DER Startup School with Seth Frader-Thompson, CEO and Co-Founder of EnergyHub
We’re back (minus Colleen who was on vacation), this time with Seth Frader-Thompson, the CEO and co-founder of EnergyHub. Many don’t realize that EnergyHub has built what may be the largest VPP platform in North America, nearly entirely with vertically integrated utilities.In addition to getting the inside scoop on how they pulled this off, we discuss EnergyHub’s intriguing VPP capabilities framework called the Huels Test, how VPPs can at times be better than a traditional power plant, why they focused on vertically integrated markets, and a whole lot more.We also spent a ton of time getting into the weeds of starting companies in our industry, finding PMF, pivoting, leadership styles, etc. Anyone building in this space should take notes.Btw, if you’re enjoying this episode you should definitely check out DERVOS 2025, our annual event that’s all about distributed energy and the energy industry broadly. Rumor has it Seth with be making a special appearance. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.dertaskforce.com/subscribe
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2:21:47
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2:21:47
Rad Future with Isabelle Boemeke
Strap in for an episode where DERs go almost entirely unmentioned. Instead, we talked about nuclear, degrowth, climate change, communication over the internet, AI, and the future broadly with Isabelle Boemeke.Isabelle is the creator of Isodope and founder of Save Clean Energy, and new book Rad Future is about to be released on August 12th. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.dertaskforce.com/subscribe
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1:52:49
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1:52:49
Going Permissionless with Cole Ashman,CEO and Founder of Pila Energy
We’re back! This time with Cole Ashman, Founder and CEO of Pila Energy. Permissionless DERs are one of most exciting new categories for us. With all the focus on permitting challenges, high soft costs, and long interconnection cues, what if we could just install DERs without all of that nonsense?In the ep, we talk about Cole’s journey from experiencing Hurricane Katrina awakening him to the need for resilience to working at Tesla, Span, and now Pila, Ben Franklin shocking people at parties, whether permissionless batteries have actual physical advantages over grid-tied batteries, how backfeeding into circuits works and what permitting reform could look like, balcony solar, storage manufacturing and supply chains, and so much more!Note: we had a bad connection between our recording device and computer, leading to a bunch of skips. Our fearless editor did his best to clean these up, but some may remain. This also means we can’t post the video because it messed with the timecodes. Sorry! We’ll do better next time. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.dertaskforce.com/subscribe
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1:37:50
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1:37:50
DERs are mainstream with Jigar Shah and Tim Hade
We’re still laughing that we actually did this pod. Why it seemed like a good idea to book two of our favorite (outspoken) people, Jigar Shah (most recently led the DOE LPO) and Tim Hade (co-founder Scale Microgrids), at the same time continues to confound us.With two legends on the couch that each have a wealth of knowledge, it was basically impossible to ask them everything we wanted. It was probably one of the most fun recordings we’ve ever done, so we’re psyched to share it with everyone.We usually list everything we talked about, but its was way too wide ranging to even begin summarizing. Just sit back and enjoy the ride. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.dertaskforce.com/subscribe
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2:01:20
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2:01:20
Solar maxxing with Lisan Al Gaib, Jesse Peltan
We’re back with our longest pod ever! And deservedly so. When you get Lisan al Gaib on the couch, you use all the time you have to pick his brain. Jesse Peltan is one of our favorite thinkers in the entire space, and his brilliant insights are endless. We probably need another 3 hours with him to get even more out!In it, we discuss: the fundamental resource availability of various energy sources, what 24/7 solar + storage at $3/w means, China’s explosive solar installation and manufacturing growth, the real rate limiters on nuclear and solar, opportunities for DC (versus AC) power use, and much much more. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.dertaskforce.com/subscribe
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