Latest / Not Another Energy Podcast / Season One Recap: Are We Energy Psychics?
Transcript
- Bethany Ruhe: Hello, hello, hello. Welcome to your new favorite show, Not Another Energy Podcast. I'm Bethany. Teresa Ringenbach: and I'm Theresa and together we are Bloom Advisory Partners. Bethany Ruhe: Yes, we are and we have a very fun episode for today. It is our season one recap pod where we look back at the last seven weeks and we answer the burning question. Teresa, are we psychic? Teresa Ringenbach: I mean, I am, clearly. I come up with these topics and then suddenly they're everywhere. Or there's just really good ⁓ algorithms out there that are capturing everything we talk about. Bethany Ruhe: I think you are. They're always listening. Teresa Ringenbach: I mean in all seriousness Bethany, I think it's interesting that we we put these podcasts out there and usually energy just is so slow, right? Things don't change very quickly but sometimes it moves really fast and I feel like it's like BAM! We put out a podcast and instantly there's you know a federal bill that drops that's gonna resolve the issue we just talked about. So yeah, we're psychic. Bethany Ruhe: Yeah, we really need to start considering our powers and at least we're using them in this case for good. So in that spirit, Teresa, let's revisit some of our favorite topics from season one and see what's changed already, what maybe hasn't changed. ⁓ And clearly Teresa and I are so good at what we do, we could see the future, so maybe we could do a little bit of fortune telling for our listeners here today too. Teresa Ringenbach: So starting off strong, episode one, my favorite one, because it allowed me to talk about my favorite person. Energy, but make it my whole personality, was about celebrity energy investors and whether or not energy is cool now. And also just the interesting concept of energy is no longer just about the wires companies. It's this whole other larger industry. ⁓ Bethany Ruhe: Hahaha Yes, well to me, energy has always been cool and I think to you as well. And I want to take this opportunity to, I'm just gonna give you the floor for a moment, Teresa Frida O'Pine on who I know to be your favorite celebrity, energy investor, personal Teresa Ring-A-Buck favorite celebrity, Shaquille O'Neal. Go ahead, you can just spell it on for a moment. Teresa Ringenbach: Okay, yes, wait, we gotta talk about this. He invested in a furniture company and they're creating Shaka-pedic furniture, which. I mean, it's made for tall people. I'm nearly six foot tall. I have a six foot five son. The fact that he is now investing in furniture for tall people and I don't have to go to Iceland to be able to fit into a chair. It's just why he's my spirit animal. Bethany Ruhe: Hahaha I really thought before you told me that that you couldn't love him more and I stand corrected you can love him more Shack-a-pedic Excellent. I I love that for you. I love that for him. I love that for all my tall friends. I'm five foot three I will never need that but I love it for you Teresa Ringenbach: I also didn't think I could and then check apetic furniture. We'll get you a ladder. You can climb up into that chair. Bethany Ruhe: Yeah, thanks. I'll just yeah, I'll just stretch out real big Um, so I did I came across a few other celebrities that I thought were interesting that we didn't talk about in the episode One of whom was Robert Downey jr. I love Robert Downey jr He actually has it's called footprint coalition ventures It's a climate tech investment fund and you are seeing more and more celebrities are not just investing in energy per se or projects or companies They're creating their own funds and you're seeing more and more of that and Robert Downey jr is a very good example. ⁓ The Iron Man himself, he's investing in like grid-scale batteries, carbon removal, advanced materials, industrial decarb, all kinds of cool things. So wanted to shout out my good friend. He doesn't know me, No, it doesn't. We think they're our friends. That could be concerning, but. Teresa Ringenbach: I mean... Wait. Neither does Shaq, but it doesn't stop me from talking about him. Bethany Ruhe: And then the other one I wanted to shout out because he is from my hometown Mount Lebanon graduate and Pittsburgh native I live in the school district here in Western, Pennsylvania. So if anybody wants to Stock me now you can narrow it down Mark Cuban. So he also does a ton of energy investment He also has a venture portfolio and areas that he's backed include energy efficiency software Good. Yeah. Yes. Yes, I think we'll be talking I'm gonna look at my crystal ball and say we're gonna be talking about that later Teresa Teresa Ringenbach: Ooh, pee pee pees. Psychic. Haha