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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 (09/26/2025) - Solar-powered vehicles, on a road near you? Sep 26, 2025

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This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate in 15 minutes or less featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.

This week's episode features special guest Christopher Mims from The Wall Street Journal, who wrote about how several startups are bringing solar-powered vehicles closer to reality.

This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Ramón Méndez Galain, Uruguay’s energy secretary. Under his leadership, the country went from relying heavily on fossil fuels to establishing a stable grid powered almost entirely by renewable sources. Within just five years after he took over, renewables powered 98% of the country. Congratulations, Ramón!

This Week in Cleantech — September 26, 2025

Pennsylvania Governor Says Biggest US Power Grid Needs Overhaul – Bloomberg
Judge allows work to restart on New England wind project that Trump halted — POLITICO
Decent work on climate, Gavin Newsom. I still hope California's next governor is better — LA Times
The Race Is on to Make Rare Earth Magnets Outside China — The New York Times
Solar-Powered Cars and Trucks Are Almost Here — The Wall Street Journal

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

This Week in Cleantech (09/19/2025) - Will rate cuts provide relief for renewables? Sep 19, 2025

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This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate in 15 minutes or less featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.

This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Tom Steyer, Co-Executive Chair of Galvanize. He reminds us that when we talk about climate now, the conversation is about technology, costs, and politics, which is important. However, we cannot lose sight of what this is truly about: passing on a livable planet. Tom reminds us about this after a weekend camping with his grandkids. Congratulations Tom!

This Week in Cleantech — September 19, 2025

Fossil-fuel firms receive US subsidies worth $31bn each year, study finds — The Guardian
Oil Giant Saudi Arabia Is Emerging as a Solar Power — The Wall Street Journal
Rodatherm Energy wants to make geothermal more efficient, but will it be cheaper? — TechCrunch
Rushing to Meet AI’s Energy Needs: Oil-Field Servicers — The Wall Street Journal
The Fed Is Cutting Again. That’s Good for Renewables — But Maybe Not Good Enough. — Heatmap News

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

WoodMac weighs in on the state of the clean energy industry at RE+ Sep 15, 2025

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In a special edition of the Factor This podcast from the road at RE+ 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada, host Paul Gerke meets up with Chris Seiple, the Vice Chairman of global consulting firm Wood Mackenzie's Power & Renewables group.

Over the course of a diverse discussion, the two touch on recent reports issued by WoodMac that show how stakeholders are handling increased electricity demand and navigating shifting federal policy to get clean energy projects connected to the grid. Other topics include:

The reality of project cancellations
Rapid growth of battery energy storage deployment and its benefits
The ways in which stakeholders are handling data centers
How utilities are thinking about cost allocation and ratepayer protection
The role of flexibility in the 'grid of the future'

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

This Week in Cleantech (09/12/2025) - New battlefronts in Trump's war on wind Sep 12, 2025

Show notes

Tell us what you think of the show!

This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate in 15 minutes or less featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.

This week’s episode, recorded at RE+ in Las Vegas, features special guest Jake Spring from The Washington Post, who wrote about the Trump administration's plans to cancel permits for a wind project off the coast of Massachusetts that would initially power about 400,000 homes.

This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Nantu Canelos, executive director of The Kara Solar Foundation. The foundation, led by Indigenous engineers and community leaders, has delivered 12 solar-powered canoes to villages in Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Suriname and the Solomon Islands. In many communities, rivers are the only roads and solar boats spare them the cost of fuel while reducing pollution.

This Week in Cleantech — September 12, 2025

Big Solar Developers Sees Delays in US Project Approvals — Bloomberg
Why nuclear is now a booming industry — The Economist
Oil Tycoons Bet Big on Trump. It’s Paying Off. — The Wall Street Journal
Exclusive: US warns hidden radios may be embedded in solar-powered highway infrastructure — Reuters
Trump’s war on wind just got much bigger — The Washington Post

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

California utility reflects on learnings from the largest virtual power plant test in US history Sep 08, 2025

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This summer, key stakeholders across the state of California teamed up for a first-of-its-kind, coordinated test of virtual power plant (or VPP) capabilities. Thousands of systems dispatched a whopping 535 megawatts and reduced net load during the evening peak in a successful demonstration of the potential impact that distributed energy resources can have.

On this episode of the podcast, Factor This host Paul Gerke welcomes Kendrick Li, who handles demand response for Pacific Gas and Electric Company, one of the three California utilities that teamed up for the massive VPP test. Their conversation starts at the 101 level, then gets deep into the weeds on how these systems work, how they might be deployed, and the roadblocks to larger customer adoption.

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

This Week in Cleantech (09/05/2025) - Utilities brace for data center unknowns Sep 05, 2025

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This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate in 15 minutes or less featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.

This week’s episode features special guest Jennifer Hiller from The Wall Street Journal, who wrote about utilities' fears that overbuilding for planned data centers could increase rates for consumers if the projected demand does not materialize.

This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Paul Riley, CEO of Lululemon-backed recycling startup Samsara Eco. The company’s technology uses AI to break down tough-to-recycle materials with enzymes, allowing the waste to be converted into resins and made into new products. Congratulations, Paul!

