Factor This

Factor This

Launched in 2022, the Factor This Podcast has featured many of the most influential leaders driving the energy transition. From solar and battery storage executives to utility CEOs, the Factor This Podcast brings unique insights and answers to the energy industry’s most pressing challenges. Go beyond high-level trends and mainstream talking points with actionable takeaways.    The Factor This Podcast grew in 2023 with the addition of This Week in Cleantech, a weekly roundup of the biggest stories in climate and clean energy in 15 minutes or less. With new episodes every Friday, Factor This content director Paul Gerke and Mike Casey, a cleantech commentator and president of Tigercomm, bring listeners the most important headlines of the week while featuring the leading journalists behind the stories. The all-new FactorThis.com is your best source for news, commentary, and analysis of renewable energy and the power grid. 

  1. 6D AGO

    This Week in Cleantech (03/27/2026) - Iran conflict highlights perils of fossil fuel dependence

    Tell us what you think of the show! This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey. This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Robert Piconi, CEO of Energy Vault. This week, the company officially acquired the 175 MW McMurtre battery storage project in ERCOT North, taking its global portfolio of owned, operating, and under-construction assets to 715 MW. Congratulations, Robert! This Week in Cleantech — March 27, 2026 Could a global economy dependent on renewable energy see less war? Experts explain — ABC NewsAsia Turns Back to Coal as War Chokes Off Natural Gas — The New York TimesJPMorgan Warns Aging US Power Grids Pose National Security Risk — BloombergHow to get Big Tech to pay your energy bills — The Washington PostBritain responds to Iran war energy shock by requiring solar panels and heat pumps in all new homes — CNBCWant to make a suggestion for This Week in Cleantech? Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing  Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com

    19 min

  2. MAR 23

    Why shifting from AMI 2.0 to NextWave AMI could define the future of grid intelligence

    Tell us what you think of the show! Terms like “AMI 2.0” often mean different things to different teams, depending on a utility’s current infrastructure and future goals. This lack of consensus is why Matt Wakefield, Director of Information, Communication & Cyber Security at EPRI, argues that the industry may need to shift from hardware versions to core capabilities. By positioning AMI as a cross-cutting platform for grid visibility and DER integration, utilities can move far beyond simple meter-to-cash functions. The “NextWave AMI” framework is designed to provide that capability-based lens, focusing on long-term value rather than the integration of a specific tool. Matt joins the Factor This podcast to explore how aligning people and processes with high-value AMI use cases allows utilities to achieve "stacked benefits" that address mounting pressures like affordability and grid resilience. He unpacks the limitations of viewing AMI 2.0 as a fixed technology stack and shares the resources available to help utilities plan their next transformational upgrades. Want to make a suggestion for This Week in Cleantech? Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing  Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com

    25 min

  3. MAR 20

    This Week in Cleantech (03/20/2026) - A rare victory for offshore wind

    Tell us what you think of the show! This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey. This week's episode features special guest Jennifer McDermott from the Associated Press, who reported on Revolution Wind, an offshore wind project targeted by Trump administration that is now sending power to the New England grid. This week's "Cleantechers of the Week" are Martin Mulvihill, a partner at Safer Made, and Arlene Blum, a chemist, mountaineer and executive director of the Green Science Policy Institute. Safer Made is a venture capital fund that invests in companies reducing human exposure to harmful chemicals, including through PFAS-alternatives, and the Green Science Policy Institute is a nonprofit that advocates for safer use of chemicals.  This Week in Cleantech — March 20, 2026 How Ann Arbor, Michigan, is creating its own clean energy utility — GristTrump Officials Weigh New Plan to Stop Offshore Wind Farms — The New York TimesSurging Gas Prices Reignite EV Interest — BloombergOil and gas prices are soaring. Some countries are ready with solar panels and EVs — NPROffshore wind project targeted by Trump administration starts sending power to the New England grid — The Associated Press Want to make a suggestion for This Week in Cleantech? Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing  Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com

    20 min

  4. MAR 13

    This Week in Cleantech (03/13/2026) - Can this new coalition help bring down energy costs?

    Tell us what you think of the show! This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey. This week's episode features special guest Chuck McCutcheon from Axios, who wrote about a new coalition of companies, including tech giants like Google and Tesla, which is aiming to make better use of underutilized capacity on the U.S. power grid This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Samir Pendse, CEO at Coral. New York–based Coral provides instant rebates for energy and HVAC upgrades and recently raised $7.5 million in pre-seed and seed funding. The company is working to expand access to affordable financing for sustainable home upgrades at a time when energy bills are rising. Congratulations, Samir! This Week in Cleantech — March 13, 2026  Jefferies Makes the Case to Double Down on Clean Tech Investments — BloombergDemand for AI Data Centers Sends Prospectors Hunting for Land and Power – The New York TimesSolar group takes revenge on Chip Roy over tax credits — E&E NewsThe Electric: Its Sales Sliding, BYD Fights Back With a New Battery — The InformationExclusive: Google, Tesla unite to fight energy costs — AxiosWant to make a suggestion for This Week in Cleantech? Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing  Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com

