Just before the holidays, we hosted a year-end episode of the Cleantech Podcasters Roundtable. Our lineup changed a bit, with the happy addition of John Belizaire.

Here are our “B3Ps,” or Big 3 Points from that episode. You can read the full transcript below.
 
1. At the risk of sounding like a broken record: The Cleantech sector needs to invest more time and resources into messaging. Fossil fuel front groups are still working the mainstream media refs, spreading misinformation about the Inflation Reduction Act, painting ESG investing as “woke capitalism,” and the messaging that next-generation nuclear fission will be our climate savior. We have the tools to accelerate the energy transition, and our industry conversations should reflect that confidence I our public communications.

2. Expect grid resiliency, distributed energy resources, retrofitting, and workforce employment to be big topics for the new year — and more stories about people leaving “dirty” jobs for clean ones.
 
3. Let’s celebrate the people and organizations that helped prevent a pro-fossil fuel wave in the recent elections. Our participants gave laurels to: the Environmental Voter Project, Governor Kathy Hochul, Governor Gavin Newsom, and the California Public Utilities Commission.

Listen to the full episode on the SunCast Podcast:

Hello #cleantechers! Listeners of Scaling Clean know our show is designed to bring you management and leadership wisdom from experienced company leaders in the clean technology industry. Today, we are bringing you perspective from Jing Tian, who co-founded her own company early in her career and also led the U.S. presence for three different international cleantech firms. And Jing Tian is also Dr. Tian, who earned a Ph.D. in chemistry from Drexel University and served as a postdoctoral fellow in the Chemistry Department at Princeton University. 

Episode 13: The Value of Role Models and Representation

Hello #cleantechers. On today’s Scaling Clean, a discussion with Silvia Ortin Rios. She has worked in the power sector her entire career. Silvia started as a contract trading analyst for TXU Energy in the late 1990s. Over a quarter century later, she is the CEO of RWE Renewables Onshore Wind and PV division. Silvia is the first woman to hold the position.

Our goal on Scaling Clean is to aggregate insights from CEOs, investors and advisors on building and running winning teams at clean economy companies. I am really excited to share this interview with our listeners because Silvia has experience as a key part of #cleantech teams in four countries on both sides of the Atlantic. She is a rich source of culturally-portable management lessons invaluable on the global stage.

Episode 12: Realizing vs Maintaining Potential

Hello, #cleantechers. Ever heard the joke about the engineer who walked into a podcast interview and turned out to be a fountain of wisdom and soundbites? Well, our guest today is just that… except he’s no joke.   

We closed our cleantech journalists panel at RE+ with a question we often like to ask our Scaling Clean podcast guests: Are you a climate optimist or pessimist – and why? Our panelists gave thoughtful answers, a mix of optimism and realism about the aggression of energy industry incumbents (read the fossil fuel lobby). We’d like to share their answers here.

In the U.S., the field of companies developing renewable energy farms is quickly expanding. There are a large number of new additions coming from developing countries, where project development faces a very different set of problem. Some would argue they are much harder to solve. But the question is, does developing renewable energy in developing countries equip a company to succeed in a market like the U.S.

In our podcast, Scaling Clean, we seek usable insights on building and running successful companies from the cleantech CEOs, investors and the people who advise them. Our RE+ interview with EDPR’s Tom Weirich didn’t fit our usual format (only 15 mins), but it sure was fun. Tom’s written what I’m confident is the first history of cleantech history. “We Took the Risk” profiles “OCs,” (“Original Cleantechers”), men and women who were real pioneers whose shoulders we’re all standing on in our work today. For us, though, the book’s subtitle is key: “The stories behind the early risk takers in the U.S. Renewable energy industry and the leadership traits that made them a success.” [Emphasis added]. 
 
