DER Task Force

Colleen, Jimbo, and Duncan are back, this time joined by Noah Smith of Noahpinion . While fellow energy nerds might know Noah for his posts Don’t be a doomer , Why I’m so excited about solar and batteries , or Battery-powered appliances! , his reach goes well beyond our small corner of the world. Noah’s an economist and techno-optimist who engages in a wide variety of topics, from globalization ,...

We’re back! And this time we sit down with Troy Cross, a twitter chameleon of sorts. He’s an environmentalist, philosopher at Reed College, and avid bitcoiner. And depending on who you talk to, you’ll get a different answer as to what he’s all about. We just know him as an intelligent, interesting, super good dude who we love talking to! This is a different episode than what you all may be used to...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.dertaskforce.com We’re still figuring out this whole substack thing. We released this paid ep last week for paid subscribers, but didn’t send out an email or a preview to our unpaid subscribers. So, we’re resending to give the unpaids a snippet of this tasty ep. If you’re an unpaid subscriber, you should change that! Original post:...

The crew is back with another episode, this time sitting down with Arcady Sosinov , Founder and CEO of FreeWire . In this episode we talk about doing things that really, really don’t scale, gearheads in an EV world, utility vs O&G company cold war + the breakdown of 7 Powers in an abundant energy future, FreeWire’s core product innovation and the value of juicing utilization, finally a charging so...

We’re back! This time we sit down with Sam D’Amic o, CEO and co-founder of Impulse Labs , an induction stove start-up based out of San Francisco. Listen on for nearly 2 hours of physics, macro, cooking, and much more: * (1:30-22:45 ) Getting DER-pilled (thermal events anyone?), nerding out about college extra-curriculars, Sam’s favorite DER and James’ public retraction, breaking out the old charco...

We’re back with a solo ep to talk about Doomers and why you shouldn’t be one! Tune in to ring in your new year with a heavy dose of optimism and why 2023 is going to be insane heat. This time we talk Duncan getting saved by a Christian Scientist, the average person thinking casually that we’re screwed, why having kids is good, Jordan Peterson’s and Alex Epstein’s cringe intelktualism, categorizing...

Welcome back to another episode of the pod! This week, we sat down with Neha Palmer , CEO and Co-founder of Terawatt Infrastructure . Check out the show notes below: * (0:00-13:00) Getting DER-pilled at PG&E, favorite DER, extra-curricular activities and protecting powDER, Neha’s ideal last job, and hottest energy takes * (13:00- 22:30) The Terrawatt Infrastructure pitch, EV charging for fleets an...

Welcome back to another episode of the pod! This episode is a special one — it features many of you! During the DERTFestivities, the crew busted out the recording equipment and captured some live takes from the community. Listen on to hear some major heat from the Task Force…. * The crew gives up on explaining franchise rights in minute 1 * Russell “Rusty” Wilcox (Thee God) on bigger and better on...

Hello there DER Task Force — we are back after a post-DERTFest break with another episode of the pod. This time, the gang interviewed Emily McAteer , founder and CEO of Odyssey Energy Solutions. In this episode we cover… * (0:00) Getting to know Emily: DER-pills in ‘09, the dopest and nopest grids, Emily’s favorite DER, SunEdison in its heyday, hottest energy takes * (17:40) The “uneconomics” of m...

Hey there Task Force! This week, the crew sat down and with Henrik Langeland , CEO and co-founder of Enode and talked all things interoperability, walled gardens, and Henrik even breaks some exciting news on the podcast! Check out the show notes here: * (0:00) Welcome to the ThunDERdome, getting DER-pilled, learning more about Henrik, why interoperability is so important * (9:40) Enode — the origi...

Hey Task Force! Back this week with episode 23 of the DER Task Force podcast. This time, the crew was joined by Michael Huerta , CEO and co-founder of PearlX . This is another long one and we cover a LOT of ground: * (0:00) Welcome to the ThunDERdome, getting to know Michael * (7:11) Michael gets DER-pilled by his wife, being thankful for the Lehman bankruptcy, favorite DER (plus we owe Kiran an a...

We are back with another episode of the DER Task Force podcast! This week, the crew sit down with the COO of Scale Microgrid Solutions and patron of the DER Task Force, the one and only Tim Hade . In this epic, 2+ hour episode episode, we talk about: * (1:15) Opening quote, DERTF’s #1 rule, Grandaddy Tim shares some love * (4:32) Tim’s DER-pilling and fave DER, some cute non-Scale hobbies, the val...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.dertaskforce.com We are back with another episode of the DER Task Force podcast! This is our first paid episode, so if you’re listening in your favorite podcast player that’s not Substack, follow these instructions to add your private RSS feed. No guests this week, just Colleen, Duncan and James diving into the latest spicy topic: E...

