DER Task Force
DER Task Force is a podcast that covers topics related to the DER (Distributed Energy Resources) industry, including podcasts, blog posts, community updates, jobs, and cool articles. It serves as a hub for professionals and enthusiasts in the energy sector. The podcast is hosted on Substack and provides a mix of news, insights, and discussions.
Episodes
Energy, Compute, & Capital Markets with Meltem Demirors + Honour Masters
This week we’re in the ThunDERdome with Crucible Capital’s Meltem Demirors and Honour Masters.Have we become too Malthusian? Is AI an extension of Steve Jobs’ “bicycle for the mind” metaphor, or is it becoming more of a wholesale replacement for the bicyclist? Are your alt milk lattes and petroleum-derived garments more environmentally destructive than a data center? Will Meltem achieve her dream
Electromaxxing With Daan Walter
Buckle up, this is a long one. But when we’re talking about a revolution of this magnitude, how could it not be?We couldn’t help ourselves once we sat down with Daan Walter, principal of Ember, to unpack how solar and batteries are fueling the electrotech revolution, why it’s happening faster than anyone expected, and what this looks like far beyond the U.S.This disruption is all about cheaper, be
The dawn of a new DERcade
We’re back! This time with a solo pod. We continue our tradition of talking about New Year’s resolutions, unpacking DERVOS ‘25, and looking ahead to DERVOS ‘26 and beyond. We feel we’re at the start of a new epoch—rather, DERcade—so we try to tee up the key themes and what we’re interested in exploring for the next 10 years.We get into what’s up at Scale and David Energy, permissionless DERs, scal
DERVOS 2025: Energy Dominance and the Electrostate
Our final discussion of DERVOS 2025 was a panel on the ramifications of electricity becoming the primary lever of economic and geopolitical might.If you’re listening to this as a podcast, keep in mind that the full video is available on our website www.dertaskforce.com and Youtube channel.This year James solidified the newfound tradition of saving the arguably wonkiest discussion for the end of th
DERVOS 2025: Deploying and Orchestrating GWs of Distributed Capacity
Our third discussion of DERVOS 2025 was a panel on how the hell we’re going to deploy and orchestrate a massive new fleet of distributed energy systems to fill a rapidly growing electricity demand gap.If you’re listening to this as a podcast, keep in mind that the full video is available on our website www.dertaskforce.com and Youtube channel.DERs are kind of having a moment. Whether you call thei
DERVOS 2025: Permissionless DERs Wait for No One
Our second discussion of DERVOS 2025 was a panel on a revolutionary new class of distributed energy systems that require little to no permission to install.If you’re listening to this as a podcast, keep in mind that the full video is available on our website www.dertaskforce.com and Youtube channel.We’ve been talking about permissionless DERs on the pod for a long time, so it seemed only right to
DERVOS 2025: Big DERs Energy
We kicked off the first discussion of DEROVS 2025 with a panel titled “Big DERs Energy”.If you’re listening to this as a podcast, keep in mind that the full video is available on our website www.dertaskforce.com and Youtube channel.The AI-power nexus isn’t just the domain of energy nerds these days, but we brought some together anyway to go deep about what role DERs play as data centers proliferat
DERVOS 2025 Keynote: Solar Pill the World with Jesse Peltan
Note: This presentation has been distributed in video and audio-only versions. We reccomend watching the video version on our website or Youtube to see the visuals.We’ll be releasing all the DERVOS content soon, and what better teaser than Jesse’s incredible keynote.Jesse’s presentation makes the case that solar energy isn’t just growwing and abundant — in the long run, everything other than solar
DER Startup School with Seth Frader-Thompson, CEO and Co-Founder of EnergyHub
We’re back (minus Colleen who was on vacation), this time with Seth Frader-Thompson, the CEO and co-founder of EnergyHub. Many don’t realize that EnergyHub has built what may be the largest VPP platform in North America, nearly entirely with vertically integrated utilities.In addition to getting the inside scoop on how they pulled this off, we discuss EnergyHub’s intriguing VPP capabilities framew
Rad Future with Isabelle Boemeke
Strap in for an episode where DERs go almost entirely unmentioned. Instead, we talked about nuclear, degrowth, climate change, communication over the internet, AI, and the future broadly with Isabelle Boemeke.Isabelle is the creator of Isodope and founder of Save Clean Energy, and new book Rad Future is about to be released on August 12th. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this wi
