Jigar Shah is one of clean energy’s most influential — and outspoken — figures. In this episode, he takes a surprising stand on a utility battery program that has the distributed energy world divided, makes the case that the solar industry is now the battery industry, and lays out a policy blueprint for new governors that starts with one bold number: cut electricity bills 20% by 2030.
This conversation between Shah and Elisa Wood delves into:
- Why Shah is defending Xcel Energy’s controversial utility-owned battery program in Minnesota — and why he thinks the critics are fighting the wrong battle
- The $50 billion math: how strategically placed batteries could meet all U.S. load growth through 2030 at a fraction of the cost of new utility infrastructure
- His blunt advice for half the clean energy industry: adapt your cost structure or shut your doors
- The “controlled experiment” between Xcel Minnesota and Xcel Colorado that could settle the utility ownership debate
- A three-point energy platform for governors, anchored in grid-enhancing technologies and massive battery deployment
- Shah’s personal journey from a village in India with barely any electricity to overseeing the largest clean energy lending program in U.S. history
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