Bethany Ruhe: in the future. So a lot of grid data platforms and climate analytic companies. So you're seeing a lot of like energy tech marriages happening here on these investment funds. Teresa Ringenbach: I love this though, right? We need more than just, hey, I'm going to go buy a billion dollar company because I'm a billion dollar company. You really need more of this. I'm going to invest in this new little startup. And even if it doesn't become something, probably that technology will become something. So yeah, let's support innovation. Bethany Ruhe: Yeah, no, I agree. And anecdotally to another thing that you're seeing with this is these are not like the big splashy like, I'm a celebrity. I invested in this kind of PR play. A lot of this is quietly being done behind the scenes because these people truly believe in the mission of what they're investing in. So. Yeah, exactly. Listen, if Shack-o-pedic furniture is tied to energy, if Iron Man is tied to energy. No, no, no, no. Teresa Ringenbach: And energy is cool. It's your whole personality. Well technically he's not tied to energy from the Shakopeetic furniture. He's just tied to tall Teresa in my heart. Bethany Ruhe: Yeah, Teresa in my heart. I might name this pod Tall Teresa in my heart. Okay, so speaking of podcast episodes, let's talk about episode two. Tia's up, Teresa. Teresa Ringenbach: Yes, so the trend is continuing in energy school space, but let's turn to what I really enjoyed, which was one of our, it was our episode two, but it was really one of our first ones that I got to help write, which was Scandal, a tale of two utilities and go ahead, do it. Bethany Ruhe: ⁓ I was going to say it was one of my favorites because you know most of the podcasts that I listen to are about two things true crime and energy and This was the true crime energy crossover that I never thought was going to happen in a million years So I was topically so thrilled about this because it really did have that aspect. So it was it I love that for this Teresa Ringenbach: And I mean, shortly after we recorded that episode, the House Bill 6 trials continued in Ohio. It's this thing where maybe Illinois was done, but Ohio still wasn't done, which goes back to my point of, don't understand why HBO spent so much time on House Bill 6 when Illinois had the same issue and Ohio wasn't quite complete in finding all the bad actors and putting them away. ⁓ But there are other things that have come out of that. since then. I think we've seen both ComEd in Illinois and FirstEnergy making strong moves to be more compliant, more open about the things that they're doing, and in many ways more collaborative with other technologies. So out of the bad sometimes comes the good. Bethany Ruhe: Okay, well, I mean, that's a positive takeaway. Now, do you think that ⁓ utility scandals will continue to happen in the future? Let's look at our crystal ball. ⁓ yeah, ⁓ yeah, no, they definitely will, for sure, for sure. Teresa Ringenbach: Yeah, I do. Absolutely. mean it's human nature sometimes, right? And it's the nature of a monopoly, which you we all know I don't think monopolies move society forward, but the nature of the monopoly is to protect the monopoly and sometimes people forget themselves when they think they're the only ones. Bethany Ruhe: Yes, I agree and I think that this was a cautionary tale on what could happen to consumers, especially when those kind of forces are out there. So now we are moving on to episode three and this one was a biggie. And this one, you cannot, we say in here in Pittsburgh, I don't know, maybe they say it everywhere, you can't swing a cat without hitting somebody talking about data centers. So our third episode, you've. Teresa Ringenbach: I don't know where else they say that. ⁓ Bethany Ruhe: You've never heard that before. You can't swing a cat. First of all, let me be clear. I'm not advocating. Yeah, I'm not advocating for swinging cats. OK, it's just like it's just like a thing that people say apparently, just in Pittsburgh. ⁓ stop blaming data centers. The real story behind your power bill. And this was ⁓ of our most popular episodes, not our most popular episode from season one. And I think there's many reasons for it. So would you care to just dive right in here, Teresa? Teresa Ringenbach: Peter, Peter. I mean, if ever there was an episode that said Teresa and Bethany were ahead of the policy curve, it's that one. Since that episode has come out, there have been pieces of legislation from the federal level to ⁓ a wave across the states, bipartisan legislation. And the best thing about it is one of the focuses from our podcast was, hey, it's not about data centers being bad. It's not about them raising your electricity