Going Permissionless with Cole Ashman,CEO and Founder of Pila Energy
We’re back! This time with Cole Ashman, Founder and CEO of Pila Energy. Permissionless DERs are one of most exciting new categories for us. With all the focus on permitting challenges, high soft costs, and long interconnection cues, what if we could just install DERs without all of that nonsense?In the ep, we talk about Cole’s journey from experiencing Hurricane Katrina awakening him to the need f
DERs are mainstream with Jigar Shah and Tim Hade
We’re still laughing that we actually did this pod. Why it seemed like a good idea to book two of our favorite (outspoken) people, Jigar Shah (most recently led the DOE LPO) and Tim Hade (co-founder Scale Microgrids), at the same time continues to confound us.With two legends on the couch that each have a wealth of knowledge, it was basically impossible to ask them everything we wanted. It was pro
Solar maxxing with Lisan Al Gaib, Jesse Peltan
We’re back with our longest pod ever! And deservedly so. When you get Lisan al Gaib on the couch, you use all the time you have to pick his brain. Jesse Peltan is one of our favorite thinkers in the entire space, and his brilliant insights are endless. We probably need another 3 hours with him to get even more out!In it, we discuss: the fundamental resource availability of various energy sources,
The Myth of Sisyphus with Astrid Atkinson
After a brief haitus to focus on 2025 planning, we’re back! Last week we sat down with Astrid Atkinson, CEO and co-founder of Camus Energy. We talked about all kinds of fun stuff: how this moment of grid expansion is like the expansion of cloud services, how it isn’t, how we can connect large loads faster via flexibility, where Astrid sees the grid going, how Camus started, what cool new stuff Cam
DER Baby DER with Dana Guernsey, Co-Founder and CEO of Voltus
Last week we sat down with Dana Guernsey, co-founder and CEO of Voltus. There was A LOT to talk about in this one. As you’d expect we went deep on Dana’s backstory, the history of DR, new DER participation models, and where we think the future is headed. But also, Voltus just went through a settlement with FERC and this was Dana’s first podcast appearance since, so we did our best to understand wh
The Dawn of the Holy War
We’re back! And this time, we’re starting a holy war. Duncan launched an amazing paper on solar (wow, total sleight of hand! Don’t you mean GAS BACKUP?) microgrids for data centers with Stripe’s climate team and other DERTF OGs like Kyle Baranko, and some big names on Twitter lost their s**t.Tune in to hear about the churches of Matt Yglesias, Mark Z Jacobson, and Alex Epstein, who our maud’dib is
DERVOS '24: Load Growth Panel
DERVOS, 10/25/24, NYCDemand growth has returned to the US electricity sector for the first time in two decades and the cracks are showing in the system. Reindustrialization, electrification, and the AI juggernaut have catapulted us into a new era. New loads are suddenly having trouble getting grid connections, interconnection times for new generation keep growing with no end in sight, and transmis
DERVOS '24: Policy Panel
DERVOS, 10/25/24, NYCNew energy technologies can thrive or die due to regulatory policy. This unbelievable policy panel will feature regulators who have actually supported new technologies and advocates who have successfully fought for paradigm-shifting policies. We know we have great technologies--this panel will explore how we get them to scale.Speakers: Allison Clements (FERC), Marissa Gillett
DERVOS '24: Demo Day
Where else can you witness a pot of water boil in just a few seconds, learn about a micro nuclear reactor that skips boiling water altogether, insane AI-powered electro-cartography, and SpaceX-caliber EV charging infrastructure?Tons of companies applied to showcase their products at DERVOS and DER Task Force selected these four because, well, they are badass.* 0:00 - Impulse Labs* 6:10 - Westingho
DERVOS '24: Mary Powell & David Roberts
DERVOS, 10/25/24, NYCDavid Roberts (Volts podcast) and Mary Powell (CEO of Sunrun and DER legend) will sit down in a “fireside chat” style session to review the past year and chart a course for the future of DERs as two giants in our space.Speakers: David Roberts (Volts) and Mary Powell (Sunrun) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus e
DERVOS '24: Power Markets Panel
DERVOS, 10/25/24, NYCRenewables have been breaking many of the mechanisms in our power markets, irrespective of structure. Across energy only, IRP, and capacity markets, we have been seeing "weirdness" in price action and regulatory responses as solar and wind continue to dominate new installs. It’ll be an acronym stew: from PCM and RUC buying in ERCOT, adjusting ELCCs in PJM leading to capacity p
