solar, combined heat and power, electric vehicles, smart thermostats, and battery storage. Those technologies alone could amount to the current bulk power system in Texas.Today, utilities are less likely to see those DERs purely as a threat. But figuring out how to manage all those resources is still a monumental challenge.Now that we're squarely in the middle of this doubling of DERs, how do we get markets right? This is an age-old question that many are working to answer — and we think it's a good time revisit it.We're joined by Andy Lubershane, senior director of research at Energy Impact Partners, for a wide-ranging discussion about DERs from the utility perspective: the state of DERs, how they fit into utility operations, and whether better pricing can actually help.This conversation was adapted from Andy's article on the subject. Read his analysis here.The Interchange is supported by Wunder Capital. Don't forget to listen to our careers episode produced with Wunder Capital. We talked with Wunder CTO Dave Riess about the framework he used to completely change his career path into solar — eventually co-founding a successful company. Listen to that episode in the Interchange feed or find it here.

We weren’t planning on making the Green New Deal a weekly item on the show. Then a video of Senator Dianne Feinstein dropped over the weekend, where she appears to lecture climate-protesting kids. It set off a chain reaction of outrage.The social media fervor has since died down, but some really interesting journalism was left in its wake. This whole affair highlighted the crazy upheaval in climate politics — we’re going to tackle some of the bigger questions raised. Are kids a legitimate constituency? What makes climate politics so different from other issues? Are climate delayers as bad as climate deniers? What’s the end game for Democrats?Then, another ethics conflict for Trump’s energy people. We’ll talk about an EPA official who worked with a secretive utility group that lobbies against air pollution regulations, just months before he took a role regulating air pollution. Zack Colman of Politico joins us to talk about the ties he uncovered. What do they tell us about the state of lobbying ethics and utility power in the nation’s capital?Don’t forget about our live show on April 4 at the MIT Energy Conference in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Listeners get 10% off using the code “energygang” when they buy a ticket. Get tickets: bit.ly/mitenergygangRead along with us:The New Yorker: The Hard Lessons of Dianne Feinstein’s Encounter With the Young Green New Deal ActivistsAxios: Dianne Feinstein's Green New Deal Video Basically Explains the Debate on Fighting Climate ChangeAtlantic: Dianne Feinstein Doesn’t Need a Do-OverPolitico: Documents Detail Multimillion-Dollar ties Involving EPA Official, Secretive Industry GroupSupport for this podcast comes from Dandelion Energy, the leading home geothermal company. Dandelion is making it easier for homeowners to get geothermal. Customers who switch to geothermal heating save on average $2,250 per year. See if your home qualifies.We're also brought to you by Wunder Capital. Listen to our careers episode produced with Wunder Capital. We talked with Wunder CTO Dave Riess about the framework he used to completely change his career path into solar — eventually co-founding a successful company. Listen to that episode in The Interchange feed or find it here.

This week, Shayle and Stephen stumble into career counseling. There are now 3.4 million people in America working in clean energy, spanning across transportation, renewable energy, energy efficiency, environmental services and many other related areas.It's a big number. But it also means there are tens of millions of others with the right skills or the desire who haven't yet joined the advanced energy economy.We've gotten numerous career questions from listeners — some starting careers, some later in careers, and some in consumer tech looking to find a more meaningful job addressing climate change. This week, we're going to address some of them, using our own experience and drawing from others.We'll hear from Nicole, an anonymous manager in tech who is looking for a way into the field.We'll hear from Astrid Atkinson, a former senior Google engineer who quit her job to start an energy software company.We'll hear from Mark Hughes, an engineer at Sila Nanotechnologies, who offers some advice on finding your unique voice.And we'll speak with Liz Dalton, executive director of the Clean Energy Leadership Institute, about the many pathways into the industry.Looking for some more resources? Here are a few we mentioned on the show:Greentech Media's newslettersThe Clean Energy Leadership InstituteJobs With ImpactWomen in Cleantech and SustainabilityYoung Professionals in EnergyA list of renewable energy trade groupsDon't forget to listen to our careers episode produced with Wunder Capital. We talked with Wunder CTO Dave Riess about the framework he used to completely change his career path into solar — eventually co-founding a successful company. Listen to that episode in the Interchange feed or find it here.