bills. It's about the fact Bethany Ruhe: Mm-hmm. Teresa Ringenbach: that they can handle this on their own and they're willing to, but the policies don't allow them to. There are all these pieces of legislation now. ⁓ Senator Cotton at the federal level has one that basically says, cool. If you think they're going to raise bills by touching the distribution utility grid, then just have them built to not touch the grid. It's as simple as that, which, you know, evil Teresa in the back for her head was like, well, utilities, what will you do now? All that load will not be yours. ⁓ But. Bethany Ruhe: Yeah. Well, it will not be yours. It will not interconnect. Teresa Ringenbach: The reverses, I think a lot of the companies building data centers and owning data centers didn't even blink at that. They were like, cool. And then you have other pieces of legislation that said, hey, if you do this, can we actually tap into that power and support our grids? And will you invest in your own and some of these smart transmission systems? And again, all those companies didn't even blink an eye. They said, sure, we'll do it. Because this is a drop in the bucket to us. We just want to get built and keep the internet running. Bethany Ruhe: Right. feed those AI monsters. All right, so we were ahead of the curve on that one. It's funny how those federal bills dropped right after our podcast dropped. Coincidence? Maybe, but probably not. So obviously, this is a conversation that's gonna keep going for a while, right? I we are so far away from the, there's never gonna be a final solution. There's just gonna be a series of different solutions over time. So I have a feeling we're gonna be revisiting this topic a lot. Teresa Ringenbach: it. If we look into the crystal ball, I feel like this whole data center conversation is going to be so transformative to that energy space. It's going to unlock, think about it, behind the meter technologies always trickle down from like the biggest investors. So if they now have to do fully behind the meter, what does that mean for you all the way down at your home? What are you going to see next? So I'm excited. I think good or bad, this is going to result in some pretty significant changes that are going to change how everybody uses the grid. Bethany Ruhe: And I also think it's a really good example of how policy is fundamental. It's a fundamental part of the terrain of energy. There's no getting around it no matter what you said. What did you say the other day? You have to deal with it. There's no getting around it no matter what you're doing. Teresa Ringenbach: Yeah, you have to navigate it. You have to be on that road and if it's bumpy and full of potholes, you want to make sure you're not hitting every pothole and blowing out a tire. ⁓ Bethany Ruhe: Yeah, exactly. So call Bloom Advisory Partners. We'll help you navigate those potholes. Okay, quick plug. So going back to our pod. Well, let's pop on over now to one of my least favorite podcasts, not because the content wasn't great, because it was, it's always great, but because this was the episode where I divulged that I had to pay $14,000 to replace a heat pump. That's right. We're talking about heat pumps, hype hope, are one mother of a problem. Teresa Ringenbach: ⁓ I think everybody's feeling the pain of their heat pump after this past winter. You know, we talked about it on the podcast. Again, we talked about the fact that long extended cold weather snaps can actually significantly increase your bill when you have an all electric heat pump and you look on Nextdoor, you look on the Internet, you look on Reddit. Everybody was complaining about their high bill and without fail, I would say 90 % of them. That's my non statistical analysis. When somebody responded with, do you use? It was always an all electric heat pump, which goes back to the point of our podcast. You installed this, somebody told you it was going to be great for you, and you didn't actually know what it would do to your electric bill. Bethany Ruhe: Yeah, exactly. Although I will say, I did go back and check with my mother. it just as refreshing as my mother was the tenant in the house in which I had to replace a heat pump. And she did say her current bill is $200 less than. the bill prior, but I will say the bill prior was also, mean, the weather is, mean, if anybody's ever been to our part of the world, Teresa, or this time of the year, our weather is psychotic. It was 70 degrees yesterday, woke up to it being 30 degrees, feeling like 20 degrees this morning. it'll be interesting. I kind of want to see over time if that's a consistent $200 break, but early indicators are it did, replacing the pump brought her, because remember, her costs