Volts

Епизоде

• 
  How to build a more flexible, quieter, less obnoxious data center 16.09.2026 1ч 14мин

  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/subscribeVerrus is building data centers designed to address every objection the public has raised: they use batteries instead of diesel generators, which makes them grid assets that help hold down power prices; they use closed-loop cooling, which uses a tiny fraction of the water; their equipment is quieter; and as a bonus, they squeeze more servers into the same grid connection. Yet both of Verrus’s proposed sites, in Michigan and Oregon, are mired in fierce local opposition. In this episode, CEO Nelson Abramson walks through the engineering — and the politics that the engineering hasn’t quite solved.Chapters:00:00 – Introduction02:43 – Three decades in data centers05:05 – What a Verrus data center looks like07:39 – The medium voltage power plane12:13 – UPS batteries vs. the big LFP battery17:27 – Priority aware capping and provisioned utility capacity22:31 – Why not buy the pieces off the shelf?25:42 – Duration: what happens when four hours runs out34:28 – Diesel backup and what customers ask for37:15 – How flexible is compute, really?42:37 – Noise, fans, and the sound studies48:42 – Water use and the 12 million gallon question52:19 – Industrial land and by-right zoning56:07 – Public opposition, recall petitions, and community benefits1:00:07 – Oregon, Salem, and the moratorium1:03:56 – Ride-through, NERC, and losing the moat1:07:11 – What V2 looks like
• 
  Building a big, abundant, clean grid 11.09.2026 2ч

  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/subscribeJane 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 – Introduction03:11 – Flegal's thesis: building a clean grid fast enough to power growth06:29 – Why she rejects degrowth09:27 – The Roosevelt essay: climate as more than a market failure13:30 – Why clean energy underuses its political muscle15:24 – Industrial policy and the green spiral theory of change20:40 – Was IRA the right approach?22:12 – Lily Bermel's paper and the fight over what survived23:21 – What she would have done differently under IRA30:11 – Philanthropy, Silicon Valley, and what government is for33:29 – The epistemic crisis inside environmental NGOs39:09 – The abundance movement and what each faction misses44:16 – What establishment Democrats get wrong on climate46:06 – Why issue polling misleads50:34 – Republicans and the Cold War analogy52:47 – Data centers and the American Grid Infrastructure Fund59:13 – Affordability politics and who pays for the grid1:08:14 – Emissions, behind-the-meter gas, and flexible load1:13:57 – The clean firm debate: storage plus transmission?1:20:14 – Capacity markets, ERCOT, and the case for planning1:24:32 – Utility incentives, public power, and affordability fixes1:35:55 – Permitting reform and the land footprint asymmetry1:41:05 – NEPA reform and the political window1:48:21 – Where fresh policy thinking comes from
• 
  Is there way more conventional geothermal than we thought? 09.09.2026 1ч 4мин

  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/subscribeZanskar 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 – Introduction03:29 – Heat, permeability, and how resources have been found04:49 – Why conventional geothermal stalled, and why the estimate is stale09:22 – Applying AI to old exploration data11:10 – The data Zanskar works with13:09 – Models, field testing, and the feedback loop15:02 – How much more resource is really out there20:22 – Lightning Dock: reviving a written-off field22:14 – What has changed in drilling technology28:37 – Pumpernickel and the permeability question31:08 – Natural permeability vs. enhanced geothermal34:21 – Big Blind, the first blind discovery in 30 years37:09 – Improving the models to keep getting better40:51 – Financing exploration: the development capital facility44:38 – The NV Energy PPA and data center demand47:42 – The skeptical case and geographic limits54:20 – Policy dependence and public lands58:11 – What's next for Zanskar
• 
  Best of August 2026 04.09.2026 12мин

  This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.volts.wtfVolts 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 works01:59 – Saleem Chapman on why every market design fails ratepayers the same way07:51 – Patrick Miller on Chinese inverters and commodity boards12:22 – Ben Toews and Megan Egbert on how Idaho's housing bills happened18:34 – Seth Cutler on why an IONNA site is technically a bakery22:52 – Ramón Méndez Galain on getting every Uruguayan party to sign one plan28:00 – Quinn Nakayama on why a utility would adopt something that saves money34:16 – Varun Sivaram on workload tiers and who pays when flexing goes wrong38:44 – Todd Tucker on the Defense Production Act precedent44:20 – Closing note and what to send in
• 
  How to respond to disinformation about clean energy, at scale 02.09.2026 1ч 11мин