Here are the qualities Tom noticed these OCs shared:
 
- Be the First
- Audacity
- Curiosity
- Connector
- Adventurous
- Foresight
- Adaptable
- Grit
- Enterprising
- Social entrepreneurship
- Servant leadership
- Innovation
- Persistence

When we convened our cleantech journalists live from the stage at the RE+ trade show, among the questions we posed was how clean economy would address its half-dozen major challenges: Permitting, storage, transmission, grid stability, workforce development, and mineral processing. We also wanted to know who would address them. Check out our panel’s answers from Jon Powers, Julia Pyper and Scott Cooney

Cleantechers, below I share some first impression takeaways from Tuesday’s election results. I offer these through the lens of my time in politics (25 years) but detached from any opinion I have about candidates or political views. These thoughts are offered strictly from a communications mechanics perspective, with the hopes that it’s of use to fellow clean economy communicators in your work going forward.

We know that most people won't watch the full 45 minutes of our live Cleantech Journalist Roundtable from the RE+ mainstage. We're starting a series of four excerpt videos that focus on particular parts of the discussion.

Whoa.  
 
When we first developed the idea of a quarterly investors roundtable with Andrea Luecke and the Cleantech Leaders Roundtable, we didn’t know how informative this series could be.  
 
But after hosting the first episode, I’m at a loss on how to excerpt this uber-rich session into its B3Ps, or “Big 3 Points.” What I now realize is that within the confines of their investment strategy, these investors have to be master trackers of our sectors. If they don’t, they don’t succeed professionally.  
 
Our panelists covered a TON of ground in an hour, all of it smart, insightful and very much worth listening: 

Under Utilization of Social Media in Wind Energy Marketing

We recently conducted the first-ever review of the use of digital tools by Independent Power Producers’ (IPPs) to build community acceptance for wind farms in host communities.

This article was updated in November 2022 to reflect the most recent industry developments.

Video Marketing for the Renewable Energy Sector

We often hear from our clients and friends in cleantech that one of their biggest challenges is reaching and educating a wide and varied range of audiences. Whether it’s utility executives, corporate customers, policymakers or homeowners, an effective cleantech media communicator can usually get to a win, given the opportunity to sit across the table and have a personal interaction. But your team can’t be everywhere at once, and it can be difficult to reach these audiences at scale and educate them on your company’s value proposition. 

Hey #cleantechers, this week we’re back with part two of our conversation with Soluna Computing CEO John Belizaire. John’s current company is building modular green data centers that run on renewable energy. And though he just turned 50, John has already sold two companies.

We can’t say it enough: the Inflation Reduction Act is a landmark moment for our climate, and the clean economy and homeowners stand to benefit. When the bill was first passed, Tigercomm’s whiz researcher Jamie Meckley compiled a list of explainers for us to read. We know we’re still trying to make sense of the way these funds will be allocated, so we’re sharing that list with you in case it’s useful in your own research.

I had the pleasure recently of talking with Joseph Batir, host of the Energy Transition Solutions podcast.

Joe and I talked about:

- Why I’ve found that working in the private sector is easier than working in politics or the nonprofit world via more rationalized client motives (4:25).

- It’s also more satisfying from a client-impact standpoint, because “You cannot sit at an environmental group and regulate the coal industry into sustainability. Some industries simply have to go. They cannot be kept around. Some industries like cement making can be made much more sustainable.” (13:00)"

- How few clean economy sectors are new industries because they’re not directly disrupting incumbents (13:59) and how disrupted incumbents push back hard through our form of legalized corruption known as campaign contributions. They do that instead of just handing over market share and going willingly out of business (15:19) “The disrupted are constantly reacting to the disruptors and the disruptors must manage that with fewer resources than the disrupted have.”

- Why B2B companies’ default reliance on jargony content hurts their sales and violates the Richard Branson rule of narrative simplicity “Any fool can complicate something. It takes a master to simplify it.” (27:10) and why your marketing collateral should be able to pass the “supermarket checkout test” (29:50) because it accommodates the reality that humans make emotional decisions first in order to make a rationale decision (31:27).

Episode 10: Active Listening and Grit with John Belizaire (Part 1)

Hey #cleantechers, ever hear about someone and feel at least a little bit awed by what they have accomplished in their lives? Well, we’ve got one of those folks featured in this episode of Scaling Clean.

