Catalyst with Shayle Kann

Everyone loves to talk about the “broken grid.” But if you look inside a utility’s planning and operations functions, a different picture emerges: infrastructure that is remarkably reliable, built and run by engineers solving impossibly complex problems with often outdated tools.

In this episode, Shayle Kann sits down with Josh Wong, CEO and founder of ThinkLabs AI, a company building physics-informed AI for utility planning and operations. They break down how utility studies get built today, the data cleanup headaches, the silos between teams, and the “worst case” mentality that drives an overbuild of infrastructure.

Shayle and Josh discuss:

Why utility planning is split into silos across transmission, distribution, and DER planning.

The gap between studies that identify grid problems and the work of actually solving them.

What “physics-informed AI” actually means.

The shift from AI that identifies problems to AI that actually solves them.

The disconnect between utility planning and real-time operations.

Should data center microgrids be treated as micro utilities?

Resources:

Latitude Media: GE spinout ThinkLabs has a new copilot offering for the grid

Latitude Media: Do microgrids make sense for data centers?

Latitude Media: The case against relying on behind-the-meter power for data centers

Latitude Media: Unpacking DOE's proposal to transform data center interconnection

Credits: Hosted by Shayle Kann. Produced and edited by Max Savage Levenson. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is our executive editor.

This episode of Catalyst is brought to you by ENGIE, the smarter energy supplier. ENGIE doesn't just provide the power to run your business — they supply the energy to move it forward, with reliable, flexible solutions built for what's next. Learn more at engieresources.com.

Catalyst is brought to you by EnergyHub. Peak season puts every grid to the test — and the utilities that pass are the ones that built flexible capacity before they needed it. EnergyHub works with more than 170 utilities to coordinate 2.5 million devices and 3.4 gigawatts of dispatchable flexibility through a single platform designed to perform when it counts most. See what that looks like at EnergyHub.com.

Catalyst is brought to you by Bloom Energy. Bloom Energy fuel cells deliver affordable, ultra-reliable onsite power for hospitals, utilities, and data centers – at speed and at scale. Learn more by visiting BloomEnergy.com.

A decade ago, DERs were hot. The hype was that things like batteries, smart devices, and other distributed energy technologies would offset the need for expanding traditional grid infrastructure.

But DERs never took off, at least not at the scale that many hoped for. They had high price tags and short track records compared to the existing substations, transmission lines, and generation options that utilities were familiar with. In short, the market didn’t need them yet.

Fast forward 10 years, and things have changed. Load growth is increasing while major grid bottlenecks — like in transmission, interconnection, and supply chains — may be opening up a new opportunity.

So is the time finally right for DERs? In this episode, Shayle talks to his colleague Andy Lubershane, partner and head of research at Energy Impact Partners. Last week, Andy published a blog post making the case that DERs were a good idea that was just too early, but the market is ready now. Original episode date: 9/18/2025.

Shayle and Andy cover topics like:

- What held DERs back a decade ago

- Why now is different, including falling system costs and growing grid bottlenecks

- The difference between demand response and virtual power plants

- The potential hurdles to scale, like supply chain bottlenecks, foreign entity of concern regulations, and fire codes

Resources:

Latitude Media: Can distributed energy answer AI’s power problem?

Open Circuit: The grid flexibility solutions staring us in the face

Catalyst: Making DERs work for load growth

Credits: Hosted by Shayle Kann. Produced and edited by Daniel Woldorff. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is our executive editor.

This episode of Catalyst is brought to you by ENGIE, the smarter energy supplier. ENGIE doesn't just provide the power to run your business — they supply the energy to move it forward, with reliable, flexible solutions built for what's next. Learn more at engieresources.com.

Catalyst is brought to you by EnergyHub. Peak season puts every grid to the test — and the utilities that pass are the ones that built flexible capacity before they needed it. EnergyHub works with more than 170 utilities to coordinate 2.5 million devices and 3.4 gigawatts of dispatchable flexibility through a single platform designed to perform when it counts most. See what that looks like at EnergyHub.com.

Catalyst is brought to you by Bloom Energy. Bloom Energy fuel cells deliver affordable, ultra-reliable onsite power for hospitals, utilities, and data centers – at speed and at scale. Learn more by visiting BloomEnergy.com.

This week, we’re presenting an episode of Critical Capital, a new podcast from Crux and Latitude Studios.

Energy policy has become increasingly polarized just as the U.S. faces record electricity demand, a rapidly expanding AI economy, and growing competition from China.

In this episode, Alfred Johnson speaks with North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis about why the country's biggest energy challenge is the inability to build durable, bipartisan policy that survives changes in political leadership.

Drawing on more than a decade in the Senate, Tillis argues for an "all-of-the-above" energy strategy that embraces renewables, natural gas, nuclear, and other generation sources rather than treating them as competing ideologies. He discusses the economic consequences of abruptly cancelling energy projects, the need for stable investment signals, and why rising electricity demand requires policymakers to focus on practical solutions instead of partisan rhetoric. Tillis also discusses domestic manufacturing, critical minerals, AI governance, and the importance of strengthening America's energy supply chains while remaining globally competitive.

Subscribe to Critical Capital on Apple, Spotify, or any podcast platform.

