Energy Changemakers Podcast

The explosive growth of AI training centers is creating unprecedented challenges for the electric grid. In this eye-opening conversation, Kay Aikin reveals why gigawatt-scale data centers like Stargate aren't just about needing more power—they're creating stability threats that could collapse entire grid systems. Learn why virtual power plants can't solve this problem, what new technologies are needed, and how the regulatory landscape must adapt to handle loads that can spike by several gigawatts in seconds.

Key Topics
Introduction
Three Types of Data Centers
AI Training Centers: The Game Changer
The Ramp Rate Problem
Why Virtual Power Plants Can't Help
What Solutions Could Work
The Battery Challenge
Interconnection Roadblocks
Microgrid Alternatives
The Regulatory Challenge
Broader Infrastructure Crisis
The Incentive Problem
Systems Thinking Approach

Resources mentioned

NERC Study: National Electricity Reliability Corporation report on large load impacts

Energy Hub VPP White Paper: Recent publication on virtual power plant capabilities

Previous Podcast: "Are We Expecting Too Much From Virtual Power Plants?" with Kay Aikin, Mark Patterson, and Lorenzo Kristov

GridWise Architecture Council: Organization focused on power systems architecture

Kay's Website: www.innovate8futures.com (Regenerative Futures - systems thinking resources)

Kay Aikin is CEO of Dynamic Grid and a systems engineer specializing in electrical grid architecture. She serves on the GridWise Architecture Council and is known for her forward-thinking approach to grid transformation challenges. Kay focuses on distribution network challenges, DER integration, and holistic systems design.
Elisa Wood is the host of the Energy Changemakers Podcast, which features conversations with industry leaders about building the decentralized grid. She can be reached at [email protected].

Have thoughts on this episode? Reach out to Elisa at [email protected] or use the thumbs up/down buttons to provide feedback.
Listen to the Energy Changemakers Podcast on your favorite platform to stay informed about the latest developments in grid transformation and distributed energy.

This episode explores "speed to power" - the urgent need for data centers to access electricity quickly to support AI infrastructure growth. Anna Demeo explains why the fast-moving world of hyperscalers (Google, Meta, Microsoft) is colliding with the cautious, regulated utility industry, and what innovative solutions might bridge this gap.
Guest Bio: Anna Demeo
Anna Demeo, PhD is an industry executive at the intersection of energy and decarbonization with 30 years of experience integrating hardware and software to develop, commercialize, and scale sustainable energy solutions. She is the Managing Partner at Clean Tech Strategy Advisors, where she advises corporations, startups, and investors navigating the clean tech landscape.

Right now, the term "energy abundance" seems to be everywhere. It springs from Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson's book Abundance, which argues that we have too many rules and procedures bogging down the construction of clean energy, housing, and other needed infrastructure. While the book has created debate in both the power industry and political arenas, this episode moves away from the politics of abundance to focus on the economics of abundance.
Host Elisa Wood sits down with energy economist Mariko Geronimo Aydin to explore how the abundance agenda fits into an industry where markets traditionally make money via scarcity, not abundance. Mariko offers unique insights into thinking about energy abundance from an economist's perspective and shares the innovative work happening at the Earthshot Foundation through their Gridiron Dialogues.
Guest Bio
Mariko Geronimo Aydin is an energy economist with 20 years of experience working as a consultant to regulators, utilities, and developers across the country. She specializes in resource planning (including generation and transmission portfolios), cost-benefit analysis, market design, and incorporating resilience measures into grid planning. Currently serving as Chief Economist and Senior Fellow at the Earthshot Foundation, Mariko focuses on advancing economic frameworks that support sustainable and abundant energy systems, with recent work concentrated on California's resource planning challenges.

Rooftop solar is far more affordable in other countries than it is in the United States, and the gap has little to do with technology. In this conversation, Elisa talks with Nick Josefowitz, Chief Executive of Permit Power, about why American families pay so much more for rooftop solar and how outdated permitting, utility requirements and fragmented local rules create unnecessary barriers.
Nick explains what “soft costs” are, why they account for nearly 80 percent of the cost of residential solar in the US, and how automated permitting could dramatically lower costs, reduce delays, and help millions of households save on their utility bills. They discuss state-level solutions, the potential for nationwide standardization, and the real economic benefits of making solar installation easier, faster and more predictable.
If your company works in distributed energy or home electrification, this episode offers a practical look at policy tools that can expand the solar market, reduce customer churn, and support installers who are struggling under inconsistent local rules.