The Task Force podcast is back with another episode, just in time for some weekend listening. This was a fun one with Ari Matusiak , CEO of Rewiring America . In the episode, we talk about: * (0:00) Intro, opening quote, entering the ThunDERdome * (2:00) Getting DER pilled with Ari, electrifying classic cars * (8:25) Introducing Rewiring America * (15:11) Electrification and the key narratives tha...

Welcome back to another episode of the DER Task Force podcast. This time, we sat down with Andy Frank , co-founder and President of Sealed . In the episode, we talk about: * (0:00) Intros, opening quote * (4:27) Sealed elevator pitch * (6:48) Getting DER-pilled (and allergic reactions), Andy’s 20-year plan * (19:28) What’s so great about heat pumps anyway? And are they really DERs? * (30:12) Drivi...

Welcome back to another episode of the DER Task Force podcast. This time, we were joined by the inimitable and brilliant Mary Powell, former CEO of Green Mountain Power and current CEO of SunRun. In the episode, it, we talk about: * (0:00) Intro, opening quote, introducing Mary Powell * (2:40) Mary Powell in the ThunDERdome — on getting DER-pilled, grandpa’s grid, front-running NEM, and scaling Su...

Welcome back to another episode of the DER Task Force podcast. Following the highly unexpected John Oliver segment on utilities that made the rounds on Twitter a few weeks back, we wanted to dive into the topic and tease out some of the more nuanced points surrounding this topics. This was a fun one. In it, we talk about: * (0:00-8:24) Intro, John Oliver clip, opening quote, quick takes * (8:24-23...

If you couldn’t tell, we’re now hosting the podcast on Substack! That means all your DERs content will be in one place going forward, but you can still listen on any of your favorite players like Spotify or iTunes. Look out for more articles and podcasts (with some very special guests) soon, and don’t forget to subscribe! This was a fun one. In it, we talk about: * (0:00-18:00) Intro, Kiran’s back...

We are trying something new this week. As many of you know our DERTF hosts have an active twitter presence and they always have lots of thoughts and ideas on current events in the energy world. With Ukraine being the most impactful energy current event, much of the conversation is centered around events happening in Europe, but it all seems to relate to topics of global trade, energy independence,...

We are back to tackle one of the more controversial topics in the energy space - nuclear. Big nuclear, small nuclear or SMRs, and everything in between. We have many barriers to bring back this incredibly reliable, flexible and resilient energy source if we can get over some major political, regulatory, and cost hurtles. Whether you are pro, anti or somewhere in the middle, this episode will enlig...

We are finally back after a long hiatus to tackle a newly released net metering update from the California PUC, NEM 3.0. The time is now for comments and feedback on this significant update to support the solar and broad DER market in California before this ruling is set in stone.  As always, please make sure you are subscribed to our newsletter on our website, dertaskforce.com and keep a lookout...

For July’s virtual meetup, we had Chris Rauscher of Sunrun join us. Chris is an expert in a number of key areas including grid services, markets, resilience as a value proposition, etc. In his currently role as the Senior Director of Market Development & Policy he leads the company’s work at the intersection of new business and policy. Previously Chris was the Director of Storage Market Strate...

We’re really excited for this episode of the live meetup event with Cisco DeVries (CEO) and Matt Deusterberg (President and Co-Founder) of OhmConnect. If you’re not familiar, OhmConnect is helping California’s grid integrate renewables by unlocking the promise of residential flexible load. They do this via energy markets, their app, smart plugs, and great design. OhmConnect also recently raised $8...

In this episode, we start with laying the foundation for the massive energy consumption requirements for Bitcoin -  it then turns to the fundamentals of the technology, then to the unique use case of bitcoin mining, which is connected to the future of, you guessed it, capacity markets. We finish up with a nice historical throwback to the connection of US dollars and oil. All this to say, this is n...

This episode is all about the Texas energy crisis in early 2021.  Here are the takes on the episode from our three hosts: James - This is not a market design problem, but a system design problem. CA does IRP, NE does capacity markets, ERCOT does energy only. All of them saw major failures (CA—both supply and distribution, NE—distribution, ERCOT—Supply) in a 6 month time period. We must value resil...