More Power To You

This episode is a graduate-level course on tracking renewable energy from generation to the end user, and the complexities of how policies, processes and markets all interact. My guest is Ben Gerber, the Executive Director of M-RETS, the Midwest Renewable Energy Tracking System based in Minneapolis. And this episode is a first for this podcast as I invite a guest co-host to join me—Tanuj Deora, Vice President of Market Development at Simple Energy. Tanuj is well known in clean energy circles...

This is a special episode of More Power to You, in which I bring you an episode of Offshore Wind Insider, a podcast I launched a few months ago for the Business Network for Offshore Wind, which in full disclosure is a client of mine. My guest is Liz Burdock, President and CEO of the Network. Our conversation covers both strengths and challenges facing the US offshore wind industry today. We begin by looking at where the market stands today in terms of its potential capacity, current state...

My guest this episode is climate advocate Will Hackman. Will hails from America’s heartland, spent three seasons as a commercial fisherman in Alaska, has attended the past three UN climate conferences, and works in DC advancing climate and clean energy policy in the NGO community. We start our conversation by discussing the need for climate action. Why do we need to keep global warming within 2° C, and what will that look like if we’re to take the steps needed to meet that target? Will then...

In this episode we focus on energy efficiency in rural America. My guest is Mary Shoemaker, State Policy Analyst at ACEEE, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. Our conversation focuses on both challenges and solutions, and we cover a broad range of issues, starting with what makes rural America unique in terms of energy efficiency and its overall energy burden. We discuss a number of topics including what ACEEE has been doing to address the rural space; the importance of...

In this episode we focus on carbon pricing and its prospects both federally and in the states. My guests are Andres Jimenez, Senior Director of Government Affairs, and Jamie DeMarco, State-Level Carbon Pricing Coordinator, for Citizens' Climate Lobby. In a purely coincidental bit of good timing, the morning that our interview was scheduled, a bipartisan group of Congressmembers introduced a major new federal carbon price bill. We start the interview by discussing the bill, what it does and...

In this episode we put on our energy geek hats to focus on demand response, and explore how utilities are implementing demand response programs across the US. My guest is Brenda Chew, an analyst at SEPA – the Smart Electric Power Alliance, and lead author of SEPA’s 2018 Utility Demand Response Market Snapshot report which serves as the basis for our conversation. We begin by discussing how SEPA defines demand response and what it covers for purposes of the report. We look at some...

This is a special episode of More Power To You, the first episode recorded in front of a live audience. Earlier this month the Maryland Clean Energy Center hosted its annual Maryland Clean Energy Summit in College Park, and I moderated a panel titled The Mechanics of Offshore Wind: Moving to the Grid of the Future. The four panelists were: Siemens Gamesa Renewable EnergyDeepwater WindAtlantic Grid DevelopmentWomble Bond Dickinson This wide-ranging conversation touches on a broad range of...

Welcome to the sixth and final episode in a special series of More Power To You, produced in partnership with the Maryland Clean Energy Center for National Clean Energy Week 2018. Each episode spotlights a different clean energy technology, and features some of the people and companies leading the way in Maryland. In this episode, we focus on bioenergy. My guests are Shawn Kreloff, CEO of the Americas for BTS BioEnergy, and Andy Moss, Technical Director for Planet Found Energy...

Welcome to Part Five in a special six-part series of More Power To You, produced in partnership with the Maryland Clean Energy Center for National Clean Energy Week 2018. Each episode spotlights a different clean energy technology, and features some of the people and companies leading the way in Maryland. This week’s focus is electric transportation. My guests are: Electric Drive Transportation AssociationSemaConnectGenerate CapitalBYD For the interview I sat down in person with...

Welcome to Part Four in a special six-part series of More Power To You, produced in partnership with the Maryland Clean Energy Center for National Clean Energy Week 2018. Each episode spotlights a different clean energy technology, and features some of the people and companies leading the way in Maryland. This week’s focus is offshore wind energy, and my guest is someone who’ll be familiar to regular listeners: Liz Burdock, President and CEO of the Business Network for Offshore...