  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/subscribeDisinformation 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 – Introduction03:06 – What the disinformation claims, and who spreads it05:57 – From Action for the Climate Emergency to GoodPower08:38 – Building a creator network in non-political verticals14:17 – Competing with talk radio and Fox News18:26 – Winter Storm Fern and the rapid response system23:26 – Measuring whether a deployment actually worked27:24 – Pre-bunking and the 80-county experiment33:18 – Getting people off the couch and into the room38:10 – AI agents and where human judgment sits42:05 – Keeping the C3 and the C4 distinct47:13 – Battery fires, Moss Landing, and talking to fire chiefs50:54 – TrueVoice and manufactured public comment56:13 – Whether AI will overwhelm the comment process58:11 – The best messages that actually land1:04:22 – Super PACs, budgets, and what comes next
• 
  Could we use Trump's tricks to make good green policy? 28.08.2026 1ч 8мин

  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/subscribeEven 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 – Introduction02:32 – Did Biden's green policy prove durable?09:39 – The Defense Production Act and the Sable pipeline14:59 – Whether to leave the DPA on the table15:35 – Executive orders and the durability problem19:01 – Whether the Supreme Court treats Democrats differently22:03 – Executive power and a disempowered Congress25:05 – Senate malapportionment and filibuster reform29:43 – Court reform and the major questions doctrine34:13 – Manufacturing vs. deployment42:52 – Permitting, abundance, and theory of power49:20 – Public ownership and the U.S. Steel golden share55:22 – What state capitalism could look like for green ends59:56 – Shelley Welton on utilities as planning tools1:02:42 – Speed vs. deliberation before 2029
• 
  Making data centers flexible so they can serve the grid rather than stress it out 26.08.2026 53мин

  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/subscribeTypically, 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 – Introduction03:05 – Temporal, spatial, and resource flexibility06:26 – What Emerald Conductor touches on site08:35 – Who decides which workloads can flex10:55 – Who is liable when a job slows down13:45 – Who actually signs the contract14:49 – Larger and faster grid connections18:02 – Enforcing the flexibility promise19:05 – What broke in the demos, from bad nodes to slow telemetry26:41 – What flexing costs the compute jobs29:21 – Why not just use batteries, and the demand merit order35:44 – Training, inference, and substation-scale data centers40:23 – PJM, ERCOT, and legal enforceability44:50 – Renewables, gas, and consumer bills
• 
  Why can't utilities innovate? 21.08.2026 1ч 11мин

  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/subscribeWhen 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 – Introduction03:44 – Why grid-enhancing technologies stall in the US07:54 – Selling grid software into utilities: what goes wrong11:08 – From a pipes-and-wires company to a technology company12:38 – Pilot program hell and the last 30 percent15:04 – Innovation as a bolt-on, and the three muscles17:47 – The digital spine, data quality, and smart meters23:56 – Org chart versus work chart25:09 – Strategy, structure, people, process, technology29:24 – Build, buy, and the ecosystem skill set36:15 – Data leakage, shadow AI, and paying twice41:12 – Why utility product cycles run five to seven years46:27 – Human in the loop, and EPRI's SAFERai.power49:06 – Advanced market commitments and the kingmaker problem53:22 – EPIC, and whether software counts as infrastructure01:00:05 – The CapEx incentive problem and final advice1:04:34 – Digital Infrastructure as Capital Spend1:06:53 – Final Advice
• 
  He helped Uruguay decarbonize. Can he help other countries do the same? 19.08.2026 1ч 2мин

  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/subscribeRamón 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 – Introduction03:09 – From particle physics to a nuclear proposal05:46 – Taking the job as energy secretary07:00 – The 2008 crisis: drought, expensive oil, blackouts09:26 – Getting every party to sign the same plan12:51 – Why climate was not the lead argument15:42 – Attracting private capital without privatizing20:22 – What a public utility made possible23:06 – Planning a grid where wind and solar are the base load29:26 – Thermal plants as insurance, and the last 2 percent32:36 – EVs, smart meters, and building an electrostate37:33 – Why bills fell less than generation costs39:46 – What transfers to other countries44:15 – Optimum curtailment, Colombia, and Haiti50:51 – The political work, and the argument against the dominant narrative56:36 – The Global South and the NDC as development catalyst
• 
  Can public EV chargers be as reliable as gas stations? 14.08.2026 1ч 1мин