It’s been one year since the Trump White House slapped 30 percent tariffs on solar cells and modules imported into the US. What happened since?The solar industry said tariffs would destroy tens of thousands of jobs and set the market back years. Turns out, the market is a lot more resilient than presumed. We now have the jobs numbers and installation data for 2018 — and yes, the tariffs definitely hurt solar, but not nearly as much as expected.We’ll take stock of how tariffs shaped America’s solar market over the last year, both bad and good.Then, Shell continues its distributed-energy acquisition spree. The oil giant just scooped up German battery services company sonnen — one month after buying EV charging firm Greenlots in January. What’s the end game?We’ll end with a Trump Administration plan to freeze lighting standards. Is this Trump’s vendetta against hipster bars using globe lights and Edison bulbs?We’re doing a live show at the MIT Energy Conference on April 4 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Follow this link and use the promo code “energygang,” and we’ll give you a 10% discount on your ticket. Come join us for a fun live show on the energy picture in 2040.Recommended reading:GTM: New Tariffs to Curb US Solar Installations by 11% Through 2022GTM: US Solar Job Numbers Decline for the Second Consecutive YearGTM: Oil Supermajor Shell Acquires Sonnen for Home Battery ExpansionACEEE: Rollback of Light Bulb Standards Would Cost Consumers BillionsSupport for this podcast comes from Dandelion Energy, the leading home geothermal company. Dandelion is making it easier for homeowners to get geothermal. Customers who switch to geothermal heating save on average $2,250 per year. See if your home qualifies.We're also brought to you by Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Listen to our special podcast episode on careers produced in partnership with Wunder.Subscribe to The Energy Gang podcast via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or wherever you find your audio content.

This week, we present an original podcast episode, brought to you by Wunder Capital. This is the third part of our three-part series produced with Wunder.In this episode, we'll hear the story of Dave Riess, the co-founder and chief technology officer of Wunder.Well before co-founding Wunder, Dave found himself in a tricky spot. Even after building a successful career in software development, he was uninspired: “I'm working really hard solving these problems and fundamentally I'm helping big brands spend money more effectively on Facebook. And, nobody cares about that, including me.”So Dave created a framework for evaluating his career path. And it took him in an entirely new direction into solar.“The framework is quite simple. If I'm going to characterize myself by the work that I do, then why would I not work on the most important problem?”Dave eventually landed on energy, education and health care as the main problems to solve. “Energy, in my opinion, is the obvious winner of those three. You can have a fantastic education system and a fantastic health care system, but if you don't have a planet to live on it's not a very bright future.”So how did he establish the framework? And how did he make the decisions that ultimately led him to co-found Wunder? This week, we present an episode about first principles: we cover the value of the beginner's mind; 10x problem solving; and how to design a career, a product, and a startup team with intention.Listen to our other episodes produced with Wunder:Meet the Women Doing Hundreds of Millions of Dollars in Solar DealsHow a Solar Bromance Cracked the Code for Commercial SolarWunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.

The Green New Deal plan is out, and we’re suddenly having a national conversation about climate change again. It’s also injecting some early drama into the presidential primaries.This week, we’re digging into the plan. We’ll tell you what’s in it, assess the reactions, and look at whether it will amount to anything. Also: is the democratic-socialist agenda antithetical the “creating climate wealth” framing — or complimentary?Then, recycling is in crisis. You’re probably recycling wrong. China is cracking down. And your city is probably losing money. We’ll ask how to address it.Finally, lab-grown meat and meat alternatives are facing a backlash from the meat industry. Bills are getting introduced in states around the country to prevent companies from using the word "meat." Could it set the industry back just as these products are gaining traction?We’re doing a live show at the MIT Energy Conference on April 4 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Follow this link and use the promo code “energygang,” and we’ll give you a 10% discount on your ticket. Come join us for a fun live show on the energy picture in 2040.Recommended reading:Read the Green New Deal resolutionPolitico: The Impossible Green Dream of Alexandria Ocasio-CortezVox: The Green New Deal Is a 2020 Litmus TestFinancial Times: Why the World’s Recycling System Stopped WorkingNew York Times: You Call That Meat? Not So Fast, Cattle Ranchers SaySupport for this podcast comes from Dandelion Energy, the leading home geothermal company. Dandelion is making it easier for homeowners to get geothermal. Customers who switch to geothermal heating save on average $2,250 per year. See if your home qualifies.We're also brought to you by Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.Subscribe to The Energy Gang podcast via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or wherever you find your audio content.

