David Roberts+

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

A conversation with Varun Sivaram of Emerald AI.

Why can't utilities innovate?

A conversation with Quinn Nakayama of PG&E and Hanna Grene of Microsoft.

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

A conversation with Ramón Méndez Galain.

Can public EV chargers be as reliable as gas stations?

A conversation with Seth Cutler of IONNA.

Another bipartisan housing miracle, this time in Idaho

A conversation with Idaho state Senator Ben Toews and Representative Megan Egbert.

Grid cybersecurity: how big is the threat & what should we do about it?

A conversation with Patrick Miller.

What should state policymakers do about data centers?

A conversation with Saleem Chapman of Climate Cabinet.

Best of July 2026

Highlights from the eight conversations released last month.

Silicon anodes for batteries unlock greater energy density and faster charging times

A conversation with Rick Costantino of Group14.

Should we feel good about the trajectory of clean energy post-Trump?

A conversation with Lily Bermel.

The US is terrible at building public transit. Here's how to get better.

A conversation with Will Poff-Webster of the Institute for Progress and Stephanie Pollack of the MIT Mobility Initiative.

Making sense of the data center backlash

A crossover with Jigar Shah's "Energy Empire" podcast!

Spreading the good news about electrification

A conversation with Hawaii state Senator Chris Lee about his Electric Innovation Initiative.

Want less sprawl and more urban infill? Try a land value tax!

A conversation with Greg Miller of the Center for Land Economics and Kitty Klitzke of the Spokane City Council.

Forcing utilities to justify their distribution-system spending

A conversation with Minnesota regulators Sydnie Lieb & Pete Wyckoff.

A key Arizona race will test clean energy's electoral power

Charlie Fisher and Ning Mosberger-Tang on scaling up the grassroots playbook to flip Arizona's powerful utility regulator.

How to keep people cool without making the planet even hotter

RMI's Ankit Kalanki on why fixing the way we test air conditioners is the secret lever to slashing global cooling emissions.

America's flagship automaker enters the home energy market

Aseem Kapur joins me to explain how GM plans to turn its massive EV fleet into a distributed virtual power plant.

Can the UK stay the course with its climate plans?

UK Climate Minister Katie White on navigating the decarbonization challenge amidst rising energy prices and political headwinds.

Why is NERC so worried about data centers?

How massive AI & crypto loads are threatening grid stability, and what Colin McCormick and Doug Bryan say we must do to fix it.

This oil shock won't be like the others

Kate Mackenzie and Tim Sahay break down why global inflation and Chinese manufacturing mean the old fossil fuel playbook no longer works.

Are plug-in DERs going to spark a grid revolution?

James McGinniss on the rise of permissionless, plug-in energy storage and why it will eventually outcompete the utility-scale kind.

Giving clean electricity a political voice of its own

Investor Steve McBee discusses a new effort to give the clean electrification sector more political muscle & swagger.

A limited defense of Biden's everything-bagel industrial policy

A conversation with Betony Jones.

How to phase out residential gas equitably

Panama Bartholomy and Kristin George Bagdanov explain why neighborhood-level "chunky decarbonization" is the key to a fast and fair transition.

Sooner than you think, electricity is going to be cheap, abundant, and boring

How batteries can enable big new loads like data centers to reduce electricity rates and increase grid reliability.

Volts community thread #29

Open to all free & paid subscribers.

Telling the story of the grid

Stepchange podcast hosts Ben Eidelson and Anay Shah discuss the wild, complicated history of the largest machine ever built.

Electrifying industrial steam with heat pumps

Addison Stark unpacks how geopolitical gas volatility is making electrified thermal energy an economic necessity for manufacturers.

The case for using prices rather than VPPs to coordinate distributed energy

Researcher Bruce Nordman explains how dynamic, real-time pricing can do the work of coordinating DERs.