Open Circuit

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AI rewrites the corporate energy playbook Jun 17, 2025

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The exponential growth of AI is colliding with the linear reality of building energy infrastructure — forcing a rethink of how tech companies power their ambitions.

Is the corporate clean energy playbook becoming obsolete?

In this live episode from Transition-AI in Boston, we dive deep into the infrastructure challenges of the AI era. We’re joined by Caroline Golin, who spent eight years building Google's energy strategy before leaving earlier this year.

We examine how tech companies moved from a buyer's market with abundant resources to a seller's market with serious capacity constraints.

"The vast majority of procurement in this country looks like single-source renewable PPAs, and that's what it's been for years," Golin explained. "That wasn't going to get us to where we needed to go."

Then we turn to a financing puzzle. We need to see more than $5 trillion in capex spending on data center infrastructure by 2030 to keep pace with computing demands from AI. But even with many different types of capital trying to solve the infrastructure challenge, they all want completely different things. How do we align them?

The just-in-time procurement model that served the hyperscalers for a decade must evolve into global-scale, integrated infrastructure development. Can regulators, utilities, and policymakers keep up?

Open Circuit is brought to you by Natural Power. Natural Power specializes in renewable energy consulting and engineering, supporting wind, solar, and battery storage projects from concept through financing. Discover how we're creating a world powered by renewable energy at naturalpower.com.

Open Circuit is brought to you by Sungrow, the trusted provider of PV inverters and battery storage. With over 605 GW installed worldwide and a BloombergNEF ranking of “most bankable” in power conversion and energy storage, Sungrow provides solar tech you can count on. Learn more at sungrowpower.com.

Credits: Co-hosted by Stephen Lacey, Jigar Shah, and Katherine Hamilton. Produced and edited by Stephen Lacey. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand.

How Tesla bootstrapped the Powerwall 2 Jun 06, 2025

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This week, we’re featuring an episode of The Green Blueprint featuring Drew Baglino, a former SVP at Tesla. Subscribe here.

In 2014, Drew Baglino was helping build Tesla's energy division with a passionate, scrappy team. Using parts from Tesla's vehicles, they created the first Powerwall home battery. But as demand grew, they hit a critical bottleneck: cell shortages.

Customers across multiple markets were already excited about the Powerwall, but Drew’s team struggled to keep up with demand. With Powerwall 2 already announced, pressure mounted while the supply chain faltered. And with Tesla prioritizing vehicles, the energy team was left to "get the scraps and figure it out.”

In this episode, Lara Pierpoint talks with Drew Baglino, former senior vice president of powertrain and energy at Tesla, about building a new product category through bootstrapping and creative resource sharing. Drew shares how a couple dozen "Swiss Army knife" engineers created a residential battery system that would ultimately define the market.

The Green Blueprint is hosted by Lara Pierpoint. Produced by Erin Hardick. Edited by Anne Bailey and Stephen Lacey. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is executive editor.

The abundance agenda meets scarcity politics May 30, 2025

Show notes

America is facing an uncomfortable question: do we know how to build anymore?

House Republicans just passed a reconciliation bill that would repeal much of the Inflation Reduction Act while adding up to $5 trillion to the national debt. The legislation doesn't just gut clean energy incentives — it hinders the most realistic path to meeting exploding electricity demand.

After leveraging hundreds of billions in clean energy investments, 80% flowing to Republican districts, every GOP House member who promised to protect these programs voted to eliminate them anyway.

"Who wants this?" asked Costa Samaras, former White House energy advisor and current director of Carnegie Mellon's Scott Institute for Energy Innovation. "Who wants to have more expensive energy and less manufacturing in the United States?"

This week, Samaras joins Open Circuit to talk about the potential impact of the legislation, lessons learned from the IRA, and whether the abundance framework offers a viable alternative for scaling the clean energy economy.

As the country faces 150 gigawatts of new electricity demand by 2030, the reconciliation bill would make deploying and manufacturing a wide range of clean resources more expensive — likely forcing investment overseas.

