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Energy Empire: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Energy Empire
A once-in-a-generation shift is underway in how the world is powered. Across the United States, clean energy now makes up more than 90% of new electricity added to the grid — not because of politics or ideology, but because these technologies simply work better. They’re cheaper to build, faster to deploy, and easier to scale than anything that came before. The technology is ready. Now the race is on to build it…everywhere. Energy Empire is a podcast about the people and ideas driving this transformation. We explore how abundant, affordable energy is reshaping the global economy, creating new industries, and unlocking what may be the greatest wealth-creation opportunity of our generation. Hosted by Jigar Shah — TIME100 honoree, serial entrepreneur, investor, and former U.S. Department of Energy leader — the show pulls back the curtain on the decisions, innovations, and power struggles shaping the future of energy. Whether you’re curious about where the economy is headed, how energy affects your daily life, or who’s really building the future behind the scenes, Energy Empire is your guide to what comes next.
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- 2 days ago1h 15m
A Decade as Clean Energy's Republican Whisperer with Heather Reams
For nearly a decade, Heather Reams had one of the toughest jobs in Washington: selling Republicans on clean energy. As president of Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions, she built the right's most prominent clean energy advocacy group, launched National Clean Energy Week, and got 21 House Republicans on record defending the clean energy tax credits. In June, she and CRES parted ways.Jigar and Jamie talk with Heather about what it actually takes to move a Republican member of Congress, why permitting reform still isn't law, why the tech giants building data centers keep losing to the utilities in Washington despite dwarfing them in market cap, and the bipartisan venture she wants to build next.Along the way: why the repealed credits "were never theirs to begin with," how Chip Roy killed the compromise, the shot clock on utility political power, and the least productive Congress in history.Plus: Jigar and Jamie spend an hour trying to get past a decade of media training and extract the real tea on why she left. Judge for yourself whether they succeed.Submit a question to Ask Jigar: https://octopusenergy.com/ask-jigarS2G Investments: https://www.s2ginvestments.com/insights/report-illusion-of-crowdsOctopus Energy: https://octopusenergy.com/faasEnergy Empire merch: https://energy-empire.bonfire.com/collection/all-products
- 1 weeks ago1h 1m
Adam Met on Permitting Reform, Building Clean Energy Superfans, and Selling Out Madison Square Garden
Sting has the rainforest. Pierce Brosnan has the whales. Adam Met has permitting reform.The AJR pop star, who has more than 5 billion streams on Spotify and a PhD in sustainable development, joins Jigar and Jamie to make the case that permitting reform is energy's rare bipartisan opening.His answer is the Co-Location Energy Act: a bill that clears the way for solar and wind on top of 18 million acres of existing oil and gas leases, land that's already disturbed, already roaded, already wired.They get into why he sold the same bill as "all of the above energy" to Republicans and carbon reduction to Democrats, what the music industry knows about building superfans that clean energy still doesn't, and why he ran the same play on state land in case Washington stalls.Along the way: buying strangers beers in Colorado bars, 1,000 petition signatures at a 109-degree Phoenix show, and a secret plan Adam asks the hosts not to repeat.Plus: the case that the climate movement shouldn't exist, and a guest appearance from Jamie's daughter.Submit a question to Ask Jigar: https://octopusenergy.com/ask-jigarS2G Investments: https://www.s2ginvestments.com/insights/podcast-global-energy-orderOctopus Energy: https://octopusenergy.com/faasOur merch store: https://energy-empire.bonfire.com/collection/all-products
- 1 weeks ago1h 9m
Crossover with Volts: Data Centers Could Win Over Neighbors for Pennies. They'd Rather Fight
Dave Roberts spent years covering energy for Grist and Vox before building Volts into one of the most influential independent energy podcasts in the country. His last conversation with Jigar, on Volts, was about doing data centers the dumb way. The comments haven't stopped since.For this crossover, Jigar and Deploy Action's Arnab Pal talk with Dave (Jamie listened in and weighs in on the debrief) about why the data center backlash is a trust problem, not a PR problem, and why $130 billion in projects sits blocked when the community benefits that would unblock them cost a rounding error.Along the way: a rare NERC grid alert, the case that "everything is batteries," why gas gets called firm while solar gets called feminine, and what 36 governors' races this fall mean for anyone building anything on the grid.Plus: why Texas gets 19% of its peak from batteries while PJM sits at 0.2%.Submit a question to Ask Jigar: https://octopusenergy.com/ask-jigarS2G Investments: https://www.s2ginvestments.com/insights/podcast-global-energy-orderOctopus Energy: https://octopusenergy.com/faasCheck out our merch store: https://energy-empire.bonfire.com/collection/all-products
- 2 weeks ago43 min
The Nurse Who Built a $400 Million Generator Company
Every construction site, concert, film set, and hurricane recovery runs on temporary power. So does the Super Bowl, and so do data centers that can't wait years for a grid connection. Most people use it every day and never see it.Alicia Waineo became a registered nurse at 19, ran and sold a home healthcare company, then co-founded ANA in 2017. Today the company does roughly $400 million in revenue while cutting its customers' diesel use, and the emissions that come with it, by up to 80%. The solution is simple. Instead of replacing the entire diesel generator with batteries, they added one: the battery carries the whole load, and the engine's only job is recharging it.Jigar and Jamie talk with Alicia about how that idea is spreading through America's rental fleets, why data centers that can't wait for the grid are renting power instead, and how ANA got here on $700,000 of founder cash, reinvested profits, and exactly one outside check, for $50 million.Along the way: 160,000 diesel generators, bridge power that customers want "loudly," and powering the Super Bowl without getting free tickets.Submit a question to Ask Jigar: https://octopusenergy.com/ask-jigarS2G Investments: https://www.s2ginvestments.com/insights/podcast-global-energy-orderOctopus Energy: https://octopusenergy.com/faasGet your merch: https://energy-empire.bonfire.com/collection/all-products