After a long downturn, cleantech venture capital investments are back on the upswing.According to year-end numbers from Bloomberg New Energy Finance, venture and private equity investments into the sector grew 127 percent in 2018 over the previous year, amounting to $9.2 billion. That is the highest total since 2010.Years after venture capital plummeted in 2012 — when investors ran from clean technologies after getting burned by bad bets — we're seeing a new wave of activity. Oil majors, billionaires and a wide range of corporations are getting in on the action. And there's a wide range of new funds focusing on both software- and hardware-specific startups.So, is this spurt of activity different from the last one? For one, fewer people are using the term "cleantech."This week, we're joined by Abe Yokell, managing partner at Congruent Ventures. He and our co-host Shayle Kann, a senior VP of research and strategy at Energy Impact Partners, will talk about the changing landscape for venture capital. In this episode, we'll address:What went wrong for VCs in the first cleantech boom? What should we have learned from that wave? Should we still call it "cleantech"? Are we in a new cleantech VC renaissance? What's the current state of supply/demand for capital for a cleantech startup? How much does it vary by stage?What to make of a few new classes of major entrants: utilities, oil majors, incubators/accelerators, and long-horizon investors.How should the risk of a looming recession impact this market?Where to funds get their capital, and what is the appetite for LPs to deploy capital into the space?Support for this podcast comes from Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.

Desperation has taken hold in climate policy. People are so anxious to do something meaningful, allies are fighting against each other over the solutions. Is the right approach a Green New Deal to re-engineer the energy and labor markets with renewable energy? Or is it better to just price carbon in order to allow all kinds of technologies and carbon mitigation efforts to flourish?We need both, says Hal Harvey, the CEO of Energy Innovation. In this episode, we'll get beyond the tribalism and look at the suite of policies that will decarbonize the economy quickly and cost-effectively.We're going to talk about Hal's new book, “Designing Climate Solutions: A Policy Guide for Low-Carbon Energy.”Topics we'll cover on the podcast:The Green New Deal and the reliance on renewables as a climate strategy. How far does the wind-solar-water plan get us? The debate about the effectiveness and elegance of a carbon tax. Is it really the end-all solution?The most under-appreciated climate policy.The role of nuclear and seasonal storage.Hal's reaction to our choices for the deep decarbonization draft picks.Support for this podcast comes from Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.

What will the U.S. grid mix look like in 2050? It depends on which models you follow.The future according to the Energy Information Administration's latest report: wind will stop growing, coal will stop declining, demand for electricity will keep going up, and emission reductions will moderate. A lot of people are unhappy about it.It's no secret that EIA is ultra-conservative in its modeling. But why is there such a disconnect from the technological and economic shifts in energy markets? And why does EIA have such a hard time mapping technological change? We'll offer some solutions to the government's data problem.Then: cancel your trip to Disneyland, stock up on Coca-Cola, and hoard as many iPhones as possible. We'll look at how the world’s biggest companies are detailing their risks to climate change.Finally, we'll end on a philosophical note: who is to blame for climate change? Individuals? Companies? Governments? We'll take a cue from an articulate 16-year-old in Davos.Don't forget to rate and review us on Apple podcasts. We're giving away a free subscription to GTM Squared to the person who writes the most interesting review by February 1.Read along with us:InsideClimate News: What the Government Misses in Its Energy Outlook and Why It MattersUtility Dive: US Far Off Track for Global Climate Goals as Fossil Fuel Reliance PersistsTwitter: Jesse Jenkins thread on EIA dataTwitter: Alex Gilbert reactions to EIA dataBloomberg: Corporate America Is Getting Ready to Monetize Climate ChangeBarron's: Climate Change Could Hit These Companies HardestLinkedIn: Discussion of Greta Thunberg's Davos SpeechSupport for this podcast comes from Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.Subscribe to The Energy Gang podcast via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or wherever you find your audio content.

