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Factor This

Launched in 2022, the Factor This Podcast has featured many of the most influential leaders driving the energy transition. From solar and battery storage executives to utility CEOs, the Factor This Podcast brings unique insights and answers to the energy industry’s most pressing challenges. Go beyond high-level trends and mainstream talking points with actionable takeaways.

The Factor This Podcast grew in 2023 with the addition of This Week in Cleantech, a weekly roundup of the biggest stories in climate and clean energy in 15 minutes or less. With new episodes every Friday, Factor This content director Paul Gerke and Mike Casey, a cleantech commentator and president of Tigercomm, bring listeners the most important headlines of the week while featuring the leading journalists behind the stories.

The all-new FactorThis.com is your best source for news, commentary, and analysis of renewable energy and the power grid.

Latest Episodes:

This Week in Cleantech (8/09/2024) - Turning air conditions into batteries Aug 09, 2024

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Tell us what you think of the show!

This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week’s episode features MIT Technology Review reporter Casey Crowhart, who covered how new tech turns air conditioners into batteries.
This Week in Cleantech — August 8, 2024

Red-State Republicans Say They’ll Defend Biden-Era Green Jobs — Bloomberg
Former Rooftop Solar Giant SunPower Files for Bankruptcy — Bloomberg
Around a third of carbon credits fail new benchmark test — Reuters
Indiana’s dependence on coal is costing ratepayers millions and holding back clean energy growth — Energy News Network
Your future air conditioner might act like a battery — MIT Technology Review

Watch the full episode on YouTube
Help make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to rew@clarionevents.com. And don’t forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.
Join us every Friday for new episodes of This Week in Cleantech in the Factor This! podcast feed, and tune into new episodes of Factor This! every Monday.
This Week in Cleantech is hosted by Renewable Energy World senior content director John Engel and Tigercomm president Mike Casey. The show is produced by Brian Mendes with research support from Alex Petersen and Clare Quirin.

Energy policy on your mind? Check out all episodes of the Factor This Policycast

This Week in Cleantech (8/02/2024) - Permitting bill pits clean energy industry against climate activists Aug 02, 2024

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Tell us what you think of the show!

This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week’s episode features Jael Holzman, a senior reporter at Heatmap, who reported on how the clean energy industry is colliding with climate activists over a long-awaited energy permitting bill.
This Week in Cleantech — August 2, 2024

The Rush to Shore Up the Power Grid Against Hurricanes, Heat and Hail — The Wall Street Journal
How to Avoid A Climate Backlash — TIME
Energy Companies Turn to Robots to Install Solar Panels — The New York Times
Applied Carbon's farm robot turns plant waste into biochar to capture CO2 — TechCrunch
The Climate Case Against the Permitting Deal — Heatmap News

Watch the full episode on YouTube
Help make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to rew@clarionevents.com. And don’t forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.
Join us every Friday for new episodes of This Week in Cleantech in the Factor This! podcast feed, and tune into new episodes of Factor This! every Monday.
This Week in Cleantech is hosted by Renewable Energy World senior content director John Engel and Tigercomm president Mike Casey. The show is produced by Brian Mendes with research support from Alex Petersen and Clare Quirin.

Energy policy on your mind? Check out all episodes of the Factor This Policycast

Going inside utilities to scale DERs Jul 29, 2024

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The energy industry often pits utilities and clean energy advocates as enemies duking it out from opposite corners of the ring.
As the narrative goes, utilities drag innovation in favor of the status quo. They're lobbying, some say, has tanked the value of distributed energy resources, leaving the residential solar and storage industry in turmoil.
But one company doesn't bother with that framing, even if it may be true in some cases. Instead, they're going inside utilities with the belief that there's only one realistic path to scaling DERs— being on the same team.
Episode 81 of the Factor This! podcast features Sparkfund CEO Pier LaFarge, who is partnering with some of the largest utilities to deploy hundreds of DERs on their behalf.
LaFarge shares how Sparkfund's approach upends consensus thinking around the energy transition, why he's bullish on investor-owned utilities, and what the upcoming presidential election means for clean energy.
That's all next on Factor This!
Watch the full episode on YouTube

Energy policy on your mind? Check out all episodes of the Factor This Policycast

This Week in Cleantech (7/26/2024) - Can solar survive another supply glut? Jul 26, 2024

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Tell us what you think of the show!

