This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.volts.wtf/subscribe [https://www.volts.wtf/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]



Jane Flegal has worked inside philanthropy at the Hewlett Foundation, industrial emissions policy at the Biden White House, and carbon-removal market development at Frontier; she's now a senior fellow at the Searchlight Institute, writing some of the smartest climate policy analysis around. We cover a lot of ground: industrial policy versus market approaches, what the IRA got right and wrong, philanthropy's proper role, data centers and the case for an infrastructure fund, and behind-the-meter gas, among other things. This is a long one, and spicy!

Chapters:

00:00 – Introduction

03:11 – Flegal's thesis: building a clean grid fast enough to power growth

06:29 – Why she rejects degrowth

09:27 – The Roosevelt essay: climate as more than a market failure

13:30 – Why clean energy underuses its political muscle

15:24 – Industrial policy and the green spiral theory of change

20:40 – Was IRA the right approach?

22:12 – Lily Bermel's paper and the fight over what survived

23:21 – What she would have done differently under IRA

30:11 – Philanthropy, Silicon Valley, and what government is for

33:29 – The epistemic crisis inside environmental NGOs

39:09 – The abundance movement and what each faction misses

44:16 – What establishment Democrats get wrong on climate

46:06 – Why issue polling misleads

50:34 – Republicans and the Cold War analogy

52:47 – Data centers and the American Grid Infrastructure Fund

59:13 – Affordability politics and who pays for the grid

1:08:14 – Emissions, behind-the-meter gas, and flexible load

1:13:57 – The clean firm debate: storage plus transmission?

1:20:14 – Capacity markets, ERCOT, and the case for planning

1:24:32 – Utility incentives, public power, and affordability fixes

1:35:55 – Permitting reform and the land footprint asymmetry

1:41:05 – NEPA reform and the political window

1:48:21 – Where fresh policy thinking comes from

Building a big, abundant, clean grid

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.volts.wtf/subscribe [https://www.volts.wtf/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]



Zanskar argues that the US is badly underestimating its conventional geothermal resources — that there are far more undiscovered hydrothermal systems, and that each one can produce far more power, than people think. They think AI can help find those resources, and they have drilled three sites to back it up, including a “blind” discovery in Nevada with no surface signs and no prior exploratory wells. If they're right, terawatts of firm, carbon-free power are reachable with off-the-shelf drilling technology. Co-founders Carl Hoiland and Joel Edwards make the case.

Chapters:

00:00 – Introduction

03:29 – Heat, permeability, and how resources have been found

04:49 – Why conventional geothermal stalled, and why the estimate is stale

09:22 – Applying AI to old exploration data

11:10 – The data Zanskar works with

13:09 – Models, field testing, and the feedback loop

15:02 – How much more resource is really out there

20:22 – Lightning Dock: reviving a written-off field

22:14 – What has changed in drilling technology

28:37 – Pumpernickel and the permeability question

31:08 – Natural permeability vs. enhanced geothermal

34:21 – Big Blind, the first blind discovery in 30 years

37:09 – Improving the models to keep getting better

40:51 – Financing exploration: the development capital facility

44:38 – The NV Energy PPA and data center demand

47:42 – The skeptical case and geographic limits

54:20 – Policy dependence and public lands

58:11 – What's next for Zanskar

Is there way more conventional geothermal than we thought? 

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.volts.wtf [https://www.volts.wtf?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_7]



Volts published eight conversations in August — with two Idaho state legislators, a grid cybersecurity expert, the architect of Uruguay's energy transition, an EV charging exec, and more — which is a lot for anyone to listen to. We've rounded up the highlights into a single hour. Enjoy!

Chapters:

00:00 – Introduction and how the best-of series works

01:59 – Saleem Chapman on why every market design fails ratepayers the same way

07:51 – Patrick Miller on Chinese inverters and commodity boards

12:22 – Ben Toews and Megan Egbert on how Idaho's housing bills happened

18:34 – Seth Cutler on why an IONNA site is technically a bakery

22:52 – Ramón Méndez Galain on getting every Uruguayan party to sign one plan

28:00 – Quinn Nakayama on why a utility would adopt something that saves money

34:16 – Varun Sivaram on workload tiers and who pays when flexing goes wrong

38:44 – Todd Tucker on the Defense Production Act precedent

44:20 – Closing note and what to send in

Best of August 2026

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.volts.wtf/subscribe [https://www.volts.wtf/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]



Disinformation about clean energy is showing up everywhere — online after every blackout, at county commission meetings about siting new projects, in regulatory dockets stuffed with fake comments. GoodPower, which combines a C3 education arm with a C4 advocacy arm, is trying to fight back with a network of thousands of content creators, rapid-response campaigns around storms and grid failures, and an AI tool that detects manufactured public comments. I talk with CEO Leah Qusba about what they've tried, what they've measured, and what actually works.