As the trend toward electrification speeds up, what type of company will dominate the market?We're hosting a cage match to find out.On this week's episode of The Interchange, we pit utilities, oil & gas majors, mobility providers and consumer tech companies against one another. We're throwing them inside a voice-activated, electrified cage to see who will emerge as the energy company of the future.Throughout this episode, we are trying to answer a straightforward-yet-complicated question: who is best positioned to win the long-term power game?To set up the match, we're going to profile each competitor and look at the evidence for their competitive edge.Then, we'll ring the bell. We'll address the following: How might each competitor win? What areas will they be strongest in? What are their weaknesses? What will their dominance look like?We'll finish with some post-match color commentary and make our picks for the winner.Don't forget to give The Interchange a rating and creative review on Apple podcasts for your chance to win a yearly subscription to GTM Squared!Support for this podcast comes from Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.

What is energy efficiency? That sounds like a pretty simple question. But it’s not.Defining efficiency used to be pretty straightforward: weatherize, upgrade equipment and lighting, use a bit of social science to cut consumption. But now efficiency is becoming just as much about shaping demand in real-time to support distributed energy. And that’s shaping how it gets defined, implemented and tracked.A confluence of factors — the rise of new consumer tech in the home, bundled distributed energy offerings, a shifting demand curve due to PV, improvements to data collection, and the “electrify everything movement — are changing efficiency's role on the grid. We'll discuss this changing paradigm in our first segment.Then, we'll move to electrification. Why are heat pumps suddenly getting so much attention? And how can they help meet efficiency and decarbonization goals?Finally, we'll end with an update on how global power brokers are thinking about energy at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Katherine comes to us from the event.Don't forget to rate and review us on Apple podcasts. We're giving away a free subscription to GTM Squared to the person who writes the most interesting review before the end of January.Read along with us:Twitter thread of efficiency resources suggested by listenersACEEE: Snapshot of Energy Efficiency Performance Incentives for Electric UtilitiesNexant: The Need for a Holistic Electrification StrategyGTM: Electric Heating Accelerates the Push for Deep Decarbonization, but Cost Remains an IssueGTM: Electric Heat Pumps Can Slash Heating Emissions by More Than Half in California HomesStrategen Consulting: Is the "Duck Curve" Eroding the Value of Energy Efficiency?Support for this podcast comes from Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.Subscribe to The Energy Gang podcast via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or wherever you find your audio content.

After a period of moderation, heat trapping gases are going up in the U.S. and around the world. In 2018, global emissions rose by 2.7 percent. And U.S. emissions rose by 3.4 percent, according to an early tally from the Rhodium Group.This week, we're going to put some meaning to those emissions numbers. We are joined by Brad Plumer, an energy and environment reporter at the New York Times, who will help us dig into each sector.We will answer the following questions:Why aren't wind and solar making up for coal closures?Which sectors are becoming the worst emitters?Will the "Trump bump" accelerate the emissions trend in the medium term?If we were king/dictator/wizard for a day, what sector would we address first?Don't forget to give The Interchange a rating and creative review on Apple podcasts for your chance to win a yearly subscription to GTM Squared!Read along with us:Rhodium Group: Preliminary US Emissions Estimates for 2018NYT: U.S. Carbon Emissions Surged in 2018 Even as Coal Plants ClosedNYT: Greenhouse Gas Emissions Accelerate Like a ‘Speeding Freight Train' in 2018Follow us on Twitter: @InterchangeShowSupport for this podcast comes from Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.

We are about to witness one of the most contentious and consequential bankruptcies in the history of energy.PG&E, California’s biggest utility, is reeling from wildfire costs — and it is now headed to the courts, where it will likely be dismantled.Will it crush California’s goals to clean up the electric grid? Or will lawmakers step in with a political fix? The stakes couldn’t be higher. We’re going to tackle the big questions raised by PG&E’s spiral.Then, why are hundreds of liberal green groups shutting down every technology except wind and solar as part of the Green New Deal? We’ll discuss a letter has raised a lot of criticism — and risks fighting among allies even before a real plan is considered.Finally, we’ll have a rundown of a terrifying Wall Street Journal story about how the Russians infiltrated dozens of utilities, allowing them to hide out inside the computer systems controlling the grid.Don't forget to rate and review us on Apple podcasts. We're giving away a free subscription to GTM Squared to the person who writes the most interesting review before the end of January.Read along with us:GTM: The Big Questions Raised by PG&E’s Coming BankruptcyLos Angeles Times: PG&E’s Bankruptcy Could Slow California’s Fight Against Climate ChangeJigar's op-ed in The Hill: Modern Energy Infrastructure Could Mitigate California’s Wildfire CrisisVox: Here’s One Fight the Green New Deal Should Avoid for NowWall Street Journal: America’s Electric Grid Has a Vulnerable Back Door—and Russia Walked Through ItSupport for this podcast comes from Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.Subscribe to The Energy Gang podcast via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or wherever you find your audio content.

