Catalyst with Shayle Kann

Latest Episodes:

The battery boom behind the AI buildout [partner content] Oct 27, 2026

Show notes

The AI buildout is the most capital-intensive project in history. The hunger for power has pushed companies to unconventional options, sparking demand for jet engines, mobile trailer-mounted generators, and hybrid microgrids.

And now batteries are having a moment. The urgency to connect to the grid and manage volatile AI workloads is making storage a must-have piece of the energy stack for data centers.

The demand is being felt by companies like battery integrator FlexGen, which has seen its order book suddenly filled with data center customers.

In this Frontier Forum, Stephen Lacey talks with FlexGen CEO Pegler and COO Hugh Scott about how the demand is showing up — and how data centers are reshaping the industry.

“I had thought coming from the renewable energy space, we were an impatient crew. The data center community makes us look like the most patient people around,” says Kelcy Pegler, the CEO of FlexGen.

They walk through how developers are designing and integrating batteries, how software is controlling them, and where the market is headed.

This is partner content, brought to you by FlexGen. FlexGen designs and integrates battery energy storage solutions and the software platform that is enabling today’s energy transition.

This conversation was recorded live as part of Latitude Media’s Frontier Forum series. You can access the full video here.

BTM data centers’ looming methane surge Oct 22, 2026

Show notes

It’s no secret that hyperscalers’ behind-the-meter gas bonanza could generate enormous CO2 emissions. But the BTM boom could become responsible for another, less-publicized emissions issue: upstream and onsite methane leaks that could derail decarbonization efforts.

In this episode, Shayle Kann speaks with Olya Irzak, founder and CEO of Frost Methane Labs. Olya unpacks the full lifecycle of methane emissions in gas-powered data centers, and considers why the actual warming impact of behind-the-meter gas may be double current estimates. Olya says practical, relatively low-cost strategies could cut those emissions in half. Shayle and Olya also discuss:

- The big-picture data: Why tens of gigawatts of new behind-the-meter gas capacity could generate 380 megatons of CO2 and methane emissions over the next 18 months.

- How methane can leak across the value chain, from wellheads and gathering pipelines to facility leaks and engine slippage

- How methane's extreme short-term warming potency means off-grid gas emissions could dwarf coal’s impacts over the next 20 years

- Why running gas generators at partial loads increases leaks

- Why low-leak gas procurement, leak detection and repair, and catalyst additions add less than 1% to total data center build costs without causing operational delays

- How big tech's current emissions reporting relies on averages that overlook actual leaks

- Frost Methane Labs / MERIT certification

- Catalyst: The unexplored frontier of methane removal

- Catalyst: Why are we still flaring gas?

- Catalyst: Serving data center load with carbon capture

- Catalyst: Can the fossil gas supply handle the AI boom?

- Open Circuit: The off-grid data center fantasy

- Latitude Media: The problem with the US gas bonanza for data centers

- Latitude Media: Senate Democrats probe gas-powered AI data centers

Credits: Hosted by Shayle Kann. Produced and edited by Max Savage Levenson. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is our executive editor.

Catalyst is brought to you by GridBeyond. GridBeyond is the world’s leading technology platform for managing distributed and flexible energy resources. Learn more by visiting GridBeyond.com.

Catalyst is brought to you by Antenna Group, the strategic communications and marketing partner behind the biggest names in energy, climate, and infrastructure. For three decades, Antenna has helped breakout companies amplify their stories, build reputation, differentiate from the competition, define new categories and accelerate growth. Learn more at antennagroup.com.

Catalyst is brought to you by EnergyHub. Peak season puts every grid to the test — and the utilities that pass are the ones that built flexible capacity before they needed it. EnergyHub works with more than 230 utilities to coordinate over 2.6 million DERs and more than 3.6 gigawatts of dispatchable flexibility through a single platform designed to perform when it counts most. See what that looks like at EnergyHub.com.

Can natural gas supply handle the AI boom? Oct 15, 2026

Show notes

As data center-driven load growth continues to rise, hyperscalers are turning to natural gas – both in front of and behind the meter — to secure power. But whether the natural gas pipeline system has the bandwidth to support this surging demand remains far from certain.

