The Obama Administration finally completed its landmark climate rule that will require states to cut power plant carbon emissions. It's been hailed by supporters as historic, and demonized by opponents as an economic threat. But is it really all that big of a deal? That depends on how you look at it. In this week's show, we'll talk with Michael Grunwald, a senior reporter at Politico, who argues that the climate law is not very ambitious when it comes to carbon reductions. However, it will still...
Aug 05, 2015•54 min
Pretty much everything bad that could happen to the coal industry is happening. Global coal demand is slumping; low natural gas prices and competitive renewables are shifting the energy mix in America; and a slew of regulations are causing plants to close at an unprecedented rate. Since 2012, more than 40 U.S. coal companies have filed for bankruptcy. And just this week, Peabody Energy, one of the largest coal firms in the world, reported $1 billion in quarterly losses. In this week’s show, we’l...
Jul 30, 2015•48 min
SunEdison is on a mission to become one of the biggest energy companies in the world – built entirely on renewables. It still has a ways to go. SunEdison has a $9 billion market capitalization. The two biggest oil companies, PetroChina and ExxonMobil, are worth $376 billion and $342 billion respectively. And Duke Energy, America’s largest utility, has a market cap of $50 billion. But with a slew of billion-dollar acquisitions of wind and solar companies – most recently Vivint Solar -- SunEdison ...
Jul 23, 2015•49 min
Two countries with some of the richest renewable energy resources in the world – Australia and Spain – are also two of the most hostile to the industry’s growth. Last week, Australia abruptly changed its national policies for renewables, upsetting project development plans. And in June, Spain proposed yet another tax on storage systems to discourage self-consumption. In this episode, we’ll talk about the turmoil and Australia and Spain, and look at the consequences for politicians and the renewa...
Jul 15, 2015•51 min
By the end of the decade, the solar industry could be installing 135 gigawatts yearly – more capacity in 12 months than all cumulative installations over the last four decades. The 2020 solar market will look much different today. It will be defined by fewer subsidies, greater geographic diversity and more sophisticated business models. This week, we’ll talk with Adam James, a senior solar analyst at GTM Research, about some of the most interesting findings from his new global demand report. Lat...
Jul 01, 2015•43 min
This week, we have a taping of the Energy Gang from GTM’s Grid Edge Live conference in San Diego. We’ll talk with Tom Bialek, the chief engineer at San Diego Gas & Electric, about the utility’s landmark microgrid project, its new distributed resource management system, and how to improve the utility-customer relationship. And we’ll wrap up with a look at how California’s pro-distributed energy policies are shaping utility procurements. This podcast is sponsored by ReneSola, a Tier 1 solar ce...
Jun 29, 2015•50 min
After Pope Francis issued his strongly worded encyclical on climate change and the environment, many wondered how it would influence skeptical conservatives. It didn’t take long to get an answer. “I don’t think we should politicize our faith,” said Republican presidential hopeful Jeb Bush, who brushed off climate change as an inherently political issue. So what would it take to get Republicans more engaged on climate and cleantech? This week’s guest, Vox staff writer David Roberts, believes chan...
Jun 19, 2015•45 min
Richard Kauffman has a lot of responsibilities as New York's "energy czar." He oversees multiple agencies and utilities, advises the governor on energy issues, and works closely with regulators in their attempt to build a new electricity market based on distributed resources. "Often the entities are diffuse and everyone is in their own silo. The benefit we have [in New York] is to develop and implement an integrated energy policy," explained Kauffman on the Energy Gang. This week, we'll talk wit...
Jun 12, 2015•40 min
We measure energy use with a commodity-based approach -- monitoring electrons, therms and gallons. But is there a better way to gauge the efficiency of the economy? Energy Economist Skip Laitner has been exploring a new method based on measuring "exergy," which shows that America's economy is only 14 percent efficient. And he says it's getting less efficient every year. In this week's show, we'll talk with Laitner about why measuring usable energy is better for understanding economic productivit...
Jun 05, 2015•49 min
Whether the solar industry likes it or not, more regulated utilities in America are going to propose owning residential PV systems themselves. It's a controversial development. At our recent Solar Summit in Phoenix, GTM's Stephen Lacey and Shayle Kann hosted a debate on the following motion: "Regulated utilities should be allowed to own and rate-base residential solar." Lon Huber, a former advisor at Arizona's ratepayer advocate and current director of Strategen Consulting's government and utili...