DERVOS '24: Tim Hade's Kickoff
DERVOS, 10/25/24, NYCTim Hade is the co-founder of Scale Microgrids and the godfather of DER Task Force. He’s been an inspiration to so many in our community, so we couldn’t think of a better person to kick us off at DERVOS this year.After this keynote we heard someone say “I’m ready to run through a wall for Tim” and we can’t claim to have felt any differently. This is a public episode. If you'd
Pakistan's distributed solar boom with Jenny Chase
A truly wild story is unfolding in Pakistan. Over the past few years the country has become the globe’s third largest importer of Chinese solar panels, and yet none of the resulting projects are operated by, or even visible to, the national utility.Simultaneously, demand from the grid has dropped 9.1% over the past 12 months, which has many scared of a potential utility death spiral.Here’s a recen
WTF is ELCC with the man who predicted the PJM capacity price spikes, Nic Freschi
We’re back! This time with Nic Freschi, Senior Associate at Gable Associates and all around PJM wizard. Nic is a friend and OG member of the DERTF. Almost a year ago, Nic’s models began predicting the ~10x increase in PJM capacity prices we saw in the recent auction. How did he know?In this ep, we go deep on every acronym you could ever imagine: ELCC, ORDC, PCM, LSERO, UCAP, ICAP, and so much more
The real story of Texas VPP policy with Arushi Frank, Founder of Luminary Strategies
Last week we were lucky enough to sit down with Arushi Sharma Frank, the policy wizard who while at Tesla Energy helped turn Texas into one of the DER capitals of the world. She gives us the in depth history of of how ERCOT’s VPP program was forged — a story our co-host James was also a part of. We also talk about the rest of her time at Tesla, case studies in Australia and the UK, how regulators
Transforming century old grid tech with Charlotta Holmquist, President and Co-Founder of Blixt
We’re back! This time with Charlotta Holmquist, President and Co-Founder of Blixt. Blixt is based in Sweden and just closed a fundraise led by Union Square Ventures. Their solid state circuit breaker and x-verter technology have the potential to fundamentally change how we approach building the grid.We’ve never left a conversation so excited about what the future could look like. We discuss everyt
Less hype, more DERs
We’re back for our first solo pod in months! We talk about what everyone is talking about these days… VPPs and load growth from AI. Is all this hype and talk about our space a good thing? Tune in to hear the Task Force unpack and set the narrative straight. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.dertaskforce.com/sub
Accelerating DER Policy with Allison Bates Wannop
We’re back, this time with Allison Bates Wannop, DERTF’s policy lead! We cover an absolute ton of stuff in this one:* Allison's background and introduction, Mother's Day acknowledgments* Mary Powell's influence, DER advocacy, the significance of FERC v. EPSA in shaping energy policy* Favorite DER categories, Vermont initiatives, impact of extreme weather on policy, details about the Green Mounta
Scaling commercial solar with Dave Riess, CEO and Co-Founder of Wunder
Last week we sat down with Dave Riess, the CEO and co-founder of Wunder. They’re working hard to scale mid-sized commercial solar projects, where they believe the real TAM is in this market. Dave is an awesome guy who’s been grinding in the space for years now, so we naturally had a ton to talk about.* (00:02:55) Introduction and Guest Overview: Introduction of the hosts and the guest, David Reese
Paving the world with solar with Casey Handmer, Founder of Terraform Industries
We’re back! This time with Casey Handmer, founder and CEO of Terraform Industries. Terraform is building a system to turn cheap solar electricity into methane. To pull this off they’ll need to commercialize the most performant and lowest-cost electrolysis, carbon capture, and Sabatier reactors ever seen. Casey had a ton of interesting thoughts about how to pull this off from engineering fundamenta
#52 Edging the grid with Quincy Lee, CEO of Electric Era
We’re back! This time we sat down with Quincy Lee, CEO and co-founder of Electric Era, an electric vehicle refueling company. Quincy has a super cool background - starting with designing skyscrapers, then moving on to space technology, and now he’s der-pilled.We talk about all kinds of stuff in this one:* what SpaceX and Starlink were like* why EV charging, or whoops, we mean “car refill”* EV char
#51 We're moving to Gundo!