were so high because her heat pump was stuck on off. right? So we'll have to see if this is a permanent savings or if it's just weather related. So the jury is still out but she is texting me less to complain about her electricity bill which is a good thing. Teresa Ringenbach: Yeah. Yeah. and did you get her a smart thermostat so when it goes into aux she can change her temperature and avoid it? Bethany Ruhe: Yes, the issue is being in their 70s. It's very hard. I don't know if anybody has parents in their 70s, but it can be difficult to talk them into getting that thing below 70 degrees. Like that's your age, not your preferred temperature for the interior of your home. So that's a different battle. Teresa Ringenbach: Hahaha Yeah, no, I get it. I go visit my dad and I can't, I can't, I can't be in their house very long. And just so everybody knows, I like to be cold. I keep my house at 64 or so. Bethany Ruhe: Yeah, you start sweating. And as somebody that's been to our house, I can attest to that. I'm a 68. I to do 66, but I couldn't do it. So I'm always gonna be a little bit bitter about heat pumps. ⁓ because yeah, it's just my personal experience and I shouldn't let that color the way that I feel about them in general. Maybe for some people they are the right solution. I think the takeaway here is make sure it's your right solution. Before you commit, really do your research. Talk to a trusted professional and don't just dive in because they're trendy or everybody's talking about them. Yeah. Teresa Ringenbach: But... and know how to use them. They're not like a set it and forget it solution. You actually have to engage with them to get the most out of them. Bethany Ruhe: Yes, exactly. Just like relationships. So speaking of things that are trendy and people not really understanding what they are, just hearing about them and thinking that that's what they have to have, our next episode was Energy Star. Frozen in time. Is Energy Star relevant or a relic? Teresa Ringenbach: Again, shortly after we recorded that episode, we started seeing legislation at the federal level. I wouldn't say all of it was directly related to Energy Star, but it all sort of touches on the same concept, which is people rely on Energy Star to be the indicator of which technology should qualify. Separate from that though, we saw HUD and the Department of Agriculture, they had some energy efficiency related to new construction and housing in a multi-family ⁓ ⁓ just a few days ago was halted by a Texas court where the Texas court said, hey, just because you say this is good doesn't necessarily mean that it's the most efficient and least expensive option. ⁓ you guys need to maybe go back to the drawing board and look at that a little bit and know, not do this broad brush. So found that interesting. I also ⁓ have a couple of bills that have moved from energy efficiency just, you know, improve your windows to ⁓ energy efficiency can you control your demand, which we also talked about. So ⁓ not necessarily hey, let's get rid of Energy Star and let's just ⁓ change everything. I think there's, you know, a little ⁓ chipping away Bethany Ruhe: Mm-hmm. Teresa Ringenbach: the edges to get to the right solutions. Bethany Ruhe: Well, speaking of crystal balls, did your crystal ball tell you that this was also gonna be incredibly topical for me? Because I literally just found out an hour before we recorded that I have to replace my refrigerator, which by the way, does not have an energy store on it. Teresa Ringenbach: Really? Bethany Ruhe: Yeah, yeah, like so not only are we telling the future and what's coming up with legislation I feel like some of these topics are directly impacting Appliances and heating devices in my life and I'm begging you if we could just stop that maybe let's not ever do an episode on 2017 Subaru Foresters because if I've got to get a new car anytime soon, I'm gonna lose my mind Yeah, no, I just I just found out I have to get a fridge. So I'm gonna be actively refrigerator shopping So we'll have to see to have to see where I land. But yeah, I always think of that the energy store on the So I'm hoping that that Teresa Ringenbach: You know, I just read this article, and I don't remember. It was someplace in Europe. I don't remember if it was the European Union or the UK specifically, where they actually banned any practice where appliances were designed to fail. And just you talking about a refrigerator that's not Energy Star makes me wonder how old your refrigerator is versus a newer refrigerator, which could, like, they fail pretty quickly. Yeah, it just. Bethany Ruhe: Yeah. Teresa Ringenbach: buy one from Europe. It'll be required to last. Bethany Ruhe: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, but