Welcome to Part Three in a special six-part series of More Power To You, produced in partnership with the Maryland Clean Energy Center for National Clean Energy Week 2018. Each episode spotlights a different clean energy technology, and features some of the people and companies leading the way in Maryland. In this episode we focus on distributed energy solutions. My guests are: American Microgrid SolutionsUniversity of Maryland Energy and Innovation InstituteIon Storage...

Welcome to Part Two in a special six-part series of More Power To You, produced in partnership with the Maryland Clean Energy Center for National Clean Energy Week 2018. Each of these episodes spotlights a different clean energy technology, and features some of the people and companies leading the way in Maryland. In this episode, the second in the series, we focus on solar energy in Maryland. My guests are David Murray, Executive Director of MDV-SEIA; Cyrus Tashakkori, President of...

Welcome to a special six-part series of More Power To You, produced in partnership with the Maryland Clean Energy Center for National Clean Energy Week 2018. Each of these six episodes spotlights a different clean energy technology, and features some of the people and companies leading the way in Maryland. In this episode, the first in the series, we focus on Energy Efficiency in the Built Environment. My three guests all wear multiple hats: they run small businesses and also serve in...

In this episode of More Power To You we explore the nexus of electrification, transportation and industrial marine ports. My guest is Christine Houston, Manager of Sustainable Practices at the Port of Long Beach, the 2nd largest port in the country and a national leader in electrification. In our conversation we touch on a range of issues including why the Port is pursuing electrification in the first place, what’s involved in electrifying a massive marine port, the implications of...

In this episode we take a regional look at energy efficiency in the Southeastern U.S. My guest is Mandy Mahoney, President of the Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance, or SEEA. We start off by discussing the concept of energy efficiency and what it means these days, and then dive into SEEA’s energy efficiency work in the South, including the energy equity work that SEEA is doing in high poverty and often rural communities. Mandy, a native-born Southerner, shares her perspective on some of...

This is the second of two episodes in which we look at clean energy advocacy and politics from different political points of view, as we approach November's midterm elections. This week we hear a progressive perspective from Craig Auster, PAC and Advocacy Partnerships Director at the League of Conservation Voters. We begin the conversation with a discussion about what LCV is and does, and then get into the politics. Show references include: Emily's ListRep. Terri SewellH.Con.Res.119Market...

This is the first of two episodes in which we look at clean energy advocacy and politics from different political points of view. In today's show I sit down with Charles Hernick, Director of Policy and Advocacy at CRES Forum and its political arm, Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions, for the conservative perspective. We begin the conversation with Charles explaining CRES Forum's goal and mission. Charles then discusses CRES Forum's National Clean Energy Week initiative, what it's all...

In this episode we focus on data, analytics, artificial intelligence and their impact on the electric grid. My guest is Sonny Garg, Managing Director of Global Energy Solutions at Uptake. We start this fascinating and wide ranging conversation with a look at how data and predictive analytics are being used to maximize the uptime, productivity and efficiency of our existing generation fleet. We then explore some ways in which artificial intelligence and machine learning are enabling large...

In this episode of the podcast we focus on Alaska's unique energy landscape. Our guest is Chris Rose, Executive Director of the Renewable Energy Alaska Project, or REAP. We begin with an overview of energy in Alaska today, then delve into the unique way Alaska's grid operates without oversight from FERC—the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission—and how reforming the grid's system-wide governance can improve efficiency and reliability and reduce costs. We look into the reasons behind the...

In this episode we look at the current landscape for community solar, including trends, financing models and case studies. We close with a prediction about the state of community solar five to ten years in the future. My guests are Dan Chwastyk, K Kaufmann and Jared Leader from SEPA, the Smart Electric Power Alliance. Three new reports from SEPA serve as the basis for our discussion. SEPA's reports referenced in the show: Community Solar Program Design ModelsFinancing Community-Based Solar...