This sets up a direct collision with the "abundance agenda," which argues that America has become too good at stopping things and not good enough at building them. The abundance solution: make it easier to build infrastructure, accept some messiness in exchange for progress, and focus relentlessly on outputs rather than process.

But can abundance thinking survive an era of deep political instability? We explore what an "IRA 2.0" might look like — one that pays for performance, builds government capacity, and creates durable coalitions for getting big things done.

Get tickets for Transition-AI: Boston to see Open Circuit live, with Google’s Caroline Golin.

Credits: Co-hosted by Stephen Lacey, Jigar Shah, and Katherine Hamilton. Produced and edited by Stephen Lacey. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand.

A high-stakes energy showdown in Texas May 23, 2025

Show notes

Texans take pride in their competitive electricity market, a system designed to let the cheapest resources win. And that market is increasingly choosing clean energy, with wind, solar, and batteries dominating new generation. Nearly 40 gigawatts have been added in just four years, equivalent to the capacity of a mid-sized European country.

This market-driven boom has unequivocally lowered costs and improved reliability. But now, in a major ideological reversal, some Texas lawmakers are trying to stop it. Bills advancing through the legislature would override market signals, impose unprecedented restrictions on renewables, and cap economic growth in the eighth-largest economy in the world.

"People aren't choosing renewables out of any ideology or just because they like it better or it's clean or anything like that. It's low cost and that matters a lot to the business community," said Doug Lewin, who runs the Texas Energy and Power Newsletter and hosts the Energy Capital podcast.

Lewin joined Open Circuit to explain the high stakes in the Lone Star State. He describes how the oil and gas industry is increasingly inking power purchase agreements with wind and solar as they electrify operations. Data centers are flocking to Texas because of the attractive energy picture. And distributed energy is poised for explosive growth as virtual power plants come online.

So why are some lawmakers trying to slam the brakes on this economic engine? According to Lewin, it's a mix of well-funded disinformation campaigns and social media algorithms that keep feeding anti-renewable content.

"There are people out there that are clearly not acting in good faith and are putting information out there that is really misinformation and they know it," said Lewin.

Bills like SB 715 and SB 388 would require solar and wind to have backup and exclude batteries from being counted as dispatchable resources. Lewin calls this an attempt to tie Texas' economic growth to gas turbine availability, "which just seems like a spectacularly bad idea."

Modeling shows these bills could cause blackouts and add billions in costs for consumers. With the legislative session in its final weeks, the business community is pushing back — but Lewin says anything could happen.

Get tickets for Transition-AI: Boston to see Open Circuit live, with Google’s Caroline Golin.

Open Circuit is supported by Kraken, the only proven, AI-powered operating system for utilities. Learn how Kraken helps unlock excellent customer experiences, increased innovation and reduced operational costs at kraken.tech.

Open Circuit is brought to you by On.Energy. As one of the fastest-growing battery storage IPPs, On.Energy delivers turnkey resiliency solutions for utilities and enterprise customers. Whether you’re managing data centers or local grids, we help bring storage to your fleet. Learn more at on.energy.

Credits: Co-hosted by Stephen Lacey, Jigar Shah, and Katherine Hamilton. Produced and edited by Stephen Lacey. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand.

Tesla’s fork in the road May 16, 2025

Show notes

When Elon Musk canceled Tesla's affordable Model 2 last year to go all-in on Robotaxis, he may have made the most consequential decision in the company's history. As Chinese automaker BYD captures global market share with lower-cost vehicles and superior charging technology, has Tesla prematurely surrendered the market it created?

"In his mind, I think he ushered in the EV revolution for the world, and that problem is solved, and now he wants to move on to AI and robotics," said Bloomberg reporter Dana Hull.

This pivot comes as Tesla's growth story has fundamentally changed, with the company abandoning its promise of 50% year-over-year growth and its target of making 20 million cars annually by 2030. Meanwhile, the political transformation of Musk has created massive challenges for Tesla's brand.