I don't I think the shipping costs on that might be prohibitive. So I can't remember. I can't remember who said I think it was a comic. Teresa Ringenbach: Tariffs are everywhere. ⁓ Bethany Ruhe: It was somebody that said you're telling me that with technology today they can't and now this was some time ago because I'm about to date myself here the joke is about pantyhose like they can't make pantyhose that don't run like with all of the Technology that we have today and it's like no pantyhose were designed to run so you have to keep buying more because it's so I feel like that's my refrigerator like the legs pantyhose in my kitchen right now and I'm just gonna have to replace it so we'll see I am I will let you know what refrigerator I land on I'm gonna do some research, but yeah, I have a new fridge in my future You know, the refrigerator's not exciting, but you know what is exciting, Teresa? The next podcast episode, because that's when Bethany went to Montana ⁓ carry the fire Tribal Sovereignty Energy Summit, which I'm still absolutely buzzing about. It was only, I guess, three weeks ago at this point. Teresa Ringenbach: is so exciting. ⁓ Yes. Bethany Ruhe: But ⁓ there, I just learned so much. We've made so many connections, people that we're talking to, and now you're starting to get more kind of pulled in into this world with me. ⁓ I'm also, be attending REZ, which is their big economic summit in Vegas on March 23rd. So any listeners are gonna be at REZ, let me know. I would love to connect with you there. ⁓ Teresa, you weren't able to go because you were too busy passing. Yeah. Teresa Ringenbach: I was not. I was. I was holding down the fort over here and super jealous with every single text I got from you. Bethany Ruhe: Yes, yes, but there is a chance that we're going back in May to present in person to some potential clients. So hopefully we will get you there. all that to say, event truly, ⁓ to like make a pun on the name of the event, carry the fire, but it truly did light a fire in me and my fire is contagious and now it's lighting it in Teresa. ⁓ we're just really excited about the early days work that we're doing in the tribal energy space. So ⁓ we're to follow on that, but definitely, definitely a highlight. Teresa, we've only really been a part for three months and I feel like we've accomplished so much already and that might be one of my personal favorites right there. Teresa Ringenbach: That is my personal favorite. It's the most interesting of energy that I've participated in. ⁓ just everything you came back with and you know how my mind works like why would they even want to do that? Just do it this other way and then you can get you know 12 different streams of revenue from it. So yeah I'm very excited to continue to talk to them and help them figure out ways to what was the stat that you gave? 95 cents on every dollar leaves so. Bethany Ruhe: Yeah, 95 cents of every dollar that comes into a reservation flows back out. So there's a huge issue, obviously, with keeping income on the res. And then from an energy perspective, they also have 6.5 % more blackouts than the average energy consumer outside of a reservation. And there's still, across nations in the US, 17,000 homes that have no access to energy. Teresa Ringenbach: Yeah. So many technological options and ways to make this fix. I just think they need somebody who can look across everything instead of, know, hey, I'm here to sell you solar. Hey, I'm here to do propane. Bethany Ruhe: Yes. Yeah, and that's the big issue, right? Is that that's most of the people that are approaching them to do these energy projects. But you're seeing a huge growth in awareness and organizing. it's just, it's anybody that's not watching that space right now is missing out because from an energy perspective, to me, it's one of the most interesting things going on in the energy landscape that isn't, it's transformational. Teresa Ringenbach: transformational. I mean they're looking at data centers the same way that we talked about data centers as a resource. Bethany Ruhe: Yeah, exactly. And they were looking at them first before the federal government said, hey, why don't you just build your own gen? So maybe we weren't the ones telling the future. It was our tribal friends. It really is. And do you know how it comes together, Teresa, with our last podcast, MicroGridz? Who brought the MicroGridz to the grid party all about grids, micro grids, VPPs? Have we passed any federal legislation on the heels of that particular podcast? What does your crystal ball say? Teresa Ringenbach: Sure. It's all gonna come together when big. ⁓ No new legislation, but a few states have been re-energizing some of their