  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/subscribeAs 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 bet08:17 – IONNA’s origin story09:55 – Scale, footprint & site strategy11:52 – Rechargery @ vs. freestanding: the two site formats18:45 – Can DC fast charging make money? Unit economics21:29 – Demand charges & why fast charging is expensive23:57 – Getting power: permitting, interconnection & utilities29:18 – Site design, amenities & the monetization question34:14 – Regional site customization: the gas station turned bakery36:35 – The charging experience: apps & Plug&Charge39:03 – Reliability strategy & metrics42:47 – Headwinds: the EV market downturn & policy risk46:54 – Business model, profitability & the IONITY comparison50:09 – Geographic rollout: the chicken-and-egg problem54:07 – Competitive position vs. Tesla56:37 – Closing: vision, fears & timeline
• 
  Another bipartisan housing miracle, this time in Idaho 12.08.2026 1ч 1мин

  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/subscribeLast 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 package02:43 – How each guest came to the housing issue06:39 – Inside the interim housing study committee09:05 – SB 1354, ADUs by right, and Dillon’s Rule12:52 – The 5,000 to 10,000 compromise, and HOAs15:03 – SB 1352 starter homes, manufactured homes, lot splits16:28 – HB 706 and single-stair buildings18:11 – The permitting shot clock and the 6-day rule19:48 – Living with the compromises, and why counties were left out22:54 – The two bills that died: duplexes and YIGBY28:41 – HB 389, the property tax cap, and the growth undertow34:41 – What the public understands about growth37:23 – Regulatory reform on supply side vs. incentives for housing43:59 – The February deadline and city resistance48:52 – Horizontal vs. vertical density56:03 – What comes next for the committee & Idaho housing
• 
  Grid cybersecurity: how big is the threat & what should we do about it? 07.08.2026 1ч 12мин

  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/subscribeCould the US grid be brought down by Chinese hackers? To find out, I talked with Patrick Miller, who helped write the cybersecurity rules for the bulk power system and became the first person with federal authority to enforce them. We get into what's actually been hacked, why those "rogue devices" in Chinese inverters are less sinister than they sound, and why squirrels still do more damage than hackers.Chapters:00:00 – Introduction02:47 – What state utility commissioners get wrong about cyber risk04:50 – Real attacks on the grid so far: Ukraine, Poland, and the US06:57 – IT versus OT, and why grid devices are hard to protect10:30 – The NERC CIP standards: scope, requirements, enforcement17:40 – Distributed resources outside the CIP perimeter20:54 – Dropping the threshold to 20 MVA, and federal jurisdiction29:12 – Chinese inverters and the commodity board36:09 – Volt Typhoon, Salt Typhoon, and China's intent39:26 – Data centers as a new attack surface43:19 – The trade-off between security and speed47:44 – Cyber-informed engineering and analog safeguards54:05 – AI on offense and defense1:02:21 – Squirrels, balloons, and physical threats1:04:24 – CISA cuts, CIRCIA, and harmonizing the rules
• 
  What should state policymakers do about data centers? 05.08.2026 1ч 3мин

  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/subscribeState legislatures are writing data center rules faster than they can verify the demand forecasts underneath them. Fifteen states accounted for 80 percent of data center electricity demand in 2023, a single hyperscale campus can arrive as 15 to 20 percent of a utility's demand, and the transmission to serve it takes five to 15 years to build. On this episode of Volts, David Roberts works through Climate Cabinet's Taming Data Center Turmoil series with Saleem Chapman, who leads the group's electricity affordability policy work, on why Georgia's regulated utility, PJM's capacity market, and ERCOT's competitive market each left ratepayers holding the risk, and what a state can require before it approves a project, while the facility operates, and after the deal is done.Chapters:00:00 – Introduction02:49 – How Climate Cabinet came to the data center fight03:58 – Three things that make hyperscalers unlike past industrial loads07:51 – Warning signals: forecast opacity, gas dependency, unconditional subsidies13:44 – Siting near overburdened communities and the Memphis case15:34 – State preemption versus local control18:31 – The same failure pattern in Georgia, PJM, and ERCOT23:52 – Why not just ban data centers outright28:07 – The framework, and what to require before approval34:54 – While operating: real cost pricing and on-call load flexibility37:39 – Scenario-based planning and the utility incentive problem39:37 – After the deal: new and matched clean energy43:48 – Siting standards and performance-tied incentives50:27 – Existing facilities and the threat to build elsewhere55:41 – Which states are ahead, and step one for lawmakers
• 
  Best of July 2026 02.08.2026 45мин