The political insanity in Washington can feel disconnected from reality. But two years into the Trump presidency, Americans all over the country are feeling it in the form of higher pollution.In this week's episode, we're starting off with a look at how the government shutdown and Trump's regulatory rollback are impacting energy-related agencies, and encouraging the discharge of more chemicals, heavy metals and air pollutants.Then Bill Gates is once again talking about the limits of renewables and the importance of nukes. Where does Gates’ message and investment thesis stack up with the reality of the global emissions picture?Finally, we revisit the media and climate change. 60 Minutes is talking about the New Green Deal; Meet the Press devoted an hour to climate; and the New York Times called climate change the most important story of 2018. A sign of things of change in the media environment?Read along with us:New York Times: 'This Is Our Reality Now'The Guardian: Americans' Health at Risk as Shutdown Slashes EPANew York Times: The Most Important Story of 2018Bill Gates: What I Learned at Work This Year60 Minutes: A Profile of Alexandria Ocasio-CortezJigar Shah: Give Trump Money for a Wall by Funding the Green New DealSupport for this podcast comes from Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.Subscribe to The Energy Gang podcast via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or wherever you find your audio content.

This week on Watt It Takes: Wunder Capital CEO Bryan Birsic on why he wants to solve the commercial solar financing challenge, when so many others couldn't."That is what a startup is to me. It's 50 or 100 people who can move a multi-billion-dollar industry in a way that an incumbent with thousands of people and multitudes of resources cannot," says Birsic.Since its launch in 2014, Wunder has exploded onto the solar scene. In this edition of Watt It Takes, Powerhouse CEO Emily Kirsch talks with Birsic about applying the lessons from fintech to cleantech.Watt It Takes is a collaboration between Powerhouse and Greentech Media. The series is recorded in front of a live audience at Powerhouse headquarters in Oakland, California. Buy tickets for upcoming events.This podcast is brought to you by GE's Reservoir, a modular lithium-ion energy storage system that can slash construction costs by 50 percent. Find out more about what Reservoir can do for your electric grid, solar plant, wind farm, microgrid, or thermal power plant.We’re giving listeners major discounts this fall. Use the promo code PODCAST to get a $50 discount for a GTM Squared membership and 20% off our final GTM conferences of the season. Get your GTM conference discount here. Get your GTM Squared discounted membership here.Listen to our other episodes of Watt It Takes: Nancy Pfund’s Pro Tips for Getting Started in CleantechSunPower Founder Dick Swanson’s Guide to Launching a Cleantech StartupLessons From the Fall of SungevityDan Shugar, the K​ing Midas of SolarA History of Greentech Media With Scott ClavennaSungage's Sara Ross on Starting a Solar Loan CompanyJigar Shah on the Origin Story of SunEdisonThe Origin Story of Mosaic With Billy ParishHow Roboticist Leila Madrone Built the Air-Based Solar Tracker Firm SunfoldingThe Death-Defying Reinvention of Advanced Microgrid SolutionsAssessing the Promise of Electric Buses With Proterra CEO Ryan PoppleHow Sunnova’s John Berger Convinced Oil & Gas Investors to Believe in SolarBertra​nd Piccard: ‘If You Can Fly Around the World in a Solar Airplane, You Can Do Everything’The Origin​ Story of Sunrun With Lynn JurichSubscribe to GTM podcasts via Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher or wherever you find your audio content.

