Factor This!® Episode 81: Going inside utilities to scale DERs

The energy industry often pits utilities and clean energy advocates as enemies duking it out from opposite corners of the ring.
As the narrative goes, utilities drag innovation in favor of the status quo. They're lobbying, some say, has tanked the value of distributed energy resources, leaving the residential solar and storage industry in turmoil.
But one company doesn't bother with that framing, even if it may be true in some cases. Instead, they're going inside utilities with the belief that there's only one realistic path to scaling DERs— being on the same team.
Episode 81 of the Factor This! podcast features Sparkfund CEO Pier LaFarge, who is partnering with some of the largest utilities to deploy hundreds of DERs on their behalf.
LaFarge shares how Sparkfund's approach upends consensus thinking around the energy transition, why he's bullish on investor-owned utilities, and what the upcoming presidential election means for clean energy.
Can utilities, often criticized for dragging innovation, lead the energy transition?
That's all next on Factor This!