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.dertaskforce.comWe’re back! This time with a VIDEO POD. We recorded this live at DTECH a few weeks ago and haven’t had time to upload it. But this is a fun one that you don’t want to miss.Not only did we finally find out what a DERMS is, but we also became fully converted distribution utility maxis after walking the show floor. We’r
#50 Jesse "IRA" Jenkins is on the pod
We’re back, this time joined by Jesse Jenkins - professor at Princeton and lead of the Zero Lab. We cover a ton of ground in this one, including:* Jesse’s DERs journey, including skepticism at times and optimism at others.* A ton of discussion on rate design.* Jesse’s recent pod on rooftop solar.* How the hell is rooftop solar so expensive here versus Australia?* Where DERs are unfairly advantaged
#49 The Queen of Power Markets, Lynne Kiesling
We’re back! This time with Lynne Kiesling, Director of the Institute for Regulatory Law & Economics (IRLE) at Northwestern University.Lynne is an Economist who has been working on power systems issues since the early 2000s, with a focus on power markets, transactive energy, and “quarantining the monopoly” as she says.Lynne was a panelist at DERVOS, as paying subscribers know from our previously re
DERVOS: The Evolving Grid
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.dertaskforce.comBack in November we threw DERVOS, our annual distributed energy summit. It turned out awesome. We really couldn’t be happier or more grateful for how it went. The panels and speakers were great, the crowd that turned up was amazing, and the vehicle to rave afterparty was super fun.Because the talks and panels went so
#48 Utility-led DERvolution w/ Pier Lafarge
We’re back! This time we sat down with Pier LaFarge, co-founder and CEO of Sparkfund. Those who listened to the DERVOS recording released last week may remember Pier pitching a utility-led DER deployment model. It was a pretty interesting idea that we felt deserved its own deep dive on a pod, so we invited Pier on to make the case for what is likely a very counterintuitive DERs approach for many i
DERVOS: Central Planning, Public Ownership, and DERs?
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.dertaskforce.comBack in November we threw DERVOS, our annual distributed energy summit. It turned out awesome. We really couldn’t be happier or more grateful for how it went. The panels and speakers were great, the crowd that turned up was amazing, and the vehicle to rave afterparty was super fun.Because the talks and panels went so
#47 IT'S TIME TO DER
Tune in for a chat on why ‘24 is TIME TO DER. Duncan and James reflect on the past 5 years before looking ahead at 2024 and beyond—and why the future is so exciting.We re-hash Dervos, retro our ‘23 new years resolutions, state our ‘24 resolutions, look back on the last 5 years in the space and where it is now, the current tech environment, building energy startups vs. thinking about energy, energy
#46: Capacity market funDERmentals with Ben Carron
We’re back! This time with a perfect warmup for DERvos in a few days with DERTF OG Ben Carron. Ben has not only worked for FERC, Nat Grid, SunRun, E3, and now Enel X, but also was one of the earliest presenters at our original, pre-pandemic “DG Beers” happy hours.We wanted to have Ben on to get back to our energy market wonkery roots, so don’t worry—you won’t hear any stuff about twitter culture d
#45 We're going environmentally ill
We’re back! And this time just Duncan and James to talk about weird twitter discourse again! Sorry… we promise we’ll go back to talking about wonky energy stuff in the next episodes.In this ep, we talk about Duncan’s Dad’s epic utility pole story, James’ other less successful business ventures, announcing the first ever V2R (Vehicle 2 Rave) application at DERvos, Marc Andreesen’s manifesto and Sam
#44 Apple's BAPtism
We’re back! Well, 2/3 of us are. In the first ever duo episode, Duncan and James wade deep into CDR, degrowth meme analysis, more thoughts on nuclear, and corporate environmentalism.They talk about climate week, CDR, the narrow focus of mainstream environmentalism on carbon and where the tree huggers at, comparing the popular memes of population decline and “we used to build things”, the opportuni
#43 Cathèdrales Atomiques with Mark Nelson
We’re back! And this time we peeled away from climate week events to record a late night ep with self-proclaimed Nuclear Bro, Mark Nelson. Grab a drink for this marathon of an episode and sink in as we wax poetic about one of our favorite religions, Nuclear Power. And we mean that in the best way.Tune in as we discuss Mark’s journey into nuclear and James’ journey away from it, early 10’s nuclear
