Experts Only

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#141: Building Clean Energy in Rural America With ACE NY Executive Director Marguerite Wells Aug 11, 2026

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In this episode of Experts Only, Jon Powers sits down with Marguerite Wells, Executive Director of the Alliance for Clean Energy New York (ACE NY), to discuss the intersection of renewable energy, agriculture, and rural economic development. Drawing on her experience as a farmer, clean energy developer, and advocate, Marguerite explores community engagement, agrivoltaics, farmer choice, and what it takes to build clean energy projects that work for rural communities.

#140: Governor Tim Pawlenty on Building Bipartisan Support for America’s Solar Future Jul 14, 2026

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In Episode #140 of the Experts Only Podcast, host Jon Powers sits down with Governor Tim Pawlenty, President and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association, to discuss the future of solar and storage in America.

Governor Pawlenty shares how his experience in public service shaped his approach to energy policy, why bipartisan support is essential for durable progress, and how the solar industry can help address rising electricity demand, affordability, reliability, domestic manufacturing, and permitting reform.

The conversation also explores how the industry can strengthen its message beyond Washington, build a broader political coalition, and better communicate solar’s role in meeting America’s growing energy needs. Governor Pawlenty closes by reflecting on his own career and the advice he would give his younger self: make room for courage, take risks, and think bigger.

#139: How Distributed Energy Can Power a More Reliable, Affordable Grid Jun 11, 2026

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In this episode of Experts Only, host Jon Powers sits down with Laura Lightbody of The Pew Charitable Trusts to discuss how distributed energy resources can help shape a cleaner, more reliable, and more affordable power system.

Laura shares her unexpected path into climate and energy advocacy — from growing up in Michigan’s auto culture to working on fuel efficiency campaigns and now leading work through Pew’s Energy Modernization Initiative.

Jon and Laura explore Pew’s new distributed energy policy playbook, the role of DER in meeting rising electricity demand, and why state policymakers have a critical opportunity to modernize the grid. They also discuss affordability, reliability, resilience, microgrids, virtual power plants, and how clean energy solutions can move forward across red, blue, and purple states.

Tune in for a timely conversation on the future of distributed energy and what it will take to scale practical clean power solutions across the country.

Podcast #100 with Decarbonization Expert Jan Vrins Oct 26, 2021

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Host Jon Powers welcomes Jan Vrins, Global Energy, Sustainability and Infrastructure Segment Leader, Guidehouse, to the show for our 100th episode. Tune in to learn more from an expert on decarbonization.

Understanding Direct Pay with Shannon Maher Bañaga and Frank DeRosa Aug 31, 2021

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Host Jon Powers welcomes Shannon Maher Bañaga, Managing Director, Public Affairs, Energy & Natural Resources at FTI Consulting Strategic Communications and Frank DeRosa, Senior Policy Advisor at 8minute Solar Energy, for an expert conversation on Direct Pay for clean energy investment and the advocacy efforts of the Partnership for Clean Energy Investment.

Episode 80: Building an Equitable Energy Future with Devin Hampton Dec 01, 2020

Show notes

Host Jon Powers recently moderated a fireside chat with Devin Hampton, CEO of Utility API, as part of the Navigate Webinar Series from the Northeast Clean Energy Council (NECEC) in collaboration with CleanCapital. Jon and Devin talked about building an equitable energy future and hiring a diverse workforce as we continue the transition to a clean energy economy. They discussed not only the topic of diversity, but also what action listeners can take to drive change within their companies. Though this chat was previously recorded and participants who listened live were able to submit questions, we hope you come away with a better understanding of diversity in the cleantech sector. If you have any questions after listening to the chat, please tweet @NECEC and @CleanCapital_ to keep the conversation going. Thank you to all of the Navigateseries sponsors, including New York State Energy Research & Development (NYSERDA), for supporting this chat, and thank you for listening!

Episode 70: John Chaimanis Jun 30, 2020

Show notes

This week’s guest is John Chaimanis, co-founder and managing director of Kendall Sustainable Infrastructure. At Kendall, John works on all aspects of business, including deal sourcing, financial structuring, and asset management. Prior to Kendall, Mr. Chaimanis worked for Edison International, where he developed over $500M of energy projects, installing 250MW of renewable assets. Host Jon Powers digs into John’s past and present experiences in the finance and renewable sectors as well as where the industry has been, and where it is headed in the next few years.

Episode 56: Jamie Redford Oct 15, 2019

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This week, host Jon Powers sits down with Jamie Redford, Chairman and Co-Founder of The Redford Center. A nonprofit media entity, The Redford Center engages people using film, video and new media to inspire environmental action. Jamie discusses his film “Happening: A Clean Energy Revolution” and the dawn of the clean energy era. Prior to creating “Happening: A Clean Energy Revolution,” Jamie has written, produced and directed a number of HBO films including “Toxic Hot Seat,” “Mann v. Ford” and “The Kindness of Strangers.” In addition, he has traveled the world as an American Film Showcase ambassador with his two award-winning documentaries: “Resilience: the Biology of Stress and the Science of Hope” and “Paper Tigers.”

Ethan Zindler, Bloomberg New Energy Finance Feb 26, 2018

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Join us this week for a great conversation with Ethan Zindler, Head of Americas at Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Ethan’s career has taken him from baggage checker on the Clinton campaign to the White House to MTV to the early days of clean energy covering Cape Wind. For the last 12 years, as Head of Americas for Bloomberg NEF, he’s been at the helm when it comes to clean energy research, with industry leading data on deals and market reports, trends and forecasting. Today we have a great discussion about the market trends and the progress of the industry over the last 10 years. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. Experts Only is made possible by CleanCapital. Learn more: http://www.cleancapital.com Follow on Twitter: @CleanCapital_

Welcome to Experts Only! Aug 31, 2017

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Join our host Jon Powers for the introductory episode of our 'Experts Only' podcast where we speak with leaders at the forefront of energy, finance and innovation.

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