Chapters:

00:00 – Introduction

03:06 – What the disinformation claims, and who spreads it

05:57 – From Action for the Climate Emergency to GoodPower

08:38 – Building a creator network in non-political verticals

14:17 – Competing with talk radio and Fox News

18:26 – Winter Storm Fern and the rapid response system

23:26 – Measuring whether a deployment actually worked

27:24 – Pre-bunking and the 80-county experiment

33:18 – Getting people off the couch and into the room

38:10 – AI agents and where human judgment sits

42:05 – Keeping the C3 and the C4 distinct

47:13 – Battery fires, Moss Landing, and talking to fire chiefs

50:54 – TrueVoice and manufactured public comment

56:13 – Whether AI will overwhelm the comment process

58:11 – The best messages that actually land

1:04:22 – Super PACs, budgets, and what comes next

How to respond to disinformation about clean energy, at scale

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.volts.wtf/subscribe [https://www.volts.wtf/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]



Even as he has torn down climate policy, Donald Trump has normalized the use of more powerful & aggressive tools of economic statecraft, like equity stakes in private companies, new federal authorities, and sovereign wealth funds. The Roosevelt Institute recently issued a collection of 17 essays exploring how a future administration could use the tools Trump has assembled for decarbonization. I talk with Todd Tucker, editor of and contributor to the volume, about these new industrial planning tools.

Chapters:

00:00 – Introduction

02:32 – Did Biden's green policy prove durable?

09:39 – The Defense Production Act and the Sable pipeline

14:59 – Whether to leave the DPA on the table

15:35 – Executive orders and the durability problem

19:01 – Whether the Supreme Court treats Democrats differently

22:03 – Executive power and a disempowered Congress

25:05 – Senate malapportionment and filibuster reform

29:43 – Court reform and the major questions doctrine

34:13 – Manufacturing vs. deployment

42:52 – Permitting, abundance, and theory of power

49:20 – Public ownership and the U.S. Steel golden share

55:22 – What state capitalism could look like for green ends

59:56 – Shelley Welton on utilities as planning tools

1:02:42 – Speed vs. deliberation before 2029

Could we use Trump's tricks to make good green policy?

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.volts.wtf/subscribe [https://www.volts.wtf/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]



Typically, AI data centers are large, inflexible loads that the grid has to build around, which is one reason utilities take so long to connect them. Emerald AI has designed a “digital brain” that can ramp down, move, or delay computing jobs in a data center on demand, making a data center a flexible asset to the grid. I talk with CEO Varun Sivaram about how the software works, what flexibility costs the compute, why it beats just installing batteries, whether utilities can enforce it, and what it would mean for clean energy.

Chapters:

00:00 – Introduction

03:05 – Temporal, spatial, and resource flexibility

06:26 – What Emerald Conductor touches on site

08:35 – Who decides which workloads can flex

10:55 – Who is liable when a job slows down

13:45 – Who actually signs the contract

14:49 – Larger and faster grid connections

18:02 – Enforcing the flexibility promise

19:05 – What broke in the demos, from bad nodes to slow telemetry

26:41 – What flexing costs the compute jobs

29:21 – Why not just use batteries, and the demand merit order

35:44 – Training, inference, and substation-scale data centers

40:23 – PJM, ERCOT, and legal enforceability

44:50 – Renewables, gas, and consumer bills

Making data centers flexible so they can serve the grid rather than stress it out

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.volts.wtf/subscribe [https://www.volts.wtf/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]



When it comes to innovative new grid technologies, every utility wants to be the third in line to try them. None of them want to be the first to take risks and iron out new processes. That's one reason grid-enhancing technologies, better software, and smarter internal procedures stay stuck in pilot purgatory, even as the industry faces the biggest buildout since rural electrification. PG&E's Quinn Nakayama and Microsoft's Hanna Grene discuss what's actually blocking utility innovation — and Quinn offers a novel proposal for paying someone to go first.

Chapters:

00:00 – Introduction

03:44 – Why grid-enhancing technologies stall in the US

07:54 – Selling grid software into utilities: what goes wrong

11:08 – From a pipes-and-wires company to a technology company

12:38 – Pilot program hell and the last 30 percent

15:04 – Innovation as a bolt-on, and the three muscles

17:47 – The digital spine, data quality, and smart meters

23:56 – Org chart versus work chart

25:09 – Strategy, structure, people, process, technology

29:24 – Build, buy, and the ecosystem skill set

36:15 – Data leakage, shadow AI, and paying twice

41:12 – Why utility product cycles run five to seven years

46:27 – Human in the loop, and EPRI's SAFERai.power

49:06 – Advanced market commitments and the kingmaker problem

53:22 – EPIC, and whether software counts as infrastructure

01:00:05 – The CapEx incentive problem and final advice

1:04:34 – Digital Infrastructure as Capital Spend

1:06:53 – Final Advice

Why can't utilities innovate?

