Accelerating Energy: Powering Business Through the Energy Transition

The United States government is authorizing millions of dollars in grants to electric cooperatives in the hopes of promoting grid resiliency and alternative energy adoption. Will grants and other incentives entice businesses to adopt clean energy? Or will political uncertainty in this election year tamp down these efforts?

In the second episode of Accelerating Energy, host and Sidley partner, Ken Irvin, speaks with Robin Lunt, Chief Commercial Officer at Guzman Energy, a wholesale power provider dedicated to helping communities seeking affordable and reliable energy. Together, they discuss what businesses need to know about adopting clean energy and infrastructure amid legislative and regulatory uncertainty.

Executive Producer: John Metaxas, WallStreetNorth Communications, Inc.

U.S. energy regulators warn that elevated threats of outages from storms and prolonged cold snaps will continue to impact our electric grid and the economy. The Biden administration recently announced $3.5 billion in grants to fund clean energy projects that combat climate change and promote renewable energy; but mounting costs, development snags, and regulatory roadblocks threaten to impede progress.

In this introductory episode of Accelerating Energy, host and Sidley partner, Ken Irvin, speaks with Larry Gasteiger, Executive Director of WIRES, a nonprofit trade association that promotes investment in the North American electric transmission system. Together, they discuss the challenges and opportunities of energy transmission as the U.S. works to electrify our economy and enhance the resilience of our grid.
Executive Producer: John Metaxas, WallStreetNorth Communications, Inc.

The future of commercial transportation is zero-emission. More than one million medium- and heavy-duty trucks are expected to hit the highways by 2031. But as the fleet of commercial zero-emission vehicles begins to grow, the infrastructure needed to power these trucks is struggling to keep up. In response to this reality, a coalition of major truck manufacturers have launched an initiative to help speed the deployment of charging stations nationwide.

In the third episode of Accelerating Energy, host and Sidley partner, Ken Irvin, speaks with Dawn Fenton, Vice President of Government Relations and Public Affairs at Volvo Group North America, a leading commercial vehicle manufacturer committed to shaping the future of sustainability transport and infrastructure solutions. Together, they discuss what businesses should know about the nascent zero-emission commercial transportation industry and what Volvo Group North America and its partners are doing to accelerate electric-charging infrastructure development.

Executive Producer: John Metaxas, WallStreetNorth Communications, Inc.

All of a sudden there’s a new landscape for energy transition. The new administration is reducing the workforce of several federal agencies, including the EPA, where administrator Lee Zeldin is committed to eliminating 65 percent of what he calls the agency’s wasteful spending, and President Trump just signed four executive orders that direct different agencies of the federal government to revive American coal. State governments, businesses, and financial stakeholders will need to navigate all of this agency change to meet their existing energy mandates. Will there be a new way forward for battery, wind, and solar energy technologies? And are there long-term investment strategies and out-of-the-box energy opportunities for investors to support the ongoing energy transition?

In the sixth episode of Accelerating Energy, host and Sidley partner, Ken Irvin, speaks with John Skrinar, a partner at Cresta Fund Management, a company dedicated to assisting stakeholders and funding businesses to achieve a strong return on their investments, while creating a more sustainable future. Together, they discuss how investors can drive the energy transition forward through finding innovative investment opportunities which utilize proven technologies but also balance out the bottom line for stakeholders.

Executive Producer: John Metaxas, WallStreetNorth Communications, Inc.

Renewable energy can be intermittent, making it a challenging power source for power grid operators to manage. But the burgeoning technology of battery energy storage systems (BESS) is poised to help fill those critical gaps. BESS is expected to quintuple in capacity by the end of this decade. These systems play a crucial role in the renewable energy life cycle, ensuring a stable supply of electricity to customers, data centers, the national grid, and energy needs worldwide. But the installation costs for some large-scale systems are high, along with a number of maintenance and environmental issues to consider.

In the fourth episode of Accelerating Energy, Pat Wood, CEO of Hunt Energy Network, a developer and operator of distributed energy resources in Texas, talks with host and Sidley partner, Ken Irvin. Pat, the former chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission under President George W. Bush and of the Public Utility Commission of Texas, discusses what’s in store for battery energy storage systems and how industry stakeholders can offset the barriers to their wider use.