This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate, featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week’s episode includes special guest Chuck McCutcheon from Axios, who wrote about a new coalition of companies, including tech giants like Google and Tesla, which is aiming to make better use of underutilized capacity on the U.S. power grid
This week’s “Cleantecher of the Week” is Samir Pendse, CEO at Coral. New York–based Coral provides instant rebates for energy and HVAC upgrades and recently raised $7.5 million in pre-seed and seed funding. The company is working to expand access to affordable financing for sustainable home upgrades at a time when energy bills are rising. Congratulations, Samir!
Investment bank Jefferies is urging investors to stick with the clean energy sector, even as oil and gas price spikes trigger memories of the 2022 renewables selloff that lasted until 2025. Last year, Jeffries told clean economy investors they were entering the “glory days” of a strategy that long seemed like a losing bet. This advice coincided with a 44% surge in clean energy stocks in 2025, far outpacing the S&P 500’s 16% gain.
Despite the risk of supply chain disruptions and the rise of inflation and interest rates, Jefferies head of sustainability says the Iran war could accelerate renewable investment, as governments race to increase energy independence.
Companies are working to secure the power and sites necessary for the hundreds of billions of dollars of data centers being built across the country, making “powered land” one of the most valuable commodities. S&P Global reports that AI companies are expected to seek about 85 GW of new power capacity by 2030, roughly a fifth more power than the current grid can supply.
Cloverleaf operates as a modern-day version of oil industry “land men,” identifying unused grid capacity, securing utility agreements and permits, acquiring nearby land, and packaging the land and power for data center developers for tech companies such as OpenAI, Meta, and Google.
Texas Rep. Chip Roy made it his mission last year to kill renewable energy tax incentives. In response, a political action committee backed by solar executives called the Invest in Tomorrow Coalition PAC decided to do the same for Roy’s campaign for Texas attorney general.
The PAC spent more than $650,000 opposing Roy in the race, targeting conservative voters on platforms like Rumble and Truth Social, with messaging saying Roy is “not MAGA enough for Texas.” Roy has now been forced into a GOP runoff in the Texas attorney general race after finishing second in the primary with 31.6% of the vote, behind Mayes Middleton’s 39.1%.
Chinese automaker BYD overtook Tesla last year as the world’s top EV seller, but both companies are now facing a slump, with BYD sales falling year-over-year for six straight months and Tesla experiencing two years of declining annual sales.
While Tesla’s Elon Musk is shifting his attention toward AI-driven businesses like robotaxis and humanoid robots, BYD is doubling down on EVs, specifically fast-charging batteries. Last Thursday, BYD CEO Wang Chuanfu unveiled a new ultra-fast “flash charging” battery that can recharge an EV in about nine minutes.
A new coalition called Utilize, including companies such as Google, Tesla, and Carrier, aims to improve electricity affordability by making better use of underutilized capacity on the U.S. power grid. The effort comes as rising electricity demand pushes energy costs and affordability concerns to the forefront.
The group plans to collaborate with state lawmakers, regulators, and utilities while promoting technologies like battery storage and distributed energy resources to improve grid efficiency. Research from The Brattle Group suggests these system improvements could save U.S. consumers up to $180 billion over the next decade.
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