The race to build AI infrastructure is often framed around the availability of power, chips, and capital. But another critical constraint is becoming impossible to ignore: skilled labor. In this episode, Shayle sits down with Raymond Hawkins, chief customer officer at Compass Datacenters, about why a shortage of qualified electricians has emerged as one of the biggest bottlenecks to data center construction, and how the industry is responding.

Hawkins explains that labor shortages aren't preventing new data centers from being built, but they are driving up costs, extending project timelines, and forcing developers to compete aggressively for experienced electricians. As AI demand accelerates, companies are increasingly moving workers across the country, housing them near construction sites, and relying on a traveling workforce much like the healthcare industry relies on travel nurses. At the same time, demand is surging for highly specialized professionals capable of installing the sophisticated electrical systems that modern AI data centers require.

Hawkins also explores how modular construction and prefabrication are reshaping the way data centers are built, and how, as data centers expand into new markets, developers must become more transparent about their projects to earn a community's trust.

Shayle and Raymond discuss:- Why electricians have become one of the biggest constraints on AI data center growth

- How workforce shortages are changing hiring, training, and construction practices

- Compass Datacenters' partnership with community colleges to develop skilled labor

- The role of modular construction and prefabrication in reducing labor demands

- Strategies for earning community support through transparency, workforce investment, and responsible infrastructure development

Resources:

Catalyst: The State of Play of Data Center Development

Catalyst: AI Scaling Pathways: On Grid, On Edge, Off Grid, Off Planet

Latitude Media: As community scrutiny grows, data center developers turn to on-site power

Latitude Media: The mechanics of data center flexibility

Latitude Media: The off-grid data center fantasy

Credits: Hosted by Shayle Kann. Produced and edited by John Sheehan. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is our executive editor.

This episode of Catalyst is brought to you by ENGIE, the smarter energy supplier. ENGIE doesn't just provide the power to run your business — they supply the energy to move it forward, with reliable, flexible solutions built for what's next. Learn more at engieresources.com.

Catalyst is brought to you by EnergyHub. Peak season puts every grid to the test — and the utilities that pass are the ones that built flexible capacity before they needed it. EnergyHub works with more than 170 utilities to coordinate 2.5 million devices and 3.4 gigawatts of dispatchable flexibility through a single platform designed to perform when it counts most. See what that looks like at EnergyHub.com.

Catalyst is brought to you by Bloom Energy. Bloom Energy fuel cells deliver affordable, ultra-reliable onsite power for hospitals, utilities, and data centers – at speed and at scale. Learn more by visiting BloomEnergy.com.

Commercial and industrial (C&I) battery storage has long been the missing middle of the energy storage market. It’s been too complex and expensive to scale like residential systems, but too small to compete with utility-scale projects.

That may finally be changing.

In this episode, Shayle sits down with Tim Hade, senior vice president at Voltus and founder of Brightfield Infrastructure, to discuss why C&I storage has historically struggled, why the economics are shifting dramatically, and why the next wave of distributed energy could be driven by commercial customers rather than utilities.

They explore the four revenue streams that are making batteries more valuable, from demand charge management to emerging capacity markets, and examine how declining hardware costs, stable federal tax incentives, and AI-powered automation are reshaping project economics. Tim also explains how aggregating thousands of commercial batteries into virtual power plants could help hyperscalers bring new data centers online faster while easing pressure on an increasingly constrained electric grid.

Shayle and Tim discuss: - Why commercial battery storage lagged behind residential and utility-scale markets

- The four revenue streams driving today's C&I storage economics

- How rising electricity prices and capacity shortages are changing customer demand

- Why battery hardware costs have fallen by roughly one-third in 18 months

- How AI could reduce project transaction costs by as much as 90%

- The opportunity — and challenge — of aggregating thousands of distributed batteries into virtual power plants

- Why data center growth and "bring your own capacity" programs could accelerate C&I storage adoption

- Tim's outlook for the fastest-growing segment of the battery storage marketResources

Latitude: Voltus is acquiring energy storage startup Brightfield AI

Latitude: Google is Voltus' first Bring Your Own Capacity

Latitude: Can VPPs unlock grid capacity for data centers?

Catalyst: Battery booms and the rise of flexibility

Latitude: The Off-Grid Data Center Fantasy

Credits: Hosted by Shayle Kann. Produced and edited by Max Savage Levenson. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is our executive editor.

This episode of Catalyst is brought to you by ENGIE, the smarter energy supplier. ENGIE doesn't just provide the power to run your business — they supply the energy to move it forward, with reliable, flexible solutions built for what's next. Learn more at engieresources.com.

Catalyst is brought to you by EnergyHub. Peak season puts every grid to the test — and the utilities that pass are the ones that built flexible capacity before they needed it. EnergyHub works with more than 170 utilities to coordinate 2.5 million devices and 3.4 gigawatts of dispatchable flexibility through a single platform designed to perform when it counts most. See what that looks like at EnergyHub.com.

Catalyst is brought to you by Bloom Energy. Bloom Energy fuel cells deliver affordable, ultra-reliable onsite power for hospitals, utilities, and data centers – at speed and at scale. Learn more by visiting BloomEnergy.com.