#42 Eat your vegDERbles: how we learned to stop worrying and love climate change
We’re back! And this time with a solo ep, for free! Going forward, we’re un-paywalling all eps and going NPR style: PLEASE think about donating $5 anyways. Here’s why: We are launching a policy team! The policy team will be focusing on enforcing the DERTF Bill of Rights. In order to do that, we need to raise money to pay a part-time or full-time policy lead. We’ll be doing this in two ways: throug
#41: "Trees are the GOATs of Lindy" with Nick Van Osdol
We’re back! This time with Nick Van Osdol of “Keep Cool”, who is… pretty damn cool himself. Nick has a refreshing perspective and lens on climate reporting: equal parts skeptical, optimistic, empathetic, and rational. If only more people could engage like he does.In this wide-ranging ep we talk nuclear fusion, how to think about climate risk, if we should mess around with geo-engineering, Maersk p
#40 A Pacemaker for the grid: Electro-cartography with Kyle and James from Paces
We’re back! And this time we hosted OG DERTF Heads James McWalter (the better James) and Kyle Baranko from Paces at the David Energy HQ. They are working on one of the gnarliest problems in the entire clean energy space: permitting and interconnection. We go deeeep on the problem, so you don’t want to miss this. We are massive fans of them and what they’re building, and had so much fun recording t
#39 Nationalizing the Green Tech Media archives with Julian Spector
We’re back! And this time with THEE GOD Julian Spector. It’s our longest episode ever because we just couldn’t help ourselves going in with a member of the OG GTM Mafia. It’s worth it. Julian just had some super rad reporting on how the South is building a vibrant clean energy manufacturing hub, and we sat down to discuss. We nerd out on this one for the real DERTF heads!So settle in on the Fourth
#38: Making sense of the IRA with Alfred Johnson, CEO and Founder of Crux
We’re back! And this time with Alfred Johnson, Founder and CEO of Crux. Crux just raised a seed round led by Lowercarbon Capital and is building a marketplace to help climate companies unlock billions in IRA tax credits. If you want to understand the IRA, look no further!We nerd out on everything from the ins and outs of transferability, what the democratization of tax credits means, who stands to
#37: Getting un-DERpilled with Matt Huber
We’re back! And this time with Matt Huber, an absolute legend and advocate for centralized public power. This was a different ep, but one of our favorite in awhile.In it, we talk about Marxist geography, how bizarre peak oil discourse was, the coming shift to electricity from oil, becoming un-DER-pilled, the possibilities of a centrally-planned decentralized grid, comparing (never before built) ne
Ep 36: On our grindset to elevate the clean energy abundance discourse
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.dertaskforce.comWe’re back with a solo ep! And yeah, this one is paid. The NYT wrote an article on decarb bros and we have some thoughts. Tune in to listen to us talk about our first ever eco rave in LA right after we serve up a taxonomy of bros and their varying ethics: the decarb bro, the nuke bro, the bernie bro, the tech bro, th
Ep #35: Ecoravin' with the Solar Punks Club
We’re back! This time on a FULLY SOLAR POWERED POD with absolute legends Corey and Xtina of the Solar Punks Club. We threw the first proper Eco Rave—a solar + storage powered party—at their HQ in LA. Tune in to hear us chat about it the night before the event, and check out more from the day of here.We talked about how they got DER-pilled as non-energy people (big shouts to Saul Griffith!), puttin
#34: John Berger, CEO and Founder of Sunnova
We’re back! This time with John Berger, the CEO and Founder of Sunnova. Sunnova is not only one of the largest solar and storage installers in the country, they are also one of the most innovative in their offerings to customers. From VPPS in Texas to free batteries and micro utilities in CA, Sunnova is setting the tone for a distributed future. Tune in to hear how John views consumer choice and d
#33 "Don't be a Doomer" with Noahpinion
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, to NI
#32: Navigating the climate culture war with Troy Cross
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
#31: We need to Gitt of twitter
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.dertaskforce.comWe’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:“W
#30 Arcady Sosinov, Founder and CEO of FreeWire