We finally have the full-length video of our quarterly roundtable of cleantech journalists, which was held from the stage at RE+. Thanks to our friends at the trade show.

In the weeks ahead, we’ll produce a few excerpt videos. Each one will focus on a particular part of this discussion.

Thanks to our panelists:

We've got another great roundtable on the books. Below are our big three takeaways of the conversation.

1. The perception of green hydrogen as a climate solution is rapidly shifting towards positive.
2. While we wait for a national-level transmission buildout, the US would do well to consider alternatives like microgrids and community solar, home systems, and investing in R&D for potential new solutions.
3. Will the momentum of the IRA and record attendance at RE+ carry us through the next 5 years? Our participants had varying opinions, but we see a promising trend of clean energy turning into a business issue rather than a culture war issue.

Thank you again to our great roundtable guests:
Marie Burgquist of the Watts Up Podcast
Bill Nussey of Tech Square Ventures
Tim Montague of Clean Power Hour
Joshua Porter of Solarcoaster.co
Julia Pyper of GoodLeap
Gil Jenkins of Hannon Armstrong

I look forward to hearing your coverage as our post-IRA world unfolds and hope to see you again for our 7th podcasters cleantech roundtable.

I got to talk with Renewable Energy World’s John Engel about our recent paper, “We’re the People We’re Waiting For,” along with SOLV Energy CEO George Hershman. I loved what George said, and I encourage you to listen to at least his half of the episode. 

Tigercomm talks a lot about improving social media strategies for cleantech companies to compete with incumbent fossil fuel interests. We’ve worked with a strategic SEO agency, Rampiq, for the past few years on our own site and are continuously impressed with the results. We’ve asked Rampiq to write a guest article explaining how clean economy companies can use SEO to boost brand recognition, sales, and the visibility of their products.

Our 8^th quarterly Cleantech Editors and Reporters Roundtable convened last week in the midst of one of the most exciting federal climate moves of our time.

#Cleantechers, pay attention to this episode, because it’s a good one. As our readers know, we designed the #ScalingClean podcast to bring you management and leadership wisdom from experienced company leaders. We’ve got a heavily experienced growth company CEO for you in this episode who is lighting up the traditionally workhorse energy efficiency sector.  

Zachary Shahan of CleanTechnica honored us by running our recent white paper, “We’re the people we’re waiting for,” and interviewed us for his CleanTech Talk podcast. 

We designed this show to bring you wisdom from experienced company leaders, and this episode won’t disappoint.  

Before publishing this paper, I had to change its subhead from “Angry about Joe Manchin? Take a number,” to what you read above.

Many working for the clean economy transition are now relieved by the senator from West Virginia because his change of mind has enabled the hugely significant climate bill to become a reality. 

It would be a tragic mistake for us to put our feet up, figuring all’s well that ended well. Let’s be clear: This climate reconciliation bill almost didn’t happen. It’s smaller than it could have been.

Note: this article was updated in August 2022 to reflect recent changes in the industry.

The Global Clean Energy Investment Landscape

The cost of renewable energy continues to become more competitive with fossil fuels as LCOE drops. Following passage of tax cut legislation at the end of 2017, Greentech Media reports, "Much of the conversation in clean energy circles…has revolved around a potential shrinking of the tax equity market -- which accounts for between 40 percent and 60 percent of finance for individual solar and wind projects -- because of the reduction in value of renewables credits." According to Greentech Media, however, it appears that - so far at least -  corporate America is showing "continued interest in direct renewables investments." 

Last week, a mix of regulars and new faces converged for the 5^th Quarterly Cleantech  Podcasters Roundtable, perhaps the best we’ve had so far:

Energy storage is a central, even crucial, component in the transition to a clean energy economy.