In this episode, Shayle sits down with Eric McGuire, director of natural gas and LNG trading analytics at Wood Mackenzie, to unpack whether gas is in the midst of a capacity crunch of its own. Shayle and Eric consider how data center demand has collided with massive LNG exports in the United States, why regional pricing spreads are informing data center siting, and how winter weather creates extreme daily price volatility. They also discuss:

- How connecting large loads directly into interstate gas pipeline headers compares to filing an electric grid interconnection request

- Why data centers and LNG export contracts compete for baseload gas

- How placing data centers in the Permian Basin and Marcellus Shale helps developers bypass long-haul pipeline constraints

- How cold snaps cause wellhead freeze-offs that knock out tens of billions of cubic feet of gas supply

- Catalyst: Live from Transition-AI 2026: Inside Google’s massive AI capex

- Catalyst: The rise of flexible data centers

- Catalyst: AI scaling pathways: On grid, on edge, off grid, off planet

- Open Circuit: The off-grid data center fantasy

- Open Circuit: AI needs a different kind of power plant

- Latitude Media: Microsoft is embracing off-grid gas for West Virginia data centers

- Latitude Media: Building clean power for data centers in a gas-obsessed market

Credits: Hosted by Shayle Kann. Produced and edited by Max Savage Levenson. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is our executive editor.

Catalyst is brought to you by GridBeyond. GridBeyond is the world’s leading technology platform for managing distributed and flexible energy resources. Learn more by visiting GridBeyond.com.

The truth about data center water usage Oct 08, 2026

Show notes

Of all the concerns surrounding the AI boom, data center water usage tops the list. Opponents claim that massive hyperscaler facilities threaten local drinking supplies and drain aquifers. Proponents say data centers use a negligible amount of water, at least compared to agriculture or conventional power generation sources.

So who actually has it right?

In this episode, Shayle sits down with Tim Shedd, founder of Ebullient Insights and an expert in data center thermal management. They unpack the history and evolution of data center cooling and consider how high-density chip racks have developers ditching air cooling in favor of single-phase direct-to-chip liquid cooling. The two also discuss:

- Why modern GPU racks (drawing 220 kW to 500 kW+) have rendered traditional air cooling obsolete

- The distinctions between single-phase direct-to-chip, two-phase cooling, and immersion cooling methods

- How collecting heat at higher temperatures inside a server allows data centers to reject heat outside with far less energy and water inputs

- How developers can better communicate with the public about data centers’ water usage and foster local trust amidst rapid buildouts.

- Ebullient Insights

- Catalyst: What comes after the data center backlash?

- Open Circuit: Can data centers regain their social license?

- Open Circuit: A feast of hot takes

- Latitude Media: Data centers' hidden water footprint is linked to the grid

Credits: Hosted by Shayle Kann. Produced and edited by Max Savage Levenson. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is our executive editor.

Catalyst is brought to you by GridBeyond. GridBeyond is the world’s leading technology platform for managing distributed and flexible energy resources. Learn more by visiting GridBeyond.com.

ERCOT batteries: boom, bust, or rebound? Oct 01, 2026

Show notes

It’s been a wild few years for grid-scale batteries in Texas. At the start of the decade, the Lone Star State was home to roughly 200 megawatts of battery capacity. Today, that number has skyrocketed to seventeen gigawatts…with at least five more gigawatts expected to come online by the end of 2026.

But this rapid buildout quickly led to market saturation. In the past year alone, revenues plummeted by more than 80%, far below the threshold needed for fleet operators to stay in the black.

The future of the battery market in Texas remains murky. Will the depression continue? Or will the imminent, enormous surge of data center load growth reset the state of play and bring volatility back into the mix?

In this episode, Shayle sits down with Brandt Vermillion, U.S. market lead at Modo Energy, to unpack the mechanics of the Texas battery storage market, and consider when the tide could turn back in developers’ favor. They cover topics like:

- The factors behind the recent cratering of the market

- How longer battery durations are able to capture secondary price spikes

- The degree to which weather patterns have contributed to battery demand

- Reconciling currently suppressed revenues with the hundreds of incoming gigawatts of proposed data center demand

- Whether on-site generation for hyperscaler data centers will blunt peak demand spikes and delay the return of grid volatility

- Why off-takers are considering tolling agreements to survive the market downturn

- Catalyst: 2026 trends: Gas turbines, Texas' load queue, and China electrifies

- Catalyst: Why C&I storage is finally taking off

- Catalyst: The rise of flexible data centers

- Open Circuit: Data centers have a Texas-sized energy problem

- Open Circuit: The off-grid data center fantasy

- Open Circuit: A global energy shock and the case for distributed power

- Open Circuit: Power is caught in AI’s doom loop

- Latitude Media: How the AI boom has impacted US battery storage so far

- Latitude Media: Branch Energy heads to PJM to sell battery capacity to data centers

Credits: Hosted by Shayle Kann. Produced and edited by Max Savage Levenson. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is our executive editor.