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 solu
#29 Sam D'Amico, CEO & Co-founder of Impulse Labs
We’re back! This time we sit down with Sam D’Amico, 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 charcoal
#28 The Clean Energy Abundance Platform
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
#27 Neha Palmer, CEO and co-founder of Terrawatt Infrastructure
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 and w
#26 The DER Task Force, live from DERTFest 2022
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 ones
#25 Emily McAteer, Founder & CEO of Odyssey Energy Solutions
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 mini
#24: IntDERoperability with Henrik Langeland, CEO and co-founder of Enode
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 origin s
#23 Double short gamma alpha in the electropolis with Michael Huerta, CEO and co-founder of PearlX
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 apo
#22 Building DERs ain't easy with Tim Hade, COO of Scale Microgrid Solutions
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 value
#21 ESGeeeez, what is happening?!
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.dertaskforce.comWe 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: ES
#20 Upgrading a Billion Machines with Ari Matusiak, CEO of Rewiring America
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 that wi
#19 Andy Frank, Co-founder and President of Sealed
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) Driving
#18 Mary Powell, CEO of SunRun: The Oracle at DERphi
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 Sunr
#17 Regulatory Capture: Smokey back rooms, bureaucratic morass, or an AI mutiny?
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* (8:24-23:0
#16 Kiran Bhatraju, CEO of Arcadia: DER-pills in the thunDERdome
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 backgr
#15 Chekhov Mate for Domestic Energy
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,
#14 Nuclear is Isodope
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
#13 California NEM Three Point No
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 f
Meetup - SunRun is Learning to Drive
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
Meetup - OhmConnect and Virtual Power Plants
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 $80
#12 Is Bitcoin a Backup Generator?
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
#11 The Texas Resilience Gamble
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 resilie
#10 FERC 2222 and The Future Grid
FERC Order 2222 is being lauded as landmark for how it will change the role of DERs in electricity markets. But the Order itself is vague in how this will be achieved and leaves ample room for interpretation and exceptions. So will Order 2222 fundamentally change the system, or just be a footnote in electricity history? In the final episode of Season 1, Colleen, Duncan and James attempt to answer
#9 The Age of the Electron
In this episode, Colleen, Duncan and James explore the nuances of beneficial electrification; can we electrify everything and what does it mean to grid management if we do? This episode was inspired by our meetup with Fei Wang, Grid Edge Research Manager at Wood Mackenzie. Visit http://www.dertaskforce.com for more information on upcoming meetups, podcast episodes and newly added SWAG #microgrdsar
#8 Resi DERs
The Task Force has covered plenty of topics in the commercial and industrial customer segments, but what’s up with residential DERs? Inspired by our meetup with Kiran Bhatraju (founder and CEO of Arcadia) that you can check out on our youtube channel, we discuss everything from flat billing to the future of EV leases and how Mark Zuckerberg may use our smart meter data one day. Visit http://www.de
#7 CA Emergency Episode
California doesn't have enough power, yet again is facing its largest wildfires on record, and the transmission and distribution grid continues to be a liability. What's happening, what do solutions look like, and how will this impact the national climate conversation?This is DER Task Force’s first attempt at producing a highly relevant episode, so please let us know how it went!Visit ht
Recommended
The Church of What's Happening Now: The New Testament
This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von
The Bread and Banter Podcast
Solved Murders - True Crime Stories
紐約鳥｜New York Aperture
Stand In The Circle
Doctor Zhivago Slow Read
The Swerve Podcast: Obscure Topics | Conspiracy Theories
The Young and Called Podcast .
Snoop Dogg - Flash Biográfico
Conspiracy Files with Paige Carter
World News Tonight with David Muir