The departure of key executives has also left critical initiatives like virtual power plants and grid services without clear leadership, despite Tesla Energy showing promising growth.

This week, Dana Hull, veteran auto and tech reporter at Bloomberg who has covered Elon Musk's companies since 2009, joins us to discuss Tesla's strategic pivot and uncertain future in an increasingly competitive EV landscape. Dana is a regular contributor to the Elon, Inc. podcast.

"The company's product lineup is very murky right now," said Hull. Tesla's refreshed Model Y isn't selling as well as expected, and more consumers are refusing to buy from a company whose CEO has become so closely aligned with Donald Trump.

With the Cybertruck underperforming and no affordable model in sight, is Tesla setting itself up for a painful reckoning? Or will AI and robotics justify the company’s trillion dollar valuation?

Get tickets for Transition-AI: Boston to see Open Circuit live, with Google’s Caroline Golin.

Credits: Co-hosted by Stephen Lacey, Jigar Shah, and Katherine Hamilton. Produced and edited by Stephen Lacey. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand.

Fear and Loathing at the Department of Energy May 09, 2025

Show notes

The Department of Energy is losing talent at an alarming rate. Described by insiders as a "hostile takeover," the agency's transformation under Trump has pushed out thousands of scientists, engineers, and policy experts. What's left behind are gutted offices, stalled infrastructure projects, and billions in funding commitments thrown into question.

This isn't a typical government transition — it's a systematic dismantling of America's energy brain trust.

This week, we're joined by Latitude Media founding reporter Maeve Allsup, who has been breaking news on the transformation underway at DOE. Together with Jigar Shah, who ran the DOE's Loan Programs Office during the Biden administration, and policy expert Katherine Hamilton, we examine the real-world consequences of this agency-wide upheaval.

The chaotic transition has left companies in the dark about billions in committed funding. Meanwhile, career civil servants with decades of technical expertise find themselves reporting to appointees with little relevant experience — in one case, a 21-year-old former SpaceX intern with no energy background.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright outlines nine pillars for "American energy dominance" including nuclear expansion, grid strengthening, and critical minerals development. Yet the offices responsible for executing these priorities are being decimated.

The long-term consequences could be severe: manufacturing investments delayed or canceled, critical scientific talent fleeing to other countries, and a fundamental erosion of trust in government as a reliable partner for energy development. We examine what this means for America's ability to compete globally in energy innovation and infrastructure development.

Get tickets for Transition-AI: Boston to see Open Circuit live, with Google’s Caroline Golin.

Credits: Co-hosted by Stephen Lacey, Jigar Shah, and Katherine Hamilton. Produced and edited by Stephen Lacey. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand.

State of the transition: tariffs, shortages, data centers, and Europe vs China May 02, 2025

Show notes

This week, we’re asking the central question of the energy transition: How fast are we going?

Clean energy is bringing in $2 trillion of investment annually. Wind and solar now account for the vast majority of new electricity capacity globally. And we may already be at “peak trade” of fossil fuels.

And yet, when we look at the share of renewables in final energy consumption, they’re increasing only incrementally around the world. At the current linear pace, meaningful decarbonization may take decades longer than needed.

This week, we’re joined by one of the most prolific and respected market analysts for a 360-degree view of how the transition is playing out.

In this episode, Michael Cembalest, chairman of market and investment strategy for J.P. Morgan Asset & Wealth Management and author of the influential "Eye on the Market" newsletter, walks us through his annual energy analysis – a comprehensive assessment that covers dozens of economic and financial trends in energy.

This conversation has a little bit of everything. Cembalest walks us through his "scorpion bowl chart" that shows the gap between clean energy deployment and impact. We also dig into the transmission crisis, rising costs, equipment delays, and tariffs. And we cover the data center challenge, Europe’s economic challenges, and China’s rise.

But it’s not all gloomy. Cembalest also identifies where real progress is happening, and what a realistic path forward might look like.

Credits: Co-hosted by Stephen Lacey, Jigar Shah, and Katherine Hamilton. Produced and edited by Stephen Lacey. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand.

