Energy Capital Podcast

Thanksgiving Week Repost This episode originally aired in June 2024. We’re resurfacing it because the core idea discussed here were timely then and even more timely now. We’ve also refreshed the audio, with improved mixing and mastering for a clearer, smoother listen. Crusoe has scaled dramatically since this conversation, including major new funding and new projects in Texas. With so much energy...

“Everyone hates data centers.” That was the subject line on the email newsletter from Heatmap Daily the day before I sat down with Dr. Varun Sivaram , co-founder and CEO of Emerald AI . Communities see huge new loads coming onto the grid, hear about billions in new infrastructure, and worry that their bills will go up. It doesn’t have to work that way. Varun argues there are two paths. On the vill...

This is part 2 of my conversation with Nat Bullard. Check out Part 1 here: We talk a lot about the grid of the future. The truth is, that future is already showing up in Texas. Batteries are being built at record pace, data centers are chasing cheap and reliable power, and Texans are adding gigawatts worth of backup systems in homes, schools, and factories. I sat down with energy analyst Nat Bulla...

This is Part 1 of my conversation with Nat. Part 2 will be out next Wednesday. The Video is Live on YouTube Texas has plenty of energy stories. The harder part is finding the signal through the noise of endless filings. That is why Nat Bullard’s new venture, Halcyon, matters. It turns piles of ERCOT and PUC dockets into something manageable. It’s AI that makes dense regulatory filings sortable and...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.texasenergyandpower.com Most solar panels are imported from China which now has the ability to manufacture over a terawatt (1,000 gigawatts) of solar modules every year — roughly equal to the entire installed base of generation in the US inclusive from every energy source. America makes less than 1/20 of that amount and even less wh...

The full video is on Youtube Texas isn’t just projecting future load growth; it’s happening now . Maura Yates of Mothership Innovations set the stage for our discussion at GCPA ’s Fall conference earlier this month in Austin. “We are looking at meters that are 800 megawatts on a single meter… that’s crazy. We used to think 10 megawatts was a big deal…” She also cut through the headline noise: “The...

Watch the Conversation on YouTube Headlines warn that data centers are straining the Texas grid. The reality is more interesting: data centers — through their own flexibility and by supporting distributed flexibility markets — can strengthen the grid. I explored that topic and a lot more with Astrid Atkinson , CEO and co-founder of Camus Energy and former senior reliability engineer at Google. At...

The federal 30% solar tax credit has driven demand for solar but it’s about to expire. And when it does, some worry the bottom will fall out of the market. But what’s actually emerging looks less like a collapse and more like a shift which could lead to bigger growth down the road. In this episode, Bret Biggart , CEO of Freedom Solar , offers a grounded look at how a major Texas-based installer is...

Texas load is rising fast, supply chains are tight, and the cheapest near-term resource is demand we shape intentionally. But are the right economic signals there to bring this resource to scale? Texas has a highly competitive power supply market, but the demand side is severely underdeveloped. In my conversation with Travis Kavulla , former Montana PSC Chairman and current leader in retail innova...

In Part 1 of my conversation with economist Lynne Kiesling, we traced how monopoly utilities and central planning helped electrify the country. That model worked. Economies of scale and guaranteed returns brought capital into the system, and within a few decades, nearly every home had electricity. But the world has changed. Technologies are smaller, decentralized, and more flexible. Risks are more...

Over a hundred years ago, the monopoly business utility model emerged as the one that could attract sufficient capital to electrify everything. The monopoly utility business was championed by Thomas Edison’s protégé and early leader of ComEd in Chicago, Sam Insull. It worked. By mid-century, most Americans had power. But today, competition for generation and retail have shown that monopolies are n...