We're back with another edition of “consensus” this week. GTM Co-Founder Scott Clavenna joins us to explain the arcane and hyped up world of blockchain to our listeners in the energy business.We promised not to discuss blockchain on The Interchange until we saw some newsworthy developments — now we have too much to sift through. So we're going to survey the most important stories of the last year.We'll start with a quick rundown of Amazon's plan to develop blockchain-as-a-service: does this signal anything special about the market?Then we'll address a basic question: where are we in the hype cycle? Are people moderating their expectations?Other stories we're tracking:How did WePower tokenize Estonia's grid data?Why did Grid+ face so many regulatory hurdles in Texas' electricity market?The year of standardization: how are the players rallying around data and privacy standards?The cryptocurrency price drop: how does it impact investor enthusiasm in these new energy applications?We're giving listeners major discounts this fall. Use the promo code PODCAST to get a $50 discount for a GTM Squared membership and 20% off our final GTM conferences of the season.Get your GTM conference discount here. Get your GTM Squared discounted membership here.Support for this podcast comes from Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.We're also supported by Shoals Technologies Group, the gold standard for solar and storage balance-of-systems solutions. Learn more about how Shoals can make your project operate at the highest level.Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.

There are tradeoffs to everything in energy. So why not put those tradeoffs to a test?We recently crowdsourced some "would you rather" scenarios from our listeners. On this week's Interchange podcast, we'll choose our favorites and debate the scenarios.Here are the scenarios:Would you rather have $10 billion in renewable deployment funding, startup funding, or R&D? (Bryan Birsic, CEO of Wunder Capital)Would you rather see oil suddenly go to $20/bbl or $200/bbl? (Eric Hittinger, professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology)Would you rather have perfect load forecasting capabilities or perfect wind + solar forecasting algorithms? (Elizabeth Buechler, PhD student at Stanford)Would you rather have a national HVDC overlay grid or ready-to-go next generation nuclear plants with excellent ramping capability? (Michael Noble, CEO of Fresh Energy)Would you rather have an Electric @Ford F-150 or $15,000 EV? (Matt-Stephens Rich, electric vehicle specialist at Electrification coalition)Would you rather have shared autonomous fleet or more mass transit coverage in cities? (Brinda Thomas, engineering and public policy at Stitch Fix)Support for this podcast comes from Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.We're also supported by Shoals Technologies Group, the gold standard for solar and storage balance-of-systems solutions. Learn more about how Shoals can make your project operate at the highest level.Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.

When you grow plants with electrons rather than the sun, what happens to the grid?This week, we're talking about the energy profile of indoor plant factories.Indoor farming is having a moment. Venture capitalists are investing hundreds of millions of dollars into vertical farming startups growing in urban, industrial facilities. Cities are easing restrictions to encourage more plant factories. And even Elon Musk's cousin founded a vertical farm.We're tackling this booming business: what's driving it, what's the potential, and what are the energy consequences?We're joined by Logan Ashcraft, an indoor agriculture expert who previously served as the manager of energy & power at Plenty. She's currently doing research on the broader impact of these operations on the energy system.Support for this podcast comes from Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.We're also supported by Shoals Technologies Group, the gold standard for solar and storage balance-of-systems solutions. Learn more about how Shoals can make your project operate at the highest level.Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.

How are residential customers shopping for solar?This week, Stephen shares his solar experience. He'll explain how and why he made his decision — and what it tells us about the way people look for solar offerings today.Brian Sadler, the VP of project development at Revolusun, describes the residential solar sales cycle.Vikram Aggarwal, the CEO of EnergySage, talks about how installers can better serve the solar window shopper.Josh Garrett, an account director at Antenna Group, shares his bad experience with community solar.Kiran Bhatraju, the CEO of Arcadia Power, explains the residential “energy concierge” concept for community solar, wind RECs, smart home devices and other services.Recommended reading:Vikram Aggarwal's column at GTM: It's Time for the Solar Industry to Embrace Window ShoppersJosh Garrett's colum at GTM: My Experience With Community Solar: Excessively Complicated and FrustratingGTM: Shopping for Community Solar? Contract Terms Are Getting FriendlierSupport for this podcast comes from Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.We're also supported by Shoals Technologies Group, the gold standard for solar and storage balance-of-systems solutions. Learn more about how Shoals can make your project operate at the highest level.Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.