  Volts published eight conversations in July on subjects with nothing obvious in common: an Arizona utility board election, Minnesota smart meters, land value taxes in Spokane, silicon battery anodes. Yet six of them arrived at the same constraint. What stops energy infrastructure from getting built in the United States is more often written into law than into physics. On this episode, David Roberts pulls one stretch from each July conversation into a single hour, with two Minnesota utility regulators, a Spokane city council member, a Hawaii state senator, a co-founder of a battery materials company, and more.Chapters:00:00 Introduction: a new format for Volts01:22 Arizona: winning the utility elections nobody watches07:04 Minnesota: the smart meter data nobody uses12:40 Spokane: how property taxes reward empty lots17:31 Hawaii: the education gap in state energy policy22:13 The data center backlash is a politics story27:41 Why America can't build transit: procurement32:41 Clean energy after the IRA: the glass debate38:26 Silicon anodes: the other half of the battery44:47 Closing: tell me if this worked 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
• 
  Silicon anodes for batteries unlock greater energy density and faster charging times 31.07.2026 45мин

  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/subscribeMaterials in lithium-ion battery cathodes have continuously evolved since the 1990s, but anodes have stubbornly remained graphite. Now, finally, there’s some innovation on that side: silicon anodes, which engineers have struggled to master for a decade, are finally coming into wide commercialization. They enable up to five times the energy density of graphite anodes, charge many times faster, and are poised to revolutionize the battery market. In this episode, I talk with Rick Costantino, co-founder and CTO of Group14, which is selling a silicon-carbon composite material for anodes. They’re already selling to dozens of large battery manufacturers and expect silicon anodes to completely take over the market by 2030.Chapters:00:00 – Introduction and the graphite anode problem01:54 – Why silicon, and why it kept failing06:26 – From pharma to batteries: Rick's path09:24 – How SCC55 works: silicon in a carbon scaffold14:38 – The payoff: energy density and charge speed18:59 – A drop-in material, and scaling in South Korea21:11 – Where the batteries go: phones, EVs, drones24:29 – Cost versus graphite26:20 – Cycle life, calendar life, and safety31:26 – Supply chain and the silane bottleneck36:26 – Pairing with LFP, DOE support, and phones40:30 – Bringing the cost down, and competitors43:27 – The five-year outlook
• 
  Should we feel good about the trajectory of clean energy post-Trump? 29.07.2026 1ч 27мин

  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/subscribeThe Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) established substantial tax credits for wind and solar power. Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) eliminated those tax credits. How much damage did that do to the overall trajectory of clean energy in the post-Trump world? A new research commentary argues that the damage was less than many had feared and that the road forward for clean energy is less about restoring those credits than about easing the permitting and interconnection constraints inhibiting renewable energy. Today I talk with author Lily Bermel about the modeling her commentary is based on and the somewhat controversial conclusions she draws from it.Chapters:00:00 The IRA, the OBBBA, and the case for optimism03:25 OBBBA - Why Bermel ran the analysis05:50 The headline numbers: 74, 71, 6708:07 Decomposing clean: solar and batteries hold, wind takes the hit12:14 The lag analysis, and the 'glass half full' perspective15:27 2.8 gigatons, and losses you can't get back18:01 The third scenario, and Trump I versus Trump II21:49 What the model leaves out: manufacturing, LPO, loans23:07 Interior's permitting campaign against wind and solar27:22 The demand surge and behind-the-meter gas32:15 Nuclear restarts, geothermal, and clean firm35:31 Booms, busts, and the electrification wave42:22Transmission, interconnection, and the ceiling46:41 Tax credits versus permitting reform51:46 Durability, polarization, and preemptive surrender60:01 Can enough storage make renewables firm?66:48 Grid utilization versus building new grid70:52 Final reflections: 2021, and what Bermel would do with a trifecta
• 
  The US is terrible at building public transit. Here's how to get better. 22.07.2026 1ч 7мин

  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/subscribeAmerica once led the world in building transit and now leads the world in what transit costs, roughly three times the international average per mile, measured not against authoritarian megaprojects but against Italy, Spain, and Japan. On this episode of Volts, David Roberts talks with Will Poff-Webster of the Institute for Progress, who put together the new Transit Abundance Playbook, and Stephanie Pollack, former head of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and former acting administrator of the Federal Highway Administration. Their argument is that the costs are a policy choice: federal funding rules teach transit agencies to plan on a napkin and do the real work years later, to hire the lowest bidder over the one they know will deliver, and to defer to anyone holding a veto, while highways operate under looser versions of the same rules. As Pollack puts it, "if you hate transit, you should spend less on it." A surface transportation reauthorization bill is coming, and two of the playbook's proposals have already reached the House version.Chapters:00:00 Introduction: why cars work against cities03:25 Agency culture or federal law: where does the fix come from11:31 Planning: how federal funding enforces bad habits20:10 Overdesign: the Green Line stations and the frequency-first test23:40 Buses: why every agency orders a custom fleet26:53 Procurement: lowest bid versus best value32:56 Veto points and Italy’s conference of services39:56 Permitting: environmental review as a NIMBY tool45:28 State capacity: why consultant brain took over51:46 Labor costs, automation, and Section 13(c)56:19 Is any of this politically achievable?1:03:28 Final question: one reform each
• 
  Making sense of the data center backlash 20.07.2026 1ч