- 3 weeks ago1h 16m
Sheldon Kimber on Why Google Paid $4.75 Billion for His Power Company
In March, Google paid $4.75 billion to buy Intersect — the first time a Big Tech giant has bought a clean energy developer.Jigar and Jamie talk with Sheldon about why Google decided it had to own a power company, how the race to build data centers is reshaping the American grid, and what it actually takes to build gigawatt-scale energy next door to small Texas towns.Along the way: why he says his power plants are more stabilizing than a nuclear reactor, the on-air rematch of the LinkedIn argument where Jigar and Sheldon go at it over off-grid data centers, and a rare, candid turn on mental health, leadership, and the strange grief of selling the company he built.Links:Submit a question to Ask Jigar: https://octopusenergy.com/ask-jigarS2G Investments: https://www.s2ginvestments.com/insights/podcast-global-energy-orderOctopus Energy: https://octopusenergy.com/faasMerch store: https://energy-empire.bonfire.com/collection/all-products
- Jul 2, 202656 min
How to Add 300 Gigawatts to the Grid Without Building a Single Power Plant
The hyperscalers are racing to secure power, pouring billions into new plants, nuclear, even fusion. But interconnection queues still run for years. This week's guest can cut that wait to six to twelve months without building a single transmission line or power plant.Amit Narayan is the founder and CEO of GridCARE. His thesis: America doesn't have a power shortage, it has a visibility problem. The grid runs at only about a third of its capacity, and GridCARE uses AI to scan it the way an MRI scans a body, finding power utilities simply cannot see with planning tools built decades ago. The company has unlocked more than a gigawatt in the last six months and is actively analyzing over ten. Narayan's bet: 300 gigawatts are reachable on existing infrastructure within three to five years.Jigar Shah and Jamie Nolan dig into why the grid sits so underused, and the detail that captures the whole problem: hyperscalers are so power-starved they're eyeing data centers in space, when the power they need is already on the grid at home.Links:Get Energy Empire merch: https://energy-empire.bonfire.com/Submit a question to Ask Jigar: https://octopusenergy.com/ask-jigarS2G Investments: https://www.s2ginvestments.com/insights/podcast-global-energy-orderOctopus Energy: https://octopusenergy.com/faas
- Jun 25, 20261h 35m
Jennifer Granholm's Data Center Playbook for Governors
Data centers have become one of the most charged political issues in the country, and it cuts across both parties. Electricity bills are climbing, 36 states are electing governors who will have to answer for it, and the question is the same in red states and blue: how do you welcome the investment without handing residents the bill?Few people are better placed to answer than Jennifer Granholm, two-term governor of Michigan and the 16th Secretary of Energy, who oversaw the largest expansion of energy manufacturing in a generation and now advises governors on this exact problem. Jigar and Jamie talk with her about the playbook every governor needs, the energy sovereignty lesson the world drew from the Strait of Hormuz, and who is actually driving up your electricity bill.Along the way: why a data center should buy your neighborhood batteries and pay you to use them, the acronym BYONCE, the utility business model that rewards building things nobody needs, and the Puerto Rico story she can't shake.Links:Get Energy Empire merch: https://energy-empire.bonfire.com/Submit a question to Ask Jigar: https://octopusenergy.com/ask-jigarS2G Investments: https://www.s2ginvestments.com/insights/podcast-global-energy-orderOctopus Energy: https://octopusenergy.com/faas
- Jun 18, 202652 min
The Costco of Solar — Meet the Man Quietly Cutting the Cost of Clean Energy
Four generations of Daniel Dus's family have worked in American energy. His great-grandfather was a coal-mine engineer who became president of Michigan Tech; his grandfather built power transformers at General Electric. Daniel pivoted into renewables — and now runs Cleantech Industry Resources, the company he founded after running the US arm of one of the world's largest renewable energy firms.Jigar and Jamie talk with Daniel about how he built one of the quietest, most efficient operations in clean energy, why he refuses to charge what the market would pay, what AI is doing to the people who used to do this work, and the boxing-themed fundraiser he runs every year for the industry.Along the way: how a Vermont team plus AI agents can deliver solar work for a tenth of what consulting firms charge. Why cheaper energy means more jobs, not fewer. And the new platform Daniel started to push back on what he refuses to call "misinformation."Links:Learn more about CIR: https://cleantechir.com/products Clean Tech Fact Check: https://cleantechfactcheck.org/factcheckSubmit a question to Ask Jigar: https://octopusenergy.com/ask-jigarS2G Investments: https://www.s2ginvestments.com/insights/podcast-global-energy-order Octopus Energy: https://octopusenergy.com/faas
About Energy Empire
A once-in-a-generation shift is underway in how the world is powered. Across the United States, clean energy now makes up more than 90% of new electricity added to the grid — not because of politics or ideology, but because these technologies simply work better. They’re cheaper to build, faster to deploy, and easier to scale than anything that came before. The technology is ready. Now the race is on to build it…everywhere. Energy Empire is a podcast about the people and ideas driving this transformation. We explore how abundant, affordable energy is reshaping the global economy, creating new industries, and unlocking what may be the greatest wealth-creation opportunity of our generation. Hosted by Jigar Shah — TIME100 honoree, serial entrepreneur, investor, and former U.S. Department of Energy leader — the show pulls back the curtain on the decisions, innovations, and power struggles shaping the future of energy. Whether you’re curious about where the economy is headed, how energy affects your daily life, or who’s really building the future behind the scenes, Energy Empire is your guide to what comes next.
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