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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:

Community solar keeps growing. Here's what we still have to figure out Jan 29, 2024

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By all accounts, community solar looks like an unstoppable force. One of the hottest clean energy sectors continues to flourish thanks to new markets and rich incentives.
But it's also getting tougher. First-mover states are saturating, fueling intense competition. And those rich incentives? They're increasingly tied to serving elusive low-income customers often skeptical of promises that are too good to be true.
So what's in store for community solar in 2024?
Episode 74 of the Factor This! podcast features Bruce Stewart, the CEO of community solar subscriber management platform Perch Energy.
Stewart maps out new markets on the way this year, breaks down the challenge of acquiring, and keeping, low-income customers, and shares the latest on the highly-anticipated reboot of California's troubled community solar program.
Watch the full episode on YouTube

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

This Week in Cleantech (1/26/24) — Biden's climate pitch to young voters Jan 26, 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. Produced by Renewable Energy World and Tigercomm, This Week in Cleantech will air every Friday in the Factor This! podcast feed wherever you get your podcasts.
This week's episode features Quillian Robinson, an associate fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, who wrote an op-ed in TIME about the true cost of China's clean energy dominance.
This Week in Cleantech — Jan. 25, 2024

This week’s “Cleantecher of the Week” is David Arfin, CEO of NineDot Energy. Send your nominations and story recommendations to rew@clarionevents.com.
1. Biden needs young voters. Can his climate policy rally them? — E&E News
2. US unveils solar energy plan for western public lands — Reuters
3. How Biden’s climate law spurred a tax credit revolution — Financial Times
4. Growth in low-emissions power expected to cover demand - IEA — Reuters
5. The True Cost of Chinese Solar Panels — TIME
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.

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

Speed and scale: Thinking big with small-scale DERs Jan 22, 2024

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A common knock on distributed energy resources, or DERs, is that they don't scale.

DERs uniquely provide resilience and defer grid upgrades. But their bespoke nature leads to highly-customized and expensive projects compared to larger projects that offer more routine system designs.
But what if DERs could capitalize on the same efficiencies that fueled the rapid deployment of utility-scale solar and storage? Small-scale could go big… in a big way.
Episode 73 of the Factor This! podcast features Dr. Michael Stadler, who wrote much of the early research on microgrid design and optimization. He's now the chief technology officer for software startup Xendee, which aims to bring speed and efficiency to DER deployment.
Watch the full episode on YouTube

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

This Week in Cleantech (1/19/24) — Texas grid survives, thwarting NIMBYs, and companies turn to 'greenhushing' Jan 19, 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. Produced by Renewable Energy World and Tigercomm, This Week in Cleantech will air every Friday in the Factor This! podcast feed wherever you get your podcasts.

This week’s episode features Grist reporter Kate Yoder, who breaks down a new trend of corporations "greenhushing," or limiting what they say about sustainability efforts.
This Week in Cleantech — Jan. 19, 2024

This week’s “Cleantecher of the Week” is Rondo Energy's Helen Sweet. Nominate your picks for "Cleantecher of the Week" by emailing the show.
1. Winter storm tests Texas green grid upgrades — The Washington Post
2. Octopus Energy Has Texas-Size Ambitions — The Wall Street Journal
3. States with big climate goals strip local power to block green projects — AP News
4. California Has Dealt a Blow to Renewable Energy, Some Businesses Say — The New York Times
5. Companies are hiding their climate progress. A new report explains why. — Grist
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.

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

We need a lot more transmission. Here's why it isn't getting built Jan 15, 2024

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Three decades ago, FERC recommended implementing independent entities to manage regional power markets and system planning.
The resulting seven RTOs and ISOs have largely been successful. But now experts believe they've become part of the problem, exacerbating the country's woefully inadequate supply of transmission, allegedly by pandering to utility interests.
Episode 72 of the Factor This! podcast features Ari Peskoe, an expert on transmission policy and the director of the Electricity Law Initiative at Harvard.
Peskoe shares his recent research on how regional grid operators have failed to evolve with the advent of clean energy technology, and why a reboot could be the key to realizing an electrified future.
Watch the episode on YouTube

