Where's the Next Terawatt? Powering the Future With Bill McCamley and Christy Cardenas

02/14/23 • 40 min

The combination of a booming population and an accelerating business sector, as well as the desire to "de-carbonize" creates a real challenge. In this episode we talk with Bill McCamley, the Executive Director at Transit Forward and Christy Cardenas, the Managing Partner at Grit Ventures. The discussion delves into the diverse and rapidly changing world of energy generation, the role of transportation in energy consumption, and how Austin’s power grid will change over the next five years.

Episode Highlights

Texas has a unique and diverse generation mix with a strong focus on natural gas and coal, but a growing interest in renewables like wind, solar, geothermal, and hydrogen.
The advancements in battery storage technology, government funding for better batteries, and the emergence of new business models for mature battery technologies.
The shift from gas stations to electric vehicle (EV) charging points and the challenges in figuring out the infrastructure for EV charging points.
The impact of individual decisions on power consumption in a city like Austin and the role of transportation in energy consumption.
The impact of housing development on the generation, distribution, and usage of power, with a focus on ETOD, multi-use development near transit lines, and reducing compatibility restrictions.
What’s next Austin - Bill believes that building more density around transit corridors, changing housing ordinances to allow for multi-use development, and reducing compatibility restrictions will be key in the next four to five years for the generation, distribution, and usage of power in Austin.
What’s next Austin - Christy “There is so much money and so much brain power chasing these solutions, whether it's fusion, nuclear fusion, better forms of generation, better forms of storage that we, as a state, with a huge component of our economy tied to oil and gas, best get in front of it and be a part of that energy revolution.”

Episode Links

Bill McCamley: Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram

Christy Cardenas: Linkedin, Twitter

Grit Ventures: Website, Linkedin, Twitter

Transit Forward: Website, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube

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Austin Next Links: Website, X/Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn
Ecosystem Metacognition Substack

Episode Highlights

Texas has a unique and diverse generation mix with a strong focus on natural gas and coal, but a growing interest in renewables like wind, solar, geothermal, and hydrogen.
The advancements in battery storage technology, government funding for better batteries, and the emergence of new business models for mature battery technologies.
The shift from gas stations to electric vehicle (EV) charging points and the challenges in figuring out the infrastructure for EV charging points.
The impact of individual decisions on power consumption in a city like Austin and the role of transportation in energy consumption.
The impact of housing development on the generation, distribution, and usage of power, with a focus on ETOD, multi-use development near transit lines, and reducing compatibility restrictions.
What’s next Austin - Bill believes that building more density around transit corridors, changing housing ordinances to allow for multi-use development, and reducing compatibility restrictions will be key in the next four to five years for the generation, distribution, and usage of power in Austin.
What’s next Austin - Christy “There is so much money and so much brain power chasing these solutions, whether it's fusion, nuclear fusion, better forms of generation, better forms of storage that we, as a state, with a huge component of our economy tied to oil and gas, best get in front of it and be a part of that energy revolution.”

Episode Links

Bill McCamley: Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram

Christy Cardenas: Linkedin, Twitter

Grit Ventures: Website, Linkedin, Twitter

Transit Forward: Website, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube

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Austin Next Links: Website, X/Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn
Ecosystem Metacognition Substack

Previous Episode

Austin Next Spotlight: Tokenizing Real Estate with OwnProp

Ethan Blumenthal is the CEO of OwnProp, a platform that enables investors–large and small–to invest in commercial and multi-family real estate. They do this by leveraging the power of the blockchain and NFTs. In this Spotlight episode, Ethan describes his background as a blockchain engineer and how he found his way to Austin to pursue a career in the crypto industry. He then explains OwnProp’s aim to lower the minimum investment and create a liquid secondary market for investment stakes. Ethan also shares the story of OwnProp's journey from its founding to its current stage, and its plans to open up investment opportunities to retail investors. He also discusses the difference between OwnProp and other tokenization startups in the market, emphasizing OwnProp's focus on prime assets with lucrative upside.

Episode links

OwnProp Website

OwnProp Twitter

OwnProp YouTube

Ethan Blumenthal Linkedin

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Austin Next Links: Website, X/Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn
Ecosystem Metacognition Substack

Next Episode

Fostering Innovation and Technology: The Texas Legislature's Commitment with Rep. Giovanni Capriglione and Rep. John Bucy III

The Texas Legislature's Innovation & Technology Caucus plays a key role in shaping the state's tech policy. In this episode, we are joined by Rep. Giovanni Capriglione and Rep. John Bucy III to discuss the role of the IT Caucus, the challenges the state faces in promoting tech innovation, and their efforts to address those challenges. We look at the future of tech innovation in Texas, and how the Caucus is working to position the state as a leader in the field.

Episode Highlights

The Innovation & Technology Caucus began in 2015 but gained attention in 2020-2021due to the increased presence of technology in Texas.
The Caucus aims to promote a healthy environment for innovation and growth in a bipartisan way by learning about what is happening in Texas and bridging the gap between the Senate and the House.
The narrative of innovation in Texas has been changing rapidly due to certain events, such as Tesla's arrival putting electric vehicles on the radar and recent developments in crypto and blockchain.
Examples of policy opportunities include using AI to modernize Texas government services, workforce development & education, and regulatory frameworks that create a friendly environment while ensuring accountability (such as was done with autonomous vehicles).
Self-regulatory frameworks can provide a middle ground for regulating industries, but government intervention may be necessary in cases where self-regulation fails.
What's next for Texas and what's next for Austin?
- Rep. Giovanni Capriglione: "Texas is going to come out of this session with a better workforce, more plans on how to improve our research, how to help and improve our companies and technologies, and also with lower property taxes."
- Rep. John H. Bucy III: An upcoming higher education session focused on workforce development, particularly in community colleges and public universities. And for Austin, the importance of addressing electric system vulnerabilities and supporting Austin Energy while ensuring the needs of the community are met.

Episode Links

Rep. Giovanni Capriglione: Website, Twitter
Rep. John Bucy III: Website, Twitter
Innovation & Technology Caucus of the Texas Legislature : Website, Twitter

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Austin Next Links: Website, X/Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn
Ecosystem Metacognition Substack