This Week in Cleantech — September 5, 2025

In windy Iowa, a GOP lawmaker faces a reckoning over Trump’s clean energy war — POLITICO
The energy transition is now a national security issue. Just ask India — Reuters
How farming inspired the EU’s affordable energy plan — The Financial Times
Every fusion startup that has raised over $100M — Techcrunch
Data Centers That Don’t Exist Yet Are Already Haunting the Grid — The Wall Street Journal

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

This Week in Cleantech (08/29/2025) - Is electricity just going to keep getting more expensive? Aug 29, 2025

Show notes

Tell us what you think of the show!

This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate in 15 minutes or less featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.

This week’s episode features special guest Dharna Noor from The Guardian, who wrote about how household electricity bills have increased by 10% since Trump re-entered the White House.

This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Jingjing Zhang, a Chinese lawyer who pioneered environmental lawsuits at home. Now, she helps communities in the Global South hold Chinese state-owned companies, like mining firms behind toxic spills in Zambia, legally accountable for pollution and human rights abuses tied to China’s Belt and Road projects. Congratulations Jingjing.

This Week in Cleantech — August 29, 2025

African Imports of Chinese Solar Panels Surge in Energy Shakeup — Bloomberg
Home batteries are saving America from blackouts — The Washington Post
I Drove an EV Deep Into the Wilderness. I Never Feared Running Out of Juice. – The Wall Street Journal
Trump administration halts work on New England offshore wind project – Axios
Trump tariffs and green energy rollbacks push household electricity bills up 10% — The Guardian

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

This Week in Cleantech (08/22/2025) - Can Google reduce it's AI energy footprint? Aug 22, 2025

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Tell us what you think of the show!

This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate in 15 minutes or less featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.

This week’s episode features special guest Tim McDonnell from Semafor, who wrote about Google's moves to drive down the energy consumption of AI search queries to lower its carbon footprint.

This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Guy Nicholson, head of zero-carbon grid solutions at Statkraft. StatKraft is a Norwegian startup that created a 100-ton spinning machine turning at 3,000 rotations per minute to help stop blackouts as more cheap solar power is added to the grid. It can absorb excess power, if there’s too much, or inject power into the grid, if there’s too little. Akshat Rathi covered this company in a Bloomberg piece, and Guy was the spokesperson. Congratulations, Guy!

This Week in Cleantech — August 22, 2025

Why Can’t the U.S. Build 5-Minute E.V. Chargers? — The New York Times
Will Oil Demand Peak Soon? Trump Administration Doesn’t Want to Hear It. — The New York Times
Texas Energy Crunch To Worsen as Trump Policies Target Solar, Wind Power — Bloomberg
Solar panels that fit on your balcony or deck are gaining traction in the US — Associated Press
Google wants to make AI’s energy footprint a ‘non-consideration,’ but it’s not there yet – Semafor

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

This Week in Cleantech (08/15/2025) - A more affordable electric pickup truck? Aug 15, 2025

Show notes

Tell us what you think of the show!

This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate in 15 minutes or less featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey. It recently ranked 13th on Feedspot’s 50 Best Solar Energy Podcasts and cracked the top-25 in its 80 Best Energy Transition Podcasts.

This week’s episode features special guest Camila Domonoske from NPR, who wrote about how Ford plans to retool an assembly plant to build a more affordable midsize electric pickup truck.

This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Saad Dara, CEO of Mangrove Lithium. Last week he hosted British Columbia Premier David Eby and several Canadian officials visited their groundbreaking new plant, which will be the first electrochemical refining facility in North America.

This Week in Cleantech — August 15, 2025

Suddenly, the Trump Administration Tightens the Vise on Wind Farms – The New York Times
Plastic Waste Is Piling Up, but Alternative Materials Struggle to Get Off the Ground – The Wall Street Journal
U.S. Clean Tech Leadership at Risk Due to Trump Policies, Investors Warn – Newsweek
The lessons of Europe’s upside-down power market – Financial Times
Ford says it will roll out a cheaper electric pickup truck – NPR

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

Harvesting sunlight: Agrivoltaics is winning over middle America Aug 11, 2025

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Agrivoltaics, or using land for both farming and solar energy generation, is becoming more popular in the United States. Such dual-use practices are a 'middle ground' between critics who argue too much prime farmland is being used for utility-scale solar projects and proponents, who point out significantly more real estate is dedicated to ethanol production.

In many situations, it's an attractive proposition for land owners to lease a chunk of their property to a developer for 20-30 years, at which point, the plot is restored to its original state and can resume crop production. Each agrivoltaics project is a custom fit, requiring community engagement from the first planning stages. Accordingly, developers of dual-use projects must become fast friends with farmers, creating a symbiotic relationship that ensures each endeavor ends up a win-win.

On this episode of the Factor This podcast, host Paul Gerke is joined by three foremost agrivoltaics experts to share stories, discuss best practices, and pontificate on perfecting policy. Topics include establishing dual-use markets, detailing new pilots and innovations, recalling memorable interactions with landowners, and more.

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

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