Episode 7: Graham Richard Advises on Driving the Shift to a Clean Future

We describe this show as a podcast for clean economy CEOs, investors and the people who advise them. As both an investor and an advisor, Graham has a foot in two of those categories. But he’s also one of the few people in cleantech who have served in elected office. Mayor Graham Richard served the city of Ft. Wayne, Indiana from 2000-2007 before taking the reins at Advanced Energy Economy to advocate for pro-sustainability policies.

Cleantech executive teams are almost universally concerned with the impact of commoditization of their companies’ long-term growth. But if your product isn’t differentiated, then competing is just about winning on price – otherwise known as commoditization.

Digital Solutions for Securing Community Acceptance of Wind Energy – With Will Eberle of E.ON North America

This article was updated in June 2022 to reflect new developments in the industry.

The Importance of Public Affairs in the Micromobility Industry

Micromobility (MM) risks the fate of other disruptive industries that underinvested in public affairs — and were wiped out by politicians as a result. The gaps in other sectors’ missteps have included: ineffective campaigns at the local level, lack of supportive coalitions, staff without government experience, and not showing officials how supporting micromobility is politically safe and beneficial. Among the approaches micromobility should consider: consistently using social media to flag riders on pending policy decisions that affect them, driving calls to action using segmented data, and engaging riders in taking “microactivism” steps from their phones.

We describe our podcast as “Scaling Clean, the podcast for clean economy CEOs, investors and the people who advise them.” Ken Locklin is the first we’ve had on the show from the last category. And there’s a reason for that: Ken is the cleantech oracle you probably haven’t heard of because he has the enviable combination of foresight and humility.  

Episode 5: Navigating the Rough Waters of Cleantech

Abby Hopper is in her 5th year as the head of the Solar Energy Industries Association, the U.S.’s main solar trade association widely known as “SEIA.” She’s SEIA’s third CEO, taking over the reins right when the avowedly anti-renewables Trump Administration took power in 2016.  

Cleantechers, some of you might remember that last December, we released interesting numbers from bellwether Huron County, MI.

Groundbreaking polling methods were used to assess community attitudes toward renewables - and what it took to move them in a positive direction.

Since then, Tyler Duvelius, Robin Pressman and I have conducted an iterative road show to socialize the findings.

But when we talked with Tim Montague, we expanded the perspectives presented to include solar developer Jon Carson.

The results were some useful insights for renewable power developers. All of them face tougher community acceptance landscapes, one of the few ways that the costs of renewables are going up.

The keys to leadership with Chad Farrell - Scaling Clean Ep. 4

So far on our podcast, we’ve interviewed cleantech leaders that are in a later stage of their careers. We figured that wisdom comes from a combination of gray hair and track record.  

Chad Farrell is different, and that’s a good thing. As the CEO of Encore Renewable Energy, Chad’s first company is his current company. Encore develops what it calls “community-scale” renewable energy projects, often on land reclaimed from past industrial uses. But Chad’s been driving Encore’s success for almost 15 years, which is plenty of time to gather a body of lessons learned we can pass to others in his position.  

We’re honored to be named among The Manifest’s most recommended B2B leaders in D.C. For 17 years, we’ve served some of the top clean economy companies who are scaling a more sustainable U.S. economy.  

Here’s to 17 more years.

Episode 3: The Business Case Against Being a Jerk

We're up with our third episode of Scaling Clean, where I spoke with former CEO of Hemlock Semiconductor, Mark Bassett. During his impressive tenure, Mark saw sales surge even in the face of the COVID recession. He’s worked most of his career in heavy, mature industries, including 11 years rising through the ranks of Dow Chemical.

The traditional, conventional wisdom in business marketing is to ignore competitors. “Don’t give them oxygen.” But that’s wrong, according to Duke University marketing professor Dr. Keisha Cutright. Dr. Cutright’s research, first covered by NPR’s Planet Money, shows that companies who compliment competitors actually improve customer perception of their brands. In other words, the complimenter gets the credit from customers. 