  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/subscribeData center opposition has gone from nonexistent to organized in about two years, roughly 120 moratoriums across 38 states, and it does not track proximity: Gallup finds 70% of Americans oppose a data center near them, while only 8% of opponents live near one. On this episode of Volts, David Roberts joins Energy Empire hosts Jigar Shah and Jamie Nolan, along with Arnab Pal of Deploy Action, for a crossover conversation, and his argument is that everyone is solving the wrong problem. The hyperscalers could buy their way to consent for a rounding error, batteries in basements, solar on roofs, funded schools, lower bills, and they refuse, which David reads as a symptom of low social trust that no amount of better modeling touches. “This is not a technocratic problem that you can just solve with a few switches,” he says. Thirty-six governors go to the ballot this fall having to answer for it.Chapters:00:00 Intro: a Volts and Energy Empire crossover01:25 Has the AI case been made? Energy vs. AI as the real revolution04:23 The backlash by the numbers, and hyperscalers' botched PR08:20 Animal spirits, low social trust, and the information environment12:46 Enshittification, lost jobs, and why governors still want data centers15:50 The local playbook: schools, bioswales, batteries in basements17:18 Bespoke industrial rates without setting a bad precedent22:33 How utilities earn: spend-to-earn, the distribution black box, efficiency30:11 Gendering the grid: gas as firm, renewables as soft37:57 NERC's level-three alert and the case for more batteries39:29 Both/and: distributed capacity as serious supply45:33 Abundance's missing half: state capacity, staffing, NEPA48:55 The midterms: 36 governors and the politics of affordability53:33 Hope vs. fear: the Mamdani lesson and the information environment
• 
  Spreading the good news about electrification 15.07.2026 1ч 3мин

  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/subscribeMost of the energy decisions that touch daily life in America get made in state legislatures, and the people making them are increasingly new to the job. In smaller states, a freshly elected lawmaker gets a pad of paper, no staff, and about 150 lobbyists at the door, then votes on billion-dollar energy budgets in a landscape where the technology changes faster than anyone can track. On this episode of Volts, David Roberts talks with Hawaii state Senator Chris Lee, co-founder of the Electric Innovation Initiative, a bipartisan network betting that education moves electrification faster than mandates: put lawmakers in front of working technology, connect them across state lines, and let affordability carry the argument where climate framing will not. As Lee puts it, "nine times out of ten, people just don't know what they don't know."Chapters:00:00 Introduction03:39 How electrification clicked: the 2008 iPhone moment06:10 The education gap: why the initiative exists11:35 Proxy staff and cross-state validation15:44 What lands on the tours: eVTOL to the data-center win-win20:51 Plain 'electrification': the bipartisan framing bet26:28 Climate hushing and Hawaii's two-track proof30:17 Policy that spreads: e-buses, heat pumps, RFPs37:37 Utility business-model reform: Hawaii's PBR law42:03 Affordability after the federal subsidies45:22 Hawaii under pressure: LNG and the Lahaina grid51:53 State power against federal hostility55:19 The ten-year vision and the closing advice
• 
  Want less sprawl and more urban infill? Try a land value tax! 10.07.2026 1ч 9мин

  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/subscribeProperty taxes are two taxes stapled together: one on the land, one on whatever gets built on it. Put up an apartment building and the bill goes up. Pave the lot for parking and it stays low. It discourages building and rewards land speculation. The answer? Tax the buildings less and the land more. The idea of a “land value tax” goes back 150 years, but implementing it today involves navigating tricky constitutional issues. In this episode, I talk with Greg Miller of the Center for Land economics about the rationale for such taxes, and with Kitty Klitzke, a Spokane, Washington council member, about the difficulties of putting it in practice in a real city. Chapters:00:00 Introduction03:22 Henry George and the case for taxing land08:12 How property taxes work now, and what a split rate changes11:26 Land value taxes and upzoning as complements15:18 The Pennsylvania record and the reassessment problem18:51 Vancouver, and why homeowners outlast the policy24:03 Estonia, Singapore, and the Scottish Islands26:53 Washington's uniformity clause and the building exemption33:18 Kitty Klitzke on twenty years of Spokane infill43:27 What Spokane needs from the state legislature45:25 Single family homeowners and the Division corridor48:34 The assessor objection52:45 What the Spokane modeling shows59:31 The plan for next session1:01:44 Virginia, Kentucky, and cross-partisan momentum