May 26, 2015•31 min
Discussion about changing utility business models has always been abstract. But with large utilities now getting hit financially by distributed energy, “Utility 2.0” is starting to seem much more real. This week, we’ll look at the progress that’s been made in New York, California and Massachusetts, where reformation of the power sector is currently underway in different stages. Lisa Frantzis, senior VP of strategy at Advanced Energy Economy, joins us to talk about how leading states are attempti...
May 21, 2015•51 min
Over the last few years, analysts and academics worried about peak oil have been on the defensive. The fracking revolution has brought an abundance of oil and gas that no one thought possible a decade ago. So we can declare peak oil dead, right? Chris Nelder, an energy analyst who’s written extensively on the subject has a simple answer: no. In this week’s show, we’ll talk with Nelder about predicting the messy oil market, and get his thoughts on the long-term viability of unconventional fossil ...
May 14, 2015•51 min
Tesla’s new storage unit has everyone talking about distributed batteries. But is the U.S. market ready for them? This week, we’ll talk about what needs to happen on a regulatory level to take distributed storage beyond limited applications. Sky Stanfield, an attorney representing the Interstate Renewable Energy Council, joins us to chat about proactive approaches to storage integration. We’ll also look at a new bill proposed in Congress that would implement best practices on battery and solar i...
May 07, 2015•48 min
Ahmad Chatila worked in the chip industry for 18 years before taking over as CEO of the semiconductor manufacturer MEMC in 2009. As a veteran of the industry, Chatila well understood the difficulties of the silicon wafer business. Semiconductors are a commodity, and the company was facing intense pricing pressure from Chinese competitors. So he decided to make MEMC an energy company -- zeroing in on SunEdison as an acquisition target. Nearly seven years after the acquisition, SunEdison is branch...
May 04, 2015•34 min
Wind has become a favorite target for politicians and conservative action groups looking end energy subsidies. But industry leaders are hitting back, saying they’ll only consider dropping the production tax credit when oil and gas lose their tax benefits. But does it need the subsidy? The average price for U.S. wind contracts is now 2.5 cents per kilowatt-hour. Some argue that the industry would remain competitive even without the PTC, and could avoid boom-bust cycles if it were eliminated. In t...
Apr 30, 2015•41 min
In 2014, after a two-year dip in global clean energy spending, investors poured $310 billion into solar, wind, storage and energy efficiency. Although yearly investment levels are below what IEA estimates are needed to address climate change, the increase shows that appetite for funding companies and projects is increasing. Some believe the investment figures prove that fossil fuels have already lost the long-term race to renewables. This week, we’ll talk with Michael Liebreich, founder of Bloom...
Apr 23, 2015•53 min
In 2008, when Al Gore called for America to get 100 percent from its electricity from renewables in 10 years, he was widely mocked by opponents. Even supporters who understood it was a rhetorical point quietly knew how difficult it would be to achieve. But suppose the timeframe were stretched out to 2050. Would it really be that crazy? Some models show it’s possible; skeptics say the models are widely unrealistic. This week, in place of the Energy Gang, we feature a debate between two experts on...
Apr 14, 2015•45 min
Last March, NRG CEO David Crane wrote a passionate letter to investors. “There is no Amazon, Apple, Facebook or Google in the American energy industry today,” lamented Crane. His plan, he said, was to make NRG the company “that enables the consumer to make their own energy choices.” Months later, Crane broke the electricity supplier up into three parts: NRG Business, NRG Home and NRG Renew. The Home arm of the business now includes retail sales, residential solar, residential EV charging and hom...
Apr 09, 2015•50 min
Small modular nuclear reactors are hailed as the savior of the struggling nuclear industry. They’re cheaper, safer and more flexible than traditional light-water reactors. But many small modular reactor designs are also not fully proven on a commercial scale – and they’ll likely not achieve scale for another decade. In this week’s show, we’ll talk with Leslie Dewan, the co-founder and CEO of Transatomic Power, about what it will take to make nuclear 2.0 a reality. She’ll discuss regulatory chall...
Apr 04, 2015•57 min
The federal investment tax credit has enabled dramatic growth in the U.S. solar industry. But its looming expiration in 2017 is causing some within the solar business to ask: will it still be needed to continue that growth? The industry’s national lobbying group unequivocally supports an extension. President Obama supports a permanent credit. But some believe installers will still be able to compete in many markets, even when the credit goes to 10% for commercial and third-party owned systems an...