B2B Purchase Decisions In Cleantech And The Digital-Social Criticality Scale

Across clean economy sectors, the sales and marketing teams we talk to share a growing frustration: it’s gotten harder to get renewable energy customer prospects to engage during the marketing process. They’re all too familiar with sending that seventh “touch base” email to a prospect they’ve connected with at the trade show and hearing nothing back. This experience has three main sources: what we’re calling the “VAR Phenomenon” (Volume, Attention, Relevance), and it's increasingly becoming a challenge in the smartphone age.

Episode 4 of our quarterly podcast roundtable is on the books — Nico Johnson and I had a great conversation with Marie Burgquist, Gil Jenkins, Tim Montague and Joshua Porter. I’ll be sharing my big three takeaways from this session soon. In the meantime, you can watch the whole episode here.

Episode 1: Clean economy leadership insights with Bob Fishman

We’re up with episode 2 of Scaling Clean, the podcast for clean economy CEOs, investors and the people who advise them. Our goal is to convert company leaders’ experience into useful insights for you in your work.  

This episode features our conversation with Robert E. Fishman, a veteran CEO of three energy companies with experience in renewables, fossil fuels and nuclear energy. Bob’s a thoughtful, humble and accomplished leader and mentor. He’s got a wealth of experience in several areas, but I suspect you’ll find most useful his insights into assembling and maintaining the right executive team.  

Hello cleantechers!

I'm announcing today that Tigercomm’s launching: “Scaling Clean, the podcast for clean economy CEOs, investors & the people who advise them.”

Think of this show as a cross between NPR’s “How I Built This” and the New York Times’ “Corner Office” interview series. We’ll glean lessons and best practices from experienced cleantech leaders and curate them for the next generation of sector leaders – all in a compact, rich 30 minutes.

This article was updated in March 2022 to reflect industry changes.

Why Should Cleantech Companies Invest In Social Media?

Spoiler alert: We’ve found that almost every wind energy company is using social media as a limited distribution platform. That’s understandable, because social is great for distribution as the first, highly targeted yet far-reaching platform. And there’s the lure of social media’s lightning-in-a-bottle potential to “go viral,” organically attracting massive numbers of eyeballs with only a modest initial investment.

Yet most wind company programs are leaving on the table the real potential for social media… targeted engagement. Social media is definitely cheap distribution, though for all but a few (like the Federal Reserve), a distribution-centric strategy can’t hold audience attention. There’s too much content and too many voices vying for a finite pool of people’s attention.

The potential for long-term attention through social media lies in targeted engagement, with networks of people investing their time and attention in a company’s products, policies and successes. But the engaged have to find value in engaging. And one of the surest value propositions is not just being responded to, but having impacts on brands, products and policies.

Many companies are already engaging – see ratings from Uber drivers and riders. The trend is underway elsewhere. You can accessorize the car model of your choice, and it’s a sure bet that car companies are using the resulting data to time when customer online input will drive which decisions to make on which models. Others are on the threshold: with only half the daily newspaper reporters on staff as compared to 20 years ago, the news industry continues its financial slide because readers won’t pay the full cost of professional reporting. It’s being argued that news reporting’s most viable path is having readers choose what gets reported in the first place. You get the idea.

The point is that value-add engagement is only secured through a two-way conversation that matters. The buzz phrase is “democratized ownership.” It’s rare right now in high-ticket B2B sales, though the potential value remains. However, those benefits will only be reaped through well-designed, intensively managed social engagement programs. They aren’t cheap, but we see distribution-only tactics beginning to cost the wind industry more in opportunity than targeted engagement will require.

Note: This article was refreshed in March 2022 to reflect the current state of the cleantech industry.

What do your customers buy, really? Is it your product? Or is it something that your product gives them?

We recently teamed up with our friends at Conservatives for a Clean Energy Future and the folks at Embold Research to do something untried: use cutting-edge public opinion measurement tools to go deep on attitudes toward renewable energy in one rural bellwether community.  We first presented these findings at the CLEANPOWER trade show in Salt Lake City.

It was fun to talk with Adam Torres of Mission Matters Media about how public relations is both serving and changing the way businesses interact with consumers.