Nick Josefowitz is the Chief Executive of Permit Power, a nonprofit advocacy organization dedicated to making home solar and batteries more affordable and accessible. Permit Power works to cut through the red tape that keeps installation costs high in the United States by advancing automated permitting, streamlined interconnection, and state-level policy reform. The organization conducts research, provides policy guidance, and partners with lawmakers, installers, and local governments to modernize outdated systems.
Relevant Links
• Permit Power: https://permitpower.org
• Automated permitting resources via the SolarAPP+ initiative (DOE)
• Brown University Climate Solutions Lab research on local government efficiency
• Energy Changemakers community: https://energychangemakers.com
Call to Action
If you are an installer, developer, or policymaker working in distributed energy, Permit Power wants to hear from you. Your stories and real-world experience help shape policy solutions that make rooftop solar more accessible for every American family.

Connect with Elisa and the Energy Changemakers community at energychangemakers.com and subscribe for updates, insights, and upcoming episodes.

In this episode, host Elisa Wood sits down with Adam Scarsella, Vice President of Digital Infrastructure Sales at Voltus, to explore a new approach to accelerating data center interconnection: Bring Your Own Capacity (BYOC).
This innovative model allows hyperscalers to meet their peak energy needs not by waiting years for new power plants, but by funding a virtual power plant (VPP) built from distributed energy resources (DERs) already in the community.
Elisa and Adam unpack what’s driving today’s unprecedented grid strain, why VPPs are becoming indispensable, and how BYOC flips the script—turning data centers from grid liabilities into direct contributors to local resilience. They also discuss Voltus’s evolution over the past seven years, the rapid rise of emergency dispatches across markets, and how partnerships like their work with Cloverleaf Infrastructure are shaping the next era of grid planning.
If you want a front-row seat to where virtual power plants, hyperscaler load growth, and grid modernization are heading, this conversation is essential listening.
Why traditional power plant development no longer keeps pace with increasing load.

The explosion of data centers, AI infrastructure, and large industrial loads across the U.S.

Record-high capacity prices in wholesale markets such as PJM and MISO.

Voltus has seen daily dispatch events for more than a year across multiple markets.

How VPPs provide system flexibility during a period of accelerating retirements (coal, gas) and growing intermittent generation.

Adam explains how the company has evolved:
Early focus: traditional industrial demand response.

Today: Batteries, Solar, EVs, Commercial + residential loads, Carbon response programs

Voltus has become a comprehensive DER platform supporting grid operators every day.

Data centers face multi-year interconnection delays due to capacity constraints.

BYOC allows hyperscalers to fund a VPP that offsets their peak load.

Voltus builds the VPP from local DERs; the hyperscaler pays for it.

This provides:

Faster interconnection

A new revenue stream for local businesses/residents

Less pressure on utilities to develop new power plants

Instead of extracting resources, the hyperscaler directly invests in the local grid.

Paid participation for commercial/industrial loads and DER owners.

A constructive alternative to community concerns around noise, water use, and energy consumption.

Recent proposals from the U.S. Department of Energy recommending expedited interconnection for loads willing to be curtailed.

BYOC offers a more practical version of that concept by enabling curtailment via the VPP, not the data center itself.

Cloverleaf builds the physical data center campus.

Voltus determines the required VPP capacity and constructs the DER aggregation.

Together they provide a new model for rapid, collaborative grid integration.

Adam hints at upcoming project announcements.

Voltus expects BYOC to gain momentum as grid constraints grow and DER capabilities expand.

Adam Scarsella is the Vice President of Digital Infrastructure Sales at Voltus, a leading provider of distributed energy resource software and solutions. Over his seven years with the company, Adam has helped lead the transition from classic demand response to sophisticated virtual power plant programs serving utilities, grid operators, commercial and industrial users, and now hyperscalers seeking rapid interconnection. His work centers on using distributed energy to solve large-scale grid challenges through flexible, market-driven programs.
Voltus: https://www.voltus.co

Energy Changemakers Newsletter: https://energychangemakers.com

Learn more about distributed energy and virtual power plants across U.S. markets.

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