This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week’s episode features Financial Times' Brett Christophers, who reported on China's exponential growth in the renewables industry.
This Week in Cleantech — July 26, 2024

This week’s “Cleantecher of the Week” is Jonathan Foley, climate scientist and Executive Director at Project Drawdown!

Get Ready to Pay More for Less-Reliable Electricity - Wall Street Journal
EPA awards $4.3 billion to fund projects in 30 states to reduce climate pollution - Associated Press
IRA’s biggest climate program has ‘decimal dust’ for oversight - POLITICO
Can the solar industry keep the lights on? - Financial Times
We must not mistake China’s success on green energy for a global one - Financial Times

Watch the full episode on YouTube
Help make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to rew@clarionevents.com. And don’t forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.
Join us every Friday for new episodes of This Week in Cleantech in the Factor This! podcast feed, and tune into new episodes of Factor This! every Monday.
This Week in Cleantech is hosted by Renewable Energy World senior content director John Engel and Tigercomm president Mike Casey. The show is produced by Brian Mendes with research support from Alex Petersen and Clare Quirin.

Energy policy on your mind? Check out all episodes of the Factor This Policycast

Can a utility lead the energy transition? Inside the rebirth of PG&E Jul 22, 2024

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Five years ago, PG&E's reputation was shattered. California's largest utility had filed for bankruptcy after admitted missteps led to catastrophic wildfires. The climate crisis had wreaked havoc in the state most committed to fighting it.
But the urgency of the energy transition required a rebirth of PG&E, especially in light of California's quickly approaching climate deadlines. Today, PG&E is dispelling the myth of the infallible utility by lifting the veil on its shortcomings and calling on industry to fill the gaps.
Episode 80 of the Factor This! podcast features Quinn Nakayama, senior director of grid research innovation and development at PG&E, who is charged with shaping the utility's vision around AI, load growth, and decarbonization.
Can utilities, often criticized for dragging innovation, lead the energy transition?
Watch the full episode on YouTube

Energy policy on your mind? Check out all episodes of the Factor This Policycast

This Week in Cleantech (7/19/2024) - Storms batter the world's power grids Jul 19, 2024

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This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week’s episode features Heatmap writer Katie Brigham, who reported on rising interest in sodium-ion batteries as an alternative to lithium-ion.
This Week in Cleantech — July 19, 2024

This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Scott Wopata of the Rice County Community Action Center. This community offers net-zero housing for people experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity. They have an innovative wall design that delivers over a 60% reduction in energy use.

A Seismic Supreme Court Decision — New York Times
Climate Change Leaves World's Electricity Networks Unable to Cope — Bloomberg
Biden faces criticism over his gas car ban. But he doesn't have one — NPR
This climate tech startup wants to capture carbon and help data centers cool down — The Verge
Is Sodium-Ion the Next Big Battery? — Heatmap

Watch the full episode on YouTube
Help make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to rew@clarionevents.com. And don’t forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.
Join us every Friday for new episodes of This Week in Cleantech in the Factor This! podcast feed, and tune into new episodes of Factor This! every Monday.
This Week in Cleantech is hosted by Renewable Energy World senior content director John Engel and Tigercomm president Mike Casey. The show is produced by Brian Mendes with research support from Alex Petersen and Clare Quirin.

Energy policy on your mind? Check out all episodes of the Factor This Policycast

Hype aside, virtual power plants are breaking through Jul 01, 2024

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Virtual power plants were always doomed to fall into clean tech's notorious hype cycle.
There are plenty of reasons for that, but start with the name. 'Virtual power plant' means everything and nothing all at once. Then there's the origin story—one rooted in the far-less-sexy, and decades-old concept of demand response. Round that out with projections that utilities could save as much as $35 billion in just 10 years by embracing VPPs and you have the makings of a hype cycle even green hydrogen can't reach.
But VPPs are proving to have staying power. Federal and state policies have opened new markets. The tech works, and projects are being deployed at breakneck speed.
Episode 79 of the Factor This! podcast features Michael Smith, CEO of the leading C&I virtual power plant provider CPower, who breaks down the technology behind VPPs, where the industry stands today, and the critical markets no one is looking at.
That's all next on Factor This!