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.volts.wtf/subscribe [https://www.volts.wtf/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]



Ramón Méndez Galain helped Uruguay decarbonize its grid (today it’s 98% fossil-free) while keeping the utility public and letting private capital foot the bill. Now he’s trying to export the same playbook across the global South. We talk through how Uruguay pulled it off — the hydro “battery” for wind & solar “baseload,” the cross-party political deal, the market redesign — and what actually transfers to countries without the same advantages. We also discuss why, seven years on, no other country has followed Uruguay’s path.

Chapters:

00:00 – Introduction

03:09 – From particle physics to a nuclear proposal

05:46 – Taking the job as energy secretary

07:00 – The 2008 crisis: drought, expensive oil, blackouts

09:26 – Getting every party to sign the same plan

12:51 – Why climate was not the lead argument

15:42 – Attracting private capital without privatizing

20:22 – What a public utility made possible

23:06 – Planning a grid where wind and solar are the base load

29:26 – Thermal plants as insurance, and the last 2 percent

32:36 – EVs, smart meters, and building an electrostate

37:33 – Why bills fell less than generation costs

39:46 – What transfers to other countries

44:15 – Optimum curtailment, Colombia, and Haiti

50:51 – The political work, and the argument against the dominant narrative

56:36 – The Global South and the NDC as development catalyst

He helped Uruguay decarbonize. Can he help other countries do the same?

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.volts.wtf/subscribe [https://www.volts.wtf/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]



As the U.S. EV market slows and federal charging support recedes, IONNA, a fast-charging network backed by eight major automakers, is still expanding. On Volts, CEO Seth Cutler makes the case that public charging is entering a new phase focused on reliability and customer experience, but the economics remain difficult, with low utilization and demand charges squeezing margins. With roughly 1,300 bays live and a target of 30,000, IONNA is testing whether a multi-brand network can offer a Tesla-like charging experience while building a sustainable business.

Chapters:

00:00 – Introduction: can public EV charging be as reliable as a gas station?

02:30 – Public charging’s four phases, and IONNA’s phase-four bet

08:17 – IONNA’s origin story

09:55 – Scale, footprint & site strategy

11:52 – Rechargery @ vs. freestanding: the two site formats

18:45 – Can DC fast charging make money? Unit economics

21:29 – Demand charges & why fast charging is expensive

23:57 – Getting power: permitting, interconnection & utilities

29:18 – Site design, amenities & the monetization question

34:14 – Regional site customization: the gas station turned bakery

36:35 – The charging experience: apps & Plug&Charge

39:03 – Reliability strategy & metrics

42:47 – Headwinds: the EV market downturn & policy risk

46:54 – Business model, profitability & the IONITY comparison

50:09 – Geographic rollout: the chicken-and-egg problem

54:07 – Competitive position vs. Tesla

56:37 – Closing: vision, fears & timeline

Can public EV chargers be as reliable as gas stations? 

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.volts.wtf/subscribe [https://www.volts.wtf/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]



Last year I did a pod on Montana’s surprising burst of bipartisan housing legislation. Turns out Idaho was watching. This year its legislature passed six housing bills of its own (two others failed). Republican state Sen. Ben Toews and Democratic state Rep. Megan Egbert join me to walk through what passed, what didn’t, and what they gave away to get it done — plus the property tax cap that quietly works against all of it, and why duplexes turned out to be the red line.

Chapters:

00:00 – Introduction and the Idaho housing package

02:43 – How each guest came to the housing issue

06:39 – Inside the interim housing study committee

09:05 – SB 1354, ADUs by right, and Dillon’s Rule

12:52 – The 5,000 to 10,000 compromise, and HOAs

15:03 – SB 1352 starter homes, manufactured homes, lot splits

16:28 – HB 706 and single-stair buildings

18:11 – The permitting shot clock and the 6-day rule

19:48 – Living with the compromises, and why counties were left out

22:54 – The two bills that died: duplexes and YIGBY

28:41 – HB 389, the property tax cap, and the growth undertow

34:41 – What the public understands about growth

37:23 – Regulatory reform on supply side vs. incentives for housing

43:59 – The February deadline and city resistance

48:52 – Horizontal vs. vertical density

56:03 – What comes next for the committee & Idaho housing

Another bipartisan housing miracle, this time in Idaho

Volts is a podcast about leaving fossil fuels behind. I've been reporting on and explaining clean-energy topics for almost 20 years, and I love talking to politicians, analysts, innovators, and activi

Volts · Zencastr

Volts

Volts is a podcast about leaving fossil fuels behind. I've been reporting on and explaining clean-energy topics for almost 20 years, and I love talking to politicians, analysts, innovators, and activists about the latest progress in the world's most important fight. (Volts is entirely subscriber-supported. Sign up!)

www.volts.wtf [https://www.volts.wtf?utm_medium=podcast]