This week, we present an original podcast, brought to you by Wunder Capital.Katie and Becca do a lot of solar deals. They're closing tens of millions in commercial solar projects every month.Karen is an SREC trader and longtime real estate pro. She recently approached Katie and Becca with a complicated merchant solar project. The three of them worked hard to refinance the project -- and when it was all over, formed a deep relationship.Katie Lynch is lead director of finance at Wunder Capital. Becca Gallery is the manager of business development at Wunder. And Karen Lichtin is the president of Cleanlight Power + Energy.Despite their ability to do high volumes of deals, they often get the same reaction from men: "You are not what I expected."Solar is more diverse than other energy sectors. But there are few women working on the business side of projects.In this episode, talk with Katie, Becca and Karen about how they do deals, how gender dynamics play out in the solar industry, and why more diverse teams are good for business.

Self-flying electric airplanes are closer than you think. But how close?Andrew Beebe, managing director at Obvious Ventures, has been watching the space intently. His firm recently invested in Lilium, a startup making a vertical takeoff and landing jet. "In the near future, this industry could vastly change how and where we all live, work and play. There are indeed threats and challenges to this vision, but the wheels are already in motion, and the future is much closer than most people think," wrote Beebe and Joe Blair in a recent column. A combination of improvements in batteries, software and sensors are forming the "corners of a very clear roadmap," says Beebe, speaking on The Interchange.When electric aviation finally becomes commercialized — both battery-hybrid conventional planes and vertical-takeoff-and-landing jets — what will be the consequences for our communities and transportation systems?In this week's episode, we talk with Beebe about the flight path for electric aviation.Support for this podcast comes from Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.We're also supported by Shoals Technologies Group, the gold standard for solar and storage balance-of-systems solutions. Learn more about how Shoals can make your project operate at the highest level.Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.

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Sponsored by Maine Startup and Create Week This Podcast is sponsored by Maine Startup and Create Week. This years conference is June 20th to 26th in Portand, ME and is going to be amazing! This year's conference is focused on design and innovation. They're bringing in some of the best minds to discuss and teach how entrepreneurs can use the skills that accompany great design and design thinking to help build better companies, products and solutions to the world's most pressing problems? Panels will cover topics ranging from a mixture of Biotech, Agricultural tech and innovation and environmental technology to health-care, disruption of the insurance industry, industrial 3D design and lessons from failed startups. Keynote speakers so far for this year include Mike Perlis (president and CEO of Forbes Media), Heather Stephenson (Head of Brand Strategy at Super) and Peter Roper (Head of Mobile Brand Strategy at Google). Last years conference drew over 4000 attendees and had 215 volunteers contributing over 10,000 hours.  Check out Mainestartupandcreateweek.com for more information. If you want to volunteer, attend or think you know a good speaker for the topics at this years conference, let them know. Enter Bryan and Wunder Capital Helping folks understand what Wunder Capital is up to and how it can help is what Bryan Birsic thinks about more than anything. Bryan is the CEO of Wunder Capital and brings extensive finance and capital raising expertise to Wunder. From private equity investing at Bain & Company to financing online commercial lending companies at Village Ventures. Notably, Bryan's firm led early investments into commercial lending market leader OnDeck Capital. Along with his finance background, Bryan has built and led several companies that bring software approaches to new markets, most notably and recently SimpleReach, where Bryan was President and which has raised more than $15mm. Wunder Capital develops and manages solar investment funds by leveraging its national partnership network, tested processes, proprietary underwriting framework, and best-in-class online investment portal. Wunder actively manages everything, from the sourcing of commercial solar opportunities, to the underwriting, contracting, and construction of each project. Once a system is live, Wunder manages the ongoing operation and maintenance of the array, bills the energy customer, and distributes proceeds to investors. Wunder is a financial technology company that is based out of Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 2013, Wunder won the U.S. Department of Energy's 2014 Sunshot Challenge, as well as COSEIA's 2015 Summit Award. Wunder also participated in the Techstars technology accelerator program. Although Wunder's solar funds are capitalized by accredited individuals, trusts, family offices, foundations, hedge funds and pension funds, the parent company and the operator of each of Wunder's solar funds - The Wunder Company - is backed by venture capital www.wundercapital.com Twitter @WonderCapital / @birsic www.impactinvestingpodcast.com Twitter @impinvpodcast Facebook: Impact Investing Podcast www.mainestartupandcreateweek.com