programs to allow for ⁓ virtual participation. was a... recent slew of press releases around a new group that was started by Tesla and Google around, it's their version of a virtual power plant, basically, you know, instead of building out a whole new grid, let's maximize the grid we have by using some of these other technologies. ⁓ I did forget in the last podcast when I talked about it, ⁓ On our last podcast, of the things I wanted to mention and I forgot to is ⁓ there's really good white paper that LEAP, and I think I mentioned LEAP as one of the VPPs ⁓ that out there. ⁓ Bethany Ruhe: Mm-hmm. Teresa Ringenbach: They have a great white paper. It's on the California ISO website and it's a great resource. I keep saying great, but it is. ⁓ It's a resource for regulators or legislators. If you're looking for good policies on how to remove barriers to VPPs in your state, I highly recommend that you go and look for the LEAP white paper. ⁓ was, yeah, it's February, 2025. So not that, mean, it's a year old, but not so old that you're like, this was from 2004. Bethany Ruhe: Hahaha I could link to it. Teresa Ringenbach: and doesn't apply. So all my regulator and legislator friends, if you're out there and you're thinking about these, go look at that. It's a pretty good way of saying, ⁓ I didn't think about that. We should probably fix it. Bethany Ruhe: Okay, well, like I said, I will definitely link to that in our show notes, and that's actually really good to know. And I'm glad that we're doing this recap pod, because it's given us an opportunity to, because you always walk away from a conversation and go, oh, I wanted to say this and I didn't. This is our chance to do that, Teresa. So I'm so glad that you had that opportunity. And on that note, I mean, this is a wrap on season one of Not Another Energy podcast. our first season, we did it. Ooh, thank you. Teresa Ringenbach: Yeah. Our first season! Woo! Wait, before we wrap up, I have to say a couple of things. People don't see the level of work that goes into a podcast. And I have so much respect for people that do this now. level of work that you do, Bethany, ⁓ these, making sure that we don't have a bunch of background noise and other stuff in there, or ⁓ what was the thing we kept saying? Right? ⁓ Right? ⁓ Bethany Ruhe: Yes. Okay. Right? Right? Although it was funny, so real quick anecdotally, and we're going a little over on time for this one, but it's our recap pod, so we're gonna let it go. Right after Teresa and I both noticed we were saying right way too much, I listened to Melinda ⁓ Gates be interviewed on NPR, and I clocked it. She said right about eight times within a 60 second time span. I was like, well if Melinda Gates does it, we're fine. Right? Teresa Ringenbach: we're fine. We're good. Bethany Ruhe: But in all the work you do, Theresa, I mean, you do the lion's share of our research. You do the lion's share of picking our topics. So this is why we're a team. It is perfect. Teresa Ringenbach: perfect. It's perfect. if anybody has been listening, you've hopefully have watched us progress and get better as the podcasts have gone on. So. Bethany Ruhe: ⁓ yeah, I this was our freshman season. We're bound to, you know, we're alert. Yeah, I learned like not to over edit because it makes a little whiny noise in the background. you know, we're every day's progress, but I will say we are taking two weeks off of the pod. We'll come back in April because we each have our respective kiddos spring breaks. So we thought it was a good time and we're both getting out of Dodge. Teresa, where are you going? Teresa Ringenbach: you We're just heading down to Florida. Got my hot pink tank top and my shorty shorts ready to go. Bethany Ruhe: Excellent, and I'm heading the exact opposite. We're going skiing in Colorado, so I've got... Teresa Ringenbach: Ha ha! Bethany Ruhe: I've got my balacabra. I've got my ski pants Yeah, I would look silly if I wore what you were wearing to Florida to Colorado So but we will be back in April with brand new pods Would love to hear suggestions if anybody has a topic that they want us to talk about we're open to having guests on down the road That's definitely something we want to do So if you or somebody you know, you think you want to chat with us? Let us know be Ru at bloom advisory partners calm reach out to me. We'd love to talk to you And on that Let's wrap up season one, Teresa. Teresa, you enjoy your break, I'll enjoy mine, and we will be back soon with brand new episodes for your podcast listening pleasure. Until then, I'm Bethany. Thank you for joining us. Thank you for listening to Not Another Energy Podcast. And remember, energy is never ⁓ just energy. ⁓ Teresa Ringenbach: and I'm Teresa.