Watch the Full Conversation with Graphs on YouTube (Updated) Utility bills are rising faster than ever. In the first half of 2025 alone, utilities requested $29 billion in rate increases , already a record for any full year, with months still to go. That’s more than double the pace of 2024. If you’re wondering why, you’re not alone. I hear this question constantly: “If renewables lower costs, why...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.texasenergyandpower.com This is my recent presentation on the latest trends in Texas energy and power for subscribers called the “ Texas Power Rush, ” followed by a Q&A.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.texasenergyandpower.com San Antonio is one of the fastest growing cities in the country and have requests to interconnect AI infrastructure and data centers that would triple their size. With that growth comes a simple but daunting challenge: how do you keep the air conditioning on while growing the economy and keeping bills afforda...

Sometimes I get to bring you a conversation that really feels like a turning point. This week, I sat down with Bill McKibben , one of the most respected voices in climate and energy. His new book, Here Comes the Sun (out today! order it here ), is different from his earlier work. Bill has long been known for sounding the alarm. But this time, he’s bringing something else: optimism. Why? Because so...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.texasenergyandpower.com 🎧 Listen to the first 15+ minutes for free, and if you’re a paid subscriber and want to listen in Apple Podcasts or Spotify, just connect your private Substack feed. Here is the a link with step-by-step instructions. You can also hear the full episode in Substack; just make sure you’re logged in with the ema...

In this week’s Energy Capital Podcast , I revisit my recent article, None of the Above , with added commentary. Please give it a listen and let me know what you think in the comments. All of the Above vs. None of the Above For years, U.S. energy policy has been framed as “all of the above.” No red or blue electrons, just building what works. The new budget bill flips that script and is leaving clo...

This podcast is on YouTube with Graphs Congress’ new budget bill is an energy earthquake. It could wipe out tens of gigawatts of energy production, just as we’re experiencing load growth unlike anything since the 1960’s. It will drive power bills higher for families and factories, and give China the upper hand in the race for 21st century economic supremacy. To understand in more detail the impact...

In May 2016, a wildfire ripped through Fort McMurray, the heart of Canada’s tar sands and bitumen mining region, with a speed and intensity unlike anything firefighters had seen before. It created its own weather. And it triggered the largest evacuation in Canadian history, which had to happen within mere hours. But this fire wasn’t just a freak event. It was a warning of more to come. Since then,...

Either the Texas grid is highly reliable, or the sky is falling. Spoiler alert: bet against the latter. A June report from the Texas Reliability Entity (which has federal statutory responsibility to report on Texas’ grid risks) shows that the ERCOT grid is increasingly reliable. That’s mostly because of solar and battery storage additions to the state’s energy portfolio. It also directly contradic...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.texasenergyandpower.com In this episode of the Energy Capital Podcast , I sat down with Matt Loszak, co-founder and CEO of Aalo Atomics, a startup based in Austin, Texas, that’s reimagining how we build nuclear energy. 🎧 Listen to the first 15+ minutes for free, and if you’re a paid subscriber and want to listen in Apple Podcasts o...

We’re on the verge of one of the biggest energy shifts in decades: the increasing use of demand side resources. They’re often referred to as Virtual Power Plants, or VPPs. Add together thousands of rooftop solar installations and home batteries and you reach levels of power equal to medium sized power plants. They add power capacity, can provide key grid support in ancillary services, and give con...

Anti-energy crusaders have a lot of facts wrong. I’ll break that down in this video. They’re also personally insulting the hard-working men and women in the renewable energy industry, calling solar jobs “fentanyl jobs.” They should apologize to the hard-working Americans helping to make our grid stronger every day. The ERCOT CEO told the Board earlier this week that solar and storage has strengthe...

This is the read-aloud version of my June 26 article, now on YouTube & the Energy Capital Podcast I don’t usually record readings of my articles, but I made an exception for this one. If Congress passes the budget bill as is, it would spike energy costs for families and businesses and cause serious economic harm. So I sat down and read the piece aloud with a few added thoughts and commentary as I...

The U.S. was finally catching up. After decades of watching solar manufacturing develop overseas, mostly in China, the Inflation Reduction Act gave domestic producers a fighting chance. Texas responded in a big way. New factories broke ground. OCI and its sister company, Mission Solar, prepared to launch a full supply chain operation in San Antonio, including the rare addition of cell manufacturin...