Who’s really paying AI’s power bill? Apr 25, 2025

Show notes

When tech giants build massive data centers to power AI, they're often negotiating confidential deals with utilities that few people will ever see — but that everyone might pay for.

Harvard legal expert Ari Peskoe has uncovered a pattern across 40 state regulatory proceedings: special contracts between utilities and data centers being approved with minimal public scrutiny, potentially shifting billions in infrastructure costs to regular ratepayers.

With tech companies planning up to $1 trillion in spending on AI infrastructure, some utilities project their energy sales could nearly double by 2030. Are state regulators allowing utilities and tech companies to ink billion-dollar contracts, and pass the costs on to ratepayers without transparently proving the system-wide benefits?

This week, Ari Peskoe, Director of the Electricity Law Initiative at Harvard Law School, joins us to talk about the new report he co-authored, “How Utility Customers Are Paying for Big Tech’s Power.”

This hidden cost transfer is just one front in a broader battle over energy regulation. At the federal level, the White House is making an unprecedented grab for control over FERC, the independent commission governing interstate energy markets.

Meanwhile, another executive order gives the Department of Energy extraordinary authority to force struggling coal plants to stay open regardless of economics — creating what critics describe as a consumer-funded bailout for uneconomic generation. We talk with Ari about how these regulatory battles are shaping up, and why they could be so damaging.

Credits: Co-hosted by Stephen Lacey, Jigar Shah, and Katherine Hamilton. Produced and edited by Stephen Lacey. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand.

A tsunami of uncertainty for clean energy Apr 18, 2025

Show notes

The business world is facing a tsunami of uncertainty. Across nearly every industry, investment is seizing up amid unpredictable tariffs and contradictory domestic policies.

In this week’s episode of Open Circuit, we examine how this compounding uncertainty is impacting clean energy during a critical moment of spiking demand and rising costs.

We dissect the signals from the market, revealing that despite the chaos, certain sectors are finding unexpected advantages. While utility-scale projects face delays, distributed generation is experiencing renewed interest as companies seek certainty through on-site solutions. Virtual power plants and grid-enhancing technologies may emerge as clear winners in an environment where traditional infrastructure planning has become extremely difficult.

Plus, we play a round of "Transmission Lines," testing our hosts' knowledge of the news through provocative energy quotes, and take live audience questions about the volatile landscape.

Credits: Co-hosted by Stephen Lacey, Jigar Shah, and Katherine Hamilton. Produced and edited by Stephen Lacey. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand.

Energy dominance meets economic chaos Apr 10, 2025

Show notes

President Trump promised energy dominance. But his sweeping new tariffs are delivering the opposite – creating unprecedented uncertainty for every sector of the energy economy.

Faced with a market in revolt, the president blinked. Just hours after his tariffs went into effect, he put a 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs, keeping a 10% baseline tariff and a 125% tariff on China.

In this episode of Open Circuit, we examine the contradictions at the heart of the administration's economic agenda. With trade expert John Smirnow, we explore how the "biggest trade shock in history" is upending global supply chains, raising costs, and complicating America's energy future.

We dive into the philosophy driving trade populism — a growing intellectual movement now reaching the height of power. Smirnow explains the three-part strategy behind these tariffs: rebuilding domestic manufacturing, enhancing national security, and containing China's influence on global supply chains.

We unpack the mechanics of how these tariffs will impact clean energy specifically. Plus, we examine whether these tariffs signal a temporary disruption or the beginning of long-term U.S. policy. Will they accelerate reshoring of production or simply raise costs while slowing deployment? And how do businesses make investment decisions when policy signals are deeply contradictory and unstable?

Sign up for our live virtual show on April 16 at 1:00 PM Eastern.

We'll also be live in person at Latitude's Transition-AI conference on June 12th in Boston with special guest Caroline Golin of Google.

Credits: Co-hosted by Stephen Lacey, Jigar Shah, and Katherine Hamilton. Produced and edited by Stephen Lacey. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand.

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