Catalyst is brought to you by GridBeyond. GridBeyond is the world’s leading technology platform for managing distributed and flexible energy resources. Learn more by visiting GridBeyond.com.

The rush for clean, on-site power [partner content] Sep 28, 2026

Show notes

This is a partner episode, brought to you by Bloom Energy.

Long interconnection queues, fragile supply chains, and a lack of grid capacity are pushing a wide range of C&I customers to invest in distributed, on-site power.

But as data centers and other industrial facilities build more power behind the meter, new challenges have emerged. Air quality, noise, and water use are top concerns for local communities, making cleaner solutions like fuel cells much more attractive.

This shift within the data center industry is starting to shape energy decisions in the broader C&I sector across retail, healthcare, higher education, and manufacturing.

In this Frontier Forum, Stephen Lacey talks with Aman Joshi, chief commercial officer at Bloom Energy, about how the scramble for electricity is changing how large energy users plan their power.

In this new landscape for large loads, Aman explains why more customers are planning to permanently stay disconnected from the grid; how the familiar cost-per-megawatt-hour calculation can fall short; and why speed, reliability, and community acceptance are central to power decisions.

This conversation was recorded live as part of Latitude Media’s Frontier Forum with Bloom Energy. You can access the full video here.

Anduril's vision for powering maritime defense Sep 24, 2026

Show notes

Dual-use technologies and the rise of defense tech are having a moment. But how does the defense sector approach innovations in energy that may be necessary to optimize its fleets?

To help answer that question, Shayle turns to the maritime sector to explore how advanced batteries, nuclear propulsion, and autonomous capabilities are shaping the future of defense.

Unlike conventional EVs, maritime vehicles and drones must compete with the challenges presented by the sea in order to complete surveillance and reconnaissance-related missions, as well as direct attacks. Saltwater corrodes hardware, and vehicles at great depths must withstand enormous pressure; to say nothing of the fact that moving through water requires nearly 1,000 times more energy than through air.

To learn how the sector navigates these obstacles, Shayle sits down with Andrew Nuss, the head of growth and strategy in the maritime division at the defense technology company Anduril. They unpack topics including:

- The complicated physics influencing maritime drone design and energy usage

- How lithium-ion cells fare in deep-sea deployment

- Why extreme reliability and long-range capabilities drive the military’s energy requirements compared to commercial shipping

- How surface or subsea recharging depots could reshape vehicle design

- Why both commercial and defense sectors are revisiting nuclear propulsion as a viable option for high-speed, zero-emission surface vessels

Catalyst: The rise of metal fuels

- Catalyst: GM’s big new battery tech push

- Catalyst: Decarbonizing the high seas

- Open Circuit: A five-alarm fire for the grid?

- Latitude Media: Is adaptation ready for growth money?

Credits: Hosted by Shayle Kann. Produced and edited by Max Savage Levenson. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is our executive editor.

Catalyst is brought to you by EnergyHub. Peak season puts every grid to the test — and the utilities that pass are the ones that built flexible capacity before they needed it. EnergyHub works with more than 170 utilities to coordinate 2.5 million devices and 3.4 gigawatts of dispatchable flexibility through a single platform designed to perform when it counts most. See what that looks like at https://www.energyhub.com/

Catalyst is brought to you by Bloom Energy. Bloom Energy fuel cells deliver affordable, ultra-reliable onsite power for hospitals, utilities, and data centers – at speed and at scale. Learn more by visiting https://www.bloomenergy.com/

This episode of Catalyst is brought to you by ENGIE, the smarter energy supplier. ENGIE doesn't just provide the power to run your business — they supply the energy to move it forward, with reliable, flexible solutions built for what's next. Learn more at https://www.engieresources.com/.

AMA: Fuel cells, geopolitics, and the solar growth curve Sep 17, 2026

Show notes

As we head into the final quarter of this pivotal and dramatic year for the energy sector, Catalyst host Shayle Kann takes stock of 2026 so far – and considers what’s to come – in this AMA-style episode. He discusses the year’s biggest stories, the trends that have surprised him the most, and his hot takes on the current energy landscape.

Shayle dives into topics including:

- The data center backlash and why it has become more bipartisan than he expected

- The impacts of the war in Iran on global EV adoption, and how the rollback of U.S. tax credits has countered that momentum

- Why fuel cell maker Bloom Energy is flourishing amidst the rush for behind-the-meter generation

- Tariff innovations: How big data centers could subsidize retail electricity rates in small utility territories

- Why Shayle thinks predictions of a flattening U.S. solar market are underestimating massive growth potential

- Hot take: why Shayle thinks massive grid capacity is about to hit the system

- Catalyst: What comes after the data center backlash?