Energy policy on your mind? Check out all episodes of the Factor This Policycast

This Week in Cleantech (6/28/2024) - AI could strain the grid, or make it a lot smarter Jun 28, 2024

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Tell us what you think of the show!

This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week’s episode features Semafor climate and energy editor Tim McDonnell, who reported on AI's impact on the grid and how the technology could be used to ease the strain.
This Week in Cleantech — June 28, 2024
This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Warwick Wise, Head of Video at ABB. He went out to the plains of New Mexico to see how the latest detection and monitoring technology helped find methane leaks and seal them off. Congratulations, Warwick!

Supreme Court halts enforcement of the EPA's plan to limit downwind pollution from power plants — AP News
US energy production exceeds consumption by widest-recorded margin — Reuters
Coal power plant outages remain historically high, NERC report finds — E&E News
Wildfire Threats Make Utilities Uninsurable in US West — Bloomberg
The solution to the AI power boom is a better grid, not a bigger one - Semafor

Watch the full episode on YouTube
Help make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to rew@clarionevents.com. And don’t forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.
Join us every Friday for new episodes of This Week in Cleantech in the Factor This! podcast feed, and tune into new episodes of Factor This! every Monday.
This Week in Cleantech is hosted by Renewable Energy World senior content director John Engel and Tigercomm president Mike Casey. The show is produced by Brian Mendes with research support from Alex Petersen and Clare Quirin.

Energy policy on your mind? Check out all episodes of the Factor This Policycast

This Week in Cleantech (6/21/24) — What would a Donald Trump victory mean for historic clean energy incentives? Jun 21, 2024

Show notes

Tell us what you think of the show!

This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week’s episode features Newsweek editor Jeff Young, who reported on President Biden's effort to link his climate goals to good-paying jobs.
This Week in Cleantech — June 21, 2024

This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Megawatt-X founder Laurent Segalen!

Watch the full episode on YouTube
Help make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to rew@clarionevents.com. And don’t forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.
Join us every Friday for new episodes of This Week in Cleantech in the Factor This! podcast feed, and tune into new episodes of Factor This! every Monday.
This Week in Cleantech is hosted by Renewable Energy World senior content director John Engel and Tigercomm president Mike Casey. The show is produced by Brian Mendes with research support from Alex Petersen and Clare Quirin.

Energy policy on your mind? Check out all episodes of the Factor This Policycast

This Week in Cleantech (6/14/24) — Renewable energy projects keep getting bigger Jun 14, 2024

Show notes

Tell us what you think of the show!

This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.
This week’s episode features Michael Thomas, author of the "Distilled" newsletter, who reported on the growing size of clean energy projects in the U.S.
This Week in Cleantech — June 14, 2024

This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Andrew Savage, vice president and founding team at electric vehicle and bike sharing company, Lime.

The World Needs More Batteries for Electric Vehicles — But Not This Many — Bloomberg
House hearing to be held to consider bill to reform how public utility regulators are appointed — WOSU Public Media
Long-Range EVs Now Cost Less Than the Average New Car in the US — Bloomberg
World faces ‘staggering’ oil glut by end of decade, energy watchdog warns — Financial Times
The Rise of the Clean Energy Megaproject — Distilled

Watch the full episode on YouTube
Help make This Week in Cleantech the best it can be. Send feedback and story recommendations to rew@clarionevents.com. And don’t forget to leave a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts.
Join us every Friday for new episodes of This Week in Cleantech in the Factor This! podcast feed, and tune into new episodes of Factor This! every Monday.
This Week in Cleantech is hosted by Renewable Energy World senior content director John Engel and Tigercomm president Mike Casey. The show is produced by Brian Mendes with research support from Alex Petersen and Clare Quirin.

Energy policy on your mind? Check out all episodes of the Factor This Policycast

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