Mar 26, 2015•49 min
Nancy Pfund, the founder of DBL Investors, has supported some of the most successful modern clean energy companies, including Tesla, SolarCity, Powerlight and BrightSource. And unlike many other venture capital firms, DBL isn’t backing down from some of the riskier, capital-intensive investments. Other portfolio investments include CIGS manufacturer Siva Power, and storage companies Primus Power and PowerGenix. The firm is now in the process of raising a third fund worth $300 million. In this po...
Mar 19, 2015•59 min
When the 114th Congress assembled for the first time in January, a bill approving Keystone XL was first on the agenda. By passing that bill with numerous amendments stuff in, Americans got a hint of what energy issues the Republican-controlled House and Senate would address in 2015. Those include efficiency standards, tax reform, natural gas exports and EPA regulations. This week, the Energy Gang is on break. In place of our normal show, we present a roundtable discussion between GTM Senior Edit...
Mar 06, 2015•45 min
Former Congressman Bob Inglis has a tough job. As one of the only prominent Republicans talking about climate change, he’s been trying to give the rest of his party the courage to offer conservative solutions to the challenge. Three years after founding the Energy and Enterprise Initiative, there’s still a deep freeze in Congress on climate issues. But Inglis is gathering more allies in his fight for a carbon tax, and believes that the 2016 elections will force national candidates to recognize t...
Feb 26, 2015•43 min
The case against fossil fuels is simple. Oil, coal and gas have been an extraordinary gift of nature that allowed modern society to flourish. But now, because of extreme climate risk and the competitiveness of renewable energy, we can (and must) leave those resources in the ground. But Alex Epstein believes that argument is too simplistic. In his new book, “The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels,” Epstein argues that fossil fuels are unfairly demonized. Pointing to positive trends in economic growth, p...
Feb 12, 2015•46 min
For some conservatives, solar is a big green boondoggle promoted by a liberal president to benefit rich environmentalists. But for a growing number of libertarians and conservatives, solar is also seen as a tool for promoting competition in electricity markets and empowering consumers. In this week’s podcast, we’ll talk with Debbie Dooley, founder of the Green Tea Coalition and Conservatives for Energy Choice, about why Tea Partyers are rallying behind solar PV as a way to expand personal freedo...
Feb 05, 2015•37 min
If the war of words between SolarCity and Arizona Public Service is any indication, this year will likely see an escalation in tension between the solar industry and utilities throughout the U.S. Earlier this month, it was revealed that APS was behind a letter from members of Congress to the Federal Trade Commission asking the government to investigate the sales practices of solar services companies. SolarCity hit back immediately and published a scathing blog post calling out APS for using so-c...
Jan 28, 2015•49 min
Last year, 200,000 residential solar systems were installed in the U.S. More than two-thirds of those systems were third-party financed through leases or power purchase agreements. But third-party financing is peaking. As solar costs come down, more consumers demand direct ownership of their own systems and installers look for simpler options, a growing number of lenders are coming into the U.S. market with loan products. Will they rival leases and power purchase agreements? Not in the short ter...
Jan 22, 2015•49 min
Progress in wave and tidal energy hasn’t been slow – it’s been nonexistent. Despite media attention, strategic investments from large energy companies and strong support from national governments, the marine renewables industry has seen mostly technical failure over the last decade. According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, fewer than 150 megawatts of wave and tidal projects will be installed globally by the end of the decade -- a 72 percent reduction in earlier projections. Aside from creating...
Jan 14, 2015•37 min
With oil prices dropping to five-year lows, pundits are pushing conspiracy theories about OPEC, public investors are acting irrationally, oil companies are going deeper into debt and political leaders are considering previously untouchable ideas like a gas tax. Meanwhile, many people are asking if an extended period of $50-per-barrel oil will compromise the economics of renewables. In this week’s episode, we’ll address the spectrum of economic and political consequences from oil’s strong price s...
Jan 07, 2015•44 min
This week, we stray from the week’s top news and instead focus on the top news of the entire year. We’ll give our picks for most important news item of the year, the most overblown story of the year and our story to watch in 2015. The Energy Gang is produced by Greentechmedia.com. The show features weekly discussion between energy futurist Jigar Shah, energy policy expert Katherine Hamilton and Greentech Media Editor Stephen Lacey. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California P...
Dec 24, 2014•43 min