- Catalyst: Can AI revolutionize grid operations?

- Catalyst: Why C&I storage is finally taking off

- Catalyst: Enter the electric supercycle

- Catalyst: Inside the global fertilizer crunch

Credits: Hosted by Shayle Kann. Produced and edited by Max Savage Levenson. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is our executive editor.

Catalyst is brought to you by EnergyHub. Peak season puts every grid to the test — and the utilities that pass are the ones that built flexible capacity before they needed it. EnergyHub works with more than 170 utilities to coordinate 2.5 million devices and 3.4 gigawatts of dispatchable flexibility through a single platform designed to perform when it counts most. See what that looks like at ⁠https://www.energyhub.com/⁠

Do data centers actually increase electricity prices? No...and yes Sep 10, 2026

Show notes

You don’t have to look far to see the vitriol and backlash ignited by the rapid expansion of hyperscaler data centers. While critics and activists tend to focus their ire on resource consumption and residents’ electricity bills, the reality of data center economics is far more complex.

In this episode of Catalyst, host Shayle Kann sits down with Andy Lubershane, head of research at Energy Impact Partners, to unpack the nuances. They crunch the numbers behind utility rate structures, consider the "denominator effect" that can lower customers’ rates, and dig into the supply chain crunches pushing global power system costs higher.

Shayle and Andy discuss:

- Why a new data center can reduce utility rates for locals while contributing to rising costs elsewhere

- How data centers impact utility tariff rates

- Separating public perception of data centers from the reality of the grid

- How soaring demand for transformers, switchgear, conductors, gas turbines, and labor is driving systemic cost increases across the power sector

- Strategies to mitigate rising global grid costs, from load flexibility and distributed energy resources (DERs) to energy efficiency hardware

- Catalyst: What comes after the data center backlash?

- Catalyst: Enter the electric supercycle

- Catalyst: Can AI revolutionize grid operations?

- Catalyst: Inside the AI power wars

- Open Circuit: As midterms approach, electricity bills are on the ballot

- Open Circuit: Data centers have a Texas-sized energy problem

- Latitude Media: The great home battery financing experiment

Credits: Hosted by Shayle Kann. Produced and edited by Max Savage Levenson. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is our executive editor.

Catalyst is brought to you by EnergyHub. Peak season puts every grid to the test — and the utilities that pass are the ones that built flexible capacity before they needed it. EnergyHub works with more than 170 utilities to coordinate 2.5 million devices and 3.4 gigawatts of dispatchable flexibility through a single platform designed to perform when it counts most. See what that looks like at https://www.energyhub.com/

What comes after the data center backlash? Sep 03, 2026

Show notes

In their early days, data centers were largely welcomed by communities who saw their arrival as an economic boost. Today as concerns around noise levels, power prices, water use, and AI grow, they face fierce opposition.

In this episode, Shayle speaks to Brian Janous, co-founder and chief commercial officer of Cloverleaf Infrastructure. Together, they unpack the data center backlash and explore how the industry can approach the problem differently.

Shayle and Brian dive into specifics like:

- Communities’ shift from “red carpets to pitchforks” on data center development

- How misleading information about data center energy and water usage has led to the AI sector losing the public relations battle

- Distinctions between data centers’ micro-level benefits and macro-level price inflation on power grids

- The potential, and pitfalls, of "bring-your-own-capacity" and behind-the-meter generation

- The viability of taking data centers off-grid, off-land, or off-planet

- The emerging market for distributed edge compute facilities

Resources:

- Catalyst: When to colocate data centers with generation

- Catalyst: Explaining the ‘Watt-Bit Spread’

- Open Circuit: The off-grid data center fantasy

- Open Circuit: Utilities are in the crosshairs of the data center backlash

- Latitude Media: In Indiana, an anatomy of data center opposition

Credits: Hosted by Shayle Kann. Produced and edited by Max Savage Levenson. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is our executive editor.

Catalyst is brought to you by EnergyHub. Peak season puts every grid to the test — and the utilities that pass are the ones that built flexible capacity before they needed it. EnergyHub works with more than 170 utilities to coordinate 2.5 million devices and 3.4 gigawatts of dispatchable flexibility through a single platform designed to perform when it counts most. See what that looks like at https://www.energyhub.com/

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