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

This Week in Cleantech (1/12/24) — How utilities get their way, renewables impact home values, and China's clean energy dominance Jan 12, 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 Floodlight News investigative reporter Mario Alejandro Ariza, who reported on how utilities used money to influence civil rights leaders in the South.
This Week in Cleantech — Jan. 11, 2024
This week’s “Cleantecher of the Week” is Scott Kubly, who last week shared an introspective post about the challenges and joys of launching, and leading, a cleantech company. Nominate your picks for "Cleantecher of the Week" by emailing the show.
1. The Problem With De-Risking: Transitioning to Clean Energy Requires Trade With China — Foreign Affairs
2. Housing wind fall — Semafor
3. Smart Energy Use Draws Big Money From Private Equity — Bloomberg
4. New York jump-starts the "building decarbonization" trend — Axios
5. Power companies paid civil rights leaders in the US south. They became loyal industry advocates — Floodlight 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.

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

A conversation with solar's oracle, Jenny Chase Jan 01, 2024

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When Jenny Chase speaks or, more frequently, tweets, the solar industry listens.
For nearly 20 years, Chase has chronicled the twists and turns of solar's meteoric growth as a market analyst for BloombergNEF. Her research is indispensable. Her annual prediction mega-threads are legendary.
As much as the moniker makes her squirm, Chase is the closest solar has to an oracle. She joined Episode 71 of the Factor This! podcast to discuss her spiciest predictions for 2024, as well as the release of the second edition of her book, Solar Power Finance Without the Jargon, which is available now.
Watch the full episode on YouTube

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

This Week in Cleantech (12/22/23) — Tesla's charging dominance, oil's big year, and Ohio bribery tapes Dec 22, 2023

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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 reporter Renee Fox from WOSU Public Media, which launched a new podcast series chronicling the $61 million bribery scandal involving FirstEnergy and former Ohio House of Representatives Speaker Larry Householder.
This Week in Cleantech — Dec. 22, 2023

This week’s “Cleantecher of the Week” is Julia McPherson, Manager of Community Relations at EDP Renewables. Send your nominations, and story recommendations, to rew@clarionevents.com.
1. What No One at COP28 Wanted to Say Out Loud: Prepare for 1.5 Degrees — New York Times
2. Volkswagen, Audi, And Porsche Finally Commit To Using Tesla’s NACS Plug — InsideEV’s
3. The United States is producing more oil than any country in history — CNN
4. US Treasury unveils rules for clean energy manufacturing subsidy — Reuters
5. The Power Grab — WOSU Public Media
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.

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

Battery bubble or boom? It’s complicated Dec 18, 2023

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Battery storage is booming in the U.S., and for good reason. So much intermittent renewable energy on the grid demands flexible resources to fill gaps. And, short of reverting back to fossil fuels, batteries are the best answer to support the energy transition.
Investors have poured billions of dollars into battery storage development to cash in, largely based on speculative opportunities. But there's one problem: markets have been slow to evolve, leading to an uptick in consolidation and growing uncertainty about the path ahead.
A battery bubble may be forming. What happens if it pops?
Episode 70 of the Factor This! podcast answers that question by taking an intimate look at the two top battery markets in the U.S. — California and Texas — and their diverging trajectories.
Guests:
Jason Burwen, VP of Policy & Strategy, GridStor
Cody Hill, SVP, REV Renewables
Renae Steichen, Director of Regulatory Affairs, REV Renewables
Watch the full episode on YouTube

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

This Week in Cleantech (12/15) — COP28, transmission win, and Tesla recall Dec 15, 2023

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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 science journalist Maddie Stone who reported in Grist about the challenges facing electric vehicle battery repair.
This Week in Cleantech — Dec. 15, 2023
This week’s “Cleantecher of the Week” is Robin Laine, co-founder and CEO of renewable SaaS company Transect.
1. Transmission rulings pave path for renewable energy — E&E News
2. Tesla recalls nearly all vehicles on US roads over lack of Autopilot safeguards — Reuters
3. Solar and Wind to Top Coal Power in US for First Time in 2024 — Bloomberg
4. Nations at COP28 Agree for First Time to Transition From Fossil Fuels — Wall Street Journal
5. EV battery repair is dangerous. Here’s why mechanics want to do it anyway — Grist
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.

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

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