    18 min

  5. MAR 9

    From reactive to predictive: Reimagining wildfire mitigation efforts for utilities

    Tell us what you think of the show! The energy landscape has entered a volatile era of climate disruption. Regions once considered safe now face the devastating reality of escalating wildfires and extreme weather. In this episode, we sit down with Don McPhail, VP of Market Development at eSmart Systems, to discuss why traditional, asset-focused mitigation is no longer enough for utilities across the United States. We explore the critical shift to community-first resilience models, where protecting life-sustaining infrastructure takes priority over mere compliance. How exactly are digitization and AI-powered digital twins transforming grid safety? What does it mean to use high-resolution imagery to identify minute defects like upside-down cotter pins in a way that creates quantifiable value? Don provides a roadmap for utility leaders ready to trade siloed data practices for predictive insights that save time, money, and lives. Want to make a suggestion for This Week in Cleantech? Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing  Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com

    36 min

  6. MAR 6

    This Week in Cleantech (03/06/2026) - Is the MAGA movement warming up to solar?

    Tell us what you think of the show! This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey. This week's episode features special guest Evan Halper from the Washington Post, who wrote about some MAGA figures who are warming to solar despite Donald Trump’s longstanding criticism of it. This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is David Jankowsky, CEO of Francis Energy. Francis Energy provides ultra-fast charging stations for EVs, and focuses on expanding charging access to underserved and rural communities to ensure no community is left behind in the transition to electric vehicles. Congratulations, David! This Week in Cleantech — March 06, 2026  Don’t Look Now, but the Green Transition Is Still Happening — The New York TimesWhat Trump’s war on Iran means for the US energy crunch — The VergeWhat AES’ $33.4 billion take-private says about energy and AI — Latitude MediaEurope Is Learning An Uncomfortable Truth About Local Battery Production — InsideEVsWhy Katie Miller and other MAGA influencers suddenly love solar power — The Washington PostWant to make a suggestion for This Week in Cleantech? Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing  Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com

    20 min

  7. FEB 27

    This Week in Cleantech (02/27/2026) - Clean energy bans 'skyrocket'

    Tell us what you think of the show! This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey. This week's episode features special guest Elizabeth Weise from USA Today, who wrote about how clean energy bans are "skyrocketing" under the second Trump administration. This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Gonzalo Castro de la Mata, Executive Director at Earthna, who recently published an op-ed about how the climate conversation is now shifting from goals to implementation, focused on energy security, finance, and scalable solutions, especially as surpassing 1.5°C appears more likely. He pushes for us to move faster from climate agreements to execution. This Week in Cleantech — February 27, 2026  Data centers done right? Xcel and Form Energy team up to power Google operation in Minnesota — Factor ThisUS particle accelerators turn nuclear waste into electricity, cut radioactive life by 99.7% — Interesting EngineeringClean Energy Manufacturers Set to Muddle Through Fresh Tariff Turmoil — The Wall Street JournalData Center Outlook: Half of 2026 Pipeline May Not Materialize — Sightline ClimateClean energy bans skyrocket under Trump, USA TODAY analysis finds — USA TodayWant to make a suggestion for This Week in Cleantech? Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing  Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com

    24 min

  8. FEB 23

    How utilities are transitioning from short-term battery applications to long-term BESS planning

    Tell us what you think of the show! With global energy demand at an all-time high, battery storage is evolving from a flexible filler into a critical grid resource. Success in this new era depends less on the hardware itself and more on the digital intelligence used to run it. By leveraging a digital layer to optimize the economics of battery assets, utilities are now rethinking BESS as a high-value, GW-scale engine for reliability and market participation. To understand what this means on a practical level, we sat down with Brian Fellon, the Senior Vice President of Power Solutions at Xpansiv. He explains why battery energy storage systems are no longer an optional add-on but a critical backbone for grid operators. We also explore how utilities are moving from small-scale pilots to gigawatt-scale operations, the role of batteries in managing volatile demand from data centers, how real-time market participation demonstrates measurable value to regulators and ratepayers and much more.  Want to make a suggestion for This Week in Cleantech? Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing  Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.com

    27 min
See All (223)

Trailer

4.8
out of 5
40 Ratings

About

Launched in 2022, the Factor This Podcast has featured many of the most influential leaders driving the energy transition. From solar and battery storage executives to utility CEOs, the Factor This Podcast brings unique insights and answers to the energy industry’s most pressing challenges. Go beyond high-level trends and mainstream talking points with actionable takeaways.    The Factor This Podcast grew in 2023 with the addition of This Week in Cleantech, a weekly roundup of the biggest stories in climate and clean energy in 15 minutes or less. With new episodes every Friday, Factor This content director Paul Gerke and Mike Casey, a cleantech commentator and president of Tigercomm, bring listeners the most important headlines of the week while featuring the leading journalists behind the stories. The all-new FactorThis.com is your best source for news, commentary, and analysis of renewable energy and the power grid. 

Information

  • Creator
    Factor This
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    223
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Factor This
  • Show Website
    Factor This

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